June 13, 2012

DC Team having a Matrix moment

IMG Guide Eben Reckord called from Camp Schurman this morning to report that they were shutdown at roughly 12,500ft. They awoke to sustained winds nearing 30mph and they only increased as the team moved higher on the mountain. When they turned around the winds were estimated at ~60mph, just too stiff to climb. Everybody is back at camp, likely napping, lounging and swapping stories from previous outdoor adventures.

Just over a mile away (as the crow flies) is the DC Team, led by George Dunn, at the Ingraham Flats. They’re settling into their tents for their summit attempt tonight.  Relatively high winds are forecasted again so we’ll just wait and see how the team does…

More tomorrow.

Tye Chapman

June 12, 2012

IMG Guide Eben Reckord reports that all is well on the NE side of Mt. Rainier. The team had a good climb to their first camp yesterday and are now en route to Camp Schurman (9500ft) where they’ll rest up this afternoon and this evening before their summit attempt in the morning.

Over on the south side of Mt. Rainier the DC team just finished up a nice breakfast at the Paradise Inn and are currently en route to Camp Muir (10,000ft) where they’ll spend the night before heading up to the Ingraham Flats tomorrow afternoon. If all goes as planned they’ll head for the top on Thursday morning.

A little bump in the weather today, but the forecast is calling for some better weather the rest of the week… time will tell.

Tye Chapman

June 11, 2012

When the JanSport team pulled into the parking lot yesterday it marked the official start to the 40th JanSport Climb of Mt. Rainier. The hustle and bustle of the gear check, the rental department pillaging, and the general organized chaos that is the start to every climb quickly ensued. It always sorts itself out, as is did yesterday.

By 4:30 half the crew was loaded up and headed over to the Alpine Inn at Crystal Mountain to have dinner and stay the night before their climb via the Emmons Route.  Shortly thereafter, the Disappointment Cleaver Team loaded up and headed to the Wildberry for dinner before heading on up to the Paradise Inn for the night.

Today, the Emmons team is en route to Camp 1 while the DC team is at Paradise for a Mountain Day School. Their climb, led by George Dunn, will start tomorrow.

Tye Chapman

June 9, 2012

Mt. Rainier National Park Webcam (June 9, 2012)

Another rough weather pattern has settled on Mt. Rainier the past week or ten days bringing with it a good amount of snow and wind. Our team at Camp Muir hung tight overnight and is hunkered down for another night.They’re dug in, warm and relatively dry.

Down lower on the mountain is our first Kautz climb of the season, led by Max Bunce. They played it safe today and pulled up short of where they were going to camp.  Plenty to do: 1.) set up a bomber camp 2.) use the weather and surrounding terrain to train 3.) stay warm and dry – or as warm and dry as possible.

Despite the marginal weather, all is well on Mt. Rainier.

Tye Chapman

May 29, 2012

IMG lead guide Jenni Fogle called in from the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning at 9:30am as they started back down from the summit. The team topped out earlier in the morning, with 100% success! The weather isn’t absolutely perfect but it is good enough to summit. Jenni reported high cirrus clouds overhead, a lower cloud layer below 8,000 feet, and 30 mph winds on the summit. A great day for a summit and it looks like our summit teams are back on track in reaching the top.

My congratulations to the entire team!

George Dunn