April 1, 2011
Heading to high camp on Mt. Whitney.
George Dunn called in today to report that conditions have improved since his last go-around on Whitney last week. They’re en route to High Camp now and given that the snow is settling nicely they should have an opportunity to climb tonight/tomorrow.
Good luck guys & gals!
Tye Chapman
March 31, 2011
Asolo Evoluziones are a great choice of double plastic boots for Mt. Rainier.
With the Rainier season just around the corner we’re getting “the boot question” more and more frequently so here’s a snapshot of our thinking…
When to use plastic boots:
* Early season (May and June) and winter
* If you are a First time climber, you should rent them
* If you are a person with compromised circulation or a history of cold feet
When to use single boots:
* If you own your own boots and have used them successfully in similar conditions to Mt. Rainier
* During the peak summer season (July through September)
* If you have fit issues (very small, large, narrow or wide feet)
Late season suggestion:
If you are climbing in later season (after early August) it is often worth bringing a light pair of hiking or running shoes to wear on the first 2½ miles of the approach up to Pebble Creek. These are especially valuable on the way down if your feet are sore (or hot) in the double plastic boots.
For our full boot philosophy on Mt. Rainier click here.
March 30, 2011
Camp 1. (Photo by Landon Turner)
Aaron Mainer called in from +/- 6500ft on Mt. Rainier, where he and our Denali Prep Seminar team are camped, to report exactly what the forecast called (and is calling) for: bad weather.
Yesterday’s anticipated weather window closed quicker than expected forcing the team to hang down low, instead of heading up to Camp Muir. They put their time to good use by building some big wind walls around their tents in anticipation of the incoming weather. Today they learned about anchor systems.
That’s the beauty of these seminars – good weather or bad, there are plenty of opportunities to learn!
Tye Chapman
March 29, 2011
We received a quick note from Greg Vernovage late last night who’s with our Everest team in Kathmandu getting ready to make the hop from KTM to Lukla in the next few days.
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Hey All,
People are streaming in all day today. Our welcome dinner tonight at 6:30 will bring it all together. We’re doing a lot of gear checks and some last minute purchases – standard protocol in these parts.
The team is showing up looking great. All of the guides here are pretty fired up and excited to keep the trip moving. There is a great energy here and I can’t wait to get things rolling.
Greg
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**Remember you can follow all the Everest action on the Everest Expedition Coverage Homepage,
March 28th, 2011
Inyo National Forest is home to Mt. Whitney.
Over the weekend the deep snow, bad weather and a poor forecast forced our first Whitney team off the mountain and back to Lone Pine. All made it back in good form, thus the mantra of ” Safety First” won again!
Team number two was scheduled to be on the mountain early this week but avalanche conditions prevented them from going above C1. Instead, they opted to go rock climbing today and will do some training tomorrow.
Tye
March 25, 2011
Great views all around.
George called in from Upper Boy Scout Lake on Mt. Whitney today to report that the deep snow made for some difficult trail-breaking this afternoon. As a result, they pulled up short of the typical high camp location and will instead make up that time with lighter packs in the morning.
All is well!
Tye Chapman
March 24, 2011
We’ve got a lot of moving parts these days with several programs getting started over the next couple weeks.
Next up are: Everest, Lhotse, Lobuche, Everest Base Camp Treks, Whitney, Denali Prep Seminars and Machu Picchu. That covers 2 U.S. States, 3 countries on 3 continents. Not too bad.
Keep these programs in mind next year if you’re sitting at your desk right now thinking “this is a good time of year for me to take a vacation!” Or just follow along here on the blog.
But right now it’s time for all of us to get back to work!
Tye Chapman
March 23, 2011
The last pitch before the summit. (Photo by Trent Carey)
George Dunn is finishing up his last minute checklist here in Washington before he jumps on a plane tomorrow to head down to Lone Pine, CA to kick-off the IMG climbing season on Mt. Whitney.
Most people climb Whitney in the summer but we schedule our trips in the spring to maximize the alpine environment that Whitney provides this time of year. In the summer, the Mountaineers Route is typically a loose scramble up a rock gully but in the spring it becomes a snow climb on terrain up to 45-degrees, a great challenge for all climbers.
We’re running more trips than ever this year, 7 in total, so we’ll have plenty to post here on the blog.
Have fun guys!
Tye Chapman
March 19, 2011
Mt. Rainier under a fresh blanket of snow. (Photo by Dave Coon)
Greg radioed in this morning to report that they had another excellent training day yesterday and that they are wrapping things up at Camp Muir.
Today is Day 6 on the mountain for these guys yet Day 1 of sun! They’ve been hammered with high winds and heavy snowfall throughout the week, but kept after it, trained hard and are now prepared for bigger mountains – or another crack at Mt. Rainier down the road.
Winter will always reign supreme on Mt. Rainier, that said, these guys took what the mountain gave them and can walk away safe with their heads held high. Nice job guys!
Tye
March 17, 2011
Camp Muir in the winter.
Greg called in from Camp Muir this afternoon to report that it’s pretty darn cold and windy at Camp Muir these days…but that didn’t stop these guys from having a great day!
7:30am – Pancakes, bacon and hashbrowns! Wait, what? Yeah, the good stuff!
8:00am– Out the door for a Mountain Day School Refresher (ice axe arrest, crampon skills, rope travel, etc.)
12:00pm – Lunch break and warm-up time. Soup anyone?
1:00pm – Fixed-line travel and rope travel practice up the ridge. Too windy on the ridge so they went back to Muir to work on a snowcave.
4:00pm – Still working on the snowcave.
5:00pm – Hot drinks and an early dinner (burritos) and a good night’s rest – in the snowcave. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Tomorrow they’ll take another shot at getting up the ridge to take a look at things then get back to work with some Crevasse Rescue Training in the afternoon.
All is well on Mt. Rainier!
Tye Chapman
