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

March 16, 2011

Winter livin' on Mt. Rainier.

Greg called in this morning to report that the winds have died down a little bit, and after scouting the route and snow conditions yesterday, they’ve decided to pull camp and head to Camp Muir today.

If all goes as planned they’ll get to Camp Muir this afternoon and if they’re feeling good they might sneak in a little training or an evening lecture after dinner.

Step 1 is getting to Camp Muir, which is never a given on Mt. Rainier in the winter.

Tye Chapman

March 15, 2010

Digging in and building a good camp is an important part of any Denali Prep Course.

The Seminar called to check in at 8:00 a.m. All is well. They spent a good night, with a snug camp established,  at the base of Panorama Point at about 6,200 feet. They reported the weather as “nice, but not great”.  What that means in guide speak is snowing and windy with gusts up to 20mph. It was deemed too windy higher up to attempt to move to Muir today. Instead, the team will check out their route up the Muir snowfield in advance, do some snow stability tests, train with avalanche transceivers, and continue on with seminar training skills.

The current camp is in the best possible location for protection from the weather, so they will continue to train from this point until a move to Camp Muir looks favorable. Right now it appears that tomorrow will be good for the move with a clearing trend in store. The weather the rest of the week should be milder and provide for some good training opportunities.

George Dunn

March 8, 2011

As another set of winter storms is heading our way over the next few days, which only drives home the point that Mt. Rainier is the premier training ground for Denali Climbers.

We’ve got a another Denali Prep Seminar coming through here this weekend and it looks like they’ll get a full dose of what Mt. Rainier brings to the table this time of year. Guide Greg Vernovage just had a look at  the weather and got a little excited because he loves getting out in the mix of it and teaching climbers what to expect when they head up to Denali later this year or next season.

We’ll have more on this program as it gets underway on Sunday.

For now here’s a look at the forecast.

Tye Chapman

March 4, 2011

Note the skier... We will not be on skis on this program. (Photo by IMG Guide Chris Meder)

Have you climbed Rainier before & are you looking for a more challenging route? Well, if you’re very fit and looking to push yourself physically and technically on a non-standard route, then this is the program for you!

The crux of the route, the finger itself, is a narrow chute that necks down to a few hundred feet across. The steepest part of the chute is 40-50 degrees in angle. Above, the upper mountain eases off in angle and the final 2,000 feet are a more typical 20 degree slope. Hazards on this route include the potential for isolated rock or ice fall during warming conditions so we climb the exposed part of the chute rapidly to avoid prolonged exposure.

All participants must have prior alpine climbing experience either on Rainier or on other major glaciated peaks, and be familiar with basic mountaineering skills including cramponing in firm ice and snow conditions.

Dates: June 7-11 and June 29 – July 3
Group size: 4 climbers & 2 guides
More Info