June 17, 2010

Our Rainier teams reported in this morning…

Phil and his team summitted on the DC, but the Kautz and Emmons teams turned around. Low visibility and tough navigation for the Emmons team and some unstable snow condition for our Kautz crew, but all are back at their camps safe and sound. They’ll take advantage of the day and do some training before descending tomorrow morning.

Moving uphill today is another DC team, this time led by Mark Allen. Cooler than normal temps are foretasted along with some precipitation… but that’s nothing new for this spring if you’ve been keeping up with the Rainier weather!

That’s all for now…

Tye Chapman

June 15, 2010

Summit! Our Disappointment Cleaver (DC) team summitted quite early this morning due to cold conditions and the direct route up the Ingraham Glacier. After summitting around daybreak, they quickly made their way down to The Flats and into Camp Muir. After a nice break at Muir they cruised on down the snowfield for a quick chat with our uphill team, led by Phil Ershler, then they loaded up the IMG van and were back in Ashford by 2pm. Currently Phil and his team are at Muir enjoying dinner…They’ll head up to The Flats in the morning.

On the other side of the mountain is our Emmons team, led by John Race, who started walking this morning and are now at their first camp (7800ft) on the Inter Glacier. After some early training tomorrow they’ll head up to Camp Schurman. All is well – a little light snowfall on their approach, but overall they’re doing just fine.

And on the south side of the mountain is our Kautz team, led by Brian Warren, who just pulled into their first camp after some tough postholing on the the lower Nisqually Glacier this morning. A tough day for sure, but some good food and a good nights sleep will ready them for their move to High Camp tomorrow.

All is well on Mt. Rainier.

Tye Chapman

June 14, 2010

IMG Guide Greg Vernovage just radioed in from The Flats here on Mt. Rainier… All is well! A few teams summitted early today so it’s looking good for our guys in the morning. They’ll wake up nice and early and hit the route when it’s cold hoping to hit the summit around daybreak. They’re eating an early dinner now and plan to get some horizontal time before their midnight wake-up call.

More on the team in the morning…

Tye Chapman

June 13, 2010

One of our annual Washington National Parks Fund (WNPF) climbs wrapped things up this afternoon after their 3-day climb on Mt. Rainier.  They didn’t summit, but the $40,000 these Microsoft employees raised will still go to a great cause.

It was obvious that these guys did their physical homework and were well prepared to climb, but as many people have read over the past few weeks, the weather on Mt. Rainier has been a little problematic… So after the recent storms, followed by a spike in the temperature, our team opted to stay put at camp and err on the side of caution.

By digging snow pits, evaluating the conditions as well as past and current weather reports, and discussing the overall situation with the other guide services and Park Rangers everybody was in agreement that climbing last night, despite the perfect weather, was not in anybody’s best interest.

Everybody had fun, stayed safe and raised a good amount of cash for the Washington National Parks Fund…

Success can be measured in many ways!

Tye Chapman

June 12, 2010

Just spoke with IMG Partner Phil Ershler who called in from The Flats on Mt. Rainier today – they took advantage of the sunny weather today and put in our camp at The Flats. A big thank you to AAI who also put in a good bit of work this morning putting in that camp!

Phil didn’t have any concrete plans when I spoke with him other than saying that they’re going to play it really close to the chest and very conservative given the warming trend after some recent snowfall.

We’ll have more on their decision tomorrow…

Tye Chapman

June 11, 2010

On Wednesday evening we hosted the second part of a 4-part summer training series for guides and NPS Climbing Rangers. Close to 50 guides and rangers showed up for a burger and a beer and to listen to IMG Guide and Technical Director, Jeff Ward, discuss route and trip planning and whiteout navigation.

For several hours after the lecture, guides and rangers alike hung out and shared climbing stories. A good time was had by all.

June 9, 2010

Our Emmons team woke up to some nasty weather and opted to stay put, erring on the side of safety.  After a good nights sleep at Camp Schurman they decided to drop down lower on the mountain to avoid the wind and snowfall at Schurman. After descending the Inter Glacier they found themselves in the thick of a downpour of rain and instead of camping in the rain they made their way to the trailhead.

They were greeted with some refreshments and smile by our van driver Larry.

Tye Chapman

June 8, 2010

IMG Guide Greg Vernovage called in from Camp Schurman on Mt. Rainier this afternoon to let us know they’re enjoying some good weather, albeit a touch windy.

After a nice approach hike yesterday to their first camp they woke up nice and early this morning to get a good start on the Inter Glacier while it was cold, arriving at Camp Schurman late this morning. They’re heading to bed for the night now (4:30pm)  anticipating a 10:00pm wake-up call.  At 10:00 they’ll assess the condition and evaluate the terrain and make a decision on if they’ll climb or not.

We’ll update the team’s progress tomorrow.

Tye Chapman