We had a fantastic Mt. Rainier climb last week with every team member making it to the summit! We climbed the Disappointment Cleaver route from a high camp at Ingraham Flats. During our ascent we had excellent snow conditions, good weather, and our climbing teams implemented their newly learned climbing skills with precision and finesse. Following are a few photos from the trip.
On the summit of 14,410′ Mt. Rainier!
The snow is almost entirely melted from the high country and the wildflowers are in full bloom. It is a beautiful time of year to climb a classic 14′er in Colorado! Guide Gary Ryan and client Lynn Bailey just returned home from an ascent of the Southeast Ridge of 14,015′ Wetterhorn Peak. This is a beginner level route with a bit of scrambling and it reaches an unforgettable high summit. Here are some photos from their trip:
Gary and Lynn are happy mountaineers on the summit of 14,015′ Wetterhorn Peak.
The West Ridge of Forbidden Peak is one of the most sought-after alpine climbs in the North Cascades. This fine route is included in the legendary “50 Classic Climbs in North America” and it holds all the challenges of a quintessential alpine climb: a glacier approach, steep snow climbing in a skinny couloir, extensive 5th class rock climbing on a supremely exposed ridge, and a technical descent. Whew! Last week Gordon, Sonya, and I made a perfect ascent of this fine route.
Exciting climbing on Forbidden Peak's West Ridge
The wind lashed our faces as we ascended through heavy clouds toward the summit of Mt. Rainier. Icy gusts and crystalline rime coated our jackets with a layer of thick crust that made our movement rigid, almost robotic. Upward progress had become difficult as the storm intensified. We breathed hard in the thin air of 13,000 feet and our pace slowed under the weight of the effort. As I looked at my team of climbers stretched out on the rope below, I understood the expression etched onto each face. Would we make it?
Intensifying storm conditions on Mt. Rainier
At last weekend’s Ouray Ice Festival Peak Mountain Guides’ staff member Matt Wade and program sponsor Backcountry Access put on two free clinics titled “Avalanche 101 For Climbers”. The clinics introduced participants to factors that contribute to avalanche hazard on backcountry ice climbs and they learned specific techniques for managing risk in a climbing context.
The world famous Ouray Ice Festival
Summit Success on Ama Dablam! Here is the update we just received from Guide Chad Peele:
“After several days of resting in preparation for our summit attempt it was “go” time! We were all anxious to go for the summit as we had spent several days watching the first teams of climbers move onto the summit and now it was finally our turn. After a casual breakfast of coffee with two fried eggs and toast, we packed up and started our final push on Ama Dablam. We quickly bypassed Yak camp and moved onto the start of the fixed lines to our tents at Camp 1 where we would spend the night. The move from Camp 1 to our next camp was a going to be a big day, so after dinner and hot tea we buried ourselves into our sleeping bags for an early bedtime.
This was an amazing camp we had on the upper mountain
We just received another update from Chad and Dan on Ama Dablam. It sounds like they are progressing smoothly up the route! Here’s what we received from Chad:
“After settling into our luxurious Base Camp we rested and participated in a Puja ceremony. Puja is a rite that is performed on an auspicious day (determined by the Sherpas) once basecamp has been established and before any climbing on the mountain occurs. This is a very important ceremony for the Sherpa and we were very excited to help and participate.
Puja Ceremony on Ama Dablam
During 4 beautiful days last week, the Peak Mountain Guides 2010 Mt. Rainier Team made a strong attempt of the Emmons Glacier Route. Despite not making it to the summit, Brian, John, Gideon, and Matt learned a great deal about mountaineering and teamwork while experiencing the magnificence of Mt. Rainier. The weather and snow conditions were absolutely perfect for the duration of the trip, making for great views and terrific photo opportunities. A few photos are attached below. The good weather and snow conditions also allowed everyone to get ample practice with mountaineering skills like kicking steps in snow, ice axe self belay, ice axe self arrest, plunge stepping and glissading for descending, rope set-up with prusiks, glacier rope-team travel, alpine camping, Leave No Trace principles for an alpine environment, and other associated skills. A few participants came to the program with little previous mountaineering experience so the educational components of the trip really helped them understand and learn the important fundamentals.
The team made two camps during the ascent, the first in Glacier Basin and the second at Camp Schurman. On the summit attempt from Camp Schurman the team climbed about 1000′ onto The Corridor, a large passageway on the Emmons Glacier, before turning around due to fatigue and reports of high wind above. It was a very good effort by everyone! As famously stated by the reputable mountaineer Ed Viesturs, “the summit is optional, getting down is mandatory”. Following this good advice, the group made a safe descent back to Camp Schurman and down to the car at the trailhead below.
Brian and John, with Brian's school flag, at our high point.
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All Peak Mountain Guides staff are certified by the American Mountain Guides Association as Rock Guides, Alpine Guides, or Ski Mountaineering Guides.
Peak Mountain Guides staff members Angela Hawse, Geoff Unger, and Tim Brown are IFMGA internationally licensed guides.
Peak Mountain Guides LLC | 280 7th Avenue | PO Box 1025 | Ouray, CO 81427 | 970-325-7342 | info@peakmountainguides.com |
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Jul 26th, 2012| 