February 21, 2013

All is well with the Winter Seminar team – Austin checked in from Camp Muir reporting gusts around 30 mph, but no new snow.  After a pancake breakfast, the team will work on crevasse rescue skills and fixed lines followed by snow shelters this afternoon.

The group will descend to Paradise on Friday and should be down at IMG headquarters in mid-afternoon.

George Dunn

February 20, 2013

Camp 1 at 6500 feet. Looking at the mountain with the party’s ascent route on the lower right hand sky line. Camp Muir is located just below the lower dark rock ridge in a saddle.

Lead Guide Austin Shannon called to check in yesterday afternoon and again this morning. The group made it to Camp Muir yesterday in good shape. The weather moved in as they ascended, and it was mostly cloudy and snowing lightly for most of the hike. They climbed up above the clouds before reaching Muir, and Austin reported it was clear and cold at Camp Muir. This morning Austin tells us it is continuing clear and windless, and the group is planning on a full day of training today.

George Dunn

February 18, 2013

The Winter Expedition Seminar checked in this evening (2/18) by satellite phone.  All is well with the team, they are spending their second night at a tent camp placed just below the Muir Snowfield at around 6,500 feet. They arrived at the site yesterday, and spent the afternoon establishing a secure and comfortable winter camp.  Pictured is their cook tent shelter, big enough for the entire group when all are squeezed in!

Tomorrow they will ascend the Muir Snowfield to Camp Muir at 10,000 feet if all goes well. Today the group participated in a number of training sessions including avalanche training, use of avalanche transceivers and winter climbing skills.  It was cloudy today and a bit of snowfall, but better weather is expected for tomorrow.

George Dunn

February 6, 2013

If you’ve got some questions about Mt. Rainier and are in the Redmond, WA area tonight, join IMG Guide Dallas Glass at REI for a Prep For Rainier presentation (7pm).  There are just four spots remaining, follow the Redmond link below to register

Can’t make it tonight? Check alternate dates and locations below:

November 2, 2012

Ranger Beason checks a "trim line" caused by the flood along the Nisqually River near Cougar Rock. (Laura Walkup)

Mount Rainier National Park geologist Scott Beason reports that a small glacial outburst flood occurred at Mount Rainier National Park on Saturday, October 27, 2012 at approximately 9:00 PM. This event, while significant, was localized in scale, caused no damage to park facilities, and was not volcanic in origin. It likely originated from the Nisqually Glacier as result of moderate to intense rainfall. A stream gauge located at Longmire registered a 2.8 foot (0.85 meter) rise in river water level between 8:30 and 9:45 pm and the spike was seen on other gages downstream of the park. Field data concur with the stream gage and show evidence of a several-foot surge of water in the Nisqually River.

While this event was small, it highlights one of the many hazards at Mount Rainier. It also shows that potentially destructive and hazardous events can occur even during “small” storms that are common in the fall and winter at Mount Rainier. Workers and visitors near rivers should always be aware of geologic hazards. Remember, if you feel the ground shaking or hear a freight train coming down the valley, get uphill as quickly as you can!

Outburst floods have happened in the park before. A series of such floods in the 1980s and 90s washed out parts of the West Side Road, and in 2005, a debris flow on Van Trump Creek was captured on video as it roared over Christine Falls. You can see that video on YouTube at http://youtu.be/SrYqJlCuppA.

Source: Mount Rainier National Park (facebook)

October 11, 2012

September 30 marked the final end to the summer guiding season on Mt. Rainier. We had a great last three months, no rain and mostly sunny clear days through to the very last climb. We went over 80 days in the Northwest with no measurable rain this summer. The route remained very good into the late season due to the heavy precipitation we had in May and June.

On October 1 and 2 a team of six guides headed up to take down our Weatherport tent, package up the shelter at Camp Muir and shutter the building in preparation for the winter season.

All the guides are heading home or off on climbing trips, enjoying the fall season.

We’ll hope to see you back on Rainier this winter!

George Dunn

October 1, 2012

On Sunday, our last Rainier climb of 2012 came off the mountain in good form after summitting earlier that morning! IMG Guides Justin Merle, Max Bunce, Eben Reckord and Dallas Glass led the way. The team had the mountain completely to themselves, a special and not so common, occurrence.

Their team’s summit puts an exclamation point on another excellent Rainier season for us here at IMG.  We’ll take a breath and look back at the summer here soon, but right now we’re busy answering calls and emails about next year…not a bad problem to have!

If you climbed with us this year – thank you!
If you’ve climbed with us in the past, well, thank you too!
If you’re climbing with us next year, hit the gym and we’ll see you next year!

That’s a wrap… almost, we’ve got a little work to do at Camp Muir today and tomorrow before we can officially put a bow on this thing!

Tye Chapman