Entries By tatum whatford
July 14, 2024
Posted by: Alan Davis, Tatum Whatford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 10,000'
It was such a treat to again be able to enjoy the bustling coastal grandeur of Lima and watching surf for a night before the next long travel leg. As we arrived by bus two nights ago, we were greeted with our first views of the Cordillera Blanca and the towering giant that is Huascaran. We were welcomed back by the always friendly staff at the Andino Club Hotel. A true climbers hotel with some Swiss roots. It was so great to catch up with our local partner and guide Peter Alvarado as well as some of the other support staff with whom we hadn't seen in a couple years. Tired from multiple days of travel via busses and planes we quickly enjoyed dinner and got settled into our rooms for a full nights rest 10,000’.
Acclimatization has been going well thus far here in Huaraz. Not only have we been sleeping at 10,000', but yesterday, we went for a hike a few hours round-trip walk from our hotel to the "Puca Ventana" or "Red Window" which overlooks the city. Today, we went up to 14,700' on another hike to the beautiful turquoise Laguna which sits in front of the 18,000' "Nevado Churup." Early to bed for some rest and last minute gear shuffling before we begin our trek into the the Lllaca Valley where we will set up our basecamp at around 14,500’ for the next few days as we prepare for our first objective of Vallunaraju.
RMI Guide Alan Davis
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July 8, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Ben Luedtke, Tatum Whatford, Felipe Guarderas, Celeste Wilson, Arianna Drechsler
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb July 4 - 8 led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer & Ben Luedtke reached the summit of Mt. Rainier with 100% of their teams. The teams enjoyed clear skies and warm temperatures and lots of great photo opportunities.
Nice work everyone and congratulations!
PC: Ben Luedtke & Pete Van Deventer
What an amazing experience! Fun, safe, encouraging. I couldn’t quit smiling. The team was great, and the guides brought out the best in everyone. A transformative experience, and one I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. Training for this climb changed my life, and standing on top of the world for a few moments changed me forever. Truly grateful!
Posted by: Glory Dole on 7/15/2024 at 11:10 am
I could not thank enough to our RMI guides and team members who contributed and shared this lifelong memories. I really enjoyed the stores behind each climber on why dreamed the summit of Mt. Rainier and how to take efforts to make the dream become true.
I know I made a right choice to pick RMI as my guide service. I will definitely refer RMI to my friends for future mountaineering adventures.
Posted by: Shirley Zhang on 7/9/2024 at 7:51 pm
July 3, 2024
Posted by: Joe Hoch, Tatum Whatford, Mitch Valaitis, George Hedreen, Arianna Drechsler, Stella Johnson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Climb June 30 - 3 July was unable to reach the summit today due to high winds. RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Tatum Whatford left Camp Muir with an alpine start but were turned back at Ingraham Flats due to extremely high winds. The teams returned safely to Camp Muir where they spent the rest of the morning. They plan to start their descent from Camp Muir to Paradise around 9 am.
June 29, 2024
Posted by: Tatum Whatford, Will Ambler
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
The Mt. Baker Expedition Skills Seminar spent the week on the mountian training. The team had tough weather on the mountian. Yesterday they spent the day in the sunshine on Mt Erie to solidify rope skills and dove deeper into a variety of alpin skills. The team was unable to summit due to the weather but took advantage of the time and were eager to learn and develop new skills.
June 14, 2024
Posted by: Tatum Whatford, Jackson Breen, Steve Gately, Joey Manship, Leif Bergstrom, Mac Nolde
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,300'
The Four Day Climb led by Tatum Whatford and Jackson Breen reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver before high winds, cold temperatures, and incoming weather forced them to turn. On the descent the team enjoyed the sunrise from Ingraham Flats.
Congratulations Team!
W O W sunrise pic from the Flats !
Posted by: Waltero Glover on 6/15/2024 at 5:46 am
June 2, 2024
Posted by: James Bealer, Tatum Whatford, Leif Bergstrom, Calvin Jiricko, Layne Peters, Mac Nolde
Categories:
Elevation: 12,300'
June 3: The team started their descent from Camp Muir at 7:30 AM PT today. We expect them to arrive at Paradise around 10 am.
The Five Day Climb May 30 - 3 June led by RMI Guides James Bealer & Tatum Whatford reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver, 12,300', today before deteriorating weather forced them to descend. The team is enroute to Camp Muir. They will spend the night at Camp Muir tonight and descend tomorrow.
Great effort for the team in spite of the awful weather conditions this weekend. Don’t give up hope on a future summit attempt. Took me 3 times before summiting.
Posted by: Neil Schweitzer on 6/2/2024 at 12:11 pm
May 20, 2024
Posted by: Casey Grom, Tatum Whatford, Nicole De Petris, Drew O’Brien, Charlie Harrison, Avery Stolte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,000'
The Four Day Climb May 17 - 20 led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Tatum Whatford reached 12,000ft today before route conditions required that they turn around. The team enjoyed a beautiful sunrise with a cloud deck below. They returned safely to Camp Muir, packed up their gear and continued their descent to Paradise. The team will conclude their adventure this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp.
PC: Tatum Whatford
Early season is tough on Rainier. It’s more miss than hit until July 4th.
Posted by: Constantine on 6/1/2024 at 5:58 pm
We’re scheduled for a 5 day in mid-june… In looking through the blog I don’t see any successful summits this season… is there a summary we can see that provides some insight into how things are going in order to judge our chances (weather permitting) of success ?
Posted by: Doug Thompson on 5/24/2024 at 10:43 am
August 8, 2023
Posted by: Mike Walter, Tatum Whatford, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 9,131'
RMI Guide Mike Walter checked in to say the Mt. Shuksan - Fisher Chimney August 6 - 8 team reached the summit and have completed their descent back to the trailhead.
Nice work team!
August 5, 2023
Posted by: Mike Walter, Tatum Whatford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,200'
RMI guide Mike Walter checked in this afternoon to report that the team was out of the backcountry. Despite their best efforts, the North Ridge team shifted objectives and ultimately were turned around due rockfall after attempting the Coleman-Deming route.
Nice work team!
August 1, 2023
Posted by: Tatum Whatford, Charlie Harrison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
Monday, July 31, 2023 - 6:00 pm PT
We woke up to a clear stary morning at Sandy Camp for our climb of the Easton Glacier. We had an all-star team of climbers that tagged the top around 10am this morning. We just got back to camp and we're enjoying some sunshine.
RMI Guide Tatum Whatford
Hi,
Please share photos of your adventure, if at all possible. (The Peru Seminar is one I’ve been mulling over for quite awhile now—the Cordillera Blanca seem absolutely magical to me.)
Posted by: Some guy from Puyallup on 7/14/2024 at 5:55 pm
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