Entries By jackson breen

Thursday, May 9, 2024 - 10:48 pm PDT

The pilots in the Alaska Range are some of the best mountain pilots in the world, so when we chatted with K2 today and they said they didn't think the weather was going to let us make it to base camp today, we took it to heart. They are the pros at flying and if they don't want to go, we don't want to be on the plane. So, we cooled our feet, had a nice breakfast and a nice coffee, and made a plan to refresh some crevasse rescue skills in the hanger. No sooner had we built an anchor than we got the call that things were changing for the better. They watched it for a bit, loaded the planes, looked at it some more, and decided it was worth trying. Sure enough, there was a clear path up the Kahiltna, and suddenly we were in the Alaska Range listening to the retreating whine of the turbo otter as it headed back Talkeetna, leaving us on the glacier to contemplate the size and scale if peaks around us and our undertaking.

We opted to stay at base camp tonight and get things sorted, so we set tents and had our first meal on the mountain. It's a different vibe now from the nervous waiting and preparing. We are here and it's up to us to start moving our things uphill. So, we'll take our fate in our hands and set out for the base of Ski Hill tomorrow to take our first steps on our journey up Denali.

We'll check in tomorrow.

RMI Guides Pete VanDeventer, Jackson Breen & Team

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

The team got into Anchorage yesterday and drove our way to Talkeetna making a stop for last minute grocery’s and marveling at the glimpses of Denali and the rest of the Alaska range as they poked through the clouds. Once in Talkeetna, we checked into the hotel and ate burgers, calling it an early night before our big day of packing and preparing!

Today we spent the morning going through gear. We sorted our stoves, tents, kitchen, warm layers, and most importantly FOOD! After that, we had a nice orientation with the climbing rangers where we talked about the mountain, keeping it clean, staying safe, and received our clean mountain cans (CMC’s). The final bit of the day was spent packing our backpacks and duffels and weighing in to prepare for a flight to follow. We spent the evening enjoying pizza and beer as some rain came in. With any luck we will fly tomorrow and be walking on the mountain soon!

RMI Guide Jackson Breen

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir team led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Seth Burns has concluded their week of training and returned to Paradise.  Although the weather threw a few curves at them, the team was able to get in lots of training including cramponing, glacier travel, ice climbing, rappelling, and crevasse rescue. We can probably consider it winter camping as well. They endured some cold temperatures but also enjoyed some beautiful sunrises and sunshine.

Nice work team!

RMI Guide, Joe Hoch, reported the following from Mt. Baker this afternoon: 

The team is back at Sandy Camp after their summit attempt. We made it up to the crater rim, at around 9,700'.

The team will enjoy their dinner at camp, a good night's rest before they pack up camp and head back to the trailhead tomorrow. Nice work team!

RMI guides, Jack Delaney and Jackson Breen, had good news to report from Sandy Camp this afternoon. Their team navigated late season conditions on Mt. Baker and made it successfully to the summit! 

Nice work team!

Today's RMI Four Day Climb with guides Steve Gately and Jackson Breen climbed to Ingraham Flats to enjoy the sunrise. The high heat, and current route conditions prevented the team from safely going any further onto the upper mountain. The team enjoyed the morning climb and are now descending to Paradise.

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise August 8 - 13 team met last Tuesday at Rainier BaseCamp for their first day of Technical Skills training.  On Wednesday, led by RMI Guides Ben Luedtke, Jackson Breen and Joey Manship they headed to Paradise and hiked to their first camp.  The team spent the next several days learning and practicing glacier travel skills, crevasse rescue and expedition style climbing.  Yesterday they bumped camp to 10,080' Camp Muir and with an alpine start this morning they reached the summit of Mt. Rainier.  The team is safely back at Camp Muir where they will have a short break to repack and re-fuel for the remaining 4,500' down to Paradise.  They will conclude their program with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.

Congratulations to the team!

The Four-Day climb of Mt. Rainier led by RMI guides, Dominic Cifelli and Sam Hoffman, were turned around this morning due to thunder and lightning. The team is currently on their descent and will celebrate their hard work at Basecamp in Ashford before team members head their seperate ways.

After some long days of walking and training, the Emmon's seminar led by RMI guide Jack Delaney reached the summit of Mt. Rainier. The team will enjoy their descent to Camp Schurman and a nice dinner before resting up for their walk out of the backcountry and drive back to Ashford tomorrow afternoon. Nice work team!

RMI Guide Jack Delaney led the Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise July 14 - 19.  The team met last Thursday for their orientation and gear check.  The next morning they went straight to the mountain.  Their first camps were above Paradise and they used the terrain for training, getting everyone up to speed on cramponing, glacier travel and ice axe arrest skills.  Additional training took place as the group slowly ascended over the next few days.  Yesterday the team made the jump to Camp Muir.  After dinner and discussion about the climb ahead they crawled into sleeping bags for a few hours of rest.  With an alpine start the team left Camp Muir, they reached the summit after 6 hours of climbing, approaching the crater rim around 7 am.  After enjoying the views and photo ops from the summit the team is returning to Camp Muir.  Once back at Camp they will pack up and continue the final 4.5 miles back to Paradise.  Their program concludes today with a celebration once they return to Rainier BaseCamp.

Nice work team!  We hope you enjoyed your time on the mountain!