Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Jackson Breen, Lacie Smith, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 7,300'
Friday, June 12th @ 4AM PST
Today we undid all of the work we spent the last 14 days doing in just 14 hours. We woke up to a clear cold morning at 17k camp. We descended the West Buttress in chilly conditions but were treated to nice weather and familiar faces when we saw our RMI family at 14k camp! Best of luck to Dan May and his strong team of climbers! Down we continued to 11k camp where we dug up our cache and enjoyed some relatively warm temps and sunshine after having been at over 20,000’ less than 24 hours ago. Still further down the mountain we went to camp one to pick up another cache where we saw Ben Luedtke and another RMI team. Finally we retraced the very first day of our trip and walked our way back to the airstrip on a tranquil Alaska range night. The day was truly unbelievable. We were treated to views of Hunter, Foraker, Denali, and the rest of the central Alaska range. Days like today stir up a great deal of gratitude for the privilege this life is and an overwhelming reminder of how small we are. We arrived at camp under the midnight sun and treated ourselves to refreshments, charcuterie, and friendly conversation before finally turning in for the night. Morning? The sun doesn’t set. Who knows? More importantly, who cares?! We achieved so much more than our goals and with any luck we will be flying back to Talkeetna and returning to the “real” world tomorrow. We can’t wait to see you all and tell you about the wild journey we had together!
Best,
Jackson
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition May 26, 2026
Posted by: Ben Luedtke, Mike Bennett, Avery Stolte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 7,800'
Friday, June 12th - 12:20AM PST
Woweewow! What a day. As planned, we made it onto the glacier this morning. The views flying in? Epic. The mountain? Stunning. The plane flying away and leaving us here? Welcomed. We are ready. And in fact, we already moved. We arrived at Camp 1 just in time for dinner and "sunset." After a long hard day carrying ALL of our gear, we feel ecstatic. But the work to climb the tallest mountain in North America doesn't stop. Tomorrow we will carry and cache just below our next camp. Sweet dreams y'all, update you tomorrow!
-RMI Guide Ben Luedtke & Team
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition, June 9, 2026
Wow. Just epic blue bird skies and awesome conditions for flying to the glacier. You are all going to do big things on this beast of a mountain. Not easy pulling those massively packed pulks so impressive work. Hope you all get some good recovery and rest where you can.
Posted by: Ed DaPra on 6/12/2026 at 10:50 am
Jimmy, Allison, Amanda and Devin!
Sounds like an amazing day so far. Sweet dreams rest up tomorrow. The adventure continues!
Stay safe,
Sandy
Posted by: Sandy on 6/12/2026 at 9:37 am
Frank & Team reached the summit of Antisana, fourth highest volcano in Ecuador, this morning. They summitted at 6:50 am GMT in 6.5 hours. Nice work team!
RMI Guide Eric Frank left a voicemail from the summit, scroll below the next photo to listen!
Photos by Local Ecuadorian Guides, Reynaldo Camacho and Jaime Avila
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Expedition June 5 - 15, 2026
Posted by: Ben Luedtke, Mike Bennett, Avery Stolte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 348'
6.9.26
Hello all and welcome to Talkeetna, Alaska! After being picked up at the airport, we were shuttled through Wasilla for a quick 45 minute food shop and arrived at our K2 hangar for our official start of the west buttress climb. After enjoying an awesome dinner at Denali Brewpub and beginning to mesh as a team, we were treated with a view of Denali herself.
6.10.26
A day of packing. Twas the perfect day to pack with the hangar doors open. Alas, we are ready. With nerves of steel, we shall fly towards our future. And with great manifestation, our team shall succeed. Stay tuned for the trip of a lifetime.
- RMI Guide Ben Luedtke & Team
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition, June 9, 2026
May Mother Nature work with you! Enjoy every single step!
WOW WOW WOW!
Posted by: Kierstin Decicco on 6/12/2026 at 7:30 am
Let’s get this party started!! Love you guys.
Posted by: Sas & Aunt Sandy on 6/11/2026 at 2:47 pm
Posted by: Joe Hoch, Felipe Guarderas, Rosie Hust, Nina Bridges
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,300'
We weren't able to summit this morning after multiple days and multiple feet of new snow. But we took advantage of the perfect weather for a classic stunning sunrise at Ingraham Flats!
- RMI Guide Joe Hoch
Posted by: Daniel May, Drew O’Brien, Mac Nolde
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 14,000'
Wed 6/10/2026 11:09 PM PST
Hot, heavy, and beautiful describes our day today. We awoke with the sun, broke down camp, and began our journey to move our home to 14k camp. The team arrived in style and had a full dinner of burritos. We are going to bed, happy, full and ready to enjoy some beach days in this beautiful place!
- RMI Guide Dan May & Team
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition, June 2, 2026
Hello Chris Roberts!
Posted by: Jim Marsico on 6/11/2026 at 5:29 pm
Posted by: Jackson Breen, Lacie Smith, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,310'
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 - 10:58pm PDT
Cumbre!
We got up early this morning and were the first team on the autobahn. A chilly start paid dividends throughout the rest of the day. We enjoyed the best weather you could ask for, incredible views, and a virtually empty route. Despite the perfect conditions the team is still pretty spent and has a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible.
Peace, Love, Gratitude.
RMI Guide Ray Holt and Team
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition May 26, 2026
Hurray! Congrats on being officially 50% done with your trip!!!
Posted by: Reusserzales on 6/11/2026 at 6:47 pm
Well done everyone. Super impressed and it is great to hear the weather was in your favor.
Coach K
Posted by: Kurt Madden on 6/11/2026 at 2:19 pm
Posted by: Daniel May, Drew O’Brien, Mac Nolde
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 11,000'
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 - 12:07 am PT
Another lovely day of near perfect weather. We awoke to cold temps and clear skies with our sights set on caching just below 14,000' Camp
After a long day in the sun, we made it back to camp just in time to lounge and view the splendors of 11,000' Camp before our move tomorrow!
RMI Guides Dan May, Drew O’Brien, Mac Nolde and the team
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition, June 2, 2026
Let’s go Jimmy! One day closer to the summit!
Posted by: Braxton Hurst on 6/10/2026 at 6:46 pm
Posted by: Jackson Breen, Lacie Smith, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 17,000'
Tuesday, June 9, 2026 - 11:04 pm PT
Our team woke up early this morning for the first time in many days. We packed up and moved from 14,000’ camp up to 17,000’ Camp. We walked up through the cold of the morning towards the fixed lines. After ascending the fixed lines we found ourselves on the West Buttress itself. And in all of my years I have never had such a pleasant day on the West Buttress. It was truly a day you dream about. We climbed in base layers in the sunshine weaving through the rocks looking down at 14 Camp where we started the day. It was not all sunshine and rainbows however, and the day had its fair share of struggles and suffering. After a long hard fought day we arrived at 17 Camp where we set up tents, made water, ate dinner, and prepared our gear for a summit attempt in the morning. Thank you for reading along and sorry I am not as entertaining of a writer as our climbers. We will check back in tomorrow with an update on our summit attempt!
Best regards,
RMI Guide Jackson Breen and Team
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition May 26, 2026
Say hi to Russia for us!
Posted by: Reusserzales on 6/10/2026 at 6:15 pm
Good vibes. To the top with safety, speed and style!
Love pops
Posted by: Pat Breen on 6/10/2026 at 1:03 pm
The last 24 hours have been a bit of a blur, but we are happy to report that everyone on the team summited Illiniza Norte this morning. It is only an "acclimatization peak" on our itinerary in preparation for the upcoming attempts on Antisana and Cotopaxi, but this morning's climb was exhilarating in its own right.
Yesterday morning we left Quito under sunny skies with high excitement and a questionable forecast. Midway through our approach to the Illiniza Refugio the skies opened up and we walked in a deluge for 30+ minutes. The rain tapered a bit for the final hour, but we arrived at the refugio quite wet. Gore-tex can only stop so much water!
Nevertheless, the team did a great job staying motivated and even though it rained off and on through the night we woke up at 5am to make the best of it. Our motivation paid off and by 6:15am we were headed uphill under partly clear skies. The rain through the night did leave a nice coating of snow over the entire mountain, which added to the challenge. Scrambling sections that normally would be easy were slick with slush and required careful movement.
Two and a half hours of climbing later, we reached the summit and quickly decided to descend before the weather turned on us. A slippery and muddy descent brought us back to the trailhead.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
I was communicating with my friend whom was at 11K on Ben’s team yesterday. He told me that your team had arrived. I was shocked. I said Action Jackson and Team Kuhl. He said yes and cool team. I could not believe how quickly you climbed back down. Impressive up and impressive down. It was fun watching along and congrats on huge accomplishment. TPS reports on Monday are going to look even more boring. Great work!!!
Posted by: Ed DaPra on 6/12/2026 at 10:44 am
Just imagining that you kicked each climber off the summit and they tumbled down the mountain, arriving hours later at base camp encased in giant snowballs.
Posted by: Beth on 6/12/2026 at 10:27 am
View All Comments