Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Abby Westling, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climbing team with RMI Guides Abby Westling and Ben Luedtke climbed last night and reached the summit as the sun was setting. The team spent their first day on the mountain with an acclimatization climb to Ingraham Flats. On day two they took advantage of a full night’s rest and chose to do a sunset climb, a rare and special treat for the climbers to see the stunning alpenglow on Mt. Rainier.
Congratulations Team!
Posted by: Casey Grom, Jess Wedel, Charlie Harrison, Joey Manship, Roland Scott, Will Ambler
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Casey Grom and Jess Wedel called from the crater rim this morning after their successful climb of Mt. Rainier. The teams enjoyed some light winds and a bit of precipitation as they bagan their descent back to Camp Muir.
The teams will be back in Ashford this afternoon to celebrate their accomplishments! Nice work team!
Posted by: Josh McDowell, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Josh McDowell and Emma Lyddan reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6 am PDT today. Josh reported a windy climb, so they didn't stay too long on the summit. The team is on the descent toward Camp Muir, and will be back at Rainier Basecamp to celebrate this afternoon.
Congratulations Team!
Congratulations, Max! Looking forward to hearing the tales of this adventure and your plans for the next one. Bravo to the whole team!
Posted by: Sue on 7/8/2023 at 10:41 am
Congratulations to All, and especially to Max for achieving his goal!
Next climb, Denali?!!
Posted by: Michelle on 7/8/2023 at 10:01 am
Posted by: Henry Coppolillo, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
The RMI Mt. Baker Team led by RMI Guides Henry Coppolillo and Leif Bergstrom were standing on the summit of Mt. Baker at 1:15 pm PDT today. Henry, Leif, and Team traversed the stunning North Face of Mt. Baker to scale the ice cliff of the North Ridge route. Leif reported clear skies, light winds, and great day of climbing. They will descend via the Coleman-Deming route and make their way back to camp for the night.
Congratulations Team!
Posted by: Steve Gately, Joe Hoch, Trevor Katz, Lacie Smith, Evan Redman, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Team climbed into a cap and had light winds. but that didn't stop them from reaching the 14,410' Summit. RMI Guides Steve Gately and Joe Hoch were leading the team off the crater rim at 6:57 am. They are on the descent making their way back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations team!
Absolutely amazing Miami Crew! Love you guys and so proud always.
Posted by: Linda on 7/7/2023 at 9:07 am
Felicitaciones a todo el grupo por lograr su cometido. Ya quiero ver las fotografÃas, seguro estan espectaculares!
Posted by: Zulema Roca on 7/7/2023 at 9:01 am
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Like we’ve said before, the weather hasn’t been in a good mood here in Alaska. Keeping with that trend, was the dramatic ending to our long and hard-fought expedition. As we resigned ourselves to sleeping yet another night on the glacier, we got the call that planes were in the air.
Hopeful, salad eyed, and smelly we packed our stuff and waited for our return trip home. Then the rain started. As we stared down the southeast fork of the Kahiltna, we could only hear the buzz of the planes and the patter of the drops on our coats. Muttering “ cmon, cmon” as if to plead with Mother Nature to abate and let the clouds lift. We willed the weather to let up just enough for the pilots to pull off a landing and high tail it out of there.
We slept in beds last night, took showers, and celebrated like it was going out of style. We can’t wait to see our friends and family soon. Thank you all for following along and cheers to another great, successful expedition on Denali. See you next year!
RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Dan May and Team
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7300'/ 348'
Wednesday, July 5, 2023 - 11:59 pm PT
Difficult day today, waiting for the weather to clear, then scrambling like crazy in the evening to fly and finally an unintentional split of the team. As some made it in to town and some remained on the mountain for the night.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
Wednesday, July 5, 2023 - 12:55 am PT
The team woke up to snow and wind distorting the shapes of the tents we call home for the last 21 days. We hit snooze and hoped for the best. While I wouldn’t say the best ever came the allure of Roestis, showers, and beds pulled us out of our sleeping bags and into the fray. From 11,000 ft to the base of Ski Hill was a near total whiteout. We persevered through the wind, moisture, and visibility to reach basecamp at about 6pm, but conditions didn’t allow planes to come and land. We’re hopeful that tomorrow we’ll be back in civilization.
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli
Yay! Mission almost accomplished! Such an amazing group you are
Posted by: Kim on 7/5/2023 at 8:53 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
Tuesday, July 4, 2023 - 11:57 pm PT
Long day, but it ended with us reaching basecamp safe and sound, so it was a very good day. The start was hard, it was still snowing and blowing as we packed. There was a lot to do since our gear had been buried under a few feet of fresh snow. We set out at 9:40 in a whiteout, working by Braille and GPS. The first three hours were like that, pushing through endless new snow. We started to come out of the storm below ski hill, but conditions were quite mushy. Our snow shoes were sinking in, which made finding crevasses fairly difficult. We trudged on in surreal lighting as the clouds came and went. Heartbreak Hill didn't break any hearts. We were happy to be on the home stretch. We pulled in to basecamp at 6PM. It was all ours for a few minutes. Dominic Cifelli's team pulled in just behind us, but otherwise, camp was empty and gone, closed up for the season. Weather didn't permit a flight so we camped.
Hey Dustin and Dave! Awesome job getting your team back to basecamp! You guys Rock!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 7/6/2023 at 4:48 am
Posted by: Tatum Whatford, Nicole De Petris, Calvin Jiricko, Bailey Servais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons June 30 - 5 July reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. After several days of training and ascending via the Emmons Glacier, RMI Guide Tatum Whatford and team left Camp Schurman this morning for their summit attempt. The team reached the summit around 8:30 am. It's a beautiful day on the mountain and after enjoying some time in the crater the team will return to Camp Schurman. Tonight is their last night on the mountain, tomorrow they will descend to the trailhead at White River and make the drive back to Rainier BaseCamp. We look forward to seeing them tomorrow afternoon.
Nice work team!
Nice job team! Way to go Calvin!!
Posted by: Wallis Shoppy on 7/4/2023 at 10:47 am
Congrats on a spectacular summit!
-Nick
Posted by: Nick R on 7/11/2023 at 8:45 pm
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