Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Leif Bergstrom, Ben Thorneycroft
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guides Leif Bergstrom & Ben Thorneycroft have been training and climbing via the Emmons Glacier. Yesterday they moved to Camp Schurman and this morning launched their alpine start. Their team was in the summit crater around 7 am and is now making their way back to camp. They will spend a second night at Camp Schurman and then continue down to the trailhead near White River Campground tomorrow. The team will conclude their adventure tomorrow afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp in Ashford.
Nice work team!
Posted by: Casey Grom, Jackson Breen, Hannah Blum, Layne Peters, Miles Watson, Margo Kerr, Erika Barrett, CJ Rogers
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb July 5 - 9 led by RMI Guides Casey Grom & Jackson Breen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams enjoyed clear skies, nice walking and a bit of wind. They began their descent from the crater rim just after 7 am. Forecasts for tonight show higher winds, so the team chose today for their summit attempt and it seems to have worked out nicely. They will return to Camp Muir for their second night and enjoy a full nights rest before descending the final 4,500' to Paradise tomorrow.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
PC: Layne Peters
Posted by: Tatum Whatford, Joe Crawford, Raymond Holt, Dylan Anderson, Julian Kral, Ben Porter, David Rathbun, Nina Bridges
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five-Day Climb teams, led by RMI Guides Tatum Whatford and Joe Crawford, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning! After taking in a beautiful sunrise above the clouds, the climbers began their descent from the crater rim around 7:00 a.m. They'll pause for a well-earned break at Camp Muir before continuing down to Paradise, with plans to return to basecamp later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today’s climbers on a successful summit!
Congratulations everyone (especially Trishita)! Great job and you continue to inspire us!
Posted by: Sanjay Banerjee on 7/7/2025 at 7:20 pm
Great job, everyone (especially Trishita)! So glad you got to summit
Posted by: Connor Boyle on 7/7/2025 at 4:27 pm
Posted by: Brent Okita, Nick Sinapius, Felipe Guarderas, Layne Peters, Hannah Billings, Brooks Ordway-Smith, Matt Tucker, Matt Kelly
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
At 5:45 AM, under bluebird skies and in calm, clear, and beautiful conditions, the Four Day Climb team led by Brent Okita and Nick Sinapius reached the summit!
They’re already on the descent, making the most of this perfect alpine morning.
Huge congrats to the team for a strong and successful push!
Amazing accomplishment congratulations on summiting
See you all soon !!!
Posted by: Maria Pelikan on 7/5/2025 at 11:22 am
Congratulations Team Skopic & Pelikan! You rock!!!
Posted by: chris Skopic on 7/5/2025 at 11:01 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Sam Hoffman, Calvin Jiricko, Bailey Servais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 348'
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Friday, July 4, 2025 - 1:33 AM PT
After we got in the tents at 11k last night, there was a violent thunderstorm passing over with inches of hailstones. We awoke at 2:00 AM to fire the stoves, choke down some oatmeal and get ready for a big day. It was party cloudy but mostly clear, which led to easy walking conditions. We were walking by 4:00 AM and and fairly soon, we’d reached the upper regions of Ski Hill and then our old camp at 8k. It only took us a further three hours to reach base camp. For late season, conditions were amazing. We never had to cross an open crevasse. We stayed busy at base camp sorting our own gear and helping others to load planes. Our flights came in around 1:00 PM and then we were headed to Talkeetna. Our team had donated pizzas in their mouths within 5 minutes of landing in Talkeetna. K2 Aviation did an excellent job bringing us home. In checking out with the National Park Service, we learned that we had been the absolute last team on the mountain and that the success rate for the season had only been 36%.
We sorted gear for the afternoon and then celebrated with a dinner at the brew pub. We celebrated a safe and enjoyable climb that didn’t reach the summit. That seemed appropriate given how much we enjoyed the effort of simply trying to get up the mountain.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
PC: Dave Hahn
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition, June 14, 2025
God reise hjem etter det som må ha vært en fantastisk opplevelse selv om toppen ikke ble nådd.
Posted by: Erik Blaauw Evensen on 7/4/2025 at 12:45 pm
Sounds like it was a great time. Congratulations on a fine effort and for filling your life with special memories. Glad Jon didn’t slow you down too much.
Posted by: Richard Harmetz on 7/4/2025 at 10:00 am
Posted by: Henry Coppolillo, Jess Wedel, Miles Watson, Tate Hughes, Simon Kearns, Mitch Valaitis, Annie Chapman, Fitz Elder
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Happy Fourth of July!
Led by RMI Guides Henry Coppolillo and Jess Wedel, the Mt. Rainier Four Day Climbs reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 5:35 am. The teams were approaching the top of Disappointment Cleaver on their descent, when they checked in around 7:30 am. They will continue their descent back to Camp Muir where they will pack up before descending the Muir Snowfield to Paradise. We look forward to welcoming them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Lacie Smith, Rosie Hust, Jack Ritterson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14, 410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar Team, led by RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today via the Emmons Glacier.
Over the past week, the team has been training on the upper slopes of Mt. Rainier, honing a variety of advanced alpine techniques. Today, they put those skills to the test and successfully climbed to the top of the mountain.
The team will spend one more night at Camp Schurman before descending and returning to Rainier Basecamp tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations to the entire team on a successful summit!
Great job team! Thanks again Dustin, Lacie, Rosie, and Jack.
Posted by: Paul Morgan on 7/5/2025 at 4:53 am
Posted by: Will Ambler, Casey Grom, George Hedreen, Raymond Holt, Avery Stolte, Celeste Wilson, Margo Kerr, Erika Barrett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb June 30 - 3 July led by RMI Guides Will Ambler and George Hedreen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They enjoyed some time in the crater before starting their descent around 7 am. Will reported sunny skies and light winds. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break and repack, then continue the final 4.5 miles down to Paradise. They will conclude their adventure this afternoon with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Sam Hoffman, Calvin Jiricko, Bailey Servais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 11,000'
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 - 10:43 pm PT
There are amazing views every step of the way from the crest of the ridge, but with heavy packs and steep terrain to negotiate, we didn't take so many pictures. Sure enough, the wind was still blowing and the slope was still loaded when we woke at 17,000' this morning. We packed up and started down the West Buttress at 11AM. The fixed rope section went smoothly and we were digging up our 14,000' cache by 2PM and continuing our descent by 3:30. Much snow had fallen on Windy Corner since we'd last been there and the walking and sled pulling was a little challenging as a result. We persevered on down the Polo Field, Squirrel Hill and finally down the reflecting oven that Motorcycle Hill tends to be in late afternoon. At 11,000' we got right to work building a hasty camp and running the stoves. We'd been in blazing hot sun but as soon as we sat down to an outdoor dinner, a spectacular hailstorm hit. But we were hungry and sat through it.
Folks are getting a few hours rest now. We'll get up in the night and make a push for the airstrip in the early morning hours.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition, June 14, 2025
Aww, Jon! Sorry the ever elusive summit just wasn’t in the cards again! But better safe than sorry. Great job to the entire team, I’m sure the views were spectacular all along the way. Get down safely!
Posted by: Sunita Bendale on 7/4/2025 at 2:06 pm
Impressed by the speedy descent! I’ve loved following along over the past few weeks, and hope everyone is healthy & safe. Hope the experience was wonderful, regardless of the outcome! We live to climb another day.
Posted by: Katie Gardner on 7/3/2025 at 10:19 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Sam Hoffman, Calvin Jiricko, Bailey Servais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 17,200'
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - 10:04 pm PT
Today was windy from start to finish, which we weren't quite expecting from the forecasts. There was plenty of sunshine though and so it wasn't uncomfortable. But we mostly hung in the tents, just coming out occasionally to look at the world stretched out below. And to look at the route to Denali Pass, over and over. The avalanche hazard still exists and we can't will it away by staring at the slope. The team is agreed that we'll look at it one more time -tomorrow morning- but then, without some dramatic change, we'll descend, as the teams around us have done. The forecasts are calling for strong winds up high now in any case.
It is a tough situation. Luckily we are climbing with tough people.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition, June 14, 2025
Hope tomorrow morning brings good news! Best of Luck to All!
Posted by: Mike Baron on 7/2/2025 at 9:29 pm
Holding out hope for a clearing—stay safe!
Posted by: jen ostrich on 7/2/2025 at 9:16 am
Congratulations on a successful summit! What a great achievement!
Posted by: Alison Thornton on 7/8/2025 at 10:04 am
View All Comments