Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Steve Gately, Sam Hoffman, Jackson Breen, Erika Birkeland, Hannah Blum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,200'
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.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
August 6, 2023 12:28PM PT
By late afternoon, our Kilimanjaro climbing team had formed up in Usa River, Tanzania. Not without some missed flights and reroutes of course… and the airlines are still hanging on to one duffel bag of gear, but the team is together and ready to launch this adventure. We began with a pleasant dinner outside in the garden of the Rivertrees Inn. There were certainly some yawns and bleary eyes from jet lag, but we also shared some good laughs and a few somber and serious moments as the nine of us introduced ourselves and tried to explain why Kilimanjaro has come to mean so much in our lives. We’ll get into the nuts and bolts of packing and prepping for the mountain tomorrow…
after a little sleep and some morning coffee.
Best Regards
Summit day! Waking up at 11:30pm the moon and stars were in full force. Everyone was nervous and excited to start climbing. After breakfast we began. As we ascended the altitude and cold really challenged us. Finally, the horizon started getting light as sunrise greeted us. As we got to Stella Point fantastic views of the crater showed up, bathed in the early morning sun. The climb to the summit, Uhuru Peak, was beautiful as we traversed past the summit icefields. The climb was tough, but to be expected of a 19,340' mountain.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom, Calvin Jiricko, Ellison Boord, Raymond Holt, Bailey Servais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Four Day Climb August 3 - 6 was unable to make a summit attempt due to continued rain throughout the night. RMI Guide Nikki Champion reported that rain began at Camp Muir around 10 pm and continued throughout the night. Light rain continued to fall this morning. The teams are planning to leave Camp Muir around 9:30 am heading downhill to Paradise.
We expect them to return to Rainier BaseCamp in the early afternoon.
Being a first-timer, although the trip turned out to be incomplete, took away a couple of things from the experience:
1. Now I know that it is doable and will come back to get to the summit next year
2. The basic training and know-how will be helpful for future activities (thanks to all the guides)
Personally, I thought, although summitting was out of the question due to bad weather, going up to Ingrahm flat was possible in the morning and would have given us some experience regarding rope travel. Not sure, if something else other than the weather was under consideration for this decision not to go to Ingrahm flat
Finally, I plan to come back next year. Would it be possible to get some sort of concession that time due to the fact that we could not do the second part at all this time around?
Thanks
—manoj
Posted by: Manoj Devasarma on 8/9/2023 at 4:24 pm
Saturday, August 5, 2023 - 9:38 pm PT
Hey, this is Brent Okita with the RMI Kilimanjaro team. We are on the summit of Kilimanjaro right now. It's, oh, I don't know what time it is, a couple of hours after sunrise. We have a beautiful day up here. Everyone did great and we are looking forward to coming down and celebrating. Congratulations to the whole team. All right, that's all for now from the summit of Kilimanjaro, 19,340'. We will talk to you later.
RMI Guide Brent Okita calls from the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Wow that’s awesome, congratulations! That’s an altitude few people outside an airplane ever achieve! Impressive hiking. You’ll remember this day forever! Well done.
Posted by: Judy Woellner on 8/6/2023 at 12:58 pm
Yahoo!!!! So excited to hear you achieved the summit. What a great feat for you all. Proud of those brave hearts that follow the sport of climbing. I give you all a a lot of credit for the commitment to challenge these mountains and volcanos you so love to conquer.
Have a safe and fun trip on the descend. Can’t wait to see photos of the summit.
Cheers,
Barb
Posted by: Barbara Heck on 8/6/2023 at 12:29 pm
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!
Posted by: Henry Coppolillo, Trevor Katz, Josh Geiser
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
RMI Guide, Henry Coppolillo checked in from the summit of Mt. Baker this morning. The team enjoyed a great climb and will enjoy their evening at camp before they pack up their things and head back to their cars.
Nice work team!
Posted by: Seth Burns, Lacie Smith, George Hedreen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 9,131'
Summit Sulphide Glacier!
RMI Guide Seth Burns checked in today from the Summit of Mt. Shuksan. The team had a great day of climbing with light winds. Seth was also able to share these photos of the Team's training day and approch to camp.
Congrats Kaitlan and whole team on the summit!
Posted by: Victoria and Stewart on 8/6/2023 at 2:41 pm
WOOO!! Amazing photos, thanks for sharing. congrats Kaitlan and the rest of the team!!!!
Posted by: Corey on 8/5/2023 at 11:10 am
Posted by: Casey Grom, Ben Luedtke, Jess Wedel, Erika Birkeland, Mitch Valaitis, Will Nash
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Ben Luedtke reached the summit of Mt. Rainier and were greeted with Snow! A summer storm with clouds, snow, and low visability kept the team from spending too much time on the summit. The team is on the descent, and in route to Camp Muir where the weather is currently a mix of rain and sleet.
Congratulations Team!
Barafu Camp 15,200’
We're here! High camp on Kilimanjaro where we'll be going for the summit tonight.
The walk here was straight forward and everyone is in good shape. We again walked like the seasoned climbers that we have become.
It's busy on the mountain and even our amazing camp staff couldn’t hold the prime spot we usually use this time around. It's hard work supporting us climbers. Not only is our entire camp transported each day, but something as simple as water needs to be brought in from someplace. Today at Barafu, the porters must go back to Karanga Camp, then another 30 minutes just supply us. How amazingly strong and hard workers our porters are, and so kind and generous too!
Today we’ll have a hearty lunch, followed by a very light dinner so we can hit the sack by 6:00. Our plan is to wake up at 11:30 pm and be walking at 12:30 am. This should allow us to hit the summit rim around sunrise, and the summit, Uhuru Point an hour later.
Wish us luck! I'll be in touch at the summit.
RMI Guide Brent Okita & Team
Wow Julie and Brent you never seize to surprise me with your athleticism and enthusiasm for the great outdoor. Love to join you one day. Jody
Posted by: Jody Jacobs on 12/2/2023 at 7:18 am
Thanks so much for the great updates and beautiful pictures. You are all climbing to the summit right now. I’m so excited for you! Thank you so much to the guides and staff for making this an amazing experience for my family. Happy trails!
Posted by: Lisa Corcoran on 8/5/2023 at 4:08 pm
Allison!! Seeing your smiling beautiful face is the best sight!!! You are amazing, we love you so much and Chris is truly with you every step of the way. Cannot wait to continue to keep up with your adventures - love ya mama!!
Posted by: Melena on 8/10/2023 at 4:25 pm
Allison, what an adventure! We are looking forward to following your progress through the blog. Stay safe…our thoughts and prayers are with you every step of the way.
Love, Mom and Bill
Posted by: Diane MacLaren on 8/8/2023 at 7:10 am
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