Entries from Locations
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Daniel May, Lacie Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,310'
Friday May 31, 2024 7:16pm PDT
On Summit!
Saturday, June 1, 2024 12:55am PDT
Returned to 17,000' Camp safely at 10pm and planning to begin descent tomorrow morning.
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier & Team
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Denali Expedition, May 12, 2024
Posted by: Steve Gately, Sam Hoffman, Raymond Holt, Ben Siegel, Ben Thorneycroft, Avery Stolte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Steve Gately and Sam Hoffman reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team climbed with clear skies, cold temperatures, and arrived on the summit at sunrise to enjoy the views.
Congratulations Team!
Congrats to all!! Especially Jonathon for making it on his third try. And you ladies rocked it!! Proud of y’all and was happy to be a small part of the experience. There is a bar tab waiting for y’all. Enjoy and safe travels.
Tucker
Posted by: Tucker Graves on 5/31/2024 at 12:31 pm
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Daniel May, Lacie Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,000'
Wednesday, May 29, 2024 - 4:15 pm PT
Hello again from 17,000' Camp. The views up here have been rewarding. Our camp is settled above the clouds and other Alaska range peaks. We went to bed early last night with high hopes of getting up for our final summit push. Unfortunately we awoke to less than ideal winds at camp and windy spindrifts on Denali Pass. We started the day with breakfast and hot drinks in our tents to stay out of the elements and have been hunkered down to avoid the cold winds. We’re patient, we’re staying warm and we’re very motivated for another attempt tomorrow!
RMI Guides Lacie, Dustin, Dan and team
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 12, 2024
Awesome job, Jordan!! We are so proud of you and praying for a safe return!!! Keep it up!!!
Posted by: Dylan and Kat Hunt on 6/1/2024 at 10:46 am
They did it!!! Huge congratulations to the entire team!!!! Love you Skyler!!!
Posted by: Matt Milford on 5/31/2024 at 8:24 pm
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Daniel May, Lacie Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,000'
Tuesday, May 28, 2024 - 9:33 pm PT
We arrived at 17,000' Camp this afternoon and are winding down for the night. Plans to climb tomorrow if winds allow.
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 12, 2024
Hey Dustin and Team!! Wishing you all the BEST weather for your Summit day!!
PS You all Have an AWESOME guide with Dustin!!!
Climb Strong!!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 5/29/2024 at 8:22 am
Yay! hope the winds and weather cooperate for your summit tomorrow. Be safe! Can’t wait to see you soon Chris
Posted by: Christine Riley on 5/29/2024 at 7:48 am
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,600'
Monday, May 27, 2024 - 11:30 PM PT
Our descent is well underway. We woke up a bit leisurely this morning and let things get a bit warmer, then packed our belongings and started down the West Buttress. Before long we were in the relative warmth of 14,000', wearing much less than all the 14,000' Camp dwellers themselves. Something about coming down from somewhere that's been - 25 to change perspective. We packed more belongings at 14 Camp, and started down towards 11,000'. We had a plan to see how low we could get. We made it to 11,000' Camp in great time, so the team decided to take a minute to brew up some more water, then keep going to the base of Ski Hill, our first camp of the expedition. We are there now, where things feel truly balmy. We're going to take a quick snooze, then wake up early and walk the last bit to Kahiltna Base Camp, where we hope planes will be flying first thing!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Daniel May, Lacie Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Monday, May 27, 2024 - 7:05 pm PT
The Denali Bingo card formulated by our team.
1. Get uncomfortably close to filling your pee bottle in the middle of the night.
2.Make eye contact with someone from the next camp while pooping.
3. Stand outside your tent for more than 30 minutes because you want to go pee before you get into the tent because once you're in you don't want to come back out.
4. Wear your bootys instead of your boots outside and almost slide to your death (or fall into the kitchen tent)
5. Have more than 5 blisters.
6. Read out loud to your tent mates for entertainment.
7. Read all the books you brought/watch all the shows you downloaded before day 16.
8. Eat 3 servings of breakfast/dinner.
9. Drink your warm food bowl cleaning water (gross)
10. Get very frustrated when you realize that all the music you downloaded on Spotify isn't working.
11. Eat a questionable snack.
12. Get woken up from condensation drops on your face.
13. Dig yourself out of your tent after a storm.
14. Be thankful for all the life choices that brought you here
15. Regret every life choice that brought you here.
16. Taste your last meal in your current meal.
17. Use your pee bottle for warmth.
18. Skip brushing your teeth because it’s cold outside
19. Use pee bottle as spit bottle when brushing teeth.
20. Tent yoga.
21. Finish packing your pack and then fully unpack because your gloves are at the bottom
22. Unusual shaped sunburn
23. Eat a pound of cheese in 3 days.
24. Get blasted by snow in the kitchen tent during an entire dinner
25. Wear the same pair of socks for more than 10 days
Denali bingo brought to you by Sharon and the team. We are all winners in this one!
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 12, 2024
“Make eye contact with someone from the next camp while pooping.”
Yikes, lol.
Posted by: Some guy from Puyallup on 5/28/2024 at 6:34 am
Posted by: Mike Walter, Jess Wedel, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,000'
Monday, May 27, 2024 - 9:30 am PT
Yesterday, we got the weather window we needed and on day 20 of this expedition, we stood on the summit of Denali.
What a day it was! We dawned all our gear (every layer! Brrr!) and were one of the first teams on the route. We climbed the Autobahn and took our first break in the sun. Up through Zebra rocks and onward we went. The clouds were below us and the views were beyond beautiful. A little breeze picked up as we crossed the Football Field and looking up at the summit ridge, we thought it might be too windy. But by the time we made it to the top of Pig Hill, at the start of the summit ridge, the winds had died down and we carried on.
Quick photos and celebrations and “I can’t wait to tell my wife! my family! my friends!” sounded among our team. We know we wouldn’t be here without all the support of so many of you at home and we can’t wait to share more stories when we get back.
We’ll begin our descent today - after coffee and hot drinks, we’ll head down to 14,000' Camp, pack up all our gear and try to descend to 11,000' Camp tonight. With hopes to walk to the airstrip tomorrow!
With big full hearts,
RMI Guides Jess, Mike, Michael and the Denali #1 climbing team
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 5, 2024
We are so very happy for your success! I’m so happy that our son Nick had the opportunity to go with your group and know that it had to be a journey for a lifetime for everybody involved! The Roberts
Posted by: Kathie Roberts on 5/27/2024 at 2:39 pm
Way to go! Congratulations to all!
Love Spaulding’s!
Posted by: Sharon Spaulding on 5/27/2024 at 12:11 pm
Posted by: Brent Okita, Sam Hoffman, Drew O’Brien, Nick Sinapius, Raymond Holt, Ben Siegel
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb May 23 - 27 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. RMI Guides Brent Okita and Sam Hoffman led the teams. The group reached the crater rim around 7:45 am PT. This is our first Mt. Rainier summit of the 2024 season.
Nice work team!
Yay! Congratulations
Posted by: Kim Uncapher on 5/30/2024 at 7:35 am
Nicely done. Heading there June 25. Are all summit attempts via the cleaver vs. Ingram direct?
Posted by: Ed on 5/29/2024 at 5:44 am
Posted by: Mike Walter, Jess Wedel, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,310'
The RMI Denali Expedition May 5th led by RMI Guides Mike Walter, Jess Wedel and Michael Murray reached the summit of Denali on Sunday, May 26th. The team safely returned to High Camp, 17,000', after a 12 hour round trip climb. After some much deserved rest they will begin the descent, returning to Kahiltna Base Camp and then onto Talkeetna.
Congratulations team!
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 5, 2024
Congratulations!!! Well done. Glad all are safe. What an unbelievable accomplishment. Thank you for “including us” on your remarkable adventure. Amazing.
Posted by: Bruce Wilhelm on 5/27/2024 at 8:56 am
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,310'
Sunday, May 26, 2024 - 10:56 pm PT
The break in wind we had hoped for materialized and this morning was gorgeous. We got going early to take advantage. The Autobahn was chilly as always, but good walking thanks to the efforts of the multicompany guide effort yesterday. We had a bit of wind as we approached the Football Field, and were a bit worried about the winds streaming over the summit ridge. A passing friend described the ridge as savage. As we climbed Pig Hill in relative protection, they seemed to abate and as we crested things were relatively pleasant. We worked our way along the exciting terrain of the summit ridge and around 15:30, stepped onto the top of Denali. We shared some hugs and photos, and then scooted back across to beat the onrush of traffic still coming up. We had a pretty casual walk back, and 12 hours after we started we were back in camp in sunshine, recovering from a mighty day. We'll sleep well tonight, and then start to work our way to the airstrip tomorrow. We will be moving quite a bit with little rest until we reach base camp and the planes arrive to bring us to town. We'll try to stay in touch, but we will be home soon!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024
Congratulation…Bravo…Well done Pete and crew.
From hoop courts and race ovals of flat IN.
Posted by: Waltero Glover on 5/28/2024 at 1:10 am
Wonderful news! Big congrats to you all!
Posted by: Lisa Hankin on 5/27/2024 at 2:29 pm
Sharon and Sarah,
Congratulations On quite the accomplishment. Waiting word from you to come pick you up in Talkeetna.
Hope the descent is going well.
John/Margaret
Posted by: John on 6/1/2024 at 5:48 pm
Congratulations Dustin and Team!!
That is Just Awesome!!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/1/2024 at 12:43 pm
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