Entries from Locations
Posted by: Brent Okita, Leif Bergstrom, Sam Hoffman, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb Led by RMI Guide Brent Okita reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Brent reported clear skies above and a great climbing route.
Congratulations team!
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 348'
Thursday, July 7, 2022 - 11:52 am PT
We are calling ourselves lucky. Very lucky. The clouds moved away long enough for the glacier surface to freeze up for our nighttime ramble down the lower Kahiltna. We started walking down from 11,000 at 12:30 AM. The midnight sun was beautiful on the peaks around us as we cruised down in the cool shadows. The first hours, to the base of Ski Hill, were straightforward… then things got complicated. Lots and lots of crevasse crossings. But that is where the freeze helped immensely. It also didn’t hurt that other teams preceded us, breaking into holes and showing us where not to walk. In the end we made it through without any collapsed bridges. It took about seven hours to get to the airstrip. Half the team flew off in a K2 Otter just before 10 AM but before the plane could make it back for the other half, clouds rolled in. They didn’t roll away until mid afternoon, at which point the Otter swooped in to get the job done. We were the last team on Denali for the 2022 season… and then we were just a bunch more tourists in Talkeetna with funny tans. The team had a celebratory dinner at Mile High Pizza Pie, and then a late night Cornhole tournament in the beer garden of the Fairview Inn. A little live music and a nightcap (or two) put a finish on an excellent expedition. Thanks for following.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Photos courtesy of Dave Hahn
Congratulations to Jim Karmozyn and the entire team on a safe and successful climb and return.
Posted by: Ted Wioncek on 7/8/2022 at 12:17 pm
Woweeee! So proud of you all! What an awesome, incredible journey! We thoroughly enjoyed following along.
Welcome back!
Diana and Tom
Posted by: Diana Weiss on 7/7/2022 at 3:24 pm
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Josh McDowell, Augi Fleer, Matias Francis, Trevor Katz, Nicole De Petris
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb July 4 - 7 led by RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier and Josh McDowell led their teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The guides reported windy conditions on the mountain but an overall clear and sunny day. They are currently at Camp Muir and will pack and ready for the remainder of their descent to Paradise.
Congratulation to today's climbers!
Wow!! So proud of the whole team and especially the Larson sibs! Thanks to the guides for keeping them all safe. What an adventure!!
Posted by: Elizabeth Larson on 7/7/2022 at 8:34 pm
Awesome! Congratulations
Posted by: Susan Decker on 7/7/2022 at 4:56 pm
Posted by: Casey Grom, Abby Westling, JT Schmitt, Lily Emerson, Jenna Burkey, Cal Seeley
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
Continuous rain overnight at Camp Muir, kept the Five Day climb July 2 - 6 teams from making their summit attempt. RMI Guide Casey Grom reported a slight break in the weather but the rain was continuing. They plan to leave Camp Muir around 9:30 am for a hopefully dry walk down to Paradise. The teams should return to Rainier BaseCamp in the early afternoon.
Thank you Abby, Casey and all the guides for your leadership and hard work to help us all develop our mountaineering skills.
Posted by: Jeff Wrobel on 7/7/2022 at 7:24 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
Tuesday, July 5, 2022 - 8:25 pm PT
We pulled out of 14,000' at 10:30 this morning. Winds were still blowing up high, it certainly wouldn’t have been a summit day, but much of the low cloud had cleared out. The couple of hours down around Windy Corner, across the Polo Field, down Squirrel and Motorcycle Hills were the usual insane sled rodeo. The sleds don’t like being heavy or on a side hill and so they flip a lot and we all just try to keep smiling and pulling. We set up camp -possibly our last- in early afternoon and dove in for naps. We’ve just eaten dinner now and we’re napping once more. The plan is to get up in three hours (at 10 PM) and to set off around midnight toward the airstrip on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna. We’re hoping the surface of the lower glacier freezes up hard and that our timing is just right for taking advantage of that freeze.
Best Regards
Posted by: Alex Halliday, Leif Bergstrom, Daniel May, Sam Marjerison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,200'
RMI Guide Alex Halliday called from Cmap this afternoon. The team turned at 12,200', at the top of the Ice Chute, due to deteriorating weather. He reported cloudy condition, some snow but an overall nice day of climbing. Alex mentioned that despite the team turning, that everyone was stoked after their ascent of the Ice Chute.
Their plan is to walk back to Paradise tomorrow and retun to Basecamp in the early afternoon.
Lia & Chris: Congratulations on making the climb. Can’t wait to hear from both you about the adventure! Very proud of both of you
Posted by: Marcella and Bill on 7/6/2022 at 7:34 am
To the most badass climbers Lia and Chris, we are so proud of you! At 12200 ft, we’re sure there was plenty cu-see cu-see cu-see. Can’t wait to hear all about your incredible adventure
Posted by: Ana & Yukichi on 7/5/2022 at 11:34 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Monday, July 4, 2022 - 9:46 pm PT
We woke to a calm but cloudy morning at 17,200'. There was light snow falling -some of the first snowflakes we’ve had on this trip. It wasn’t too hard to be out in it for packing though. We got it all done and got walking at noon. Many careful steps were taken along the crest of the West Buttress in the clouds. We got a little surprise when we started down the fixed lines at 16,200. There was an actual squall with snow blowing in our faces as we delicately stepped down and across crevasses. Things eased as we got to 14,000' at 3 PM and re-established camp. We then had a quiet afternoon and evening of resting, relaxing and eating, with everybody making mention of how much easier life at 14,000' was compared to 17,000'.
Tomorrow we’ll hope the clouds go elsewhere as we get down to 11,000' and get set for the big walk out the lower glacier.
Best Regards
Posted by: Brent Okita, Matias Francis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Matias Francis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier earlier this morning! The team reported a nice day for this 4th of July holiday. The team on their descent and we expect them back in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
Congratulations Sarah, Nicole, and Jake on reaching the summit. This is a great accomplishment. We are proud of you! Be safe! Felly, Sam, and Kevin.
Posted by: Sam on 7/5/2022 at 6:33 pm
Congrats David & Stephanie! Epic! You two are beasts. Thankfully no 90mph winds this time. Denali is next. Love ya and happy for your success. Mom & Dad
Posted by: Richard on 7/5/2022 at 5:19 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,310'
Monday, July 4, 2022 - 1:50 a.m. PDT
Briefly…Because it is 12:38 a.m. at 17,200 ft…we did it! Fabulous climb to the top of North America. The day started out a little more windy than predicted, so we pushed our start back to 10:15 a.m., by which time thinks were looking more promising. We went back and forth all day between a little cool and a little hot. Luckily, when we hit the top at 6:30 p.m., it was calm and easy. In fact we enjoyed it so much we spent 50 minutes on top! There was only one other team today and we will likely be some of the very last for the season. Beautiful views down into all the fascinating glaciers and valleys surrounding Denali. We picked our way carefully down, leaving the summit at 7:20 p.m. and arriving back at high camp at 11:00 p.m. Late night dinner and then crawling into sleeping bags for well earned rest.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and team
nice to visit this site.
Posted by: Ruhiarsha on 3/13/2024 at 2:36 am
Congratulations to Jim Karmozyn and the entire team on reaching the summit! I knew you could do it.
Posted by: Ted Wioncek on 7/7/2022 at 10:56 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,200'
Saturday, July 2, 2022 - 8:56 pm PT
It was a rest day, although slightly less restful for taking place at 17,200'. Everything is a little harder up here. We were lucky to have a nice sunny day (again) which made it easier to relax. It was breezy from time to time, which was forecast. We’re hoping the winds quiet down, in keeping with those forecasts, for our summit day tomorrow. We ate and drank water and stared out at the amazing views. We made last minute adjustments to our packs and the gear we’ll rely on tomorrow. We talked strategy. We looked up at the “autobahn” -the route from 17,000' to Denali Pass and tried to judge its difficulty. After weeks of hard work to get in position, we are ready.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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That was Kristian Whittaker’s 25th Birthday - climb. How cool he summited with his sister, Gabriella and her boyfriend Leif. I, Erika, was so fortunate to meet up with the kids at Camp Muir and walk back to Paradise with them and with Brent Okita and my good friend, Anne M. So grateful for this day back on Mt. Rainier with both my kids. :). Sorry I didn’t get to see any of the RMI office staff when I was at Basecamp. Maybe next time.
Posted by: Erika Whittaker on 11/17/2022 at 9:36 pm
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