Entries from Locations
Posted by: Seth Burns, Jackson Breen, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 7,800'
Sunday, May 18, 2025 - 1:53 am PT
We woke up this morning with the feeling that we would fly today and in the end we were right. A little after noon we got the call we had been waiting for. And quickly got into our boots. After a circuitous and beautiful flight we landed on the Kahitna Glacier. Despite the later hour, with good weather and high stoke, we quickly left base camp and made our way to Ski Hill. The team is very happy to be on the mountain and making our way up.
RMI Guide Seth Burns and team
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Dominic Cifelli, Calvin Jiricko, Bailey Servais, Rosie Hust, Imogen Von Mertens, CJ Rogers
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,700'
RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier and Dominic Cifelli led their Four Day teams May 15 - 18, on an early alpine start from Camp Muir this morning. Unfortunately, high winds forced the teams to turn around at 10,600 feet. Everyone returned safely to Camp Muir. They plan to begin their descent at 9:30 a.m. PT and are expected to arrive back at Rainier BaseCamp in Ashford by early afternoon.
Posted by: Seth Burns, Jackson Breen, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Saturday May 17, 2025 2:07 pm PDT
Seth Burns and Team checked in from Talkeetna, they are loaded and Flying onto the Kahiltna Glacier.
Let the climbing begin!
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition May 13, 2025
Godspeed out there Will. We’re excited for your journey and thinking about you every day.
Posted by: Andrew and Nicole Gonzales on 5/18/2025 at 5:30 am
Have fun out there, Juan and team! I’ll be cheering for you every step of the way.
Posted by: Jackie on 5/17/2025 at 3:17 pm
Posted by: Ben Ammon, Sam Hoffman, Hannah Blum, George Hedreen, Arianna Drechsler, Avery Stolte, Brooks Ordway-Smith, Fitz Elder
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb led by Ben Ammon and Sam Hoffman reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 9:45 AM today. Despite some challenging walking on the route, the team made strong progress and arrived at the crater rim in just six hours. After a brief celebration on the summit, they began their descent.
Congratulations to today’s team on a successful climb!
Congratulations!!! So happy you made it to the top! I hope you have a safe descent.
Posted by: Anna Carlson on 5/17/2025 at 10:02 am
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Nick Sinapius, Ben Thorneycroft
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
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Friday May 16, 2025 11:10 pm PDT
We had the perfect rest day. It was in turns quite snowy, whiteout and incredibly hot, and blue and calm. We crushed a breakfast hash scramble, then some cinnamon buns, then lingered in the cook tent swapping stories and stretching. That gave way to midday siesta/saunas. Eventually Nick and Ben got motivated and dug a pit to hang skis over and make a passable pull-up bar (#lookatmenowpaul). Video evidence was collected of numbers 100 and 101 from both Ben and Nick. No wasting away and getting weak on Denali for those two. A good dinner, and we’re hoping to wake to weather that lets us make the next move.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer & Team
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition May 8, 2025
Posted by: Seth Burns, Jackson Breen, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
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Friday, May 16, 2025 - 10:19 pm PDT
We started our day with breakfast at latitude 62 and ended our day with dinner at latitude 62. Can anyone guess where our day will start tomorrow?!
We spent the morning talking about the finer points of Denali climbing while learning and practicing some new skills. In the afternoon, our pilots at K2 along with the Denali base camp manager saw a break in the weather. Giddy with excitement, we loaded up the plane with all of our bags, put on our mountain clothes, and patiently waited for our chance for take off. Unfortunately, mountain weather can be a fickle beast and the mountain wasn't ready to let us in just yet. We became mesmerized by some classic Denali climbing films and fantasized about when we would soon be in those very spots.
Waiting is inevitable in the mountains, but always hard, especially at the beginning of a trip. I could not be more proud of our team's attitude. They are taking everything in stride and with a smile. We are enjoying constant laughs, telling stories, and building camaraderie that will enable us to run when our feet hit the ground. We will be ready to fly when our time comes. Hopefully that time is tomorrow morning!
RMI Guides Jackson, Ray, Seth and Team
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition May 13, 2025
Posted by: Eric Frank, Mitch Valaitis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,500'
The team turned around just above the Cleaver yesterday due to difficult walking conditions and challenging weather, which proved too demanding for the group. Eric and his team departed Camp Muir this morning at 7:40 a.m. and are en route back to Paradise.
Everyone is safe, in good spirits, and coming away with valuable mountain experience.
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Nick Sinapius, Ben Thorneycroft
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
Thursday, May 15, 2025 9:49 pm PDT
In the words of Thornjamin “when we awoke the weather was like nahhh, but then it was like jahhh”, and we carried to 13,500’.
It was windy when we woke but it quieted enough to convince us to go walking and turned out to be a quite smooth day. Tomorrow looks snowy and we intend to chill hard. These are times that lead us to say thanks to those in our life providing a multitude of remote weather advice, especially to Henry, whose whiteboard of weather models, maps, sharpies, and seemingly random red lines have yielded incredibly accurate results. Ask him how he does it?
But in all seriousness, we are psyched to have a cache up high and be looking at a rest day tomorrow. Things are going smoothly, the snow makes climbing quite forgiving for this time of year, and temps have been balmy (relatively) as well.
Best from 11,000’,
RMI Guides Thornjamin Bennycroft, Nick, Pete, and Team
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition May 8, 2025
Posted by: Seth Burns, Jackson Breen, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Thursday, May 15, 2025 - 9:00 PM PDT
Well, we did not fly today. The clouds around Talkeetna and especially on the Kahiltna kept the planes on the ground. While this is not exactly what we wanted it is not unusual. Our friends at K2 aviation run a professional outfit and do everything they can to get us safely on and off the mountain. While they kept their eyes on the weather, we spent the day enjoying coffee, going over rope skills, eating plenty of food, and even going on a nice run.
If you're reading this, send us clear sky vibes.
RMI Guides Seth, Jackson, Ray, and Team
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition May 13, 2025
Posted by: Seth Burns, Jackson Breen, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 348'
Wednesday May 14, 2025 - 8:52 pm PT
Our first full day in Alaska greeted us with a beautiful and crisp morning. Today was a day of packing and repacking, prepping for the weeks ahead. While at time tiresome, we were laying the groundwork for a successful climb. By the end of the afternoon, bags were packed, food checked, and our team organized into our two flights. Excitement is high as we hope to fly to basecamp tomorrow.
All the best- RMI Guides Seth, Jackson, Ray, and team.
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition May 13, 2025
Everyday is a grind, but the ending will be amazing, keep pushing! Remember each moment!
Posted by: Josh Durkiewicz on 5/15/2025 at 9:12 am
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Be safe sweetheart you got this! i’m so proud of you and I hope you have a great time and see lots of amazing views. I love you love, mom.
Posted by: Laura Hittmann on 5/19/2025 at 5:09 am
You’ve got this Will!!! What an adventure!
We love you!! Can’t wait to hear about it and see the awesome pics!
Safety to all!
Love, Mom
Posted by: Annette Sutila on 5/18/2025 at 2:16 pm
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