RMI Expeditions Blog

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz May 29 - 3 June led by RMI Guide George Hedreen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier yesterday.  The team established their High Camp yesterday afternoon and then made their summit attempt and returned to camp. Today the team will descend to Paradise and conclude their program.

Nice work team!

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 - 10:27 pm PT

The team met up today in Anchorage in glorious spring weather. We made the drive to Talkeetna with views of Denali, Foraker, and Hunter lurking in the foreground. Upon arrival we quickly dropped our gear off at the K2 hangar and met up for a nice meal and some desserts, get the calories in while we can! The team walked down to the Talkeetna river to watch the fast-moving waters while staring up with clear skies at the immense Alaska range. Early to bed tonight to prep for a long day of packing and organizing before waiting our turn to fly onto the glacier and begin our climb. Stay tuned.

RMI Guides Dan May, Drew O'Brien, Mac Nolde 

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 – 8:57 pm PT 
On May 26th, the RMI Denali team was waiting for a person to walk through arrivals who was aiming to be the youngest woman from her country to claim all seven summits. They waited at the Anchorage airport for minutes, then hours, eagerly watching for her to walk through the arrivals gate.

She never did.

Instead, it was I that showed up, knock-kneed and nervously shrill, a meager replacement Instead of an international overachiever, this will just be one missive from one woman trying desperately to conquer one summit, breaking no records in the process whatsoever. The lawn will have to wait another three weeks. 

I wish I could tell you that I’ve been strong and tough and loving this experience so far, but it would be truly embarrassing to tell you the number of hours I’ve wasted fantasizing about having a strong man here who volunteers to carry my heaviest things for me. Feminism, I will sell you down the river in exchange for a lighter sled and a fresh veggie tray. 

As a woman whose personality is better suited to all inclusive resorts in tropical locales with five star spas attached, I have felt a growing sense of dread and fear. After all, having to buy equipment from a store called ‘40 Below’ does not bode well for my internal body temperature, which hovers barely above hypothermic during an Arizona heat wave. Although I do think the down camp booties will look rather flattering next to my Pomchi back home. 

I was delighted to discover that dragging a sled is just like staggering home drunk from the bar. I can do this! I exclaimed to myself, I’ve been training my whole life for this. The lopsided jerking of the sled with each slow step reminiscent of brooklyn all nighters, of which I am a pro. Perhaps this mountain won’t be too bad after all. 

But then the mountain laughed at me and called my bluff. A gentle breeze turned into a personal crisis, as I found myself pulling on my summit parka at 10,000 feet, less than halfway to said summit. Setting up tents at the airstrip took us just under six minutes. Here, it took all hands on deck and just under two hours before we were tucked into our nylon ice caves. Just think of this as a cold plunge, I told myself, it’s good for your lymphatic system. 

The sauna relief didn’t arrive until 12 hours later, when our tents transformed into sweat lodges and we took the opportunity to do alpine laundry, taking full advantage of a rest day by stuffing ourselves with highly processed carbs. Forget the summit, leave me here forever, please and thank you. Perhaps later on I will even treat myself to half a wet wipe and a daydream about indoor plumbing. 

RMI Climber Patty

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 - 7:24 pm PM

Today we rested! Tomorrow we climb!

Send us well wishes and good vibes!

Stoke is high!

RMI Guide Seth Burns

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 - 4:26 pm PT

We awoke in the early morning cold at 11,000 feet to break down camp for the final time. One last descent over familiar terrain back to the airstrip! The first leg of our journey started out with a less than auspicious start - in a cloud with blowing snow. After a couple of hours we popped out of the cloud into blinding sunshine and panoramic views of the Alaska Range! Three hours of scenic glacier travel later we arrived at Kahiltna Basecamp. After checking in with Mary, the lovely basecamp manager, we were in the queue to be picked up by K2 Aviation. The team dug up the cache we had left on day one revealing a wealth of treasure inside, forgotten snacks, beers and bubbly waters!  We got organized, relaxed and sipped our beverages until we heard the whine of Turbo Otter engines in the sky. Less than an hour later we were in Talkeetna, a strange and alien place full of greenery and modern conveniences. The final 48 hours from summit to town felt like a fever dream. The trip is officially over with everyone back, safe and sound. Thanks for following our journey dear readers!

Cheers,

RMI Guide Jack Delany and the Team 

RMI Teams led by Dave Hahn and Joe Crawford reached the summit of Mt. Rainier! They started their descent back to Camp Muir around 9:30am. RMI Guide Dave Hahn reported great weather and good route conditions. 

Congrats team!

On the evening of May 31st, the Mount Baker Easton climb went 100% to the top! We enjoyed calm and clear conditions, with the route all to ourselves. The sunset was around 9:00pm, transitioning into a beautiful full-moon which illuminated the sky to the East. 

Thanks to the team for all the effort and hard work to make it happen. 

- RMI Guide Sam Hoffman and Kat Porter
 

Monday, June 1st - 11PM PST

Good fortune rewards the bold.

We woke craving the sun. Shivering, yet still smiling, our breakfast of grits and pop tarts fueled our warm laughs and usual morning camaraderie. When finished, we all knew what we needed to do. Today was our acclimatization climb. Now strong worriers against our ever present enemy, the cold, we roped up and left camp just as the rest of the 14k village began to rise. We had the buttress to ourselves and our temperatures rose back to normal, the unimaginable views ripened as we climbed higher into the thin air. For much of our crew, every step up was a new personal record in either elevation or latitude north. The awe of where we are and what we are doing had started to truly sink in. The once daunting fixed lines were a breeze for our well prepared and efficient team. With ease we reached the saddle. Just over 16,000 feet, the deep breaths were welcome. The thin air seemed to render nothing but gratitude. Appreciation for the raw beauty that surrounds us. Happiness for this experience we get to share together. Gratitude for each others efforts and pride in being part of this team. With the same efficiency we made it back to camp with enough afternoon to relax and watch the swarms of climbers conga line up and down the fixed lines. We reflected on the simplicity of life up here, the simple joys and the few frustrations and just how lucky we are to be here. But maybe what we’ve been calling luck, the luck of our awesome teammates, luck of the weather, the luck of feeling good and our strength, the luck seeing the surrounding, jaw-dropping views, is actually the reward for our valiant efforts. Burns and team knows they’ve earned a rest day.

Monday, June 1st - 10:40PM PST

To the 12 readers of this blog following the journey of an unlikely, but wholly likable, group of adventurers, we welcome you to day 5 - The Journey to Camp Two! Today’s harrowing tale sees our hearty heroes punching a trail they climbed two days ago to where we cached gear, and then climbing on to camp 2. The climb today felt totally different from the first time - the blue bird sky and clear vistas were replaced with low clouds, and a few inches of new snow. We heard from other teams that it cleared up once you got closer to camp 2. And boy did it! Clear skies graced us yet again along with much colder temperatures and high winds. This is the first time it really feel like we are on the mountain. Picking up our cached gear along with way puts us in an ideal position to continue up the mountain as long as the weather holds, but the added weight made a hard climb seem REALLY hard. But, we all made it in good spirits to our goal, and I’m sure the extra effort will pay dividends in the days to come.

Now the last few days of blog posts have been amazing, am I right? (Pauses for applause) but don’t think that it’s all lofty introspection out here. Many times we end up telling dad jokes to pass the time. So here is my silly list of nominations based on what I know about people so far (please note: these are subject to change by the end of the trip. The author may in no way be held liable for the accuracy of these nominations.)

Ricky: least likely to get sunburned. Don’t prove me wrong!

Alonzo: Most likely to climb all seven summits, we’re rooting for you, brother!

Matt: Most likely to become a bush pilot.

Lizzie and Pattie: most likely to be mistaken for a married couple on their next adventure (I hear SCUBA diving may be next - at least somewhere warm)

Peter: most likely to be ready, willing, and able to help a brother (or sister) out when in need.

Ray: Most likely to entertain you with lively conversation and great stories if you are lucky enough
to be walking within earshot.

Lacie: Most likely to have a shockingly good impression of everyone by the end of the trip (ooh ooh do me first!) ��

And last but certainly not least, Jackson: Most likely to get us to the top of Denali (and back down) safe and sound!

Oh, and me. I’m the most likely to try and dodge writing the daily blog even after I sort of volunteered��

To make this blog more interactive and to let you know that we read all of the comments, I want to let our dear readers know that Pattie is just as concerned about her lawn maintenance as you are and will eagerly tackle that chore just as soon as she is done submitting this beast of a mountain.

Now for the fun part: audience participation!

1. Please nominate a climber to write tomorrow’s blog. Must be someone that hasn’t written so far. Available people are Pattie, Alonzo, and Matt. First comment wins.
2. We missed the answer to last nights trivia. Can someone please let us know how many claps there are total in the Friends theme song? 

We love all of your support. Now show some love to the RMI Team and Like, comment and subscribe!

- RMI Climber Dave
 

Monday, June 1st - 9PM PST

Well, we did it. We packed up camp at 14 yesterday morning, and began the trek back down the mountain around noon. We rolled through our old camps, and luckily got to see a few friends along the way. We picked up trash, old CMCs, and a few hugs here and there. We continued through the lower Kahiltna - in a white out, fitting for this trip. 

Eventually, around 10PM we pulled our heavy sleds up heart break hill and into base camp again. We enjoyed a midnight dinner, and settled into our tents for (hopefully) the last time. 

The following morning we checked in with K2 and hoped to fly. We got lucky, and by 11A the planes were on the ground and we crawled in. 

The team is back in Talkeetna and enjoying vegetables and beer for the first time in a while.
 

-RMI Guide Nikki Champion