RMI Expeditions Blog

We enjoyed great weather and snow conditions yesterday as we moved our camp from 11,200' to Genet Basin at 14,200'. We have a well-deserved rest day on tap today as we fortify camp, eat, drink, and lounge.

This afternoon we will practice some fixed rope travel techniques in preparation for our next task, establishing a cache up high on the West Buttress proper. The weather forecast is looking good, and we may head up the fixed ropes tomorrow to get that cache established. Our team is doing well, taking the challenging work in stride, and adjusting to the lack of oxygen and colder temps up here at our new home. We will keep you updated with our status as we work to get into position for a summit bid. There is still a lot of work to do, a lot of acclimating, and a lot of variables, but so far, we're very pleased with the progress of our expedition and we're not complaining about the beautiful views of the Alaska Range.  

We'll be in touch again tomorrow with the latest. Until then, know we are enjoying the rare mountain air.

RMI Guides Mike, Abby, Henry & Team

Expedition leader Lou Whittaker and several members of the 1982 China-Everest Expedition gathered on May 18, 2022, to commemorate the climb’s 40-year anniversary and pay homage to Marty Hoey, our dear friend and fellow RMI guide, who lost her life on the trip. May 18, was Marty’s birthday. Marty’s 90-some years young mom, Mar, was in attendance along with Everest team members Eric Simonson, Dan Boyd, Joe Horiskey, and Jim Wickwire. Marty, 31 at the time of her death, was a tenured RMI guide attempting to become the first American woman to summit Everest. Marty started guiding on Mt Rainier in the early 70’s, and led expeditions to Denali, Aconcagua, and the Fairweather Range in Alaska. A Memorial honoring Marty and 1963 Everest climber Lute Jerstad is located on the Gig Harbor waterfront at the Bogue Viewing Platform, http://www.cityofgigharbor.net/177/Bogue-Viewing-Platform. Others in attendance included Peter and Kerry Whittaker, Lou’s wife Ingrid, Joe’s wife Marjorie, John Kalbrener, Kip Kalbrener, Leslie Kalbrener, LeRoy Kingland, Randy & Kathy Sackett, Tori Withington, Mary Martha, Craig Reininger, and Christopher Lynch. Christopher’s dad Jerry co-founded RMI with Lou Whittaker in 1969.

May 18, 1980, is notorious, of course, for the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Pete and Joe recalled their learning of the event while tent-bound in a blizzard at 14,000’ on Denali. Unfortunately, it was to be our ‘high point’ on that particular Denali climb.

Of personal significance is that May 18, 1974, RMI guides John Kalbrener, Laury (Ape) Bye, and Joe Horiskey reached the summit of Denali for the first time! 18 days to the summit and 2 days down. Cliff Hudson flew us off the mountain, we jumped into our waiting 1965 Mustang (prepared to drive back down the Al Can Highway), and immediately ran out of gas! Ray Genet saved our bacon, offering a syphon hose and inviting us to take all we wanted!

Our get-together in Gig Harbor yesterday was a memorable and fitting tribute to a special day, May 18.  

RMI Guide and Owner Joe Horiskey

Hi Everyone -

Our Baker Ski team is back at camp after a successful ski descent of the summit with everyone!!!

Beautiful day up there with great snow.

RMI Guide Grayson Swingle

Monday, May 16, 2022 - 9:37 pm PT

At 4 am this morning the wolf tried his first huff. He then continued to huff and puff and try to blow down our house but we had built it strong. While we hunkered in our tents it was clear that it wasn't a day to try to walk anywhere. It blew for the morning but by early afternoon began to abate and have us a chance to get out of the tents and stretch our legs. This evening turned gorgeous as the wind went calm and the skies cleared. We should have smooth sailing for a move to 11,000' Camp tomorrow. We'll touch base.

RMI Guides Pete, Erika, Leif, and team

Monday, May 16, 2022 - 9:47 am PT

Yesterday (Sunday) we awoke to beautiful blue skies and light winds. After a nice breakfast of bagels with cream cheese and salmon we packed up gear and food to cache around Windy Corner. This was the first day of the expedition in crampons without sleds which felt awesome as we made our way up Motorcycle Hill. We had excellent views of the surrounding mountains and could even see all the way down to the tundra below the Peter's Glacier! After rounding Windy Corner the weather was holding and everyone was climbing strong so we decided to keep pushing all the way to 14,000' camp! As soon as we finished burying our cache winds picked up and we got our first taste of some nasty Alaska Range weather. By the time we got back to the Polo Fields the winds had abated and we enjoyed a nice walk back to 11,000' Camp. Winds picked back up overnight and this morning has been a bit frigid and blustery in camp today are taking a well earned rest day to recover from the previous five days of hard effort. We're looking forward to moving to 14,000' Camp in the coming days.

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Monday, May 16, 2022 - 6:54 am PT

We spent our first night in the Alaska range cozy in our -20 bags and woke to clear skis and a stunning view all around. The peak of Denali above had a small cloud hat, but otherwise the mountains jutted up into the blue and the sky promised another gorgeous day. We fired the stoves for breakfast and as the sun got closer to camp, woke everyone.

After bagel bacon sandwiches, we set to the task of organizing what gear we were going to move uphill to cache. A fair bit of our food and fuel made up the bulk of it. We departed, loads considerably lighter than yesterday and worked our way up Ski Hill. Several hours of steady uphill work brought us to 9700', where we opted to dig a deep hole in the snow and hide our treasure, to be retrieved in a few days. Moving light and downhill, we made quick work of the descent back to camp and a dinner of burritos. And so goes the rhythm of Denali - wake, eat, walk, eat, sleep. We'll touch base tomorrow.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer, Leif Bergstrom, Erika Birkeland, and team

Sunday, May 15, 2022 - 10:19 pm PT

We waited for the sun to rise this morning before packing up camp and heading back to our cache. We cooked burgers for lunch while repacking our sleds for the long haul back out of the Ruth Gorge. After some difficult hours of travel we arrived at the Mountain House airstrip. We made a quick camp and enjoyed our last evening in the gorge. All is looking well to fly out tomorrow morning.

RMI Guide Avery Parrinello

Sunday, May 15, 2022 - 1:10 am PT

It was an auspicious start to our May 12 Denali Expedition today. When we called K2 in the morning to ask how things looked they replied "unlimited visibility and perfect". We rallied a hasty breakfast and headed for the hanger. We had gotten all of our bags set yesterday, so it didn't take much to get the planes loaded and launched. The pilots were taken with how clear and gorgeous the day was too, taking several detours to show us stunning corners of the Alaska Range on the way.

We landed and hit the ground running. Fully loaded sleds and packs were an indication of the magnitude of our undertaking, but the team cruised through the 5.5 miles of mellow glacier travel, and we rolled in to our first camp looking fresh. Everyone is fed and tucked into warm sleeping bags and as we write, a stunning full moon is rising over Mt. Hunter.

We plan to carry a load up towards Kahiltna pass tomorrow and then return to camp. We'll be in touch.

RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Leif Bergstrom, Erika Birkeland, and team

Saturday, May 14, 2022 - 10:08 pm PT

We enjoyed some pretty amazing weather today. We had a relatively easy day retrieving our cache and returning to 11k camp. On our journey we were treated to a unique wildlife viewing, with snow geese flying in formation above us. They landed on the glacier up around Kahiltna Pass, something I have never seen before. Back in camp, the good weather continued and we relaxed and shuffled gear for the next stage of the game. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will establish a camp up above Windy Corner. The forecast looks good and we're climbing strong, so we're optimistic that will happen tomorrow. I'll let you know  how it shakes out. Either way, it's good to be in the mountains and we're enjoying our time here.

RMI Guide Mike Walter

Saturday, May 14, 2022 - 10:21 pm PT

Today was full of highs and lows, ups and downs, success and failures, proud moments and embarrassing ones. It started with warm sunshine hitting our camp by 7am, and we soon after headed up towards 747 Pass. After some glacial navigation and steep climbs we crested the saddle. We quickly gained the west ridge of Mt. Dickey and began ascending upwards. After a couple hundred feet it became apparent that the snow pack had changed dramatically. After seeing some red flags and investigating further, it was concluded that we shouldn’t continue. Considering the terrain and remoteness of the climb meant we had little margin for error and the unstable conditions pushed us past our safety margin. The entire team was disappointed but only momentarily as we all decided the summit was not worth it and the view from up high was down right spectacular. We had a safe and enjoyable descent back to camp where we ate snacks, told stories and laughed a great deal. Tomorrow we shall start migrating back to the airstrip for our departure on Monday.

RMI Guide Avery Parrinello