RMI Expeditions Blog
Posted by: James Bealer, Abby Westling, Cal Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,541'
The RMI Glacier Peak Climb, led by James Bealer, started at the trailhead on July 5th in high spirits. They hiked through beautiful old growth forest and crossed cold glacial streams. As the team gained altitude, they could see more and more peaks all around them. Finally they reached the top of White Pass and made camp for the night.
Today, July 7th, the team was on the summit! They plan to move their camp back down the mountain a bit today and hike out tomorrow.
Congratulations team!
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14, 200'
Tuesday, July 6, 2021 - 9:30 pm PT
The winds trailed off during the night -at our level, at least- but we got steady snow for most of the day. We sat in place at 14,200 ft. With the continued poor forecast, we are now just looking for a reasonable break in the storms to start moving downward. While it is a tough thing to give up our summit dreams for 2021, it is at least something of an easy call… the mountain simply has not given us an opening. We are still in an amazingly beautiful place, which we remember each time the clouds thin. And we have still got plenty of mountain climbing -albeit of the downward variety- to do before we’re done.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Posted by: Casey Grom, Taylor Bickford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb Teams led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Taylor Bickford reached the summit of Mt. Rainier. The team climbed into a cloud cap with wind, blowing snow, and poor visibility, so they did not get to spend too much time on top. They are on the descent and will be back at Camp Muir soon.
Congratulations to today’s teams!
Well done! Congrats to Nicholas de Steiguer!
Posted by: Allen deSteiguer on 7/7/2021 at 12:51 pm
Posted by: Andy Bond, Pepper Dee
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
100% on Top! The Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier team led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Pepper Dee reached the summit of Mt. Baker early today. The team had a great day of climbing with beautiful route and incredible views the entire climb. They settled back in camp at 6,800' where they will re-fuel, rest for the night. Tomorrow they get an early start, pack up camp and descend to the trailhead.
Congratulations team!
Posted by: Mike Walter, Nikki Champion, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Tuesday, July 6, 2021 - 1:00 pm PT
There's not much new to report today. We're still at 14,000' Camp, waiting for an opportunity to head downhill to the airstrip. Unfortunately we're also still in a snow globe. Apparently it's totally socked in all the way to Talkeetna, with rain in town, so all of the planes are grounded a well. We've got plenty of food and fuel, and we're warm and dry in our camp. The forecast is grim, but we're not desperate, and we'll patiently await a change in the weather.
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Monday, July 5, 2021 - 9:50 pm PT
Score one for the weathermen. They weren’t kidding about this storm. It is real. Came in during the night and by morning it was snowing and blowing and we couldn’t see much. There wasn’t any question of moving camp up to 17,000 ft. In fact, we retreated somewhat. Just after breakfast, RMI Guides Dominic and Matt geared up for the toughest of missions. They trudged out into the teeth of the storm to climb up to retrieve our food cache on the West Buttress. Yes, we were proud to have just placed it there two days ago, but now we can’t afford to be separated from those supplies should avalanche conditions set up in the coming days… which seems likely. The guys had hard going, breaking trail in rapidly accumulating snow. At the 16,000 ft ridge crest they were dealing with winds easily in the 50 mph range, the kind that sound like jet engines even from way down here at 14k. We had plenty strong winds in camp, but of course we were in shelter and comfy, warm and dry. Dom and Matt grabbed the cache and bolted safely back to camp in a total of four very difficult hours. But their work significantly eased our ability to meet our new primary goal: riding out the storm.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On the edge of my seat awaiting your next update. Stay safe, all!
Posted by: Susie Lambert on 7/7/2021 at 3:59 am
Kudos to Dom and Matt for their sprint to recover the cache on the West Buttress!
Hope that the storm abates and progress continues toward 17K.
Joe McEttrick
Posted by: Joseph P McEttrick on 7/6/2021 at 9:44 am
Posted by: Mike Walter, Nikki Champion, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,000'
Monday, July 5, 2021 - 1:05 pm PT
We're still hanging at 14,000' Camp, amid snow, wind, and very limited visibility. We're hoping for a little break in the weather so that we can pack up camp and head down around Windy Corner and start our descent. The weather isn't having any of that, though. At this point we're comfy and safe at camp and there's no reason to force a descent into terrible weather. As eager as we are to get to Kahiltna Base Camp, it is not a pressing matter because planes cannot fly (much less land on the glacier) in this weather.
We'll keep you posted on our predicament.
Thinking about you Aaron!!! I love you! Love, sissy
Posted by: Emilee on 7/6/2021 at 2:44 pm
Posted by: JM Gorum, Joe Hoch, Luke Wilhelm, Alex Halliday, Tatum Whatford, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb July 2 - 5, 2021 reached the crater rim of Mt. Rainier at 5:30 am today with blue skies above and good route conditions under foot. The teams, led by RMI Guides JM Gorum and Joe Hoch, enjoyed some time in the crater and spent time taking in the views. The route remains in good condition with a nice boot pack trail. Back at Camp Muir the teams will get a short break to repack gear and re-hydrate before descending the final 4,500' to Paradise.
Congratulations to the Four Day Climb team!
Posted by: Mike Walter, Nikki Champion, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Sunday, July 4, 2021 - 10:09 pm PT
The weather has not been cooperating with us lately, and the forecast doesn't look good either. Today was the best day in the forecast period and there were still strong winds up high and a huge lenticular cloud on the summit all day. We took advantage of the "best day" to climb up to 16,400' and retrieve our cache; there's a good chance that we would not be able to retrieve it over the next few days. Tomorrow is day 19 of our trip, and our time is running out. With no potential summit day in the foreseeable future we will likely start our descent tomorrow morning. The weather will determine our descent strategy and timing.
Hello to all and special one to Daryl, prayers to all for a one day out of there without any unstable stuff. Tomorrow maybe only 2 or 3 cm of snow, am following you all safely to the bottom. Stop the snow dance.
Posted by: Pat Everett on 7/7/2021 at 10:17 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Sunday, July 4, 2021 - 9:47 pm PT
Our team took a holiday today! We slept in and breakfasted slowly as the sun washed over camp at 9:30AM. As predicted, conditions at 14,000 were calm today while winds appeared to work over the summit. We enjoyed our rest but it was a bit of a tough day for morale. A number of the remaining teams on the mountain are in the process of quitting and going down without the summit. The forecasts are calling for a progression of storms to roll through in the coming week. We’re hoping the forecasts are wrong… but clouds are building up again this evening. It was already going to be tough to see the fireworks with twentyfour hour daylight.
Happy Independence Day from the highest mountain in the land.
Best Regards,
Get down safe, team! Tell Matt it’s 107 at home, so he won’t have to worry about being cold. First beer back is on me.
Posted by: Amanda Heidt on 7/8/2021 at 9:27 pm
Thinking of the team all the way from New Jersey. Have a safe and uneventful descent. Staying strong Dom!
Posted by: Art Cifelli on 7/8/2021 at 6:55 pm
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