RMI Expeditions Blog

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

The team got into Anchorage yesterday and drove our way to Talkeetna making a stop for last minute grocery’s and marveling at the glimpses of Denali and the rest of the Alaska range as they poked through the clouds. Once in Talkeetna, we checked into the hotel and ate burgers, calling it an early night before our big day of packing and preparing!

Today we spent the morning going through gear. We sorted our stoves, tents, kitchen, warm layers, and most importantly FOOD! After that, we had a nice orientation with the climbing rangers where we talked about the mountain, keeping it clean, staying safe, and received our clean mountain cans (CMC’s). The final bit of the day was spent packing our backpacks and duffels and weighing in to prepare for a flight to follow. We spent the evening enjoying pizza and beer as some rain came in. With any luck we will fly tomorrow and be walking on the mountain soon!

RMI Guide Jackson Breen

UPDATE: Recevied 10:30 am PT

Just a quick dispatch this morning. Everything is flowing smoothly and we're busy making progress. We pulled heavy loads to the base of ski hill yesterday in beautiful weather. It snowed a couple inches overnight and it's snowing lightly this morning, but the sun is poking through and we're gearing up to carry a load of gear up ski hill today. Gotta run, lots of work to do! I'll check back in upon our return to let you know how our day shakes out. Mike.

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RMI Guide Mike Walter and team flew to Kahiltna Basecamp on Tuesday afternoon. They built camp and were taking in the views of their new surroundings.  They spent the night at Base camp at 7,300'.  Yesterday they started the work of climbing Denali, moving from Base Camp to the Base of Ski Hill, 7,800'.  To get to Ski Hill the team descends 400' down Heart Break hill (aptly named) and travels over five miles to establish their next camp. 

The first Denali Expedition of the 2024 Season is ready to fly to Kahiltna Base Camp. The May 5th Expedition team members met in Anchorage on Sunday and made the drive to Talkeetna where they have spent the last few days reviewing gear, packing, meeting with the Park Service and getting all the last details dialed in.  The skies are clear and the group is ready to depart Talkeetna for their expedition to North America's highest peak.  We look forward to hearing from them from the mountain.

Good luck team!

The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Daniel May completed their Orientation and Climbing School days and then ascended to Camp Muir on Saturday.  Today they were able to do some training at Camp Muir, then packed up their gear and descended to Paradise.  The team will conclude their program this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp. 

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir team led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Seth Burns has concluded their week of training and returned to Paradise.  Although the weather threw a few curves at them, the team was able to get in lots of training including cramponing, glacier travel, ice climbing, rappelling, and crevasse rescue. We can probably consider it winter camping as well. They endured some cold temperatures but also enjoyed some beautiful sunrises and sunshine.

Nice work team!

The first trip of the Mt. Rainier season is always a special one and just like that, it has come and gone. We spent the week learning skills like crevasse rescue, rappelling, glacier travel, the basics of snow safety, and even some fixed line travel. It was a busy week!  We didn’t make the summit and in mountaineering, that’s part of the game. Sometimes the mountain, no matter how much we want it, just says no to going up high. It’s a tough pill, but a worthwhile one to take in stride and with conviction that the decision was the right one.  We’ll take home the skills, the memories, and the bug to come back and try again another day. 

The weather is becoming wetter and windier and looks to be trending that way for our descent tomorrow. The hot food, showers, and beds in town will be that much sweeter. 

Cheers to a great week and a great start to the season,  Team!

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

This morning, we woke up early, had our last teahouse breakfast and headed for the helicopter pad.

It was a busy day at the airport since the weather was clear. We saw planes and helicopters land, take off and finally, it was our turn.

After a 45-minute flight, we landed safely in Kathmandu.

We got together for one last team dinner tonight. Reflecting on our nearly 3 weeks in Nepal and enjoying a delicious meal at Le Sherpa.

Some of us fly home in the early hours of the day tomorrow and the rest soon after.

What a trip! Thank you for following along and we can’t wait to see our friends and family to share more about this incredible adventure when we get home.

RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Sam Marjerison and Team.

The highlight from our walk to Lukla today was the Rhododendron. On the way in, a few trees were blooming here and there but now, it is full on Spring. Almost every tree had buds or flowers in every shade of pink imaginable. It was a sight to see. At one point on the trail, I said “it’s so quiet and peaceful today” and one of our members said “not quiet, serene” and that was spot on. We passed many teams heading uphill but we also had hours to ourselves with birds chirping, the sound of the Dudh Kosi river flowing, and our little feet hitting the ground in a rhythm we are all so familiar with now.

It was a perfect day to reflect on the trip and to tuck away some of these sights and sounds and feelings of serenity somewhere deep in our minds to be able to recall when we need them as we head back home. We made it back to Lukla and tomorrow we fly to Kathmandu, but tonight we had a very special last dinner with our Sherpa guide team and our infinitely strong porter team. We thanked them for letting us be able to experience their country and their beautiful mountains. We would not have been able to do this trip without them.

With full hearts and tired feet,

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the Lobuche Team

PC: Jess Wedel

Tashi Delek!

Last night we got to spend the night in a very special place - a traditional teahouse with views overlooking the oldest monastery in the Khumbu Valley - the Pangboche Monastery. We had a very quiet and serene night since we were the only team staying there. We woke up early, had our usual coffee, pancakes, some version of eggs (plain omelette? Veg omelette? Fried eggs? We like them all!) and got to walking.

April is one of the busiest months in the Khumbu Valley with Trekkers and Everest climbers all making their way to base camp. While we were one of the few teams walking downhill, we passed team after team after team heading up. A highlight of the morning was FINALLY seeing a baby yak. We’ve been keeping our eyes out and have seen some yak teens but today we got to see a full on baby fluff! We watched him stumble between his mama and another yak and even buck and get a little sassy from what we suppose was a bug or some other nuisance. The cutest.

After nearly five hours of walking, we arrived back in Namche. And boy, does it feel good. We’ve run into lots of friends and fellow climbers, we had a big lunch at Eat Smart (our favorite non-teahouse food of the trip!) and spent the afternoon enjoying the excited energy of this little city during the climbing season. We’re so happy to be back at Base de Camp Teahouse that has hot showers in the room and some pretty incredible views.

One more day of walking to Lukla tomorrow. It’s hard to believe this trip is nearing its end.

RMI Guides Jess and the Lobuche team

Good morning!

Today we made our way from Lobuche high camp down to Pangboche. On the quiet trail down from high camp we ran into a posse of “Nepali Chickens” these shy little animals are often heard but rarely seen. We stopped and took the time to watch them move through the valley.

We stopped for lunch in Pheriche and said goodbye to the fields of yaks as we headed down valley. We all got to walk our own pace, take in the views and reflect on an incredible trip. This is one of my favorites parts of walking back to Lukla - time to breath in the thick air and feel how incredibly special these mountains are.

We made it to upper Pangboche in the early afternoon and our tea house is located right behind the monastery with views looking out to Ama Dablam. We had an early dinner because we are all still tired from our Lobuche climb! Off to bed. Tomorrow we’ll head to Namche.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and the Lobuche Crew