RMI Expeditions Blog

We are back at Rivertrees Country Inn, showered, well fed and celebrating our climb.  Waking at 10,000 ft in the forest this morning was relatively easy, but we all were thinking how much more comfortable we’d be off the mountain.  The trail down to 6000 ft was a tricky one.  There were steep and muddy sections, despite the fact that we were doing it in perfectly dry weather.  There were several hundred porters flying down the track at flank speed.  Every step required concentration.  But there were some pretty vistas, some beautiful trees and we were lucky enough to see colobus monkeys.  We reached the end of the hike at 11:30 and then had to check out of the National Park.  We then sat down to a farewell lunch with our 51 Barking Zebra mountain staff.  After which there was singing and dancing and a brief tip ceremony in which we tried to express our gratitude to our local guides, chefs, waiters, camp staff and porters.  They did a fabulous job and treated us as old friends. 

We then boarded the bus and headed for the showers.  We prepared for Safari, had a mountain climbing victory dinner this evening and said goodbye to Tim who will be heading home. 

Our journey continues. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli & Team

Coppolillo and team summited Mt. Baker via the Coleman-Deming route to wrap up their 6 day skills seminar. They reported a cold but beautful day and the entire team made it to the top! The team is now off the mountain and celebrating in Sedro Woolley.

What a day! What a mountain!  What a team!  It all came together today, perfect weather and the entire team ready to take advantage of it.  We got 100% of the team to the summit.  We got walking from Barafu camp at midnight and climbed through the cold and dark for what seemed like forever.  It was a full moon night and dead calm… but it was still quite cold.  The sun rose close to 6:30 as we were just below the crater rim. By 7:52 we were at Uhuru… the true summit and the highest point in Africa.  Basically, we then spent the rest of the day climbing down.  The journey from 19,341' ft to 10,000' ft was broken up with a wonderful brunch back at our 15,200 ft high camp.  The team made it down to Mweka Camp at the respectable hour of 4:30, just in time for tea and then a last dinner on the mountain.

- RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Congratulations to the Four Day Climb team, led by RMI Guides Stella Johnson and Dustin Wittmier, on reaching the 14,410-foot summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning!

Despite cold temperatures and strong winds, the team was rewarded with clear skies above the cloud layer surrounding Paradise. They are currently descending and expect to arrive back at Camp Muir shortly.

Well done, Team!

Today was easy!  At least for our team of seasoned mountain climbers it was easy.  We just took two rest breaks between Karanga and Barafu Camps and the weather was calm, sunny and clear.  We had unobstructed views of Kibo -Kilimanjaro’s central peak- and its ice and snow fields shining in the morning sun.  Our Barking Zebra support team had done a brilliant job of building high camp for us and so our entrance to life at 15,200 ft was as easy as it could be.  We lunched and strategized for tonight’s climb.  There were some easy packing chores to be done and then we rested.  We’ll still meet for an early dinner but then the plan is to get to bed right after. The beautiful sunset we saw last night from Karanga Camp will have to suffice.  We are prioritizing rest tonight because we will get up super early and head out for the roof of Africa.

Best,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Four Day Day Climb August 24 - 27, 2026 led by RMI Guide Joe Hoch and Nick Sinapius were forced to turn around today due to high winds.  The teams left Camp Muir but the winds were just too strong and they retreated safely to Camp Muir. The teams plan to leave Camp Muir around 9:30 am and descend to Paradise.

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Shuksan team led by RMI Guides Jackson Breen and Calvin Jiricko reached the summit via the Sulphide Glacier today. The photos show blue skies and lots of stoke!  They have a few more days of training on the mountain before they will descend.  They chose to summit today due to possible deteriorating weather.

Nice work team!

We left the garden-like grounds of Barranco Camp at 8 this morning and got busy with the Barranco Wall.  There was the usual traffic jam on the tricky parts as several hundred porters and climbers took turns climbing short walls and traversing tight spots.  But we made good progress up and after two hours we popped out on top of the wall and were rewarded with a magnificent view of Kibo’s towering south face. We celebrated with tea and snacks before continuing on another couple of hours to Karanga Camp.  It was another afternoon of alternately resting and eating at camp.  We all enjoyed sunset and moonrise from this new vantage point on the mountain.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Four Day Climb August 23 - 26 led by RMI Guides Dan May and Mac Nolde were turned back by high winds at Ingraham Flats (11,200') this morning.  They returned to Camp Muir around 3 am.  The teams will start their descent from Camp Muir around 9am.

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise August 20 - 25 led by RMI Guide Sam Hoffman concluded their week of training and climbing with a summit climb of Mt. Rainier.  The team enjoyed a bluebird day and reached the summit around 6 am, enjoying the views before starting their descent from the crater rim around 7 am.  The team will get a short break at Camp Muir to repack their gear before they continue the final 4,500' to Paradise later this afternoon.  They will celebratie their successes at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.