RMI Expeditions Blog

8/29 - A well deserved rest day! Again, sleeping in and waking with the sun - we enjoyed our final bagel, cream cheese and smoked salmon meal of the trip. Nick was running the stoves, and taking orders, and the morning was leisurely around camp. We spent the day pondering weather, and making a game plan for the coming days. We ate snacks, played some games, and continued to put off walking to the edge of the world. The day wrapped up with Mac and Cheese and some team rounds of heads up. We are continuing to look for a 3 day weather window to move up hill, summit, and return to 14 camp. Let's see what the weather brings!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion & Team

5/29 - We left Kahiltna Base camp just after 9 a.m., passing out of the mountain shadow and into the full sun. The day glittered around us, sunshine glinting off the snow and washing over the surrounding peaks. The previous night, a park ranger had warned us that it had been a challenging season. Only a few people had managed to summit. But the day we flew onto the glacier had brought the best weather he’d seen since March. Perhaps the misery that had haunted other climbers — coined a “lovely hell” in an earlier blog post — was finally passing.

We marched forward, saddled with heavy packs and even heavier plastic sleds. We carried the essentials, like fuel and climbing gear and “clean mountain cans” — their sanitary name failing to convey their unsanitary purpose: to carry out all of our poop. But we also carried the ineffable, the comfort those items brought worth more than their use. A beloved red beanie, an iPad with 48 hours of movies, including Interstellar, and 300+ gummy bears. (Harbaro, the good kind.) A blue towel, honey-covered macadamia nuts and, in a single pack, 60 packets of instant coffee. (Might need to call in a mental health check on that climber.) Smoked salmon from cousins in Anchorage and two blocks of cheddar cheese that weren’t from Wisconsin, though it would’ve been better if they were. Nice headphones. A best friend. Knitting needles and yarn. Twelve premiere Belgian waffles. More than five pounds of cookie dough.

We were different ages — 33, 35, 38, 40, 41 — and called different places home. Salt Lake City, Oakland Philadelphia, Denver, Bellingham, Kyiv. We hailed from cybersecurity, the military, journalism, entrepreneurship and business. We probably never would have met in the “real” world. (Who even knows what that world will look like when we return.) But we were creating our own little world, the climb a uniting force. We needed each other to cover the heaviest five-and-a-half miles toward the mountain — and onward, hopefully to its very top — tethered together by rope and carabiner. Our footsteps crunched over the glacial rolls, and sweat tie-dyed our shirts. Our hiking poles stabbed pinpricks of blue light in the snow, the thick ice — nearly 2,000 to 3,000 feet deep at points — shining up at us from below.

Soon enough we’d pull into camp. (The smallest member of the group was in disbelief that she’d managed to carry a load that weighed nearly as much as her.) We’d build a neighborhood of red-and-blue tents and listen to the whoosh of the cookstove, snowmelt turning to drinking water. We’d talk and laugh and prepare to climb Ski Hill the next morning to cache food near Kahiltna Pass.

But for now, there was only the long and grueling climb, both a torture and a revelation. Ahead of us, Denali stood on the horizon, cloaked in a sifting haze of clouds. Visible one moment, it was gone in the next.

Daily recap:
Mileage: 5.64 miles
Total time: 5:25:49
Elevation gain: 1,129 feet
Pace: 57:48/mile

RMI Climber Lizzy

Note from the author: All my love and gratitude to Kyiv, Omaha and Anchorage. You know who you are. (And big hugs to little Claire and Emma.)

5/29 - Today we were able to stretch our legs and enjoy the views of 17k camp. The team used the day to pack and organize and prepare mentally for what will likely be the hardest day of their lives. This rest day was well deserved. Tomorrow we make our attempt at the summit of North America, Denali!

RMI Guide Jack Delaney & Team

5/29 - Today’s post includes two stories, we’ll let you decide what happened with Burn’s team’s seventh day on the mountain.

Story 1:
Seth and guides woke everyone up at 1 am, seizing the weather window and decided to make the first ever RMI summit push from Camp 2. After pounding 5 shots of espresso and 2 cups of powdered milk each, in just base layers, the team sprinted up the mountain at a blistering pace, reaching the highest point in North America in just 3 hours. They celebrated by shotgunning beers at the top, and cruised back to Camp 2 in 37 minutes (Denali FKT?). Very proud of everyone’s efforts today!

Story 2:
The team woke up to some more snow and decided to rest. Life is good.

- RMI Climber Andy

RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Ben Ammon and the Four Day Climb Team reached High Break (13,200’) and were still ascending as of 7:11 a.m. Joe reported a beautiful morning, with light winds and cold temperatures.By 8:33 a.m., the team had summited all smiles, and was beginning their descent toward Camp Muir.

Congratulaitons Team!

Thursday, 5/28 6 PM PST

All is well up here! Turned at 8100’ and we had a great day of skiing the Roosevelt Glacier instead! Great temps and good skiing concluded the day. 

-RMI Guide Sam Marjerison

Friday, 5/29 1AM PST

After topping off our batteries (personal and electronic) with a sun filled rest day at 11 camp, our team went to bed last night ready for a carry in the morning. Silence greeted us as we awoke, an unusual sound around camps on the mountain. Snow had fallen through the night and we had nearly 2 feet of dry powder to contend with. Hope for moving today was all but lost and we prepared ourselves for a leisurely day, starting with delicious bacon (and vegan bacon) filled breakfast bagels. Once we had all finally settled into our books, movies, and journals, we got the news: “Let’s go! We’re going to carry, we want to be out as soon as possible.” Everyone jumped to it, got into our crampons, and we cruised through snow showers to break through a cloud layer into blistering sun just past Windy Corner to complete our cache at ~13,600ft. Soon we were back at our camp, refueling, and hoping to make a more permanent move to 14 camp in the next few days. 

-RMI Climber Graham

Thursday, May 28, 2026, 9:21 p.m. PDT

Day 1

Today we awoke to blue skies, so we rushed to the hangar, where we played the ‘hurry up and wait’ game. We got the text around 11 a.m. that we were flying on! We all rushed back to the hangar and lathered ourselves in sunscreen and smiles. We had moments of doubt about flying on, but climber Patti insisted we all share a piece of her Kendal Mint Bar. This famous candy delight was brought to London with the intention of being consumed before Denali. The treat is a ritual Patti practices for every climb. Alas, we are here at the airstrip, where we will sleep for the night. While enjoying our expansive views and the roars of the mountain, we enjoyed a delicious pad Thai dinner. Tomorrow, we plan to make our first big move to Camp 1!

RMI Guide Jackson Breen & Team

Bonjour from 14 Camp!

Sorry, the Canadians are taking over dispatch today. A chilly night left us happy, we slept with our toques and mitts on. We snoozed as best we could and waited for the sun to kiss our tents, giving us a minor reprieve from the chill. We wished for breakfast to be a couple of bacon and eggers but started with oatmeal before heading out for a rip up the fixed lines for some high-altitude poutine or Timbits. Travel was reasonable, as we were expecting a 50-degree sheet of ice worthy of rolling a few rocks or firing a few biscuits. Fortunately, someone spilled a couple of jugs of maple syrup on it, and travel was a bit tackier than expected.

The entire team made it to the top, reaching 16K, and when we unclipped, the clouds parted. The shamrock Sherpa thought he saw a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, and Nick was given his brief moment in the sun. We all enjoyed the stunning views from the roof of North America. After a few snacks, we headed back down a run more suited for a toboggan, back to a sunny camp. We bumped into a couple of fellow Canucks on our descent, shared a couple of “Oh hey, buds,” and the secret Canadian wave. We are now hoping for the storms to stay away, as we have a rest day tomorrow and our ultimate decision on Friday about whether to go up or head out.

We miss you all, and God save the King.

From Nikki’s Champions Group

Friday May 29, 2026 12:58am PDT

We have ascended to 17 Camp. It is cold and windy but we are all tucked in safe and sound for the night.

RMI Guide Jack Delaney & Team