RMI Expeditions Blog

Hello world!

Greetings from Alaska! After a long day of travel from all over the US and Europe, we all assembled at the Ted Stevens Airport in Anchorage. We then loaded up the shuttle bus with our eccentric driver Ross and drove the two hours to Talkeetna. We then checked into the Swiss Alaska Inn and got the lowdown on the winter Talkeetna gossip from the Inn's proprietor Critter. After a brief break to get settled in we enjoyed some fine pizza at Mile High Pizza Pie. The team finished the evening off with a walk to the river front where we witnessed a large ice flow break up at the confluence of the Susitna and Talkeetna rivers.  Then it was off to an early bedtime to prepare for an early start the next morning to begin gear checking and packing. 

Thanks for tuning in -

RMI Guide Jack and the Team! 

Saturday, May 9, 2026 - 12:15  am PT

Today started slow, similar to our previous days in Talkeetna. We walked the rainy streets, drank copious amounts of coffee and waited patiently. By mid afternoon, we were ready for a nap! Suddenly, the clouds parted and we were greeted with the first blue skies of the trip. We loaded the planes and took off from Talkeetna towards the Ruth Glacier.

We flew past rivers beginning to thaw after the long Alaskan winter and our planes shadow danced below against the rocky moraine covered with fresh snow. After circling the massive East Face of Mount Dickey, we landed and made quick work of setting up camp.

After a delicious dinner, we lingered outside and enjoyed a perfect sunset.

The skies continue to be clear and blue in the midnight sun and we are excited for tomorrow!

RMI Guide Sam Marjerison

The Four Day Climb, led by Ben Luedtke and Will Ambler, successfully reached the summit early this morning and is now on the descent.

Ben reports cold temperatures accompanied by sustained winds around 30 mph. Route conditions are firm, and skies remain overcast.

Congratulations! 

5-8-2026 4:09pm PDT

Sam and team have been able to Fly onto the Glacier. earlier today. Keep an eye out for posts fromt the Ruth Glacier! 

Today was another rainy and overcast day in Talkeetna. After another great breakfast, we shifted our focus to skills at the K2 Aviation hangar. We covered friction hitches, anchor construction and sled rigging before we sat down for a round table discussion on weather and mapping! Tomorrow, we wait and cross our fingers for the skies to clear and the opportunity to fly!

RMI Guide Sam Marjerison

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Today started early with breakfast sandwiches and coffee from Conscious Coffee under rainy skies. With an increase in precipitation throughout the day, we focused our attention on a thorough gear check, a refresher on knots and hitches and a weigh in with all our kit at the K2 Aviation hanger. To cap off our skills day, we enjoyed a great meal at Latitude 62. Tomorrow, we hope to fly and are going to bed dreaming of sunny skies and low wind!

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Today we met the team in Anchorage and drove to Talkeetna, excited for the next ten days of climbing together. After laying out our gear in the K2 Aviation hangar, we had a wonderful dinner at Mountain High Pizza. Glasses were clinked and food was eaten. Tomorrow, we plan to organize, sort and pack our gear in the morning before a "hopefully" quick takeoff out of Talkeetna and onto the Ruth Glacier. 

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir May 2 - 7 led by RMI Guides Mike King and Sam Hoffman met for a day of training and gear checks at Rainier BaseCamp and then headed onto the mountain.  The team ascended to Camp Muir on Sunday and has enjoyed sunshine and blue skies during their training. Climbers practiced ice arrest, crevasse rescue and glacier travel before making their summit attempt.  Today the team launched from Camp Muir with an alpine start, reaching the summit of Mt. Rainier at sunrise via the Ingraham Direct route. RMI Guide Sam Hoffman reported sunshine and moderate winds during their summit climb. The team has returned to Camp Muir where they will spend their final night on the mountain. Tomorrow they will descend to Paradise and return to BaseCamp to conclude their program.

Nice work team!

PC: Sam Hoffman and Layne Peters

Saturday, May 2, 2026 - 9:41 pm PT

We awoke to a wonderful sunrise and some unsettled weather that brought some rain and clouds in the morning. After quick breakfast, we donned skins and packed our bags for a summit attempt of Mount Baker. As we skinned up the glacier, the winds began to die and the clouds parted at approximately 10am. By the time we summited the snow was soft, the skies were clear and the winds were minimal. We enjoyed 5,000’ of perfect skiing straight back to camp. Tomorrow we plan to descend and celebrate a great program back in Sedro.

RMI Guide Sam Marjerison

Friday, May 1, 2026

Today started bright and early at 7am in Sedro-Woolley, where we met the team, double checked our kits and made a few last minute stops for food before driving up to the trailhead. After an hour of walking through the woods, we reached the snowline and began skinning up to the Easton Glacier. Breaks along the way gave us views of Mount Shuksan, Glacier Peak and the Picket Range. After setting up camp we enjoyed a great sunset and dinner. Tomorrow, we plan to ski from the summit of Mount Baker before descending back to camp.

The first RMI team of the 2026 Mt. Rainier season has reached the summit! 

RMI Guide Ben Luedtke led the first Five Day Climb April 29 - 3 May. The group met Wednesday for their Orientation and Gear check, completed their Mountaineering School on Thursday and asended to Camp Muir on Friday.  Yesterday the team trained near Camp Muir and this morning launched their alpine start.  Ben and a small group of climbers reached the summit around 7 am.  Ben reported sunny conditions with a light breeze and a beautiful day.  The climbers will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise this afternoon.  We look forward to celebrating with them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.

Congratulations team!

The mountains lost a legend this week.

To the climbing community, Jim Whittaker’s impact is immeasurable. To us at RMI and Whittaker Mountaineering, it was foundational.

Jim was Lou’s twin brother, and their shared love of the mountains shaped American alpinism in ways that still echo today.

Rest easy, Jim. We hope you and Lou are climbing something beautiful.

The daily blogs from this trip have been a huge hit at home it seems. And while many of you are reading them each day to see what we have been up to, we have also been reading your comments. They have brought tears to our eyes from both laughter (looking at you Rosie) and sentiment. 

What the daily blogs don't show you is the day to day life we have experienced together. This much time together has created a unique bond. We show up early for each meal, not because we have to but because we genuinely like spending time together. We get our daily dose of Piper over our morning coffee/tea and while none of us have met her, she is our favourite dog on this trip. We know one another's breakfast order by heart with one particular order even turning into a nickname (miss you Pancake Fred). 

We know if we see any animal on the trail that Steven is going to try and pet it and Vanessa is most likely going to be taking pictures of it.  We know to never leave our phones unattended around Brian but if this happens we know the resulting photos will be hilarious. Some days our biggest decision is what kind of tea we want to have and with the ongoing fresh mint shortage this area seems to be experiencing we have had lemon ginger honey tea almost as many times as Jack has asked if it's finally time to pull out the microspikes. 

We almost always end each night with a card game where inexplicably Rick always has Aces. We were all blessed to be part of Kevin's journey to basecamp, fulfilling a promise he had made to his daughter.

We are a competitive bunch and while this has led to many aggressive games of 22 - now shortened to 12 and including rock paper scissors for "funsies" it has also led us to push one another to keep going on the days when it was hard to keep moving and breathing. Some days it's the small things that help like Vanessa's dancing while on trail or Brian pretending to be on a rollercoaster when crossing a bridge, or watching Tim and Fred's friendship blossom in real time (still is and will always be my favourite TV show).

The real joy in this trip has been the people. Our amazing team of porters who carried our heavy gear with smiles on their faces. Our local guides who arranged and rearranged plans constantly for us, kept us on schedule and made sure none of us were trampled by Yaks. Our climbing guides who stayed up all night to set the fixed lines on Lobuche then successfully led the team to the top. Our amazing guide Jess whose sense of humour was a bright spot on many days.

Today we flew back to Kathmandu after 17 days in the Khumbu valley. The snack weight in our bags has been replaced by yak bells and Everest Outfit gear, although not as much as Tim who is an unofficial Everest Outfit influencer. Our bucket list has 1 or 2 extra check marks on it. 

For me this trip was a 30 year dream turned into reality. I knew it would be amazing but it turned out to be so much more. Chatter has now turned to which mountain we will climb next and if we are lucky enough we will climb together again.

RMI Climber Jen