Entries By Mike Haugen

Our Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Mark Falender and Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams reported light winds, few clouds, and very pleasant weather with the sun peaking through every now and then. The teams are now en route back to RMI Basecamp in Ashford. Mike Haugen and the Expedition Skills Seminar team also reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Kautz Route and reported similar conditions. They are headed back to their high camp at 10,800' feet and will finish their week of training on the mountain and return to RMI Basecamp tomorrow afternoon. Congratulations to today's teams!

SUMMIT! Our Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Paul Maier and Mike Haugen made it to the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams were able to spend a moment on top before heading downhill and are now en route to Camp Muir. Congratulations to today's teams!

The last push is always the worst. We woke up at midnight to see the sun almost set. The alpenglow on Denali was spectacular. After a quick breakfast we headed down glacier for a pickup at the airstrip, which had moved even further up the southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. We are forced to travel at night on the glacier because we need the natural snow bridges that provide the path over and around the cravasses to be as frozen and firm as possible. We made the trip in a little over five hours with each team member silently cursing their sleds that usually have a mind of their own on what direction to go and how often they tip over. I have been so impressed by how well this group of guys works together and has meshed as a great team. It is so easy to get overly frustrated with the mountain, your sled, and your rope-mates. Our group managed to take out these frustrations with positive humor, which is a huge reason for our success on the mountain! Within an hour of arriving at the snow airstrip, we heard the growl of the planes coming to pick us up. Thank God for modern communication. We used our satellite phone to make sure that the planes were coming for us. The person from K2 Aviation was concerned that since it was socked in with clouds in Talkeetna, the airstrip would be too socked in to land. She was almost as relieved as we were that there was not a cloud in the sky where we were! As soon as we landed in Talkeetna, we tossed or packs and duffles in the hanger and went for a monster breakfast to power us up for the task of sorting through the heavily used gear and clothing that we had been carrying for the past 21 days. After our post climb chores were completed and some napping took place we enjoyed our celebration of a truly great accomplishment. Summitting the mountain aside, we had a highly successful expedition by all the measures of fun, learning, and camaraderie! RMI Guide Mike Haugen

We are checking in from our descent back to Base camp. We stayed at 11,000' last night and are currently making our way to 7,800'. K2 Aviation has two planes scheduled to pick us up from the airstrip tomorrow morning. Let's hope the weather holds! RMI Guide Mike Haugen

After many weather days at 14k and 17k, our team finally made it to the summit of Denali! The weather was promising, but not perfect this morning. It was overcast but still. You could see the sun shining through the tops of the clouds. After our turned back attempt the other day, we were very cautious and waited to see what the day was going to bring. We finally left camp at 11:20 in the morning. As we climbed, the weather got better and better. We climbed through the clouds into the sunshine. We made it to the summit around 8:00 p.m. It was clear with no wind, which is VERY rare on the top of the highest mountain in North America. Our crew was strong so we had a safe, quick descent back to camp arriving a bit after 11:00 p.m. A great 12 hour day. We had a quick dinner, caught the midnight sunset, and are now comfortably in bed. Now we can let ourselves start thinking about cheeseburgers! RMI Guide Mike Haugen