Entries By daniel may

Friday, June 5th - 6PM PST

Greetings!

We had a successful day caching at 10000’ and getting ready to move to 11 camp tomorrow. The guides have taken to the Zeppathon, listening to all of Led Zeppelin’s albums and discussing their favorites. Led Zeppelin IV seems to be a favorite. The climbers are doing great and had so much fun helping their guides dig the cache (they offered). Conversations amongst the clients have ranged from ‘how many siblings do you have’ to ‘what is your spirit vegetable?’ One of the our climbers noted what great posture one of our female guides on the trip has. Spirits are high and the sun is hot. Dinner tonight is burritos with more discussions of getting to know each other. The topic tonight is biggest regrets in life.

Cheers!

-RMI Guide Mac (with the good posture)

Friday, June 5th - 12:15AM PST

Guest dispatcher Joe reporting in from Denali.

The DDM Expedition (Daniel/Drew/Mac) departed Talkeetna this morning in good order. Blue skies and calm  air made for an easy flight for our daredevil K2 Aviation bush pilots so everyone enjoyed a little extra sightseeing swooping through the peaks along with a couple barrel rolls just for a little spice. Deposited safely on Kahiltna Glacier early, the group repacked yet again for foot travel and proceeded directly to Skill Hill Camp. The exceptional weather persisted throughout the day, with just a few chill winds interleaved with atypically hot sections. Arriving with plenty of energy, the team stomped out a camp area and got down to the real business of the day: Mac's Mac & Cheese.

On a more tragic note though, departing Talkeetna also meant departing Zach's lunch meats and cheeses abandoned in the hangar fridge. Although he'll survive just fine having apparently packed at least 50lbs of other snacks, this was an emotional blow for his and your reporter's Rope Team Hoarding Marmots, and honestly an affront to our venerable mascots. Tomoki also left a few things in that refrigerator but him and his companions Chris and Paxton on Rope Team World Best #1 Rope Team weren't as loud about it so our guides still don't know and they villainously avoided their fair share of judgement and demerits.

Meanwhile under Sarah's strong leadership and Erik's silent execution, Rope Team Erik and the Squatters continues to be all Rope Team We're So Perfect We Show Up Two Minutes Before Every Meetup And Had All the Gear We Were Supposed To Have And Didn't Leave Anything In The Refrigerator. Some people your faithful chronicler just doesn't understand. Tomorrow the expedition will make an outing to cache supplies and gear uphill in preparation for a hoped-for move to 11 Camp ahead of an expected downturn in the weather.

-RMI Climber Joe
 

Wednesday, June 3, 2026 - 11:38 pm

Today was another beautiful day in Talkeetna. We felt the buzz of excitement and anticipation as we spent the whole day packing, weighing, and organizing all our gear to prepare for an early flight onto the south east fork of the Kahiltna glacier!

RMI Guide Dan May

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 - 10:27 pm PT

The team met up today in Anchorage in glorious spring weather. We made the drive to Talkeetna with views of Denali, Foraker, and Hunter lurking in the foreground. Upon arrival we quickly dropped our gear off at the K2 hangar and met up for a nice meal and some desserts, get the calories in while we can! The team walked down to the Talkeetna river to watch the fast-moving waters while staring up with clear skies at the immense Alaska range. Early to bed tonight to prep for a long day of packing and organizing before waiting our turn to fly onto the glacier and begin our climb. Stay tuned.

RMI Guides Dan May, Drew O'Brien, Mac Nolde 

The Four Day Climb, led by RMI guide Dan May, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Dan and his team reported a great route, cool temperatures, and some cloud cover. The team is now descending and en route to Camp Muir.

Congratulations, team!

Our McKinley Prep Course wrapped up a highly successful few days of training in the Edith Creek Basin. The team practiced sled pulling, camp craft, crevasse rescue, and a range of essential alpine skills they’ll rely on this upcoming season during their climb of the West Buttress of Mount McKinley.

A big thanks to experienced lead guides Mike King and Dan May for sharing their knowledge and helping the team sharpen their skills. With a mix of sunny skies and periods of low visibility, conditions provided a realistic preview of what life can be like on the slopes of McKinley—making the training both challenging and invaluable.

The Four Day Climbs led by RMI Guides Seth Burns and Joe Hoch walked into the summit crater of Mt. Rainier this morning around 6:45 am. The teams enjoyed calm and warm weather on the summit. They are currently on their descent and will return to Ashford later this afternoon.

Congratulations climbers!

Monday, May 12, 2025 - 9:58 pm PT

We ended the trip exactly like we wanted. Bathed in sunshine. Even though the trip started with some stormy weather and wet days it ended with perfect blue skies. Our final two days were spent exploring crevasses, ice climbing and continuing into the various corners of the Ruth Gorge. Our last day was spent packing up camp in the brisk early morning cold and beginning the trek back to the Ruth Gorge Ampitheater where the Sheldon Chalet oversees the landscape. With the warming of the day and the buzzing of airplanes overhead it wasn't long until we were back to our plane slightly sweaty and sunburnt. The ride that ensued after was probably the most beautiful flight I've seen flying out of the Alaska range. We punctuated the trip with food and drinks in sunny Talkeetna!

Until next time,

RMI Guides Dan May, Joey Manship and the Ruth Glacier Seminar team 

Explored the crevasses and hidden corners of the Ruth Gorge under a flawless blue sky—no clouds, just pure Alaskan magic. Spent the day weaving through ice and granite, soaking it all in. Came back tired, happy, and hungry. Wrapped it up with a late dinner and the kind of sleep that only comes after a hard day in the mountains.

RMI Guide Dan May & Team

Today we waited out the snow by having our own avalanche course right here on the Ruth glacier. Skies cleared to a beautiful evening during dinner. The team is excited to go explore some new terrain tomorrow under blue skies!

RMI Guide Dan May & Team