Entries By devin wilkinson

From RMI Guide Hannah Smith: The Mt. Rainier summit is not guaranteed but the rising sun is. Gusty winds made for a high point at Ingraham Flats- short of the summit but still challenging.  Our team is packing up and heading downhill shortly.

The All-Women’s Expedition Skills Seminar – Paradise led by RMI Guide Devin Wilkinson wrapped up their week by climbing to Ingraham Flats to watch the sunrise. Warm temperatures and overhead hazards on the climbing route prevented the team from reaching the summit safely. 

The team has spent the last five days on the upper slopes of Mt. Rainier developing their expedition skills beginning with ice axe use and cramponing techniques and moving on to more advanced skills such as anchor placements, various self and team crevasse rescue techniques, steep technical ice climbing, belays, rappelling, knots, route finding and fixed rope travel. Evening lectures in camp include group discussions on mountain weather, medicine for mountaineering, altitude wellness and equipment.

Congratulations to our All-Women’s team!

The Four Day Climbs led by RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Devin Wilkinson climbed above the clouds to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier. Joe reported sunny skies and light winds with a cloud deck at around 9,000' this morning. The Weather was holding and provided the team will good climbing conditions. 

Congratulations to today's team! 

Congratulations to the Four Day Climb July 22 - 25 on reaching the summit of Mt. Rainier today!  Clear skies accompanied these teams led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Devin Wilkinson, to the summit early this morning.  After enjoying some time on top they begain their descent from the crater rim aroun 6:15 am.  These climbers will continue their descent to Paradise today and conclude their adventure with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.

Nice work team!

Today's Mt. Rainier teams reached the summit at 6:00 a.m.  They reported windy conditions with clear skies.  The teams began their descent back to Camp Muir at 7:08 a.m. where they will pack up the rest of their gear and continue down to Paradise.

Congratulations to the summit teams!

The Mt. Rainier RMI and SheJumps Climb, led by Hannah Smith, reached the summit today at 5:40am with 100% success! They have started their descent from the crater rim and will return to Basecamp later today.

Thursday, July 1, 2021 - 2:19 pm PT

Just a walk in the park,

A short nap began our long walk out. A 10pm wake up and a midnight start got us to basecamp an early hour. Heavy sleds and packs were no match for our motivation to shower away 22 days worth of smell. Walking the Kahiltna in the middle of the night (granted its always light out) is peaceful. A great time for reflection. Its been a fun, albeit hard, 22 days on Denali. We had it all, snow, wind, sunshine, all three at once. What we didn't have was any illness or injury and that's the important part. Showered, fed, and full of oxygen-rich air, we are all ready for our journey home. Its been a memorable expedition but now its time for family, friends, and recovery. 

Well done team, well done,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

Wednesday, June 30, 2021 - 8:31 pm PT

Hey-O,

A long day indeed. We woke at 17K Camp and are now resting at 11K Camp. We have changed our focus of going up the mountain to going down the mountain. The focus is always on going higher and higher but the most important part is the downhill. Our trip is coming to an end and we are making our way back to basecamp. These long days walking gives plenty of time to reflect on the trip. It's been a long one, with today marking day 21. Many experiences and memories have been had. We may have not gained the summit but we have gained stories on stories of our time out here. And really the summit is just the cherry on top of an experience of a lifetime. Tomorrow we walk the Kahiltna Glacier with the final bit called Heart Break Hill. Its only a quick nap at 11K before we hit the glacier around midnight. Caffeine is going to be our friend.

Oh how sweet the air is,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

Tuesday, June 29, 2021 - 10:13 pm PT

And that's that,

Today we gave it all we could. The forecast was for less than 15mph winds and party sunny...well that wasn't exactly what we got. Camp was windy from the start. The sun was out but so was the wind. But today was our last shot so we left camp. It was a slow start behind a bunch of teams on the Autobahn but we made it to Denali Pass. The first stretch of the day is a real butt kicker. Clouds began to roam above Denali but conditions were still good. As the day progressed so did the clouds. By late afternoon we were in a cloud and the winds had picked up. We pushed as far as we could until it didn't make sense to keep going. 19,500' was our high point. Pushing past there with the conditions we had would be a risk. As the saying goes the mountains will be there for another try. They are much more robust than we are. The team made good, safe work making it back to camp. It would have been nice to arrive to a quiet camp but it is rather windy here. It will be a rowdy night in the winds but tomorrow we will skiddattle out of here to the land of more oxygen.

We gave it our all,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

Monday, June 28, 2021 - 10:37 pm PT

Good evening,

We went to bed with the excitment of going for the summit the following day. The sky was clear and all looked calm enough in the morning. The light was green for take off. As we packed for the day clouds began to build to the south. We hoped they would stay at bay but before long they were swollowing the upper mountain. Our nice looking day took a turn and the light turned to red. Instead of taking a walk, we took a nap. Today was not our day. Snow and clouds came and went throughout the day. Camp remained quiet as no one left for the summit. What is one more day of waiting if we can summit tomorrow? Weather is looking ok for tomorrow and we are hoping with everything we half left in us that tomorrow will in fact be the day we go for the top. Patience, food, and time are running low so here's for some good weather.

Good weather, good weather, good weather,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team