Entries By hannah billings
Posted by: Leif Bergstrom, Hannah Billings
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 14,000'
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 - 10:00 pm PT
The expedition continues! The past few days have been overwhelmingly successful. On the 21st we had a short day consisting of picking up our cache at 9,800 and bringing it up to 11,000' Camp. The next day, we brought a cache up to 14 Camp and met up with Ben’s team. Today, we woke up early and outran (or out-shuffled) the worst of the bad upcoming weather to 14 Camp, and are resting victoriously!
With luck, we’ll be able to get a cache up high after weathering the storm.
RMI Climber Daniel
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition June 16, 2026
Posted by: Leif Bergstrom, Hannah Billings
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 11,000'
Saturday June 20 - 8:45pm PST
We’re progressing well up the mountain and having fun! Currently we are at 11k camp with a cache at 10k feet. Tomorrow we plan on retrieving our cache and to place our next cache around 14k the following day. We will see if the weather cooperates with that plan. We’ve been blessed with great weather so far, if even a little hot in the sun. After the first couple days sleeping on the glacier, I’m excited to be making vertical progress!
- RMI Climber Daniel
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition June 16, 2026
Posted by: Joe Crawford, Dustin Wittmier, Hannah Blum, Stella Johnson, Matt Tucker, Hannah Billings, Sean James, Brendan Oates
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,300'
RMI teams led by guides Joe Crawford and Hannah Blum set out to summit Mt Rainier this morning, but turned around at the top of the Dissapointment Cleaver due to route conditions. They are on their way back down to Camp Muir and will be back in Ashford later today.
Well…certainly a disappointment for the climbers and the guides. But…given the conditions and everyone is back safely, not an outcome that qualifies for criticism. Thank you and best regards to all involved in this climb.
Posted by: Arthur Kuebel on 6/14/2026 at 6:34 pm
Posted by: Will Ambler, Joe Crawford, Hannah Blum, Hannah Billings, Matt Tucker, Simon Kearns, Matt Kelly, Ben Stimson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,450'
RMI teams led by guides Will Ambler and Joe Crawford made their summit attempt this morning. As a result of recent snow accumulation and strong winds on the upper mountain, they found evidence of snow instability and decided to turn around at 12,450'. The teams had made their way back to Camp Muir and are doing additional training for the remainder of the morning.
Nice work team!
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Joe Crawford, Hannah Billings, Simon Kearns, Matt Kelly, Ben Stimson
Categories: Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Teams led by Dave Hahn and Joe Crawford reached the summit of Mt. Rainier! They started their descent back to Camp Muir around 9:30am. RMI Guide Dave Hahn reported great weather and good route conditions.
Congrats team!
SUPER CONGRATULATIONS! An Amazing accomplishment! So excited for the team!
Posted by: Marlene linden on 6/2/2026 at 5:59 pm
Posted by: Sam Hoffman, Hannah Billings, Annie Chapman, George Hedreen, Stella Johnson, David Rathbun
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Four Day Climb May 13 - 17 reached Camp Muir yesterday afternoon weathering the difficult conditions with smiles on their faces dispite the snow flakes whipping through the air.
Once the team reached Camp Muir, they were treated to clear skies above and a cloud deck below 9,900'. The team was unable to make a summit attempt due to the weather including several feet of new snow causing unsafe conditions. They are descending from Camp Muir and will return to Rainier BaseCamp in the early afternoon.
Posted by: Joe Crawford, Hannah Billings
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12, 800'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise August 14 - 19 led by RMI Guides Joe Crawford and Hannah Billings will conclude their program today. After several days of training and a wet start the team enjoyed four days of good weather and nice training conditions as they gradually ascended the mountain. Yesterday, they bumped up to Camp Muir for their launch point of their summit attempt. Unfortunately the high winds and deteriorating weather on the upper mountain this morning forced them to turn back. The team is safely back at Camp Muir. After a quick break they will continue the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise. They will celebrate their adventure this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp.
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Joe Hoch, Layne Peters, Avery Stolte, Hannah Billings, Stella Johnson, Annie Chapman, Kat Porter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Climbers on the Four Day Climb August 9 - 11 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. They enjoyed a bit of time on the summit and began their descent from the crater rim just after 7 am. Once back at Camp Muir, they will repack and continue the remaining 4,500' descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Gosh, what a bunch of studs. I wish I could climb with that A-Team.
Posted by: J.Ranger on 8/14/2025 at 3:01 pm
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Joe Crawford, Hannah Blum, Hannah Billings, David Rathbun, Matt Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb August 2 - 5, 2025 led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Joe Crawford reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams reported a beautiful day on the mountain with a little wind a little precipatation while they were on the summit. They enjoyed a bit of time in the crater before starting their descent. The teams are heading back to Camp Muir, and after a quick break will continue the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise to complete their climb. Once back at BaseCamp they will enjoy a bit of celebration to conclude their adventure.
Nice work today team!
PC: Dominic Cifelli
Inspiring experience (yes, a 1997 reboot, well sort of!), and lots of gratitude to be a part of this RMI team!
A great big thank you to all the guides - you shine!
Posted by: Catherine Nelson on 8/21/2025 at 5:50 pm
Posted by: Joe Hoch, Joe Crawford, Bailey Servais, Hannah Blum, Ben Porter, Ben Luedtke, Hannah Billings, Simon Kearns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
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Today, the Four-Day Climb, led by RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Joe Crawford, successfully reached the summit of Mt. Rainier!
In a fun twist of trail magic, both groups were guided by not one, but two Joes, two Hannahs, and two Bens — in addition to Bailey and Simon, who helped keep things from getting too confusing! With this strong and experienced team at the helm, the climbers were in great hands every step of the way.
The teams pushed through some smokey conditions on their ascent and were rewarded with beautiful clear skies upon reaching the crater. After soaking in the views from the top, the climbers began their descent to Camp Muir, where they’ll pack up before continuing the remaining 4,500’ down to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today’s climbers on an incredible accomplishment!
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Reading this update with tears of joy in my eyes!! I am just SO so happy for you all but especially my awesome husband, Christoph!! I am so very proud of you, you made this dream, 13 years in the making, come true! Ich liebe dich überalles! Du bist meine Liebe meines Lebens
Posted by: Anna Graf on 8/1/2025 at 11:24 am
YAY! So exciting to hear from this private expedition! Thank you for the incredible adventure update! Victorious rest sounds fabulous!
Posted by: Patti on 6/24/2026 at 10:16 am
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