Entries By hannah smith
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Dustin Wittmier, Devin Guffey
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
Thursday, June 10, 2021 - 6:09 pm PT
Good evening,
The sun made its way past the curtains flickering in the room. Knowing the sun was partly out was a good sign for flying today. As we made our way to the hangar, we got the call telling us to get our butts in gear. It was time to load the planes. Street shoes were traded in for boots, jeans traded for climbing pants. The air was filled with the roar of the planes and also nerves and excitment knowing that we were about to start our expeditions. Great views and a smooth ride brought us to the Kahiltna Base Camp. Just as we were so excited to fly onto the glacier, other teams stood ready and excited to fly off. We will be them in a few weeks. The rest of the day was spent setting up camp and refreshing skills. We will wake early tomorrow morning to make our way to the next camp.
Let the fun begin,
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Dustin Wittmier, Devin Guffey
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 348'
Wednesday, June 9, 2021 - 7:22 pm PT
Hello everyone,
We woke this morning goal oriented and optimistic. We knew if we wanted to fly we had a lot of chores to get done to be ready when the pilots said it was time. As we packed our duffels and packs and rearranged gear we all kept a hopful eye on the clouds above, hoping they would clear and give us the window we wanted. Unfortunately our patience did not pay off and our window for flying closed. But the day was not lost as we are now ready to try to tomorrow. So with dinner time approaching we will enjoy hopfully one last dinner at a table and fly in the morning.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith & Team
Fidel says, “I love you!” All of Wellsville is cheering for you. Love you lots.
Posted by: Anna Haring on 6/11/2021 at 6:59 pm
Pulling for you all and the weather to clear up so you can get in there! Also, I swapped my Rainier 4 day for the Aug 30th 5 day. Hoping one or both of you are guiding it. Be safe and good luck!
Posted by: Shane Summers on 6/10/2021 at 8:56 pm
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Nikki Champion
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Summit! Today's Mt. Rainier teams, led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Nikki Champion, reached the top this morning. After spending some time on the summit, they began their descent at 9:00 a.m.
Congratulations to the teams!
Posted by: Hannah Smith, David Price, Tatum Whatford, Dustin Wittmier, Kiira Antenucci
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,000'
After getting delayed by the rain we were able to make a dry push to Camp Muir yesterday. The stars looked to be aligning for a great summit day. We left the ridge at Camp Muir looking back at the lunar eclipse, psyched to be walking on the Cowlitz Glacier on a warm windless night. The team worked their way up the route feeling the altitide but also feeling determined to reach the top of Mt. Rainier. At 13,000' however, the mountain spoke to us telling us today, in fact, was not our day. Snow instability prevented us from climbing higher. We did not get the perfect day we were hoping for but we still got a gorgeous morning with beautiful views.
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Ben Luedtke, Leif Bergstrom, Nikki Champion, Alan Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir May 16 - 21, 2021 met on Sunday for their first day of training led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Nikki Champion. On Monday, May 17th they loaded their packs and ascended to Camp Muir. They have spent the last four days and nights at Camp Muir, training and practicing skills needed to climb big mountains. Today they put that training to test and made their summit attempt on Mt. Rainier. Unfortunately wind and new snow thwarted their effort. The team is safely back at Camp Muir and will do some additional training this morning before packing their gear and descending from 10,000'. We hope they learned a lot and enjoyed their experience even with the uncooperative weather.
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Dustin Wittmier
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,700'
The Four Day Climb Team led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Dustin Whittmier were turned by winter like conditions on their summit attempt of Mt. Raineir this morning. The team reach Cathedral Gap at about 10,700'. The team has started their descent from Camp Muir and are en rote to Paradise.
Congratulaions to Today's Team!
Posted by: Eric Frank, Hannah Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Eric Frank and Hannah Smith led a team of climbers with the Inspiration4 Team to the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams enjoyed nice conditions on the mountain and a direct route via the Ingraham Direct.
Congratulations to the Inspriation4 Team!
Posted by: Brent Okita, Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello, Dominic Cifelli, Nikki Champion, Camille Leininger
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir led by RMI Guides Brent Okita, Hannah Smith and Avery Parrinello reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Brent reported a beautiful day with windy conditions and challenges. The group has spent the last several days training at Camp Muir. Tonight will be their final night at the 10,000' camp and they will descend to Paradise tomorrow. We hope the team enjoyed their time on the mountain. Congratulations on reaching the summit!
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Dustin Wittmier, Hannah Smith, Kiira Antenucci
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir teams led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Dustin Wittmier, Hannah Smith and Kiira Antenucci reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today under clear skies and moderate winds. The teams were descending from the crater rim around 7:30 am PT.
The group gathered at Rainier BaseCamp on Monday for a full day orientation to prepare for their program. On Tuesday morning the group left for Paradise where they donned packs and made the ascent to Camp Muir. The teams spent the next few days training near Camp Muir, honing their mountaineering skills and preparing to make their summit today. Today is their final day on the mountain and once they return to Camp Muir, they will repack their gear and continue their descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's teams on capping off a great week of training by standing on the summit of Mt. Rainier!
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
A shower never felt so good! We spent the night sleeping under the stars. The sky held more stars than one can imagine. No light pollution makes every star twinkle. No alarms were set, we just woke with the sun and the rustling of the other teams at camp. Breakfast looked like a continental breakfast, bagels, oatmeal, cereal. Of course copious amounts of coffee were consumed as well. Everyone can feel the compounded effects of the last few days. This day held a lot inventive to keep moving. Today we would walk to the end of the Vacas Valley and wrap up our expedition. Today we would enjoy a shower and wash Aconcagua off of us. Today we would sleep in a bed. The team walked in style all the way to the end. They earned their shower and bed. All clean and looking presentable the team took the night to relax. Tomorrow we will do an official closing to the exepedition and maybe some laundry too. Before we sign off for good, we would like to thank everyone for the kind comments on the blogs and endless encouragement.
Thank you all and good night,
Thanks again for writing such awesome posts so we can follow along. I’m sure you’re all delighted to be clean and get some rest. Have safe journeys home!
Posted by: Heather Collins on 1/25/2020 at 7:14 am
So glad to hear the sun made an appearance and you’re underway. Best wishes for the whole team. I’m thinking of you Byron!
Posted by: Heather Collins on 6/11/2021 at 5:40 pm
Get it, Dustin!! Make Kareem proud with those clear glasses!
Posted by: Drew Dykstra on 6/11/2021 at 1:06 pm
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