Entries By jack delaney

The Five Day Climb July 24 - 28 led by RMI Guides Jack Delaney and George Hedreen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today.  Jack reported a very cold and windy climb.  The clear skies and sunshine were appreciated by the group and they enjoyed some time inside the summit crater before starting their descent. The teams will return to Camp Muir for their second night on the mountain and enjoy a well deserved rest and full night's sleep after their alpine start this morning.  The team will conclude their program tomorrow, descending the remaining 4,500' to Paradise and ending with a short celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

The Five Day Climb, led by RMI Guides Jack Delaney and Leif Bergstrom, reached the summit of Mount Rainier this morning, marking a successful ascent despite the cloud cover below. The weather was favorable, with clear skies overhead, and the team made the most of the opportunity, choosing today for their summit attempt as forecasts predict rising winds and rain tonight. After celebrating their success, they began their descent from the crater rim just after 10 am. The team will return to Camp Muir for a well-deserved rest before tackling the final 4,500-foot descent to Paradise tomorrow.

Congratulations climbers!

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guide Jack Delaney made a strong effort today, turning around at the top of Disappointment Cleaver due to high winds and a cloud cap over the summit.

The team is currently descending safely back to Camp Muir and will return to Rainier Basecamp in Ashford later this afternoon.

We’re proud of their resilience and smart decision-making in challenging conditions. Safety always comes first on the mountain! 

The Five Day Climb June 28 - 2 July led by RMI Guides Jack Delaney and Sam Marjerison reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning on a beautiful day.  The teams enjoyed some time on the summit before beginning their descent from the crater rim around 9 am.  The climbers will return to Camp Muir for their second night on the mountain and enjoy the views and their accomplishment.  Tomorrow the teams will descend the remaining 4,500' to Paradise.

Nice work today team!

This morning, RMI Expeditions guides Jack Delaney and Joey Manship led their Four Day Climb teams to the summit of Mount Rainier—an incredible achievement for all involved!

The teams reached the top under dynamic mountain conditions, reporting broken clouds, light precipitation, and a cloud deck hovering around 8,700 feet. Despite the weather, spirits were high as climbers stood atop the 14,410-foot peak, many for the first time.

At 9:20 AM, the teams began their descent, and are currently en route to Camp Muir. 

Congratulations Team! 

Our team completed a Four-Day climb to the summit of Mt. Rainier via the classic Disappointment Cleaver route. Jack Delaney and Bryan Mazaika reported clear skies above the clouds and a well-established route that made for a smooth ascent.

Climbing Mt. Rainier is more than just a summit—it is reminder of the power of preparation, the beauty of the Cascades, and the camaraderie that comes from shared challenge.

Congratulations to today’s Team!

Buen Dia!

We woke up to our final breakfast on the mountain, one more time we put our hiking shoes back on and bid farewell to Jimmy and Daniela - the amazing Grajales team at our last camp.

The wind stayed at our backs as we descended the final 8 miles of the Vacas Valley. Today, the conversation was flowing - more air, full bellies! We saw lots of lizards and butterflies and even a couple mice scurrying across the trail. Signs of life reminding us we are no longer at high altitude.

With ample amounts of dust and dirt embedded in our clothes, we made it to Punta de Vacas. The place we started 2 weeks ago. We took one final group picture and headed to Penitentes to grab our duffel bags.

Before we knew it, we were on the van headed back to Mendoza! But not without a stop for empanadas along the way.

What an end to an amazing trip! We’re all safely back in the comforts of the Diplomatic Hotel - hot showers, pool time, rest and recuperation is on the agenda before we all fly back home.

Thank you for following along!

RMI Guide Jess Wedel

After a well deserved snooze in the Grajales Dome at base camp, the team started the day with our typical Grajales breakfast - cheesy bread, eggs, and a new edition, palta! We said our goodbyes to our incredible base camp staff, and began our trek down from the mountain.

Around noon, we bid farewell to Aconcagua proper and entered the Vacas Valley. Guide Jack stopped us for a lunch break at a small spring adjacent to our final river crossing.

Finally, after sixteen miles of undulating hills,  sticker plants, and rocks of all shapes and sizes, we arrived at our final camp of the trip. We were greeted by familiar Grajales staff faces, jugo, and apples! The team rallied for a delicious dinner in the Grajales dome, and is now setting up sleep systems for one last night in the mountains. Bittersweet feelings all around, yet we know this mountain has held so much for us and will be here for those of us yearning to return. 

Climber Anne Bradford 

THE WIND FELT PERSONAL 

The tent slapping against my face is not my favorite way to wake up. Alas that is how the team's final night at high camp was spent. I personally continued to feign sleep until finally enough rays of sunshine peaked over the horizon that it was reasonable to start rousing everyone from their summit climb exhausted slumbers. Needless to say, most of the team was already awake due to similar wind induced tent slapping. They say it takes a village to raise a child, well they should also say it takes five climbers to take down a tent in high winds. Well teamwork made the dreamwork and soon we were headed downhill towards Camp 2 with our packs over encumbered with everything that had originally taken us two trips and a porter to get there. Camp 2 was a warm, windless paradise at what now felt like a very refreshing 18,000 feet. Sadly, we still had a long way to go to get to base camp. Thankfully, gravity assists on the downhill and the air only got thicker as we descended. Soon we arrived to an enthusiastic welcome home at Plaza Argentina with the various amenities we loved, namely fresh fruit and cerveza! The rest of the afternoon was spent reorganizing, showering, packing, eating, and celebrating our safe return. A rotating cast of our favorite base camp people stopped by for a drink and a laugh. A perfect final night enjoying the incredible hospitality of base camp. After a restless night at 19,600 and then descending nearly 6,000 feet - a well-deserved sleep will be had by all tonight. 

Cheers, 

RMI Guide Jack Delaney and the Sleepy Sies 

Hello to our friends and family!

We talked about this as a team yesterday before we went to bed “the possibility exists that we could make it to the top!” But if we knew for sure then my job (as a guide) would be so boring and mountains wouldn’t be that fun for anyone to climb.

You don’t come here because you know you are going to succeed. You come to the mountains because you are open to both - success and failure.

Today some of the team stood on the summit of this beautiful and brutal mountain and some of us turned around. But each one of us was pushed in a different way and most definitely beyond limits we had previously set for ourselves. We endured strong, cold winds from start to finish, learned something about ourselves along the way and are all safely back in our tents at campo 3. I’ll call that a successful day - summit or not.

After such a tough climb, most everyone is snoozing in their tents. Going to 22,841 feet really takes it out of you.

Jack and I will wake everyone up soon for their favorite meal ever, FREEZE DRY (hopefully the last one of this trip) and then we’ll all head straight back to bed to sleep better than we’ve ever slept at 19,600 feet.

Big, big winds are moving in so we’ll get an early start tomorrow on our descent to base camp.

I’m so proud of each person on this team and the courage they had to try something so hard.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel