Entries By josh geiser

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Today was a huge day of logistics, travel and climbing uphill to Ixta high camp!

We started early knowing we had a few hours in the car. We said goodbye to our friends at La Malintzi (especially all our new sweet dog friends) and hit the road.

Clear skies prevailed and we had views of Ixta and Popo all day. When we were almost to the national park, we noticed plumes of clouds coming off Popo! So cool to see an active volcano.

We got to the base of Ixta, repacked our bags for the climb and started hiking. With heavy packs and over 12,000ft it was tough walking. Everyone did great and we made it to high camp in three hours. 

After an early dinner, we laid down in our tents as soon as we could knowing that the alarms would go off sooner rather than later - Ixta summit here we come!

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the team

Monday, February 24, 2025

Malinche day! And Melissa’s birthday!

Well, well, well we had another wonderful day in the mountains. 100% of the team made it to the top of Malinche and we were rewarded with amazing views.

It’s rained every afternoon since we’ve been here so we got an early start on the trail. We were sent off in the dark by a pack of friendly doggos. The trail went up and up through majestic trees and eventually we saw the pink of the sunrise peaking through the canopy. We continued on and before we knew it we could see the ridgeline of Malinche.

The views were amazing - Orizaba shining bright to our left and Ixta and Popo on our right. The skies were clear but there’s been some recent snow so we took our time through steep icy rocks just before the summit.

We celebrated with team photos and enjoyed the moment up there before we headed back down to La Malintzi for the night. 

RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Josh Geiser and Los Chivos

P.S. ONE FINAL FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS TO OUR GIRL MELISSA!

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Hello!

This morning, we woke up, ate breakfast and shuffled our duffels back down to the lobby. After a few hours on the road, we arrived at La Malintzi, a beautiful resort nestled at the base of La Malinche. It was a bustling Sunday afternoon, filled with hikers and campers enjoying the outdoors.

We stepped out of the van and took a leisurely stroll on the trail. We desperately needed to stretch our legs and breathe in the fresh, invigorating air. As the weekend traffic cleared, we found ourselves playing like carefree children on the playground. We bounced up and down on the teeter totters, laughing and laughing. It’s always good to let loose and be silly!

After checking in to our cozy cabins for the night, we headed to dinner. Since we were one of the only groups left at La Malintzi, we enjoyed a leisurely meal with soup, the most incredible guacamole we’ve ever tasted, rice, tortillas, and carnes asados. The food kept coming out to the table, and we couldn’t get enough.

With our bellies full and our spirits high, we are all settled in to sleep, preparing for our early morning adventure to climb Malinche.

RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Josh Geiser, and Los Chivos

Hola from Ciudad de Mexico!

The American Lung Association Climb for Clean Air is off to an exciting start - the team has been arriving over the last few days and I am happy to report that everyone made it.

We spent the day exploring this vibrant city, enjoying endless tacos al pastor and some of us even ventured to the Frida Kahlo museum. 

Tonight we had our first official team meeting. We talked about the itinerary, gear, but the most important part was hearing about all the reasons why this trip matters so much - raising funds and awareness for the American Lung Association and climbing mountains while doing it. The connections to the cause all stem from love, from grief but the team is all united by a need to do something.

One thing is for certain, it’s going to be a special climb with a really special group of people.

Tonight, we sleep with the sounds of the city outside our windows, knowing tomorrow we’re off to our first of three mountains - La Malinche.

RMI Guides Jess, Josh and “LOS CHIVOS” 

The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Seth Burns and Alan Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Thanks to the recent route work by many of our RMI Guides the team had a great route and were on the top in five and a half hours. The team enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and clear skies. The team is back at Camp Muir where they will spend one more night and descend Sunday Morning. 

Congratulations Team! 

Tuesday, August 27, 2024 - 2:54 pm PT

We have just completed our Easton Glacier climb of Mt. Baker August 25 - 27. We hiked up to Sandy camp on our first day, took a short break, and then got into skills training in anticipation of climbing on day 2 with a better weather forecast. After an early alpine start, we called the crater rim our high point due to snowpack conditions and deteriorating weather. After coming back down we practiced some anchor building and crevasse rescue before retreating to our tents due to rain. We managed to stay dry on Day 3 as we hiked back down to the trailhead and enjoyed a closing lunch as a team.

RMI Guide Josh Geiser

The Four Day Climb August 18 - 21 led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Drew O'Brien reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They enjoyed some time in the crater before starting their descent from the crater rim around 7 am. It's a beautiful day on the mountain.  The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing down to Paradise this afternoon and concluding their program.

Congratulations to today's teams! 

The Four Day Climb August 2 - 5 led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Josh Geiser reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  The teams enjoyed a bit of time in the crater before starting their descent from the crater rim aroun 7 am.  Dave reported sunny skies and a steady SW wind of 30 mph. The teams are on their descent to Camp Muir.  Once back at camp, they will pack up and continue another 4,500' down to Paradise.  There program concludes this afternoon with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

The Four Day Climb led by Dominic Cifelli and Josh Geiser reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver today.  The team had a good day of climbing with winds of about 20 - 25 mph, and some hazy skies due to wildfires in the area. We have several guides on the upper mountain working to establish a route to the summit. 

The Four Day Climb July 18 - 21 led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Jackson Breen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today around 5:30 am. The team is on their descent and once back at Camp Muir will repack and take a short break before contining the final 4,500' to Paradise.  Reports from the mountain are warm temperatures and light winds.

Nice work team!