Entries By matias francis

November 2, 2021 - 6:33 am PT

Yesterday we did our first serious acclimatizing by hiking Rucu Pichincha.  It is a fun hike that includes a gondola ride to 13,000' where we began our ascent to Rucu Pichincha, with an official summit elevation of 15354'.  The entire team made it to the summit after a few hours of hiking and a short scramble.  We then hustled down to avoid the afternoon rains and arrived back at the gondola before getting wet.  This morning we are headed to Iliniza to make a summit attempt on Iliniza Norte tomorrow!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

At around 10am today a team led by RMI Guide Matias Francis reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan. The climbable weather was short lived, as they raced the impending rain back to camp. The weather won this round as they made it back to camp soaked, but happy. The team will spend the night at high camp, before descending down during the day tomorrow (hopefully in the sun). 

Congratulations to the team!

The team led by RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier and Matias Francis reached the summit of Mt. Triumph today! The team climbed Triumph's northeast ridge to the summit where they enjoyed views deep into the North Cascades, including Mt. Baker. The team is making the most of their time in the North Cascades and plan to climb Thornton Peak tomorrow before their program concludes later this week.

The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led be RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Matias Francis crested the crater rim at 8:15 a.m.  Although the sun is shining, the skies are a bit hazy.  The team will spend some time on top before starting the descent.

Congratulations to today's summit climbers!

The Four Day Climb team August 9 - 12 led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Matias Francis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning.  The team enjoyed a spectacular meteor shower as they left Camp Muir on their alpine start and climbed toward the summit.  Andy reported a beautiful day with calm winds and warm temperatures once the sun came up.  The team was starting their descent from the crater rim just after 6:30 am PT.  Once back at Camp Muir they will refuel and repack for the remaining 4.5 miles back down to Paradise.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

At noon yesterday the West Ridge - Forbidden Peak team reached the summit.  We started early to beat the heat (and other parties) and were rewarded with shade for much of the ascent. The climb went smoothly, the team was strong and all optional crux pitches were sent!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

RMI Guide Mike Haugen checked in via radio at 7:40 am as the Kautz Seminar July 18 - 23 team was just reaching the crater rim.  The team did well and climbed strong from their camp at the top of the Wapowety Cleaver.  After enjoying the views from the summit the team will descend via the Disappointment Cleaver route.  This group met at Rainier BaseCamp on Sunday, July 18 and after two days of off mountain training began their ascent via the Kautz Glacier Route.  Their time on the mountain included glacier travel training as well as focusing on techniques required for the current conditions on the upper mountain.  The team will conclude their program with a celebration in Ashford later today.

Congratulations to the Kautz Seminar climbers!

The American Lung Association (ALA) Climb for Clean Air Teams were on the Mt. Rainier summit early this morning….100% success! RMI Guide Win Whittaker called from 13,500’ on the descent  back to Camp Muir.

Thursday, June 3, 2021 - 10:27 am PT

We've waited through wind and snow for weeks and we finally got our shot. We woke up yesterday to clear skies and relatively (for 17k feet) warm temps in camp. We had stoves firing early, before sun hit camp, and got everyone up to start prepping. With breakfast done and packs loaded we stepped out of our sunny camp into the shadow of the Autobahn. It was a chilly couple hours crossing to Denali Pass and we were all psyched to get back into the sun. A slight, but cold 10mph breeze in our face kept it chilly all day, but we kept moving past Zebra Rocks, around Archdeacons Tower, onto the Football Field, up Pig Hill, and along the summit ridge to the summit! We were standing on top just after 6pm yesterday. With photos taken, we started working our way back down, well aware of the distance still to get back to the comfort of our sleeping bags. The long hours of sun help alot and we rolled back into camp around 11pm, just as the sun left camp. Tired, chilly, sore, but excited that we managed to reach our goal!

We'll start working our way down the mountain today, back to warmer temps, more oxygen, and a flight back to Talkeetna. They tend to be long days, so dispatches might be short, but we are headed home.

RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Mike Walter, Avery Parrinello, Matias Francis, Chase Halbert, Luke Wilhelm, and RMI Teams 1 and 2

Tuesday, June 1, 2021 - 12:03 pm PT

Happy June 1st! It doesn't feel like it much here at 17K. We missed sending a dispatch last night because of some electronic technical difficulties that are resolved, but you should have heard via RMI Alaska Team led by Mike Walter that we all moved to 17K yesterday on a perfect day. It was relatively warm, calm, sunny, and as we were the first few teams out of camp, were able to move smoothly up the fixed lines and along the West Buttress.

We had hopes of going for the summit today, but the chance of snow that often only brings precip to the lower mountain defied that hope overnight and into today. We've got 3 to 4 inches of new snow in camp, still snowing, low vis, and just enough wind to move it around at maximum efficiency. It was a pretty easy call to stay in the tents today and ride it out, hoping that tomorrow brings clearer conditions.

RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Matias Francis, Chase Halbert, and team