Entries By nick sinapius
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Nick Sinapius, Rosie Hust
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 7,800'
5/14 - Day one, done and dusted! We woke up to the call that we could fly, so we got our last fancy coffee drinks for a long while and shuffled over to the hangar to get our soft shells on, and ready to fly. We loaded the planes and by 10AM - planes were in the air!
Once we landed, it was a mad dash to reorganize, leave a cache of goodies for later, and rig up to start to move to Camp One.
A little bit after noon, the teams was tied in and ready to roll. Down Heart Break Hill, and across the Kahiltna Glacier we went. Many hours later we were pulling into Camp One, a welcome home for the night. We quickly began the work of building camp, melting water, and getting a quick dinner of broccoli cheddar soup and chicken sausage rolling. It was a long day, and a late night, but by 11P everyone was tucked into their sleeping bags. Tomorrow we aim to carry somewhere between 9.5-10k, and then make our way back to camp.
Here's to hoping for another day of good weather!
RMI Guide Nikki Champion
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McKinley Expedition May 12, 2026
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Nick Sinapius, Rosie Hust
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Welcome to the May 12th Denali expedition!
After the entire team completed the first leg of the trip by successfully making it to Anchorage, we packed up and shuttled into Talkeetna to share our first team dinner and a few beers before the real madness began.
This morning started with coffee in town, followed by our National Park briefing, before spending the rest of the day doing an in-depth gear check and sorting through personal gear, group gear, and countless snacks. Once things were packed, unpacked, and packed again, the team was finally ready for the final weigh-in.
Now that the gear is weighed, the clothes are laid out, and the team is prepped, we just wait for a weather window to fly in. The goal is first thing tomorrow morning, so keep your fingers crossed.
RMI Guide Nikki Champion & Crew
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition May 12, 2026
Best of Luck Oliver & team, make sure you get him to sing a few Irish songs, he is absolutely brilliant, but very shy
Posted by: Brian Payne on 5/15/2026 at 6:48 am
Wishing everyone a successful climb. Go get it Candice & Adam!! Love you!
Posted by: Kate Palmer on 5/14/2026 at 6:21 pm
Posted by: Ben Luedtke, Nick Sinapius, Celeste Wilson, Erika Barrett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The first RMI team of the 2026 Mt. Rainier season has reached the summit!
RMI Guide Ben Luedtke led the first Five Day Climb April 29 - 3 May. The group met Wednesday for their Orientation and Gear check, completed their Mountaineering School on Thursday and asended to Camp Muir on Friday. Yesterday the team trained near Camp Muir and this morning launched their alpine start. Ben and a small group of climbers reached the summit around 7 am. Ben reported sunny conditions with a light breeze and a beautiful day. The climbers will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise this afternoon. We look forward to celebrating with them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations team!
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 20,703'
Sunday, January 18, 2026 - 2:17 pm PT
The clouds started to lift last night and by time we were ready to attempt Chimborazo the sky was completely clear for the first time during our adventure.
We woke at 11 p.m. to start our day and it was virtually perfect for a summit attempt; cool temps, no wind, and a sky full of stars.
The route starts with a rocky traverse but quickly changes to a step snow slope. At 18,000+ feet elevation steep slopes really take their toll, but our team was ready for the challenge. Six hours later, just as the sun was rising, we reached the summit. It was quite cold and a little breezy on top so we watched the sun rise, enjoyed our first real views of the many mountains of the Ecuador skyline, and headed down.
Chimborazo was a challenge but everyone on our team met that challenge with smiles.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
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Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 17,500'
We left Riobamba late this morning for our approach to high camp on Chimborazo. One of the great things about climbing in Ecuador is that we can drive to nearly 16,000 ft. From there, it was a two‑hour hike to our new dome‑tent home at 17,500 ft on Chimborazo.
The weather is looking good, so we’re heading to bed early in anticipation of an early wake‑up to climb our third—and biggest—volcano of the trip.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Nick Sinapius & Team
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Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 13,123'
Ecuador continues to deliver beautiful scenery as we travel south of Quito. The long driveway for the hacienda was lined with 100’ tall eucalyptus trees providing a refreshing smell as we drive out this morning. The country side is covered with verdant fields dotted with cows or greenhouses growing red and yellow and pink roses. The roads are lined with vendors selling ice cream and hot snacks and the freshest fruit. And the skyline is dotted by the giant glaciated volcanoes we came here to climb. We’re lucky to enjoy this beautiful country with a group of lovely people.
With a little spare time at our new hotel we enjoyed some more training in the warm sunshine.
Tomorrow we begin our final climb on this trip to Ecuador, the tallest of the Ecuadorian volcanoes: Chimborazo.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes and team
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 17,000'
Sorry for a few missed dispatches, service isn't great on Cotopaxi
We set our alarms for an early wake up this morning and our summit attempt on Cotopaxi. However, when we woke up around 11pm to check the weather we didn’t even need to get out of bed, the noise on the roof of the climbers hut was enough to tell us it was raining. Our team along with around 30 other climbers waited in the hut for the storm to break but it never did.
At around 3am we used a lull in the weather to give it go, but after an hour of climbing uphill through the rain, the rime ice and wind became too much to handle. We descended back to the hut with a high point of around 17,000 ft. Other climbers trickled back into the hut with up to a centimeter of ice built up on their backpacks and similar stories.
We left the Cotopaxi hut this morning and are now at our hotel drying out and prepping to travel to Chimborazo tomorrow. Hopefully we can get some better weather for our last and biggest climb of the trip.
RMI Guide Nick Sinapius and Team
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Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000'
We all really enjoyed our rest day yesterday in Puembo at our very nice ministry-turned-hotel. After a morning of crevasses rescue training we scattered. Some lounged around the hotel, others went shopping and a few walked to town to see the local sights.
Fully rested, we drove to the trailhead and hiked in the rain to the Cotopaxi hut. Luckily, the hike was short so we didn't get completely soaked. Everyone moved well uphill to the warmth and comfort of the classic high mountain hut.
If the weather improves we will try for the summit of Cotopaxi tomorrow.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 18,997'
Monday, January 12, 2026 - 5:30 pm PT
Our 6th day in Ecuador actually started on day 5, as we “woke up” at 11 pm for an alpine start and our first summit day of the trip. We left the hut at 12:10 am and climbed through clouds until we reached the toe of the glacier at around 16,000 feet. From then on, the clouds steadily cleared leading to great summit weather and incredible views of the sunrise. The entire team reached the summit of Cayambe around 7am, once again setting new high points for many in the group. A highlight of the day was having the hut, mountain, and summit all to ourselves as we were the only group climbing Cayambe today. We’re now back in Quito and looking forward to a well earned rest day before heading to Cotopaxi.
RMI Guide Nick Sinapius
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Hello friends and family from the Summit of Cayambe!
We all made it up and down safely. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
The mountain does not care whether or not you reach the summit…that is fleeting. What is lasting is who you become on the climb and what you will bring back to the world as a consequence. XOXOX all ways and always.
Posted by: Hilary (aka Candice’s Mum) on 5/15/2026 at 10:19 am
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