Entries By nick sinapius

Thursday May 21, 2026 - 9:44pm PDT

Welp, we woke up to drifting snow, heavy winds, and the sun outlook of yet another weather day. Today haiku was brought to you by Adam, because it was his favorite day ever.

Wizards of the stove

Waving wands of ice and snow

What will you do next

Adam’s favorite day ever consisted of his two favorite meals. The day started with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and the day wrapped up with Zatarain’s (Jambalaya). The in-between times were filled with cribbage, rotating in your sleeping bag like a hot dog in a gas station and some more story times. The snow continued to fall throughout the day.  We are still set up to carry to 13.5 whenever weather allows.

Check in tomorrow!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion and Team

Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - 9:28 pm PT

Tonight’s dispatch starts with a Haiku from Oliver:

Trango home on snow 

Vented, sturdy and solid 

Palace of solace

Today we woke up to a low cloud, light snow and calm winds. It was our chance to go back and grab our cache. As we let the morning slow roll, we enjoyed the the second smoked salmon meal of the trip and then geared up with empty packs and sleds and started back downhill to be reunited with our snacks and group meals we have been missing. After a quick 30 minutes of down we were digging. 

We then loaded everything up, and headed back up hill for a short hour. As we finally made it back into camp, weather mellowed out and we enjoyed a solid afternoon of building a kitchen, good burritos, and snapping a quick team photo. 

Weather might be a bit tough tomorrow, but when things allow we will gear up to carry to 13,500'

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

Well, the walls we built last night turned out to be the right call. Throughout the night, the winds ramped up and snowfall continued. By the time the morning rolled around, our fate was obvious. It was going to be a weather day. With the strong winds and constant snowfall, we all snoozed our alarms and settled into our sleeping bags for a few more hours before a slow morning of scrambled eggs, ham, and English muffins. The day didn't improve much, and being outside was less than desirable, so every one settled into their homes for the day, and moved through a steady rotation of sleep, sport eating, and the occasional tv show. During any lulls, or when we all got a bit stir crazy some shoveling would partake, but most hours were spent in the tent. 

We are going to wrap the night up with some Thai curry and rice noodles before heading to bed with the hope to back carry tomorrow!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

Monday, May 18, 2026 - 11:48 pm PT

The first alarm went off at 5AM. The sound of snow falling on the tent was there, but lighter than the last few days. We spent the next hour paying attention to the weather to see how the winds and snow progressed, and they seemed to stay the same. By 7AM the stoves were rolling and the plan was to move uphill if weather didn't get much worse. The light snowfall and dense clouds lingered, but winds remained calm at camp. By 10:30 we had torn down camp and began our way up Ski Hill in the light snow and clouds. As we made our way through the first few stretches the sun would occasionally try to peak out, but sooner rather than later the clouds rolled in, snowfall picked up, and visibility was reduced to a whiteout. This continued all the way past our cache before the skies broke again. After a tough day, we finally rolled into 11 camp where we found our RMI cohorts, and set up camp right below them. The long day was wrapped up with some ramen, and a little bit of wall building to prep for the next incoming storm. 

We are hunkered down and now set to face the storm, or back carry, whatever weather brings.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

5/17 - Another morning greated by the soft pitter patter of snow on the tents, as we unzipped the vestibule we were met by moderate snowfall, and low visibility. The waiting game begun. Wait to see if visibility increases, if winds decrease and if the snowfall stop after a few hours, none of those things happened and we settled into another weather day. A morning of breakfast scramble, followed by hours of tent time, some shoveling and some naps. The night was wrapped up with "burgers" and weather. Here's too tomorrow?!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion & Team

5/16 - We woke up to the light sound of snow on our tents, and a thick cloud bank. As we emerged, we couldn't see either end of camp. As the snow continued to fall, and winds blew, we slow rolled our morning waiting to see what the weather would bring. After a morning of paying attention to weather, and some logistical problem solving, we opted for a weather day. 

The morning consisted of bagels, cream cheese, bagels and storytelling of infamous first dates. The afternoon was filled with sport eating, resting and building walls around camp to prepare for any incoming weather. We finished off our day with a dinner of pad Thai, listening to the weather, and mountain wide trivia. If weather allows we will move to 11 camp tomorrow.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion & Team
 

5/15 - What a splitter morning! We woke up to clear skies, and the entire mountain on display. We had spent the evening before going through our gear. So we were set up to have a quick breakfast, pack up everything we plan to cache, and begin our way up Ski Hill for the first time of the trip.

With much lighter packs and sleds, the climb in the clear weather flowed by and in no time we were pulling into our cache site, right around 10,100'. We took a break, shoveled a deep hole, and dumped about 1/2 of our food and fuel in the hole to see at a later date.

We then turned around with empty packs and sleds and made it back to camp 1 for a night of beautiful views, and mac and cheese with bacon. When weather allows we will pack up, and make our way up past our cache all the way to 11 camp.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion & Team
 

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

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

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!