Most Popular Entries

Monday, June 16, 2025 - 7:53 pm PT

Our sled companies:

The Happy Cappy’s Express

Sled Dawg Logistics

Snow B.E.T.S Supply Co.

are here at 11,000 feet, ready to help you will all your needs.  We even offer cache back.   Please note: Trail breaking to retrieve a lost water bottle in the Polo Fields comes at an additional. 

Today we got to visit the top of Motorcycle Hill, Squirrel Hill and the Polo Fields before caching our food and gear for the move to 14,000' Camp.  Unfortunately, the excursion brochure was wrong.  Motorcycles were not included, no squirrels to see on the hill and no Polo was being played.  The trek was worth the views and will still give a 5 star on Google Review. As we venture into new markets and camps, our logistic companies look forward offering our services at 14,000 camp very soon.   Just remember, you call, we haul. 

Shout out to our amazing leaders; Dom, Ben, and Mike.   It’s hard to put in words how much we appreciate all the warm drinks, hot chow, dressed ropes and everything between. 

On a personal note, Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife, Lauren.  Wells and Winn please give her an extra hug and kiss from me.   

Love and miss yall.  

- RMI Climber Andrew

Wednesday, June 4, 2025 - 10:14 pm PT

When we think of Sisyphus, we think of a man cursed to repeat the same arduous task each day with no end in sight. Each day he must think this is it - he has rolled this massive boulder to the top of the mountain, and surely his quest must be complete, right? Yet he awakes each day to the boulder back at the foot of the mountain, only to start again. How tragic! How crushing!

Or is it? In his essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus”, Albert Camus posits that perhaps Sisyphus is not doomed to a life of despair, but is actually a deeply satisfied individual. (Mind you, I have never read this essay and have only a surface-level knowledge of French existential literature let alone Greek mythology, so take this with a Denali sized grain of salt). But consider: this man wakes up each day with a clear task. It’s tough work rolling that boulder but he has some sweet views along the way. Every day he completes his task and must feel satisfied with a day of hard work. He goes to sleep feeling accomplished each night. How many of us can say that we have a clear task each day with no other distractions, a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day, and the delicious feeling of going to bed bone-tired which always produces the best sleep?

Our team made it back to Kahiltna Base Camp today, the last leg of an epic three week expedition. We now wait for skies to clear enough for a flight back to Talkeetna. Although the mountain’s infamous weather system ultimately prevented our team from making a summit bid, we are deeply satisfied with the gifts that The Great One has provided us. We were awed by the austere beauty of the Kahiltna and and vastness of the surrounding peaks and ridges. We were pushed to our limits and learned to dig deeper than ever before; whether it be cramponing on blue ice, being blown around on Windy Corner, struggling with all things altitude, or keeping our extremities warm in -40F windchill. We - a group of strangers prior to May 13 - became not only friends but teammates, encouraging each other in our hardest times, cheering each others’ successes, and cracking the most ridiculous and obscene jokes all day and late into the night.

Climbing Denali/Mt. McKinley has been physically and mentally the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Yet each night I went to sleep in the tent feeling a deep sense of gratitude and accomplishment.

Thank you to our incredible guides (Seth, Jackson, and Ray) for showing us the way, and more - from whipping up breakfast and dinner each day, to performing minor foot surgery, to digging Sisyphusian amounts of snow on the daily, to dealing with all of our client shenanigans. You each have unique gifts that helped me get farther than I thought possible.

Thank you to the rest of the team - the  Dont-nalis :) Shannon, David, Ethan, Will, Juan, and of course my other half Jason. I am deeply grateful to have met and befriended each of you. I look forward to our paths crossing again on this great expedition of life.

Love,

RMI Climber Grace

Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, and considered by many to be the 8th natural wonder of the world. The crater is what remains of a once massive volcano that erupted and collapsed on itself, leaving behind a giant caldera that's almost exactly 100 square miles. Every time we've visited the crater it's been excitingly different, and today was the same. 

We were able to see several lions up close and two still feasting on last night dinner! As we made our way around the crater we saw tons of other wildlife, zebras, Cape buffalo, wildebeest, jackals, Giselles, countless large birds. It was an incredible day to say the least, and I'm certain one that won't be forgotten by anyone. 

We finished the evening here at the Plantation Lodge and are looking forward to what tomorrow may bring as we head to Tarangire National Park. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew

Wednesday, June 11, 2025 - 9:21 pm PT

We’ve Landed

We’re officially on the glacier.

After spending, as Dom puts it, “the right amount of time in Talkeetna,” we loaded into the Dehavilland Otters this morning and flew into the heart of the Alaska Range.  Jack, our pilot, confirmed that “of all the RMI groups this year, this is the nicest day to fly.”  Jack was kind enough to take us around for a view of the climbing route.   It is difficult to describe the scenic majesty of the jagged snow-capped peaks as we circled around and made our landing approach.  We have base camp practically to ourselves, and it’s very peaceful and quiet, with a few clouds drifting in the blue sky above.  After setting up, and spending time learning how to rig the sleds, and how to pack as to not look “like traveling merchants on the Kahiltna glacier,” we settled in for a break.  

Tonight we’ll have some pizza for dinner, the last trace of civilization (apart from the 9 inReach units our group brought along. . . )

For now, the focus is rest. We’re planning to head out with our sleds sometime around 3 a.m., taking advantage of the firm snow and cool conditions for travel on the lower glacier.

Signing off from Kahiltna Base camp,

RMI Climber Nate Brunner

Wednesday, June 5, 2025 - 9:09 pm PT

Surrounded by a majestic you cannot see morphed into our first true view of the epic beauty that surrounds us. Lord of the Rings minus the hobbits, Gandalf, and everything other than really the mountains. Bad analogy but it’s the best I can do.

We cached at 9,900’ and tomorrow, weather permitting, we enter the gauntlet again to Camp 2. I figured making a list of all the things learned so far might be fairly entertaining for all the loved ones back home.

1. Individual snack bags are the way to go. Shoutout to Bob’s daughter, what a game changer.Sifting through a duffel of snacks in 30 MPH winds and snow hitting you in the face makes the See’s Candy not taste as good.

2. Leave a crack in the tent zipper at night. Humidity is very very real, and a damp tent is far from ideal. 

3. Nobody will beat the chess savage, Connor. I don’t think Magnus Carlson has much interest in a game up here in the Alaskan range. 

4. Falling while skiing naked in Colorado is not a good plan at any point in your life.

5. Some adults use binkies, in public, and carry a car seat we believe for themselves? I am as confused as you are, trust me. Hot sauce is the most essential condiment. And under no circumstances can you only bring one.

6. While in Louisiana triple AAA provides world class home cooked service, local errands included.

7. Hot sauce is the most essential condiment. And under no circumstances can you only bring one.

8. Tea tree oil and baby powder is life changing. Bring it, you will not regret it.

9. While training with your pack remember to wear your harness. Your hip bones will thank you a million times over. Seriously, wear it, as stupid as it may look the pack and the harness are enemies.

10. Be organized. Use every tent pocket imaginable. And always, always put things in the same place. Life isn’t easy up here but knowing where your crap is makes a world of difference.

11. When the guides offer you two bagels take the second one with a smile. There’s a method to the madness, don't ask questions and find a way to get it down. Politely refusing a second bagel is a mistake you will only make once. 

12. When you are going downhill use a sled brake. The friction from the rope keeps the back person from playing sled dodge ball. Bumper cars with a 90 pound sled on a glacier is more reminiscent of bowling, you are the pins and the sled gets to be the ball. 

I almost forgot,you can never bring enough skittles. Sure they freeze, but frozen skittles taste as good as room temperature skittles. The originals only.

Thank you for all the prayers, thoughts, and awesome people to come home to.

We wouldn’t be here without the village behind us.

Love,

RMI Climber Caroline and team

Sunday, June 8, 2025 - 11:01 pm PT

It started snowing yesterday afternoon while we were doing our carry, and it seems it hasn't stopped since. Heavy snowfall has made our entire world a snow globe. We woke up to the sound of snowfall on the tent, a signal to us that today would be another weather day here at 11,000' Camp. After our big effort yesterday, a little bit of a mellow morning was welcomed. So after a later alarm we all gathered in the cook tent for some toasted bagels, cream cheese and bacon. The day continued on with heavy snowfall covering every past sign of other teams or climbers. People would cycle out every hour to brush or shovel off the tents and by the next hour, the snow had just refilled. Wading from one camp to another was a waist deep adventure. After hours of keeping the camp unburied we had yet again, some burritos - and chatted about our plan for tomorrow. The big move. We are all excited about the prospect of a new camp, flat tent platforms, and one step closer to the summit. The weather looks a bit more promising so we are going to bed optimistic.

One more thing - happy birthday to Brandon's Mom!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

Wednesday, May 21, 2025 - 10:59 pm PT

Sunshine!

It was great to see the sun today. After a leisurely breakfast we got our one main task done for the day, going to pick up our cache at 10,200ft. Despite some annoyingly cold wind and deep trail breaking, we got this done in a short three hours.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing and resting up. Tomorrow we hope to climb higher, putting in a cache just above Windy Corner around 13,500'.

RMI Guide Seth Burns

Wednesday, June 18, 2025 - 8:49 pm PT

Cripes alfrighty we did it! We finally made it to Camp 3 at 14,200 feet. Pardon me and my french, we are just a little excited. And don't let those tabloids play tom foolery on you, we're 14,200 feet, not 14,000 feet; those silly newsfolk, they'll really get ya. Anywho, we got to tinkering with our stuff last night for the move and got up real early. You know what they say, early bird gets the cheese. So there we were at 11,000 feet, we scootered up Motorcycle Hill, squirreled our way around the next, galloped through the polo fields and then roasted our tushies off like when grandma leaves the pop tarts in the toaster for too long. See what I did there? I'm just joshing yous. Anyways, so now here we sit at 14,200 feet and you might be thinking to urself, what's so darn important about that? Well we'll tell ya. Gosh the views are something else, but ya, so, now that we're at camp 3, we're sitting pretty good to, ya know, get acclimated and stuff before we launch like a potato from a spud gun and get our bums to the summit of this thing! So ya, we're pretty excited and all that. Thanks so much for tuning in. Tomorrow we gotta walk back down and get our goodie bags we left just below camp, but gosh, it'll be a lot easier than today was. Okay, thanks for listening, tell your folks we says hi and watch out for deer. Ok, bye now.

RMI Guide Ben Luedtke and Team 

Sunday, June 1, 2025 - 10:11 pm

Another solid day in the books!

After our late night yesterday, we slept in a little bit, had a quick breakfast of cheese grits and then packed up about two thirds of our personal and group food to lug up the mountain halfway between the base of Ski Hill and 11,000' Camp. Today we settle into a rhythm of caching. Where we pack up some of the food and gear we don't expect to use for a bit, and bury it somewhere between our current camp, and our next camp. Then we climb, past the cache, to our next camp, and then we go back and pick up the cache. With so much food and gear, caching gear between camps allows for more manageable loads and also allows for us to climb high, and then sleep low before moving camp. So today, with the two thirds of our gear back we walked out of camp, made our way up Ski Hill, past the 9,500' Camp some people stay at, and to our cache site near 9,800'. Weather had taken a turn since we woke up, with strong winds and light snowfall. Temperatures were cold and visibility was poor but we were able to make the day count, and set ourselves up to hopefully move tomorrow. After the long weathery day, we made it back to camp where we shared some good music and a round of quesadillas.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion