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Today we started our day at 6:30 refreshed after a much needed nights sleep, we had breakfast, then hit the trail one last time. It took just under 3 hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch and said our final goodbyes to our amazing crew that took such great care of us on the mountain. 

We finished the little celebration by handing out their well deserved tips and then hopped aboard our awaiting bus for the ride back to the lodge. 

Finally we are all safe and sound, cleaner, and smelling fresh after an exciting 7 day journey up and down Kilimanjaro. 
Stayed tuned, Safari starts tomorrow!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Friday, June 26, 2026 10:44pm PDT

Certainly, colder up here at 14K. We ate breakfast in the shadows before the sun came around the mountain at 9:20.That made it a lot easier to prepare for our 10:15 mission to reclaim our cache at Windy Corner. It was a pleasant walk down, naturally -with light packs. The Ravens had not disturbed our carefully buried supplies. We loaded up and set ourselves to the two-hour workout to get back up to camp. The weather was perfect with clear skies and no wind, and we were happy to hear Ben’s RMI team on the radio, heading toward the summit. The rest of our day was. Spent resting, rehydrating, and training for a climb on the fixed rope section of the West Buttress tomorrow.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

After a hot and hazy day yesterday, two four-day climbs led by Dave Hahn and Tom Skoog reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning under beautiful skies and improved air quality. The teams reported good route conditions on the DC and winds of 15-20 mph. They began their descent from the crater rim at 7:00 a.m.

After a short break at Camp Muir, the climbers will continue down to Paradise. To conclude their journey, we'll welcome them back to Ashford this afternoon.

Great job, climbers! 

A jam-packed rest day in Namche. (Classic.)

Namche is such a sparkling little town, and with a hike to the Everest View Hotel on the menu, most of us were in. The forecast was calling for rain and snow, but we woke up to mostly blue skies — so we loaded our daypacks and headed uphill before the clouds could change their minds.

They sure tried. By the time we crested the top of Namche, they were already building again, and I’ll admit I started mentally composing a very sad “no mountain views today” dispatch. But plot twist — the clouds blew through, and suddenly there they all were: Ama Dablam, Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Cholatse, and more, taking turns peeking out between the grey. We stood there completely awestruck and took approximately one thousand photos.

By the time we reached the hotel itself, the curtain was drawing back closed. Perfect timing —nothing left to do but sit down for tea and hot chocolate.

The hike down came with bonuses: our first yak sightings of the trip, roaming the hillside like they owned it (they do), and a stop at Sagarmatha Next, the recycling hub for this whole region. What they’ve done with the trash up here — turning it into legitimate art — is genuinely impressive.

Back in Namche, lunch at Eat Smart was a near-unanimous barbecue chicken sandwich situation. The afternoon went in several directions at once: shopping, massages, and — yes — the salon, where more than one team member got a hair wash and blow dry. We are absolutely roughing it out here.

It’s snowing now, with some thunder and lightning thrown in for funsies. Tomorrow’s forecast is looking like more of the same, so we’re crossing fingers for a clear enough window to make our move to Tengboche. Whatever the mountains give us, we’ll adapt — that’s kind of the whole job.

Rested, ready, and still a little giddy about those views.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the team

The Four Day Climb teams June 29 - 2 July led by RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier & George Hedreen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today after 6 am.  The teams enjoyed some time in the crater, crossing to the true summit, before beginning their descent from the crater rim.  The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing down to Paradise later today.  They will conclude their program with a short ceremony later today.

Nice work team!

Hello faithful readers!

Imagine the inside of a ping pong ball. Now imagine yourself inside that ping pong ball. That was us for 8 hours today. Today the plan was to take all our excess gear and food and cache it at around 9800. After spending the morning organizing our gear, we took off slogging up “Ski Hill”. Slow and steady was the name of game. Navigation was difficult at best and a blind guess at worst. The team was strong both mentally and physically today. The effort was top notch.

After digging a very large snow hole and burying all our gear, we took off downhill. Home sweet home and burritos were calling our names. A relaxing evening and a filling meal. The simple pleasures of mountain life We hope to wake up to slightly better weather tomorrow, so please cross your fingers for us!

Cheers,

Jack and the Team

We had a full day in Kathmandu today.

After breakfast, we gathered in the garden for a team meeting — a little pocket of calm before the city fully woke up. We talked through the plan for the days ahead and shared what brought everyone here: a curiosity about the Himalaya and those who call them home, a desire to honor loved ones, a chance to step away from the everyday and even a little geology enthusiasm in the mix. Good people, good reasons.

The rest of the morning was dedicated to gear checks. Lots of gear checks. Layers sorted, boots inspected, stuff sacks ripped (iykyk… purely accidental). Not glamorous, but essential.

Then — Kathmandu.

If you’ve never visited this city, nothing quite prepares you for it. The traffic alone is a cultural experience. Crossing the street requires a mix of calm confidence, a light jog, and a willingness to trust the universe just a little. We did fine.

Our first stop was Boudhanath, one of the largest Buddhist stupas in the world. We walked beneath prayer flags and wandered into a thangka painting school, where artists can spend years on a single piece. One painting we saw had taken over seven years and was valued at $1.6 million. We took that in, nodded, and collectively agreed we will not be bringing that one home.

Next up: Swayambhunath — the Monkey Temple — perched on a hilltop with sweeping views of the city. The vistas are incredible, but the monkeys absolutely stole the show. No filter, no personal space, full commitment to whatever they’re doing at any given moment. Honestly… goals.

We wrapped the afternoon with a stroll through the chaotic, colorful streets of Thamel — Kathmandu’s adventure-gear-meets-tourist-bazaar neighborhood — before heading to an early dinner.

Now we’re back at the hotel, packing and repacking for an early start. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we’ll fly to Lukla and officially begin the trek.

We’re ready to get moving.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel

Tuesday, May, 26, 2026 - 11:05 pm PT

A perfect first day to our trip!

Everyone was on time and ready to go at the Anchorage airport. After a nice drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna with a short stop in Wasilla for some last minute fresh food purchases we moved into the K2 Aviation hanger and into our hotel rooms at the Swiss Alaska inn. We had a team dinner at Denali Brew Pub and talked about our busy day to follow. With full stomachs and open minds we look forward to everything tomorrow brings as we lay down for bed!

RMI Guide Jackson Breen

Wednesday, June 3, 2026 - 7:57 pm PT

UGH, IT’S SO DAMN HOT
MILK WAS A BAD CHOICE THIS MORNING

I believe this variation of an Anchorman quote captures our cache carry to 14k Camp today perfectly after our granola breakfast with condensed milk before we started our day in the Denali heat. The morning started off cold as we ditched our snowshoes and toboggans and donned crampons as we marched onward and upward, inching closer to our ultimate objective of the summit. The snow and ice creaked and groaned under the stabs of our technical gear, and the ice glistened with a beautiful blue hue as colorful as the sky above us.

Little by little, we attacked this section meticulously making it up Motorcycle Hill, Squirrel Hill, across the Polo Fields, and finally around the bend at Windy Corner. The views were spectacular, breathtaking, with a horizon that stretched for hundreds of miles. The team still had some fuel in the tank and we pushed upward towards 14k Camp electing to cache higher vs lower. This stretch proved the most challenging for many as the midday heat baked and redlined our bodies. Arriving at camp was a godsend for many as we cached our gear and returned back down to 11k camp.  

I’m so damn proud and happy to be part of a cohesive and high performing team with knowledgeable, expert guides. As the demands on the mountain continue to increase, the team and guides increasingly continue to gel together- teammates lending a helping hand to one another with self care provisions, dinner banter continuing well past the meal is finished, and collective respect being earned as we witness each other’s grit and determination on the mountain to achieve our ultimate goal. We have Ricky- the ultra athlete who continues to impress me with his cool as a cucumber attitude, Matt- the gruff Utah SAR mountain man, Dave and Peter- the team’s muscle men Mr Universe personas (Schwarzenegger would be proud), Pattie- the IronWoman athlete, and Lizzie- the award winning author and qualified wilderness fire fighter. Our guides- Jackson, Lacie, and Ray who are consummate professionals, funny and lighthearted- push the team in all the right ways to make us better climbers and help us achieve our prized goal of a successful, safe summit of Denali. 

To our 12 readers of the RMI blog post, we’re safe and sound back at 11k camp, ready to treat ourselves to clean base layers as we transition phases on the mountain. Hormel meat snack marketing- if you’re reading this, Ray says to call him. A wet wipe bath beckons my name now and the Brolonso hair flow is in full effect after a day of wetting my hair with wet snow to cool my head.

HEY, EVERYONE, COME SEE HOW GOOD I LOOK.

RMI Climber / Aviator Alonso 

Thursday, May 14, 2026 - 11:23 pm PT

Hey yall! It’s Haley coming to you from Camp 2! Or 11 camp as it’s called way up yonder.

Why we chose this venture over someplace like Maui, we woke up to clear blue skies and a beautiful, windless day. This stunning and dynamic mountain is truly a place of wonder!

The team felt strong and enjoyed the glorious experience of only needing base layers as we made excellent time up to our next camp. It’s bustling up here already and we are even more thankful to have made it by day 3 after hearing weather pinned lots of teams down for days.

We must be a bunch of plants because the sun really brought us back to life! We plan to spend our next few days back carrying and caching up to 14 so stay tuned for updates on our wild and wondrous adventure!

Out here having a blast and a half,
RMI Climber Haley

PS I love you Kevin, Mom, Dad, William, Kayla and Abel