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Posted by: Jackson Breen, Lacie Smith, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9700'
Thursday, May 28, 2026, 9:21 p.m. PDT
Day 1
Today we awoke to blue skies, so we rushed to the hangar, where we played the ‘hurry up and wait’ game. We got the text around 11 a.m. that we were flying on! We all rushed back to the hangar and lathered ourselves in sunscreen and smiles. We had moments of doubt about flying on, but climber Patti insisted we all share a piece of her Kendal Mint Bar. This famous candy delight was brought to London with the intention of being consumed before Denali. The treat is a ritual Patti practices for every climb. Alas, we are here at the airstrip, where we will sleep for the night. While enjoying our expansive views and the roars of the mountain, we enjoyed a delicious pad Thai dinner. Tomorrow, we plan to make our first big move to Camp 1!
RMI Guide Jackson Breen & Team
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition May 26, 2026
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Miles Watson, David Rathbun
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier and team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today via the Emmons Glacier. The team met at Rainier BaseCamp on Saturday May 23 for a full day Orientation, Equipment Check and pre-climb prep. The following day the team spent the day training above Paradise practicing glacier travel, ice axe arrest and cramponing. Packed and ready at 7 am on Monday morning, the team left Ashford headed for the White River Trailhead. The team ascended to the Inter Glacier where they set up camp and spent the night. Yesterday, the team bumped to Camp Schurman and then launched their summti attempt early this morning. By 7 am they were at 14,000' on their descent. They will return to Camp Schurman to spend the night. Tomorrow they may do a bit more training before they retrace their steps to the trailhead and make the drive back to Ashford.
Way to go team!
Great job to all!! Especially Nathan, amazing perseverance, son!! Soo very proud if you!!
Posted by: Tom Wredberg on 5/28/2026 at 10:19 am
Great job guys!!! I knew you guys could do it. Just amazing.
Posted by: Phillip Daniel on 5/27/2026 at 6:38 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Avery Stolte, Mac Nolde, Matt Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb May 24 - 27 led by RMI Guide Mike King reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the the Ingraham Direct route this morning just before 8 am. Mike reported windy conditions and a lot of hard work by the team. They are currently on their descent to Camp Muir. Once back at Muir, they will take a short break before continuing to Paradise. Their program will conclude later this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp.
Nice work team!
Posted by: Jack Delaney, Jess Wedel, Calvin Jiricko
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 17,000'
5/29 - Today we were able to stretch our legs and enjoy the views of 17k camp. The team used the day to pack and organize and prepare mentally for what will likely be the hardest day of their lives. This rest day was well deserved. Tomorrow we make our attempt at the summit of North America, Denali!
RMI Guide Jack Delaney & Team
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition May 8, 2026
Posted by: Seth Burns, Ben Thorneycroft, Margo Kerr
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 11,200'
5/29 - Today’s post includes two stories, we’ll let you decide what happened with Burn’s team’s seventh day on the mountain.
Story 1:
Seth and guides woke everyone up at 1 am, seizing the weather window and decided to make the first ever RMI summit push from Camp 2. After pounding 5 shots of espresso and 2 cups of powdered milk each, in just base layers, the team sprinted up the mountain at a blistering pace, reaching the highest point in North America in just 3 hours. They celebrated by shotgunning beers at the top, and cruised back to Camp 2 in 37 minutes (Denali FKT?). Very proud of everyone’s efforts today!
Story 2:
The team woke up to some more snow and decided to rest. Life is good.
- RMI Climber Andy
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition, May 19, 2026
Way to go Andy and team.
Posted by: Dawn Riewe on 5/30/2026 at 12:10 pm
Go Andy!! Sending good vibes to all for a successful climb!!
Posted by: Nancy Geldean on 5/30/2026 at 10:53 am
8/29 - A well deserved rest day! Again, sleeping in and waking with the sun - we enjoyed our final bagel, cream cheese and smoked salmon meal of the trip. Nick was running the stoves, and taking orders, and the morning was leisurely around camp. We spent the day pondering weather, and making a game plan for the coming days. We ate snacks, played some games, and continued to put off walking to the edge of the world. The day wrapped up with Mac and Cheese and some team rounds of heads up. We are continuing to look for a 3 day weather window to move up hill, summit, and return to 14 camp. Let's see what the weather brings!
RMI Guide Nikki Champion & Team
New Post Alerts:
McKinley Expedition May 12, 2026
Posted by: Jackson Breen, Raymond Holt, Lacie Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 7,800'
5/29 - We left Kahiltna Base camp just after 9 a.m., passing out of the mountain shadow and into the full sun. The day glittered around us, sunshine glinting off the snow and washing over the surrounding peaks. The previous night, a park ranger had warned us that it had been a challenging season. Only a few people had managed to summit. But the day we flew onto the glacier had brought the best weather he’d seen since March. Perhaps the misery that had haunted other climbers — coined a “lovely hell” in an earlier blog post — was finally passing.
We marched forward, saddled with heavy packs and even heavier plastic sleds. We carried the essentials, like fuel and climbing gear and “clean mountain cans” — their sanitary name failing to convey their unsanitary purpose: to carry out all of our poop. But we also carried the ineffable, the comfort those items brought worth more than their use. A beloved red beanie, an iPad with 48 hours of movies, including Interstellar, and 300+ gummy bears. (Harbaro, the good kind.) A blue towel, honey-covered macadamia nuts and, in a single pack, 60 packets of instant coffee. (Might need to call in a mental health check on that climber.) Smoked salmon from cousins in Anchorage and two blocks of cheddar cheese that weren’t from Wisconsin, though it would’ve been better if they were. Nice headphones. A best friend. Knitting needles and yarn. Twelve premiere Belgian waffles. More than five pounds of cookie dough.
We were different ages — 33, 35, 38, 40, 41 — and called different places home. Salt Lake City, Oakland Philadelphia, Denver, Bellingham, Kyiv. We hailed from cybersecurity, the military, journalism, entrepreneurship and business. We probably never would have met in the “real” world. (Who even knows what that world will look like when we return.) But we were creating our own little world, the climb a uniting force. We needed each other to cover the heaviest five-and-a-half miles toward the mountain — and onward, hopefully to its very top — tethered together by rope and carabiner. Our footsteps crunched over the glacial rolls, and sweat tie-dyed our shirts. Our hiking poles stabbed pinpricks of blue light in the snow, the thick ice — nearly 2,000 to 3,000 feet deep at points — shining up at us from below.
Soon enough we’d pull into camp. (The smallest member of the group was in disbelief that she’d managed to carry a load that weighed nearly as much as her.) We’d build a neighborhood of red-and-blue tents and listen to the whoosh of the cookstove, snowmelt turning to drinking water. We’d talk and laugh and prepare to climb Ski Hill the next morning to cache food near Kahiltna Pass.
But for now, there was only the long and grueling climb, both a torture and a revelation. Ahead of us, Denali stood on the horizon, cloaked in a sifting haze of clouds. Visible one moment, it was gone in the next.
Daily recap:
Mileage: 5.64 miles
Total time: 5:25:49
Elevation gain: 1,129 feet
Pace: 57:48/mile
RMI Climber Lizzy
Note from the author: All my love and gratitude to Kyiv, Omaha and Anchorage. You know who you are. (And big hugs to little Claire and Emma.)
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition May 26, 2026
Thursday, 5/28 6 PM PST
All is well up here! Turned at 8100’ and we had a great day of skiing the Roosevelt Glacier instead! Great temps and good skiing concluded the day.
-RMI Guide Sam Marjerison
RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Ben Ammon and the Four Day Climb Team reached High Break (13,200’) and were still ascending as of 7:11 a.m. Joe reported a beautiful morning, with light winds and cold temperatures.By 8:33 a.m., the team had summited all smiles, and was beginning their descent toward Camp Muir.
Congratulaitons Team!
We’re cheering you on, Ricky and Team, from Maine! Praying for a safe journey and fun adventure for you all.
Posted by: Lauren on 5/29/2026 at 6:53 pm
Sending blessings on your journey … we’re excited to hike with you as we read logs and see pictures! Go, Ricky! Go, Team!
Posted by: Tess on 5/29/2026 at 5:14 pm
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