Most Popular Entries

RMI's Custom Four Day Climb led by George Hedreen found summit success this morning around 7:30 a.m.

The teams reported high winds and were on the decent to Camp Muir shortly afterwards.

They'll return to Ashford later this afternoon. 

Great job team!

Friday June 19th - 6:30PM PST

Perfect day for climbing to the head of the Kahiltna Glacier.  We woke at 2:30 AM, happy to find that we had new neighbors -Dan May’s RMI team, fresh from summit success, had set up next to us in the night.  We congratulated them (although they were still trying for a little sleep) and set out on our carry to 10,000 ft.  Conditions were excellent for travel, the surface had frozen up just right and our sleds were gliding effortlessly… except for when we were going uphill, which was most of the time.  We traveled well at any rate, reaching our target elevation before 9 AM, just as the first rays of sunshine were creeping over the end of the West Buttress. We dug a deep hole in the snow and cached food and fuel. The walk down was relatively easy with light packs.  Looking South we could see all the way to the Tordrillo Mountains on the horizon.  By late morning we were diving into our tents to beat the midday heat.  We hope to move up tomorrow.

-RMI Guide Dave Hahn
 

Monday, August 10, 2026 - 8:38 pm PT

We made it to Machu Picchu today! Through the Sun Gate, down into the citadel, six days of trail behind us and somehow it still didn’t feel real once we were standing there.

After the downpour yesterday and all through the night, we figured we were done for, views-wise. We hiked up this morning in intermittent rain and heavy clouds. By the time we reached the Sun Gate, it was fully socked in. Nothing. We played the mind games anyway, telling the clouds they’d never clear, half-hoping that saying it out loud would jinx them into doing exactly that. Eventually we gave up and started the descent into Machu Picchu.

About a minute after we took off, the clouds started opening up. And then there it was, the whole citadel and the mountains around it, in and out of this mystical fog like it was showing off on purpose.

We took a stupid number of photos and celebrated like we’d won something, because we had. This whole trip has been extremes: cloud forests and downpours, dust and dry high altitude, brutal trail days to long quiet nights in a tent. Somehow it all resolved into that one minute of clearing sky.

Tonight we’re in Aguas Calientes, showered, fed, and saving what’s left of our legs for one final hike tomorrow.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the Machu Picchu team

Hola!

We left Cusco long before sunrise, trading city lights for a winding, bumpy road that climbed steadily into the Andes. By the time we reached the trailhead, the sun was out and so were the mountains. The serac-laced slopes of Humantay and Salkantay both standing over 20,000 feet stopped us still. Today we met the rest of the team who will make this journey possible. Diego is joining us as a guide, and Pancho is our head chef (he's already far exceeded our expectations by serving up trucha, local trout, for lunch that we all deemed the best we’ve had this whole trip.) After days of travel, packing, reorganizing and checking gear, it was a relief to finally shoulder a pack and start hiking. We quickly settled into the simple rhythm of the trail: one step after another through mountains that people have called home and traveled across for generations. The highlight of the day was arriving at our camp at nearly 15,000 feet. We’re right at the foot of Salkantay — the mountain towers over our camp and we couldn’t stop looking up. Watching the clouds and the fading sunlight in a dance across the jagged slopes.

A pinch me moment for every single one of us.

We piled in the dining tent for an early dinner. One full of laughs & ease. After getting our hot water bottles (a necessity, it’s brrr cold up here) we headed for an early bedtime. But not before seeing the Milky Way and one million stars holding the sky.

What a dream.

Jess and the Machu Picchu team

Great news from the mountain!

The Expedition Skills Seminar Emmons Team, led by Sam Hoffman, successfully reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team enjoyed favorable climbing conditions with clear skies, some gusty winds, and an excellent day on the mountain.

The climbers are currently descending and have reached approximately 13,800 feet as they make their way back to Camp Schurman. They will spend one more night on the mountain continuing their training before beginning their final descent.

Congratulations Team!

We summited Illiniza Norte at 8:30am this morning. Cloudy and threatening but we started dry and had a great climb.

I'll write a proper dispatch once we get down to the refugio and send some photos.

RMI Guide Eric Frank

It's another beautiful day on Mt. Rainier and more teams are reaching the summit.  RMI Guide Dan May and team reached the summit at 6:30 am today.  The route is really nice and the weather is clear.  The team enjoyed an hour in the summit crater before starting their descent to Camp Muir. Once back at Camp they will get a short break before continuing the final 4,000' to Paradise.

Nice work team!

RMI Guide Jack Delaney led his group of climbers to the summit of Mt Rainier this morning around 7:45am. They reported beautiful weather other than some wind. They are currently on their descent back to Camp Muir and will be back in Ashford this afternoon. 

Great work up there!

After dinner I asked the team what some of their highlights were from the day:

• One had fun learning and playing Scum (Scum is the chosen card game of this group — we’ve been playing every night and I’m happy to report we saw our first female president who served two terms, iykyk.)
   
• Some said they enjoyed waking up at 5:00am to the symphony of dogs barking and someone else chimed in “or not sleeping to dog’s barking” and then I reminded them I asked for highlights…
   
• There was consensus that the lasagna dinner served with deep fried cauliflower was a top notch moment.
   
• One mentioned that passing every other group on the trail was their highlight. Now before you think we were zooming, dear readers, we weren’t. We were moving in our uphill formation slow and steady. You know what they say, smooth is fast and fast is slow. That was definitely proven true today.
   
• Many mentioned that skipping and/or running down the many rocky stairs was the highlight. With caution! No injuries! But it was fun.
   
• But the top highlight was climbing the 430 flights of stairs (more than 4,000 vertical feet) to Dead Woman’s Pass, the highest point on the whole Inca trail, named because the ridgeline lays out like a woman on her back against the sky. And seeing down into the valley below — the views were 10/10.

 - RMI Guide Jess and the Machu Picchu team

Monday, June 8, 2026 - 10:26 pm PT

Today was a well earned rest day. So far the mountain has allowed us to stay right on schedule. Lucky enough to enjoy some beautiful days of easy weather. Today was spent lounging around camp, practicing our crampon-ing skills and building our fortress of solitude. Stay tuned as we look forward to moving higher up the mountain tomorrow!

RMI Guide Dan May