Most Popular Entries

Friday, June 23, 2023, 8:40 am PDT

Our Team is back at 14,000’ Camp after a long day of waist to chest trail breaking and ultimately avalanche conditions on the West Buttress. We made it to Washburn’s Thumb at 16,800’, all pickets were buried and not found except for the ones near slopes that naturally avalanche. The Autobahn is incredibly loaded with snow, and I am sure you will not find a single one of the 35 pickets across it!

Our plan is to head to the airstrip tonight and hope to fly.  No one has flown since last Sunday and snow is in the forecast all week, so we will see!

RMI Guide Andy Bond and Team

Friday May 27, 2022 10:37pm PT

It was a beautiful day today at 14,000' camp. We slept in, ate breakfast burritos, then napped, read and ate some more.

After reviewing some more mountaineering skills, we ate more burritos for dinner. With the sunny skies, warm temperatures and the menu today, it almost felt like we were in Mexico.

Stay tuned for what we get up to tomorrow!

RMI Guide JT Schmitt and the Denali Team

Friday May 20 - 11:42pm

We made full value out of our rest day today. We woke late, had a brunch of blueberry pancakes and maple syrup, lounged for the better part of the day, and capped it with burritos for dinner. We have had no problem eating well.

Our main entertainment has been a very large team made up of members of the British military. We are all on a similar schedule, and subsets of their team have been filtering into camp the last couple days. As of today, our camp is encircled on three sides. The main constant in the wide variety of British accents constantly around us is the abundance of the F bomb. That word cuts through all accents and after our informal survey today shows up on average as every third word. There has been general hilarity listening to their banter through our tent walls and it was a main topic of discussion over dinner tonight.

We plan to move up to 14 tomorrow. Rested and refreshed after today, it should be done enjoyable climbing.

Pete, Erika, Leif, and team

The American Lung Association Climb for Clean Air, led by RMI Guides Win Whittaker and Mike Uchal, reached the Mt. Rainier summit early this morning. They experienced nice weather and 25 mph winds. After spending some time on the summit, they began their descent back to Camp Muir at 6:30 a.m. Congratulations ALA Climbers!

Hello there Mark Tucker here calling from the Carstensz Pyramid Expedition. Here in Ugimba spending quality time with Moni tribesmen. A Great welcome. This is where our lead local guide is from and it is pretty amazing as you can imagine. We were treated to quite a festival and a very formal traditional dance. This is the real deal, just like the pictures you would see in National Geographic. This is it, this is pure in the purest form. It has been one heck-of-a day, we are just smoked, the whole team is already bedded down and it is still pretty early. We’ve probably got another 2 or 3 power days in the jungle where every step takes full concentration team is doing fantastic. I'm so impressed with efforts in there. They are adjusting to all of the incredibly challenging root climbs, there were a couple of small cliffs and moving the rivers having to build little bridges wading in rubber boots almost over the top, as a matter of fact, somebody may have actually had a full submersion. We are all doing pretty well, and WOW this place is amazing. It didn't really rain until about 4 o'clock, and then they turn on the spigot and it's full blast. We are happy where we are at. I can't wait to show some pictures because this is just an incredible experience, and we hope to continue enjoying it. Big day tomorrow and we'll do our best to keep checking in. So for now it's called “Amakane” (ah-mah-kah-neh) it just keeps people smiling and it's the greatest greeting. We will keep checking in, Amakane! RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

The Five Day Climb April 28 - 2 May led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Dustin Wittmier are descending from Camp Muir this morning.  The team made the most of their time on the mountain getting in a Climbing school to learn cramponing, rope travel and ice axe arrest techniques.  They then ascended to Camp Muir, 10,080', where they spent two nights and were able to do additional training.  Lightning near Camp Muir and high winds kept the team from making a summit attempt this morning.  We look forward to seeing them back at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.

Friday, June 17, 2022 10:41pm PT

Today we fled the thin air of 17 camp for the more tolerable altitude of a mere 14,000 feet. It might seem easy but descending was anything but that. The team was definitely still in a energy and hydration deficit from summit day. So on weak, sore and wobbly legs we made our way down the West Ridge, slithered our way down the fix lines and groaned, moaned and hobble down the final hill into camp. Everyone quickly scurried into their tents for some much deserved rest. A hearty meal of bacon mac & cheese was swallowed with gusto and then off to early bed. We still have thousands of feet and many miles before we make it to the airstrip.

Talkeetna here we come!

RMI Guides Avery, Jack, Liam and the Team

Hello from Everest Base Camp, This is my first chance to take a breath here at Base Camp. If you can call it that. Breathing here is always a challenge. It is crazy to think that with all the hard work Jeff Martin put in here at base camp prior to my arrival, it was still non-stop this whole last week. However, the first big reward came today when RMI Guide Dave Hahn and company called down from Camp 1 reporting that all is well. We have the best of the best when it comes to a team of climbers. And the support we give them to make this climb a bit easier is very much a group effort from Kathmandu to the USA. We had a wild thunder storm this afternoon with a trace of snow but the clouds have cleared and it is pretty clear now. The RMI team left Everest Base Camp at 5 a.m. this morning and made it to Camp 1 in under four hours. That is a very respectable time for the climb of almost three thousand feet. It looks like all the training paid off. We had a nice dinner in the cook tent with the Sherpa team and I am looking forward to my favorite hot water bottle and a good night's rest. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Hello, Dave Hahn calling down from Advanced Basecamp in the fog, 21,300'. Today was a beautiful day. Significant to us, in that a combination team of climbers building the route on the Lhotse Face succeeded in getting as far as Camp 3 and perhaps even a little bit beyond that. Fixing rope up the steep and icy Lhotse Face. We didn't want to get in the way of that today. We actually hiked up to about 22,000', towards the west shoulder. Certainly not all the way to the west shoulder, which is about 25,000' in some very steep, hard ice in that direction. But the part we could do today made for a nice hike and gave us a great view off the Western Cwm. Pretty amazing. With the exception of the snow that fell last week, it just doesn't appear to be any snow left over from the monsoon or the winter. Just bare ice up in this upper valley, and these glaciers are continuing to take a beating. On the good side, our Sherpa team, Tshering, Gyaljen, and Kaji, they successfully made a carry up here today, to ABC, carrying oxygen bottles for the summit bid. And then the three of them and Lam Babu, went back down to Basecamp. It's just myself, Dan, Seth and Yubaraj up here at ABC. All is well. Bye now. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Good things come to those who wait... At least that is what we must remind ourselves of. Another day of marginal weather had us scratching our heads about the possibility of a summit bid while other teams have had enough and are headed down. But with a fortified camp and a weeks worth of food and fuel, we plan to exercise patience and optimism. As storm days stack up, it is all too easy to let altitude and lethargy tear a person down. Exercise is the best remedy, and so this afternoon we climbed the first hour of the autobahn to stretch the legs and open the lungs. With new snow covering the route, we worked hard breaking new trail up to 17,700 feet, and the pickets that protect the steep slopes had to be dug out. To be sure when our time comes to go for the top, our team will be the most acclimated and best conditioned team at high camp. High and Mighty at 17K RMI Guides Okita, Davis & Mann

On The Map