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Kilimanjaro: Hahn & Team Get Ready for the Mountain

August 15, 2022

Posted by: Dave Hahn

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro

Today was an easy day of getting packed and ready for the mountain. We began with an after breakfast meeting outside under the big trees while monkeys jumped from branch to branch above us. We discussed the plan for our climb and talked about how the gear needed to be ordered and arranged for starting out. Then we conducted equipment checks back in the rooms to help folks decide what to leave in and what to take out. There was then plenty of time in the afternoon for packing, napping away the jet lag, walking the peaceful grounds of the hotel, and eating. We got together for a team dinner at 7 PM to cap things off. Everything is set to go now, we’ll head for Mount Kilimanjaro in the morning.

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Yay! Sounds like another great day. That is some giant heather! And I can almost imagine the beauty of the night sky you are seeing. May your next day be smooth and wonderful. Cheering you on, Kim ~ and all you amazing folks!

Posted by: Kathryn Jaliman on 8/17/2022 at 7:07 pm

Wow! You are all off to a great start! I’m so excited to be reading of this epic adventure. Just know I’m cheering you all on from that US. Best wishes in your first day of climbing. Kim and Bella you’ve got this!!! Hugs!!

Posted by: Pam on 8/16/2022 at 6:24 am

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Chris Ebeling reflects on his AMGA ski guide course

March 22, 2017

Posted by: Chris Ebeling

Categories: Guide News Guide Grant

Standing in the Taggert Lake parking lot of Grand Teton National Park, we gather for one of the last morning guide meetings of our AMGA Ski Guide Course. Everybody smiles and chuckles as our meeting leader reads the weather report. Over the last 9 days we have received over 80 inches of snow containing more than 8 inches of water equivalency. The avalanche forecast is high and predicted to hit extreme after a rain event starts this evening. We all talk about dialing back our terrain choices…way back. This storm has been relentless for many days, altering our objectives, creating whiteout conditions to navigate, forcing meticulous terrain selection, and making for some great skiing. We have all learned many tools for creating a positive and safe mountain experience amidst a dangerous snowpack. Today we talk about our tour plan, a planned route up a 3000 vertical foot feature in Grand Teton National Park. Through mapping tools, some math, and a little technology, we know what we're getting into and have a plan to manage the risks. We talk about who will take the lead for our group on each climb and each descent, as well as our pacing, timing, emergency plans, equipment, and weather forecast. We break our meeting, beacons checked, skins on, click in, it's time to go skiing!

AMGA Ski Guide Course - Jackson 2017 from Chris Ebeling on Vimeo.

In February with the help of the RMI guide grant I attended this 12-day AMGA (American Mountain Guides Association) Ski Guide Course in Jackson, Wyoming. This is the second course in the four courses and exams that lead to becoming a certified AMGA ski guide. The course covers numerous factors of guiding in the winter environment. Managing terrain, instruction and modeling, and putting clients in the safest, best snow is the primary focus of our techniques on the down. Creating efficient tracks, navigation, and terrain selection is a big focus of our time guiding the climb. We cover many technical factors as well, including adding security in 3rd class terrain using our rope, technical lowers and rappels into steep ski terrain, crevasse rescue on skis, travel with an improvised emergency sled, and construction of winter emergency shelters. Discussing possible terrain choices

Many thanks to RMI and the RMI guide grant for their financial and mentorship support. Another big thanks to our instructors Christian Santelices and Rob Hess for their dedication to growing the professionalism of our guiding community. _____ Chris Ebeling has been guiding with RMI since 2015. He grew up in the Northwest, climbing, skiing, and riding around Oregon and Washington before making the move to the Northern Rockies of Montana. He returned from Montana to join RMI, but still returns to Montana to explore the remote corners of his home range during the winter.

Mt. McKinley: Hahn & Team - Edge of the World Trip #2

July 12, 2012

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Solveig Waterfall

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 14,200'

This day started out fine. We definitely felt like we'd dodged a bullet since forecasts had predicted 6 to 12 inches of new snow overnight at 14,200 ft. We got nothing and liked it. The morning seemed perfect as we ate breakfast in strong sunshine and calm conditions. We had high hopes for the sun working its stabilizing magic on the avalanche slopes between us and our climbing goals. Since the clouds were gone, the team geared up for another walk to the Edge of the World. This trip would be pretty simple compared to yesterday's as we now had a packed trail to follow. It was a thrill to reach the rocks this time and to look down into the abyss. We took hero shots, posing on the high points and basked in the sunshine. The clouds began to form as we walked back toward camp. Unfortunately, they kept building and by dinner there was a massive cap on the mountain and wind was scraping hard at the ridges around us. We happen to be perfectly sheltered from this particular storm at the moment, but it is obviously nasty above and around us... not exactly the stabilizing influence we were seeking. So we'll go to bed and hope for better things in the morning. We are still doing fine for food and fuel, but are aware that a few more of the teams around us have reached their limits and are now focused on descent. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Dr K
Marcel & I were doing our training hike this morning & thinking ” trudging the road to happy destiny ” takes on a new meaning in knee deep powder !

Posted by: Blackie on 7/12/2012 at 8:28 pm

Mark, now you can say that you’ve been to the “Edge of the World” twice. I am really impressed with you and the team for patience, dedication and hard work. Hope the food and fuel hold up.

Posted by: Bob B on 7/12/2012 at 3:51 pm

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Mt. McKinley: Walter & Team Descending to Basecamp

July 2, 2012

Posted by: Mike Walter

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 14,200'

Hi, this is Mike Walter checking in from 14,000’. We have descended the West Buttress and are back at the 14,000’ camp. Everyone is doing swell. Our plan is to continue the descent to 11,000’ and hunker down for a few hours. There we’ll ‘brew up’ hot drinks, grab something to eat and nap for a few hours. We’ll traverse the lower Kahiltna Glacier in the wee hours (when it’s coldest) headed for Base Camp. We hope to arrive at BC tomorrow morning, unless the Weather Gods have other plans in store. That’s all for now from our tired and happy crew.

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Congratulations!!!

Posted by: Tony on 7/3/2012 at 8:21 am

Congratulations Longbonez and the team! We are all proud of you and can’t wait to hear about your trip. Be safe on the way down and we will see you soon!

Posted by: Xbonez on 7/3/2012 at 7:57 am

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Ecuador Volcanoes: First Day of Acclimatization

December 2, 2011

Posted by:

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador

Elevation: 9,350'

Hola from Ecuador. We started our day with another bountiful and colorful breakfast this morning. The main dishes varied from yesterday's breakfast. Eggs, sausages, and mini breakfast burritos were the main attractions. Rounding out our breakfast of yogurt, papaya, mini pastries and once again fine Ecuadorian coffee. After breakfast we loaded the taxis and shuttled over to the teleferico ( or the gondola ). Which was a short 10 minute drive from our hotel through the bustling streets of Quito. The hearty breakfast was put to good use today as we had our first day of beginning our acclimatization with some physical activity. We rode the teleferico to about 13,500 ft. We then began our 3.5 hour hike up Rucu Pichincha. The weather and temperature for our hike could not have been more pleasant. We had some clouds in the area which helped to keep the temperature moderate. We all agreed that it felt splendid to stretch our legs and most importantly work our lungs, breathing hard as we hiked to nearly 15,500 ft. Conversation throughout the hike was animated, as we hiked through varied terrain of lush vegetation and some fun rocky terrain. The view of Quito throughout the day gave us an appreciation of how big this city of 2.2 million people is. We returned to our hotel in the afternoon for a few hours of free time to relax, explore local culture and prepare for our departure from Quito tomorrow morning. Dinner tonight was filled with laughs and great conversation. We are all back at the hotel this evening preparing for a good nights rest feeling satisfied with the day, looking forward to tomorrows adventures. RMI Guide Jason Thompson

Alaska Seminar: Training and Climb of Radio Tower Peak

May 15, 2011

Posted by: Eric Frank

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 7,200'

Hi this is the Alaskan Mountaineering Seminar checking in for the day. This morning after we got an early start and breakfast we headed up the South East Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. After three hours of challenging technical climbing we were rewarded with a chance to stand on top of Radio Control Tower under blue skies and perfect condition. After our time on the summit we came back to our base camp and spent some time working on building snow anchors. The weather has turned to a cloudy outlook with a little bit of snow. Everyone is tucked in for the night resting for our training day tomorrow. Take care and send your thoughts to keep us warm on the Kahiltna.

RMI Guide Eric Frank checks in after the team's climb of Radio Tower Peak.

Climbers Receive Puja Blessing

April 12, 2009

Posted by:

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest

Elevation: 5,343 meters

The clouds blew in the right direction today. In fact, everything lined up just right in most ways today. It was an auspicious day... so judged by our Sherpa team after a careful reading of the Tibetan calendar. Auspicious enough that our Puja ceremony was held today. Doubly Auspicious because it was Easter Sunday. Thrice Auspicious because it was the nicest day we've had in a week. Peter Whittaker revealed that he'd stayed up last night with a few of the Sherpa team in the kitchen to decorate Easter eggs. Not so surprisingly, the Sherpas had not gone through that particular ritual before and Peter said they fully got into the task, coloring boiled eggs and attaching bright stickers. They were excited at the convergence of Easter, the planned Puja and a Sunday to boot. Peter kept all of this to himself and arose at 5 AM to hop down the bunny trail to his partners' tents and quietly salt the area with Easter eggs. He said he was surprised to run into another rabbit out there secretly doing the same thing. Linden Mallory had his own egg planting plans for the morning and was busily hiding colored plastic eggs with prizes within. After breakfast and before the Puja began, the team (those who had not been bunnies) chased around searching for eggs. Jeff Martin and Linden made things interesting by mentioning that two of the eggs held special prizes. Ed Viesturs quickly tracked down the one that granted its discoverer the free drink of his choice from Gorak Shep. It took Seth Waterfall a bit longer to hone in on the bright blue egg that held the $20 cash prize. And then it was Puja time. The Puja is a ceremony quite important to our Sherpa team, and thus to us as well. In it, we ask the blessing of the mountain gods before setting foot on this sacred -and dangerous- mountain. A lama came up from Pangboche in order to read the correct prayers and chants. Our Sherpa team had worked throughout the morning to prepare a stone chorten as a sort of alter for the ceremony. Incense and juniper were lit as a way of sending fragrant smoke upward in offering. Partway through the three hour observance, a prayer mast was erected and flags unfurled in all directions. Our First Ascent team sat drinking tea and taking pictures of the colorful scene... but also contemplating the seriousness of an undertaking that requires so much blessing. The latter stages of the Puja involve a good deal of celebrating and toasting and tossing of rice. Finally, everybody grabs a big handful of Tsampa (barley flour) and tosses half of it in the air while saving half to smear on the faces of ones climbing partners. As you'd expect, this gets out of hand... and into hair, cameras, eyes, ears and everything as one and all laugh, shake hands and fist bump. Our Sherpa team then invited us to join them in linking arms for a last half hour of carefree dancing and singing. We sang along and nobody seemed to mind that we didn't know either the words or the dance steps. The word is that the last 200 meters or so of the route to Camp I are giving the Icefall Doctors a special challenge. We are hoping each day now to hear that they've forged some sort of passage. Tomorrow we resume our training at the foot of the Icefall. We'll be rested, blessed and ready.

Mt. Rainier: July 7th Summit!

July 7, 2023

Posted by: Steve Gately, Joe Hoch, Trevor Katz, Lacie Smith, Evan Redman, Raymond Holt

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 14,410'

The Four Day Team climbed into a cap and had light winds. but that didn't stop them from reaching the 14,410' Summit. RMI Guides Steve Gately and Joe Hoch were leading the team off the crater rim at 6:57 am. They are on the descent making their way back to Camp Muir.

Congratulations team!

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Absolutely amazing Miami Crew! Love you guys and so proud always.

Posted by: Linda on 7/7/2023 at 9:07 am

Felicitaciones a todo el grupo por lograr su cometido. Ya quiero ver las fotografías, seguro estan espectaculares!

Posted by: Zulema Roca on 7/7/2023 at 9:01 am

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Denali Expedition: Hahn and Team Move to 17,000’ Camp

July 2, 2022

Posted by: Dave Hahn

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 17,200'

Friday July 1, 2022 11:25pm PDT

We were repetitive today. “What a gorgeous day” was heard over and over. We were out of our sleeping bags and firing the stoves at 7 AM and … as usual… it was calm and clear and perfect at 14,000 ft. A little cool in the shadows, but by the time we’d eaten breakfast and done another big gear sort, it was 9:50 and the sun was coming on strong. We headed up the now-familiar terrain leading to the fixed ropes and the crest of Denali’s West Buttress. The work was certainly hard, carrying big packs on steep snow, ice, and rock at high altitude, but the scenery was magnificent. It was even more magnificent once we loaded up the supplies from our cache at 16,600 and pushed on to new ground. It was a thrill to walk along the ridge crest, balancing between the big drop down to Genet Basin on one side and the Peters Glacier on the other. We rolled into 17,200 ft at about 4 PM in calm and sunny conditions and began to build our high camp.

The decision was made, over dinner in our rather compact high camp dining tent, to take a rest day tomorrow (Saturday) and to focus on a summit bid Sunday. Conditions look good for Saturday, according to the forecast, but even better for Sunday and we’d like everybody to have their best shot at the top after so much hard work.

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

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On on everyone! You’ve all worked SO hard. You are ALL amazing! MASSIVE GOOD LUCK guys n gals!

Posted by: Margaret Nolan on 7/2/2022 at 9:23 am

So proud of everyone and with you in spirit!! You can do this!!! Cheering you all on!!! Go, Jim, go!!!!

Posted by: Deborah Karmozyn on 7/2/2022 at 8:49 am

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Denali Expedition: Frank & Team Move to 11,000ft Camp

May 24, 2021

Posted by: Eric Frank, James Bealer, Jack Delaney

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 11,200'

Sunday, May 23, 2021 - 11:31 pm PT

Cold temps and wind greeted us as we began our move to 11,000' Camp, our Camp 2 this morning. The climb warmed up as the sun hit us and we enjoyed stellar views. The day remained windy with blowing snow but our team powered through it. Arriving at 11,000' Camp, we settled in and built our camp in fine alpine style. We were pleasantly surprised to run into the rest of our RMI teams here at 11,200'. Hopefully the reunion will be short as those teams progress up the mountain while good weather remains over the range.

RMI Guide Eric Frank

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Most Popular Entries

Kilimanjaro: Hahn & Team Get Ready for the Mountain

Chris Ebeling reflects on his AMGA ski guide course

Mt. McKinley: Hahn & Team - Edge of the World Trip #2

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Mt. McKinley: Walter & Team Descending to Basecamp

On The Map

Ecuador Volcanoes: First Day of Acclimatization

Alaska Seminar: Training and Climb of Radio Tower Peak

Climbers Receive Puja Blessing

Mt. Rainier: July 7th Summit!

Denali Expedition: Hahn and Team Move to 17,000’ Camp

Denali Expedition: Frank & Team Move to 11,000ft Camp

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