Most Popular Entries
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Wednesday June 21, 2023
Today the team woke up to Groundhog Day!
It has continued to snow but was relatively mild as far as temps and wind go. We masterfully killed a chunk of time in the morning by making a long brunch. After retiring to our tents for the afternoon, we regrouped and planned our potential launch to 17k camp for the next day over some golden, brown, and delicious burritos.
RMI Guide Joey Manship and Team
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9,500'
Friday, June 25, 2021 - 6:35 pm PT
This will be our third night hunkered down at 9,500' on the Kahiltna Glacier. It got snowing around midnight last night and just kept going. We checked the weather every hour or so to see if we could get a lull for climbing, but no. Thankfully the winds never got to more than about 20 mph, but they blew steadily throughout the day. We’d taken the precaution of pulling down the dining/cook tent at 1 AM so it was an easy enough thing to build it again at 8 AM to have a dry and calm space for breakfast. Bagels and salmon and a few laughs together before we climbed back in the tents to ride out the storm. By dinner time the snow was falling thick and fast and we were happy to be high enough to be avoiding rain. With dinner complete we did a round or two of chores to strengthen our camp and then crawled in for the night. According to the forecast, tomorrow should be partly sunny. Until then it will be anybody’s guess as to how many hours of noise we’ll endure as the wind and snow pummel the tent fabric.
Cheers,
Good luck guys, wish you all the best! Hope the weather breaks for you. Rest well and may peace be with you
Posted by: Gregory Hatt on 6/30/2021 at 9:44 pm
My son hectoris there with you. I would love to know about his knees and health, how is he doing please
Posted by: Laura fernandez on 6/27/2021 at 7:53 am
Posted by: Robby Young, Steve Gately
Categories: Guide News
Car rentals are notoriously expensive, but we found a deal on an old Toyota Rav4 with decent tires that seemed to be held together well enough for half the price, and we were off. We drove the length of the main highway on the south side of the island, also known as the Ring Road, passing by the active and massively glaciated volcanoes along the southern coastline. Finally reaching the Eastfjords, we were a bit discouraged by the high snow levels in these broad fjords, but found charm and beauty in the tiny and isolated fishing villages. We spent a couple days skiing spring “corn” snow as it slowly softened with the warmth of the low angled sun of the springtime. An experience of a lifetime, the clear nighttime skies lit up with the Northern Lights like we could have never imagined. Domes of vibrant green and purple rocketed over our heads while we camped in the empty Neskaupstadur town campground, taking in the show in awe.
Moving northward and then west, we drove across the volcanically active rift valley where the Earth’s crust was being created in real time, creating hundreds of miniature volcanoes, steam vents, and rugged lava fields. Eventually, we reached the Troll Peninsula, the skiing mecca of Iceland. In recent years, the “Troll” has increased in popularity with skiers through recent ski films and the presence of Arctic Heli Skiing. The popularity of this place was well justified; we found some of the best spring corn skiing we’d ever experienced, with the Arctic Ocean serving as our backdrop. The aesthetics and quality of skiing was only matched by the hospitality of the people we met in the small village of Dalvik. Our days here were spent skiing while evenings were filled mingling with locals and tourist skiers alike on the front steps of the local Kaffihaus (Coffeehouse), which doubled as a pub in the later hours of the evening. As with many of the small communities in Iceland, the owners of our hostel also ran this Kaffihaus, serving their own fish stew from their friends’ fishing boats, and serving beer brewed a couple doors down the street.
Traveling onward, we drove the barren and isolated roads from Dalvik to the northwest corner of the island: a series of peninsulas collectively referred to as the Westfjords. We hunkered down in the town of Isafjordur, surrounded by hundreds of steep ski runs that plummet to the ocean, as the snow began to fall. We spent the next six days drinking coffee, while the snow pounded down outside, immediately jumping in the car as soon as the sun made one of a few brief appearances. In a neighboring fjord near the village of Flateyri, we found the siren that had drawn us to Iceland: a beautiful fjord that held the deepest and driest powder of the trip; a long series of steep chutes looming above the ocean. After a winter of scraping and scratching by in Utah, this mythical run made our ski season whole!
During these rare moments of sun the formula looked something like: drive around the fjords looking for ski runs (the best were steep rock-lined couloirs), climb up, ski right back down to the car, manage to drive our manual transmission Rav4 in ski boots to another ski run, and repeat.
The snow in the Westfjords did not let up for days, even as our time to return to Reykjavik approached. The most hair-raising adventure of the trip was driving the fjords and passes back to civilization in southern Iceland. Over one particular pass, we had to put our rental to the test, busting through snowdrifts until we found a lineup of cars waiting to follow a supersized snowplow the rest of the way back to the main highway. Back in the capital, Steve and I celebrated the end of our trip just like we did at the start; enjoying the fresh fish and brews of Reykjavik, knowing that we had only scratched the surface of the skiing that this country has to offer.
_____Robby Young is a senior guide at RMI Expeditions, leading trips in Washington, Alaska, and Peru. Robby calls Park City, UT home, where he is a ski patroller at the Canyons Resort. When not guiding, Robby is found chasing splitter crack climbing and perfect powder around the globe. He is also a talented photographer: view his images at www.robbyyoungphotography.com.
On The Map
Glad to hear it’s been snowing a bit. Hope the weather improves for you guys
Zachary Zaitzeff
Posted by: zachary zaitzeff on 5/7/2012 at 5:56 pm
Be patient and stay strong…it will all work out as it should. We are all pulling for the teams to have safe summits. Thank you so much for the updates, we really enjoy sharing in your adventures on the mountain.
Posted by: D. Arnot on 5/7/2012 at 8:59 am
On The Map
Kim, my buddy Ice Cube says, YA YA..there was a TB alert in the Big Easy..:) Keep powering to the top…it must be incredible…
Posted by: WW Coco Chanel on 6/19/2011 at 11:39 am
Good luck anne Gilbert…....have a great time! We are so proud of you!
Posted by: Chris Chase on 6/12/2011 at 4:33 am
Everyone has now arrived in Quito and I must say it was a pleasure to show up to this morning's orientation and count all nine people present. An added bonus is that all luggage is accounted for, although one luggage lock key was lost. Turns out those can simply be pried open with two screwdrivers.
We enjoyed a nice weather day for our city tour and Mitad del Mundo museum tour. It was just cloudy enough to filter some of the intense equatorial sun and it also never rained. Everybody learned at least something new about physics or practices of the indigenous peoples of Ecuador, the two main focuses at the museum.
Tomorrow we turn our focus towards getting the body moving. As a preparation about half the team spent the afternoon cold plunging and in the sauna. I can still taste the eucalyptus when I take a deep breath. Anyways, that's all to say that we are feeling ready to hike Rucu Pichincha tomorrow and hopefully reach a new high point for a few of the team members!
Posted by: Adam Knoff, Leah Fisher
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 8,500'
Climb High Laurel!
Looking forward to hearing about your adventure.
Love you!
Posted by: susan Turnquist on 8/2/2013 at 11:39 am
Hey Laurel!!!
Meg and I are thinking about you up there on the icy mountain. Great group picture! Enjoy the climbing.
We will be praying for a safe ascent tomorrow.
Love you girl!
Posted by: Susan Turnquist on 8/1/2013 at 12:21 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Sam Hoffman, Calvin Jiricko, Bailey Servais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 348'
Saturday, June 14, 2025 - 11:25 pm PT
Nobody missed a flight and all the bags arrived just fine. They came from Norway and New Zealand and a few places in between. Our team -8 climbers and four guides- got together as planned in the Anchorage airport. We talked gear and logistics briefly before relocating to the curb for our van shuttle to Talkeetna. It was a day of blazing sun and wide open blue sky in Alaska.
We broke up the three hour drive with a stop for groceries in Wasilla and then pushed on to Talkeetna, rolling in at about 6:30 PM. Along the way we had been granted a few breathtaking views of the Alaska Range. Our first stop was the K2 Aviation hangar to drop off the big bags of gear. Next we checked in at the Swiss Alaska Inn. The team then strolled ten minutes through the birch forest and over the railroad tracks to beautiful downtown Talkeetna. The town was bustling with tourists and the odd climbing team. We ate our fill at the brewery and then walked the 100 meter length of town to the banks of the mighty Susitna River. McKinley, Hunter and Foraker shot up into the sky across the river… impossibly high. Or maybe just possible. We’ll see. Tomorrow we get started… packing and prepping in earnest.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition, June 14, 2025
You’ve got this!! Wishing you good weather.
Posted by: Tom Leonard on 6/19/2025 at 10:07 am
Enjoy The Journey to THE TOP. Prayers and thoughts will be with the entire team. Here’s to SUCCESS!
Posted by: Scottie P on 6/18/2025 at 3:18 am
Posted by: Tatum Whatford, Jackson Breen, Steve Gately, Joey Manship, Leif Bergstrom, Mac Nolde
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,300'
The Four Day Climb led by Tatum Whatford and Jackson Breen reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver before high winds, cold temperatures, and incoming weather forced them to turn. On the descent the team enjoyed the sunrise from Ingraham Flats.
Congratulations Team!
W O W sunrise pic from the Flats !
Posted by: Waltero Glover on 6/15/2024 at 5:46 am
Posted by: JM Gorum, Grayson Swingle, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 7,300'
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - 11:33 pm PT
We had another great day here on the southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. Not a cloud in the sky and balmy temperatures made life easy. We woke up a bit earlier today, around 6, ate a quick breakfast and started breaking trail up towards our first climbing objective. Radio Control Tower is a peak located just outside of Base Camp. We made good time getting up to the ridge, and put a lot of different climbing techniques to use.
We got back to camp and hid from the sun in our tents for the early part of the afternoon. Once it cooled off a bit we practiced some crevasse rescue systems around the tents, with the hopes of finding a suitable crack to practice around tomorrow.
Everyone is adjusting quite well to glacier life. We’ve already got a book club in the making, and our nightly live-broadcast podcast is really taking off. Everyone sends their best to the folks back home! You’ll hear from us again tomorrow.
A book club in the making. Now THAT is not what you’d expect to learn is happening up on a glacier. Shows the balance of working both body and mind though. So rock on!
Posted by: Melanee Strootman on 5/26/2021 at 12:17 pm
Way to go team, keep up the good work. The view looks amazing.
Posted by: Frances Shaw on 5/26/2021 at 7:22 am
Fingers and toes crossed for your summit window. Stay safe and Godspeed.
Posted by: Nancy Forsyth on 6/22/2023 at 5:43 pm
I’m hoping and praying for the news to be from 17,000 when the weather breaks. Ya’ll stay safe.
I can’t wait to see pictures! What a quest!
Posted by: Michelle DeMers on 6/22/2023 at 3:57 pm
View All Comments