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Tuesday, May 31, 2022 - 6:39 pm PT

This day won’t be forgotten soon by our team.  It was longer than most, to begin with.  We were drinking coffee at 10:30 PM and loading the buses at 11.  The rough road took us plenty high, but then we were out and trudging uphill by headlight for hours. It was cold and a little breezy, but we were looking at stars… and Jupiter and Neptune.  We stopped in a hut long enough to put on helmets and harnesses and then marched up to the snow, where we donned crampons and ropes.  The walking got easier on the snow, except it was all getting to the kind of heights that are just plain hard to climb and breathe in.  We transitioned onto a glacier, still in pitch darkness.  By daybreak the team had reached above 18,000 ft.  All of the magnificent volcanoes of Ecuador were lined up for our viewing pleasure.  There were plenty of clouds at different levels but it was evident that we were going to get lucky.  Things steepened for the final 800 ft to make the team dig down deep for energy.  But by 8:40 the gang was on the summit of Cotopaxi at 19,347 ft.  13 of our 18 climbers made the top, along with 6 of our excellent Ecuadorian guiding staff.  The team was back at the lodge by midday and packing for departure.  By 2 PM we were in our buses and headed for the jets.  Now -at 6:30 PM- we’re high over Cuba, pointed toward Miami and a celebration on the water.  A big day indeed, much of our team shattered personal altitude records and found inner strength they hadn’t imagined. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

A rest day! Yay! We did such amazing things as sleeping in, more turbo tanning, sport eating, walking out to the Edge of the World, more sport eating, fixed line practice, and packing for tomorrow's carry up the fixed lines. Per the norm, the team is in good spirits but perhaps a bit anxious for tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be in and out for the extended forecast so we are planning to stick to our schedule until we are forced to wait. Hoping for a great day tomorrow, once we get this cache in we will be on standby for good weather and hopefully pulling the trigger on our move to high camp and subsequent summit push... RMI Guide Billy Nugent and friends

On The Map

This is Dave Hahn calling from Advanced Base Camp on Mt. Everest. Myself and Linden Mallory came up today on our new formulated summit plan. We went from Base Camp to Camp 2 today. It was stunning to us the changes in the ice fall, there had been a massive avalanche that had come off the west shoulder, and came right down along the climbing route. It actually made the route better by filling in the crevasses and knocking over all the little walls we were climbing over. It was pretty sobering to think that that same avalanche had it come down when climbers were going though the ice fall, it would have killed many people. As it turned out it came down at a time, sometime this last week, when nobody was in the icefall. That was really something to see. Linden and I came up through Camp 1 and straight up to Camp 2 in pretty good time and had good conditions. While we were walking there was cloud cover right from the start and from Camp 1 that was real helpful because it kept the sun off of us and light breezes as well so we didn’t dry out as much coming up here as we might normally have. Tcherring also came up so the three of us are up and we hope that Kaji and Dawa are able to come up tomorrow and that will be the making of our summit team. We are going to rest here tomorrow as planned. And take it easy at Advanced Base Camp tomorrow and hoping to go from ABC all the way up to Camp 4, skipping Camp 3 on the following day and be in place for our summit bid. So we’ll see what the weather does. We are keeping careful track of the weather right now. It is snowing lightly here and Mark Tucker says it is snowing more heavily at Base Camp. We are very interested in what the weather does down there because Bill and Sara are hoping to fly via helicopter from Base Camp to Kathmandu. They weren’t able to fly today due to weather. So we are keeping our fingers crossed for them tomorrow. That is all for the moment. We’ll be in touch. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Four Day Climb Led by Joe Hoch and George Hedreen climbed to 12,900' but were stopped by ice fall activity that coverd the current climbing route. The team is safely back at Camp Muir and will be returning to Paradise in the early afternoon. 

We woke to a cold, clear sky this morning and fired up the stoves with hopes of climbing up to High Camp. Real time communication with friends currently at High Camp, and updated weather forecasts kept us grounded, though. The current wind and an increasingly windy trend are keeping us at our comfortable camp at 14,200' today. We continue to rest and acclimate as we await favorable weather for our foray up high. Spirits are high and we are optimistic that we will get our shot soon.

Until then, we are lounging in the sun, reading, listening to music, and hanging out--all part of the expedition experience. We will keep you updated on our status. As we patiently wait for our chance to move higher, we are happy to be in the mountains.

RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team

The 2015 Mt. Everest season has been a tough start with big snow storms here at base camp, but full steam ahead right now. The snow that kept us from moving up earlier has blossomed to some nice days. You would be amazed at the difference on the glacier since last week. Rivers running, pools forming and a route through the ice fall that has allowed a reasonable ascent to Camp 1, where the team is at this very moment. I just got off the radio with Dave and word is, all well. I was able to follow the team's climb up the ice fall with my tripod-mounted spotting scope. They were at times obscured from view by huge ice towers and the route taking them down into the depths of the glacier, out of sight, and then minutes later they would they pop back into view. Their training, adjusting to the altitude and experience at this sort of wild climbing paid off with what I can guarantee you was one of the most amazing and memorable days in these mountaineers climbing careers. So proud of this group as I watched them progress through the Khumbu Icefall working the mountain, assisting each other, and sticking together in pure style and grace. Way to go team! RMI Guide and Everest Base Camp Manager Mark Tucker Dave Hahn called in after reaching Camp 1 and his audio is posted below.

On The Map

Hello again from 14,200' on Denali! The weather was beautiful today, and we enjoyed it by taking a nice short hike out to the Edge of The World, a spectacular viewpoint near our camp. Then we reviewed and practiced fixed line travel with our ascenders. The rest of the day was spent lounging around, eating, napping, listening to music, and telling lies. We enjoyed a hearty dinner of black bean and chicken quesadillas, and now we're all getting horizontal and settling in for the night. We are planning to carry some supplies up high tomorrow, in preparation for moving up to high camp later in the week for our summit bid. Everyone is doing quite well adjusting to the 14,200' altitude of our camp, and I expect that we will all do well climbing higher tomorrow. Of course we have the luxury of returning to our comfortable camp at 14k tomorrow night for a good night's sleep. That's all for now. We'll be in touch again tomorrow night after our carry. Thanks for all the great comments on the blog. Keep them coming! RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

RMI Guide Mike King and the Four Day Climb July 7 - 10 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning at 5:20 am.  Mike reported really good route conditions and clear skies.  There are many climbers on the mountain today and the team made good time.  After spending about an hour in the crater the team began their descent.  Once back at Camp Muir they will take a short rest before descending the final 4,500' to Paradise.

Good work today team!

Jambo everyone back home!

We had a slower start today to allow the many porters to get a jump start on the route and ever narrowing trail.

Right out of Barranco Camp we were faced with the only significant technical obstacle for this climb of Kilimanjaro. This hurdle is the great Barranco Wall, which rises about 1,000' and looks as intimidating as it sounds. Thankfully there is a nice narrow trail that weaves its way up and through the wall and all the way to the top. Most of it feels more like steep hiking, but there are a few places that require the use of our hands to help us climb up.

The team did a good job of moving steady and allowing a few porters through with their loads precariously balanced on their heads. Which was astonishing to see, especially since everyone did it in the rain which has been with us for two days now.

After reaching the top we took a nice break hoping to see the mountain, but the clouds only teased us. The team continued our hike for a few more hours up and down through a few valleys before reaching camp.

All in all, it took only about 4 hours for us to reach our next camp called Karanga, named for the big and beautiful valley which it overlooks and revealed itself only when we were headed to bed.

Spirits are high and there have been no complaints from this tough and fit crew!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team!

On The Map

June 15, 2017 Hello from 17 Camp, this is Jake Beren calling in for RMI's Denali team. We woke this morning to high winds up high and quite cold temps again. So we decided to pump the brakes and cross our fingers for tomorrow. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but we are hoping to give her a go tomorrow. So that's it from 17 Camp, a little bit more of the same, but we're all happy, healthy and hanging tough up here. So we'll give her a shot tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Bye. RMI Guide Jake Beren

On The Map