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Summit! The Mt. Rainier Four Day Summit Climbs led by JJ Justman and Kel Rossiter stood on top just after 7:15 a.m. Snow and sometimes rain was falling on the summit and the teams are currently in a mountain cloud cap. Both teams recharged and refueled in the summit crater before starting their descent at 8:25. Although precipitation was falling, the guides reported pleasant climbing conditions and an excellent route. Congratulations to today's summit climbers!

We went to bed with clear skies and a forecast for 12-18" of snow overnight. The clear skies persisted overnight and we didn't get any new snow. There is a lenticular cloud on top of Denali today, indicating strong winds. We're also seeing snow blowing off of the West Buttress between the top of the fixed ropes and high camp. The current winds and the increased avalanche hazard from yesterday's foot of snow are keeping us at 14k for another day. The sunny weather at camp today is welcome, and is helping to keep our spirits high. It looks like some better weather is approaching for the weekend, and we're hoping we'll be able to take a crack at the summit then. With any luck, we'll be able to move to high camp tomorrow and be in position for the arrival of the more favorable weather. We'll keep you posted! RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Shhhh everyone is sleeping... We're all back in Tlachichuca and everyone has retired after our final team dinner. Today we climbed to the summit of Pico de Orizaba in fantastic weather, the best I've ever had on this mountain. Last night when I went to bed it looked like a storm front was moving towards us but when my alarm went off at 12:30am there wasn't a cloud in the sky and no wind to speak of either. We made it from the hut at 13,990' to the 18,701' summit and back in twelve and a half hours which was a long enough day to ensure that after showers and dinner all the climbers headed for bed. We all agreed that the last 8 days have gone by extremely quickly and that we've had some great climbs. Tomorrow we'll head back to Mexico City for our flights home. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

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

On The Map

Our Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by RMI Guides Win Whittaker and Eric Frank reached the top of Cathedral Gap today, but strong winds and heavy precipitation forced them to turn back. The teams have left Camp Muir and we expect the back at Ashford Basecamp in the early afternoon.

Hi all! RMI's Aconcagua expedition checking in. We left Mendoza yesterday and drove through the foothills of the Andes to reach our final staging area at Los Penitentes. The bright green of the vineyards gave way to steep rocky faces as we wound up the valley of the Mendoza river. We were finally rewarded with fleeting views of Tupengato, the 6500 meter volcano on the Chilean border. We spent yesterday packing for the mules, some loads to go straight to Aconcagua Basecamp, and some to follow us on our approach. We woke this morning excited to get our climb underway! We will load the shuttle for the trail head soon, and our climb will begin officially. We'll be in touch soon.

Three for Three on Mexico’s Volcanoes!

A week of hail storms, dark clouds and lightning was nice and all, but as we drove closer to Tlachichuca and were treated to a stunning view of 18,500 foot Pico de Orizaba backed only by a blue sky, it felt like spring break. 

We were running early and carried that luck all the way up the two hour 4x4 road to Piedra Grande, our Orizaba high camp at 14,000 feet. Dinner was at 4:30pm, and bed time came early at 5:30pm. This allowed us room to at least claim that we’d gotten some good sleep when tents were rattled at 11:30pm. 

As we climbed under a bright half moon with light winds it seemed like cheating. After single-pushing on Ixta what we’d normally do in two days, a simple 4,500 foot climb was coming easy. That is until we hit the 17,000 foot mark and things started to grind. 

But just as things were getting tougher with the elevation, Orizaba gave us all the classics. An amazing sunrise, the pyramid mountain shadow and finally the false summit with only a short walk to the true summit. 

We all stood on top of the highest point in Mexico and third highest point in North America in the warm sun with barely any wind. 

A great finish to a strong trip by all our climbers! 

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

The Expedition Skill Seminar - Kautz June 14 - 19 led by RMI Guides Mike Haugen, Jackson Breen, Mike Bennett and Calivin Jiricko, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier yesterday via the Kautz Glacier. After several days of training and climbing, this team put it all together and ascended the Kautz ice chute, to Point Success and to the summit of Mt. Rainier. It was a long day and the team returned to camp in the early evening.  This morning they have started their descent to Paradise, leaving early to enjoy the nice snow conditions on the Wilson Glacier while the temperatures as still low. The team will return to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon to celebrate their adventure and conclude their program.

Nice work team!

Checking in with RMI's 1st Kilimanjaro Climb of 2022! Great to finally be back in Africa.

All is well here in Tanzania as the team arrived late last night after some very long flights. A few new procedures getting through customs but everything went pretty smoothly. It was a short and peaceful ride to our Lodge that is nestled in between Arusha and Moshi and not so far from the base of Kilimanjaro. The team had a quick dinner and headed for bed as the time change had us all feeling just a little off and pretty tired after all the traveling.

Today we had a leisurely morning with our group meeting after breakfast , where we did a round of introductions and then discussed the upcoming program for the days ahead. The team spent the remainder of the day getting our gear packed up, exploring the grounds of our peaceful Lodge and dodging the gaggle of monkeys patrolling the grounds.

We wrapped up the evening with a delicious meal and plenty of friendly conversations. Everyone is doing well and excited to be here. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew!

This is Dave Hahn with the RMI Everest expedition. Sorry to leave you hanging last night. We didn't get a dispatch out before all the power shut off and all of our forms of communication ended. It has been a stormy week here, so not quite as much solar gain as we would have hoped. Systems all through the valley are running on short time that way. Cell service, internet service, all of that was being affected by the storm. We're doing okay here. We tried to get up the Icefall yesterday morning, the Sherpas and myself, but it was not to be. We, along with perhaps 70 other Sherpas from other teams got turned around where the route has collapsed during the storm, natural movement of the glacier. The route needed some maintenance- some ladders put back in place. So without even getting to the midpoint of the Icefall, we were turned around, brought everything back down. Hoping to go up with conditions improve. Still storming here. Still windy up high, still cloudy. We are down at Base Camp today. I'll try to get a real dispatch out this evening. Bye now. RMI Guide Dave Hahn