I am excited to announce that tomorrow I leave for Vail, Colorado, to represent RMI in a mixed climbing competition put on by the Teva Mountain Games. Alongside my passion for guiding individuals up big snowy peaks, I for some reason find the odd sport of scratching up steep rock with ice tools to be downright irresistible. I am blessed to live twenty miles from Hyalite Canyon, Montana, where the art of “drytooling” can put your imagination to the test. No one in the mixed climbing world knows of me so when I sneak up and quietly take the number one spot on the Teva podium and everyone asks, “Who’s that guy?” I can say,” I climb Mt. Rainier for a living”. Wish me luck while I compete with the big boys and take my game to their turf.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
The team spent last two days exploring the upper slopes of Mt. Baker, enjoying some great turns along the way. Unfortunately, weather conditions prevented them from climbing above 7,400 feet on their summit attempt today.
They’re now back at camp and will ski out tomorrow.
This team was led by RMI Guides Sam Marjerison and Bailey Servais
The Five Day Climb July 27 - 31 led by RMI Guides Steve Gately, Nick Sinapius and Mike Bennett, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning at 5:15 am. The team is currently around 13,000' on their descent. The weather is clear and calm. The teams will return to Camp Muir, then take a bit of time before continuing the remaining 4.5 miles down to Camp Muir. They will conclude their program this afternoonw with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.
Well, today didn’t go as planned but it was still a helpful day on our journey to reach the summit of Denali. We woke to high winds above us, deemed it too windy for a safe summit attempt and chose to take a rest day at 17,000' Camp. The sun came out this afternoon and we all enjoyed sitting outside our tents resting, hydrating and taking in the views.
All the guide teams are working together up here and Mike lead a crew of guides up the Autobahn (a long stretch of climbing right out of camp) this afternoon. They checked out conditions and put in work shoveling and digging out pickets so that it’s in good shape for tomorrow.
We are all watching the weather closely and so hopeful tomorrow will be our summit day.
Here we go!
RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Mike Walter, Michael Murray and the Denali team
After an impressive showing on our Carry Day we decided to let the group rest their weary muscles at before we begin our progression up the mountain. Lots of eating and sleeping are being done today at Basecamp before the meal quality decreases and the altitude does it’s best to rob you of valuable shut eye. I can definitely feel the excitement in the group as all of us are eager to move higher and test our mettle against the mountain. Send good vibes out to the weather gods for us. We are hoping for sunny skies and light winds from here on out. Two things Aconcagua does not provide often.
The night in Phakding, with the river dependably charging past to form perfect "white noise", was conducive to deep sleep. This morning we ate a relaxed breakfast and hit the trail at 8:30 under a light overcast. Travel along the river, through more small farms and villages, was peaceful and easy. Crossing a few long suspension bridges we soon came to the entrance to Sagarmatha National Park, where Lam Babu submitted our permits. A short walk into the park took us to Jorsalle where we ate lunch at the final tea house in town. Then it was across the river again and onward to the Namche Hill where we rapidly gained altitude and shed a little sweat in the process. An hour's hard hiking brought us to the lower end of Namche Bazaar at just over 11,000 ft. We strolled the narrow "streets" -there are no cars- and made our way to Camp De Base, our home for the next three nights. The afternoon was spent shopping and exploring. We put on a bit more clothing against the cool evening air and met for a great dinner in the communal dining room.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Back in Internet range today. We spent the last two days in Lobuche at a little over 16,000 ft. We had an easy day yesterday, taking a short but scenic walk along the moraine of the Khumbu Glacier and touring the Italian research pyramid a few minutes from Lobuche. Today we are moving to Everest Base Camp. It is a stunningly beautiful day as we sit at our halfway point in Gorak Shep.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hey everyone, this is JJ Justman with the Mexico Volcanoes climbing team. We are looking up at Ixta right now and the reason why is we are safely down from of successful summit of Ixta. The team did great today. Definitely a little tired but we had a beautiful day climbing to the top of Ixta. So wanted to give a shout out to all our family and friends. We're loading up the van and we're gonna have a little bit of R&R in Puebla for the next day and a half. Well deserved. But again, the team did absolutely outstanding. We'll touch base when we are in Puebla but everyone is safe and sound. Having some cokes and gonna get some fresh quesadillas on the way. But hope everyone's doing well back at home and we will talk with all of you very soon. Ciao from Mexico.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman after successful Ixta summit.
The body is following the mind at this point.
Given the option, our bodies would be back at Phag Ding, by the river breathing that thick 9,000' air. Lounging under a nice tree ,eating fresh fruit. We are now at that altitude that makes you realize we do not belong here. For years now the draw of this barren space of rock, snow, ice and thin air has attracted many a soul. A heart with a bit of wander lust, a will to put up with moments of uncertainty and discomfort have always been a prerequisite for travelers abroad. This is definitely the case trekking in the Himalaya: but the rewards are worth the effort! A special place this is indeed and sharing it with such a diverse group of fellow hikers is a blast. I count four different languages spoken here in our tea house in the last five minutes. So nice to see the world getting along, take the geo-politics out of the loop and we aren't that different. The trail is ultimately a rope that binds us together. We really are a small world. And are team is so thankful and happy to be so lucky to be here. --RMI Guide Mark Tucker
From Kim: The word Sherpa actually means "east people." These people have worked as porters in the Himalayas since the 1900's. Today I would like to introduce you to a member of our team who has not been previously mentioned. We have a Sherpa guide traveling with us and two Sherpa porters carrying our things. Our Sherpa guide is named Pemba. Pemba usually hangs back behind the last person in the group to assure that we are always safe and supported. On this trek, Pemba has acted as a guide, concierge, geography expert, translator, waiter,and sometimes even our bus boy in the teahouses. A man of few words, when he speaks he usually has something important to say. Pemba's parents died when he was five years old. He had to quit school to work when he was 15. He was initially a porter and eventually worked his way up to being a guide. Pemba is now 33 years old. He has a wife and a 12-year-old daughter. He lives near Lukla and is away from his family often during the spring and fall as he guides people into the mountains. During the monsoon season, Pemba is a farmer. He and his family grow all kinds of vegetables including cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, corn, and potatoes. They sell them in Lukla and Namche Bazaar. We are grateful to Pemba for all that he is doing to help us on this journey.
John here: It looks like today is another team effort on the blog. It's not a bad approach either as we all seem to take different things away from our day.
Today I had my first craving for some of the creature comforts of home. The first being pizza from Fondi. The food here is pretty good but does lack diversity. It's super high in carbs, which is what we need here to keep our energy high and bodies warm - but boy, a nice Margherita pizza would be yummy. The craving was the ability to sleep sprawled out. Our sleeping bags are warm and comfortable; but they are called mummy bags for a reason...
We heard that April 11th was the day of the Everest Ultra-Marathon. I think it's a 65km course between Base Camp and Lukla. The notion of running on these trails for any distance seems a bit mad - but 65km. The drop in elevation from 17,250' to 9,330' may be the first prize. Sadly, we leave Lukla that day, so we probably won't be able to experience any of it.
Finally, we spent the majority of today hiking along the Khumbu Glacier. The size of the the lateral moraine was impressive to say the least. It's amazing what nature can achieve given a few hundred years. As we rolled into Gorak Shep we got our first glimpse of the tail-end of the ice fall. Even only seeing a small part of it at a distance it looked imposing.
Sam and Remi, thanks for inviting Richard for this amazing mountain adventure. We are proud of all of you.
Alice Jo
Posted by: Alice Jo Rainville on 5/11/2025 at 2:42 pm
Super proud of Sam, Remi, and Richard…what an adventure! Thank you guides!
Posted by: Laurie Brook Douglas on 5/11/2025 at 5:47 am
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