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Our Four Day Summit Climb September 14 - 17 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by RMI Guides Eric Frank and Elias de Andres Martos. The teams reported calm winds and warm temperatures. The sky is hazy due to the wildfires in eastern Washington. They were able to spend some time on the summit before starting their descent around 9 am PT. The teams will return to Camp Muir to repack and then continue their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's summit climb teams!

Hey Dave Hahn calling from Mount Everest. We're at Base Camp. Our Sherpa team, Lam Babu and the guys are rested at Camp 2 today. They hope that they are going to put in a carry of gear and supplies up the South Col tomorrow. Early tomorrow they will try to reach 8,000 meters. The climbing team, we're still taking it easy at Base Camp trying to keep our activity level up hiking, and visiting with friends and playing games. The weather forecast is still for a little bit higher winds to come in the next couple of days. There is not any effort at the moment between the climbing teams, the various climbing teams around us, to prioritize between going to the summit. That will come after those winds spike up and then we hope those higher winds leave the mountain and give us some better conditions. So it will probably all going to be happening after the middle of the month. A little bit of waiting time at Base Camp but not bad for us. Bye for now. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Hi, this is Seth with a quick check-in from Arusha, Tanzania. All is well here at the Dik Dik Hotel. Everyone is getting ready to embark on our journey tomorrow. Today we had a great breakfast under mostly cloudy skies. Everyone had a great time getting to know each other and the group is meshing nicely. After reviewing the trip itinerary we moved on to a gear check and a talk about how to pack for the mountain. Those activities took up most of the morning. After lunch we took a ride into downtown Arusha where we visited the local market as well as the 'Cultural Heritage Center' curio shop. The clouds cleared off in the afternoon and the temps warmed up considerably. We are all psyched up to start the trek tomorrow and are looking forward to a great climb on Kilimanjaro. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

Yesterday morning at 1 AM there were unfamiliar voices outside our tents at 7,800' on the Kahiltna Glacier. Someone was calling my name and so I poked my head out into the gloom and falling snow. I was a little surprised to see several of the guides from the teams we'd assumed were still up high on the mountain. The guides pointed to their combined teams taking a restbreak a few hundred feet away and in the poor light I could make out about 40 climbers. They were making a break for the airstrip and they wanted to know if I'd join in with my team. I looked down-glacier through the snow and murk to see... not a whole lot actually, but I quickly warmed to the idea of joining what would be a very strong effort in the route-finding and crevasse detection department. The other teams very graciously waited the hour-and-a-half that it took for us to fire our stoves, eat breakfast and break camp. And then, just as we were roping up, the super team got their packs on and other guides began the process of breaking trail and finding a way. This was a very sweet deal for our team as we merely hopped in at the back of the line and followed along, neatly sidestepping any holes that those near the front of the column had discovered the hard way. I'd somehow assumed that they'd woken me because they wanted me to find the way, but that wasn't the case at all and several very capable guides took turns themselves over the next six hours of working through cloud and murk and snow. It was quite a procession as fifty climbers on about 14 different ropes wound their way down the glacier. These numbers represented every climber left on the mountain... It would be a clean sweep to end the season. My own team's spirits were lightened considerably as we learned that none of the other climbers had summited either and that in fact the storms we'd largely avoided by dropping lower on the mountain were indeed big and mean and real on the upper mountain. Most of all though, my climbers were just happy to be climbing again after two long days sitting around waiting for conditions to improve. By the time we reached basecamp... Or more correctly, the place where Basecamp had been (since there was now nothing but an empty and beautiful glacier) the weather was getting better and some blue sky was developing. We built our tents though and tried not to get our hopes up for an immediate flight. The super group of fifty had one mission in common remaining as we all got out with our snowshoes on to stomp down a strip of snow to give planes an easier takeoff. Sure enough, we'd barely begun to nap when engines were heard and a mad scramble began. K2 Aviation had two big red DeHaviland Otters on skis in for us in no time at all and we were whisked off the glacier and back to Talkeetna by 5 PM. That left enough time for a quick gear sort and a long shower for each climber before dinner. Over burgers and salads at the West Rib, we had a blast toasting and laughing at ourselves and each other as we replayed the high and low points of a fine adventure in the mountains. The nightcap was at the Fairview Inn and then finally we were each in real beds again and sleeping in comfort and safety back in civilization. Much thanks to guides Lindsay Mann and Geoff Schellens and Zeb Blais for their hard work and to the entire team for being such good sports. And of course thanks to Denali for keeping it all interesting. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Four Day Climb August 3 - 6 led by RMI Guides Steve Gately, George Hedreen and Robert Whyte reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 5:30 am PT today.  The team enjoyed some time in the crater before starting their descent. They are currenly making their way back to Camp Muir. After a short break, they will pack up and continue another 4.5 miles to Paradise. Their program concludes today with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

Greetings from 13,150 ft in Karanga Camp on Kilimanjaro.  The team started the day in the garden-like Barranco Camp below the great rock wall of the same name.  It was a perfect weather day right from the outset.  There were no winds and no upper level clouds although the lower sea of clouds continued to hide the rest of the world from our view.  We got moving toward the Barranco Wall just aft 8:30 AM.  The lower third of the lava wall is a set of ledges that tend to get one’s attention.  Both hands are needed on the rock holds and the feet need to be carefully placed as we move from ledge to ledge.  It all gets a little more exciting as several hundred porters (from our own team as well as from the numerous surrounding teams) attempt to politely squeeze by with awkward and heavy loads balanced on their heads.  The wall relents in its middle sections and turns into steep switchbacks with occasional odd steps.  At the top, we were back to hands on rock to get over the final escarpments.  All told it took us about two hours to get on top of the wall.  It was a great feeling to pull onto the flat and have unimpeded views of Kibo’s cliffs and ice fields above.  We then moved down and East across several shallow valleys before we crossed a deep and steep sided one -the Karanga Valley- to reach our camp on the opposite rim.  It took roughly four hours to reach Karanga.  We were just in time for lunch and an afternoon snooze.  After dinner we stared up at the Milky Way and the southern cross and Kibo glowing in the moonlight. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Thursday, May 27, 2021 - 2:13pm PT

Yesterday we did some training on rope travel techniques for up above 14k. The weather was clear and cold, with a chilly breeze.

Last night a true Denali storm came in with snow and wind, and we’ve been spending the morning digging out our tents, trying to stay warm, and hunkering down.

The storm is forecast to continue through Saturday, with 60 mph winds here at camp; needless to say, we’re not going up anytime soon. We’re also anticipating high avalanche hazard on the slopes above camp and the autobahn due to the new snow load and the wind transported slabs.

We’ll keep you posted on how this shakes out. For now, we are focusing our energy on defending our camp and staying safe.

RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team

Thursday, May 30, 2013 Awakening the crew just before 9:00 a.m. to enjoy a breakfast of blueberry pancakes in our posh house as the sun warmed up camp was a real treat. We knew the noon hour was upon us and a few clouds began to gather around camp. We booted up to walk to the Edge of the World, a place from which you can look 7,000' down to the NE fork of the Kahiltna. From here we were treated to dramatic views of a vertical world, in fact, you could even see our very first camp of the trip, a place we past through, which seems so long ago, but in fact was only eight days ago. Some swirling clouds added the drama of being there. The rest of the day was spent rebuilding our latrine with blocks cut from the snow to protect us from the weather. And later, we welcomed our other RMI team down from 17,200' camp after their summit day yesterday. Tomorrow we'll be carrying a load to above 16,200', perhaps as far as 17,200' camp. It'll be a big day for us but we'll do fine. Of course, the first time up the fixed ropes is always a bit of a challenge, but this rest day has been good for us, mentally and physically to get ready for it. We'll let you know how it goes. Until then, we'll just end with another birthday greeting: Nic, Happy Birthday from Dennis and the team. RMI Guides Brent, Logan and Leah

On The Map

Today's teams were unable to reach the summit due to high winds and new snow. The Four Day Summit Climb led by Andres Marin and the Five Day Summit Climb led by Pete Van Deventer reported consistent winds with stronger gusts and two new inches of snow overnight. At 8:00 a.m. PT the teams began their descent from Camp Muir.

Happy Father's Day! See the video of Peter Whittaker's climb of Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest mountain, with his daughter Gabriella and on sharing the experience of the mountains, presented by Eddie Bauer/First Ascent.

Whittaker Father-Daughter Kilimanjaro Climb from Eddie Bauer on Vimeo.