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The Four Day Climb led by Dustin Wittmier and Dan May reached the summit early this morning. Dustin reported 30 mph winds and sun on the Summit. As the team has started their descent it has gotten quite hazy and clouds are rolling in.

Congratulations Team! 

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads in the lowlands! After our day of training, we were raring to go carry up the fixed lines. Packed up, alarms set but when we woke the wind was blowing and the snow was swirling. Dragging our feet provided little clarity, with the basin clearing out just enough to show high winds on the West Buttress. Tough to establish a trend, but we decided to wait another day here at 14 Camp. It ended up being a good call as the clouds regained control of camp and it has snowed heavily since. Armed with an optimistic forecast, we plan to carry tomorrow and get in position for a move as soon as we can. Wish us luck down there and enjoy the day celebrating all the Fathers. RMI Guide Jake Beren

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The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by Jason Thompson and Andres Marin made it to the Summit of Mt. Rainier today. The weather was clear with winds of 25-35 mph. The teams were able to spend some time on Columbia Crest enjoying the views, and are now en route to Camp Muir.

We have arrived today the 5th in Kathmandu. The trip, rather long, went smooth. Tomorrow we are going to do some shopping for personal food and logistics and we plan on leaving for Tibet on Wednesday. We will keep you posted! RMI Guide Elías de Andrés Martos

Wednesday, July 3, 2013 Hello all from 17 thousand feet! We made our move today through a whole mix of weather, though overall, it was a really pleasant day on the West Buttress. We left later than most groups, waiting to have some sun and warmth before we launched. As luck would have it we missed all the crowds on the fixed lines, and cruised to our cache at the base of Washburns Thumb. With our cache on board, it was one more mellow stretch, and we were rolling into camp at the perfect hour. A big dinner and hot drinks, and now we're tucking in for the night, hoping to wake up and see our summit day tomorrow! Keep your fingers crossed for good weather! Best from here, RMI Guides Pete, Geoff, Robby, and team

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We caught our first real views of the mountain this morning when we emerged from the Barrels. The clouds were low in the valley below us, and above Mt. Elbrus rose clearly in the morning light. We could see the entire first portion of the route and high above, several teams were visible traversing into the saddle between the two summits of Mt. Elbrus. We set out on our acclimatization hike shortly after breakfast. The cold night temperatures left the snow still frozen firmly, giving our crampons good purchase. We retraced our route from yesterday, quickly passing our high point and gaining elevation. By late morning the clouds returned and we climbed in a fog bank, occasional rock outcroppings appearing out of the mist ahead and gradually disappearing below us. By the time we reached around 14,400' - the same height as Mt. Rainier - a cold breeze picked up and we climbed the remaining portion in our jackets with the hoods pulled closely to protect us from the wind. We reached Pastuhkova Rocks, at 15,100', and dropped our packs, resting in the thin air of today's high point before returning to the hut for a late lunch. The team climbed well today, negotiating the altitude and varying weather conditions well. It was a long day on our feet and we are looking forward to a mellow day tomorrow to brush up on some of the final training we still need to cover and get in a restful afternoon before our planned summit bid on Saturday. RMI Guide Linden Mallory

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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

People always ask me what the hardest part of an Everest expedition is. I only have one Everest expedition behind me, but I suppose that is all it takes to know what is hard and what is not. Surprisingly, it isn't summit day and it isn't the Khumbu ice fall. For me, the hardest part is rest days. Writing that feels a little strange, as resting is something good, restorative and needed, but it is really hard indeed. I am the type of person that enjoys movement, enjoys physical challenge and the constant change that traveling provides. To that end, being asked to rest for roughly 1/3 of the expedition is no easy task. I feel like I have been moving forward constantly since I was a kid, and now slowing down to let my physiology catch up with my mind is a challenge for me. How do I accomplish the task of resting? Reading is a good start, but I cannot read anything related to adventure, otherwise my feet start to twitch and I feel the need to go for a walk. Card games are a good way to rest, they bring laughter and allow your mind to engage, while your body is absorbing the much needed down time. Perhaps the best way to rest is to eat. At the start of one of our many rest days, I look to the teahouse menu. I think about how many meals I can eat today, and if there is anything new that I would like to try. By midday I have rested my way through boiled eggs, tibetan bread, cornflakes, chicken momos, popcorn, fried potatoes, chicken soup, pasta, and if I am feeling really bold...a yak steak. I know, it sounds like it wouldn't be so hard to sit and read, laugh with friends and eat, but the truth is, that is why I climb...because it IS hard to do the other stuff. When you are moving on a trail, and breathing hard and feeling all the blood move through your body, well, for me that is the easy part. Making dinner after a hard day climbing, a day that starts before dawn, that is restorative in its own way. Maybe it is an illness, feeling more rested after a hard day of climbing three thousand feet than a day lounging in the sunshine and enjoying tea. I suspect it is really good to experience days that just force me to slow down and look around. These days are good for letting me think about the days behind us and renew the excitement for the many days that are still ahead of us. So today, I will practice my resting. I will go walk around the small, but busy, village of Namche and look over at the people who seem to be resting easily, perhaps I will even stop and inquire how they do it. For now though, I have another order of eggs to dig into and a small sunny spot to go sit in.

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

It wasn't a flawless day. There were plenty of clouds about, and it looked mean and nasty up high on the mountain, but it was certainly nice enough where we were. We left 11 camp at ten minutes past ten, ground on up motorcycle and squirrel hills in low gear and came out into the polo fields below the end of the West Buttress. Another good uphill walk took us past our cache point from the other day and into definitely-not-windy-corner. We went around the corner in perfect conditions, but all agreed it was pretty tough traversing the snowy side hill with a sled threatening to pull one off the track. It began to snow on us a bit, but by this point it was welcome as it kept us from overheating as we wound around, between and over the top of giant crevasses on the final hour into our destination. We pulled into camp at 14,200 ft at a few minutes past five, completing our biggest day yet. Temps were noticeably cooler up so high and there was a light breeze blowing through 14 camp, so we couldn't pause long enough to pat ourselves on the back or to gaze up in wonder at the West Buttress and the South Peak of Denali... we needed to get tents up and anchored down. We simultaneously got that done, a kitchen up and running to melt large quantities of snow (we were all parched), a dining area dug in and covered and a latrine in place. We are getting well practiced at high altitude, cold-camp construction. Just as we sat down for dinner at 8 PM, it was time to turn on a radio to catch the nightly forecast for mountain weather. It isn't a terribly stable outlook, but we do hope Adam Knoff's RMI team at 17,200 ft can hang in there and get lucky. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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