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Mexico Volcanoes: The Teams Enjoys Puebla

October 14, 2021

Posted by: Grayson Swingle

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico

Elevation: 7,000'

Greetings from Puebla! Today was a great day for the team to rest and explore the beautiful city of Puebla. This city is full of history, delicious food, colorful markets and a perfect place to recover for our next climb.

After a day to explore the incredible Catholic Churches built in the 1500s, the team ate dinner together at El Mural de los Poblanos, a fantastic restaurant full of classic local dishes. Puebla is known as the home of Mole.

Our next objective begins tomorrow as we head up to 14,000ft to the high camp on Pico de Orizaba!

RMI Guide Grayson Swingle

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Mt. McKinley: Okita & Team Summit!

June 4, 2014

Posted by: Brent Okita, Leah Fisher, Nick Hunt

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 20,320'

June 4, 2014 - 7:43 pm PT Hi, this is Brent from the RMI Okita McKinley Expedition. I am super psyched to report that we just summitted Denali about an hour ago, about 5:30 [Alaska time] this evening under perfect conditions. Minimal wind, hardly anything, and clear, blue skies. Everyone did a great job getting up to the summit. Was a fantastic effort by everybody. Right now, I'm calling down from the Football Field. We wanted to get off the summit, because there are a bunch of other climbers coming up and we wanted to get out of the crowds, as they say. Now we're back on the Football Field, taking a little break before heading back to camp. And everyone's doing super well. I'll give an update on our progress when we get back down to Camp 17 in a little while. All you friends and family who are listening, you guys should be awfully proud of these folks. They did a great job today. Alright, talk to you later. Bye Bye. RMI Guide Brent Okita

RMI Guide Brent Okita calls in from the descent of Mt. McKinley's summit.

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Mt. Everest: Hahn & Team Arrive in Lukla

May 2, 2015

Posted by: Dave Hahn, JJ Justman, Mark Tucker

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest

Elevation: 4,383'

Another surreal day of spectacular hiking and beautiful mountain vistas... mixed with up-close and sad recognition for the cost of lost homes and disrupted lives in the Khumbu Valley. I suppose it is surreal because we would never have chosen to be "tourists" in a disaster area... But here we are. We left Namche at around 8 this morning under perfectly blue skies... And fervently hoping that this meant that the fixed wing planes were coming and going freely from Lukla... Dispersing the crowd we'd heard so much about. The first part of the day was spent in the forests... Where there was little sign of the earthquake. But the bigger portion of the day was spent in the succession of farms and small villages in the valley bottom outside the National Park boundaries. Of course, many houses and buildings were untouched... but a significant number were cracked and damaged beyond reasonable repair. Very few had collapsed... And we were told that there had been few injuries and few deaths in these areas... Probably because Sherpas would have been outside and working hard at midday when the quake struck. And sure enough, the phenomenally strong work ethic in the area had men out moving rocks, plastering and repairing damage wherever possible when we strolled by. People without any form of insurance stood in front of ruined structures, in this fabulously beautiful setting, and smiled and bid us "Namaste" as we passed. Those that we knew, asked us first if we were all ok before acknowledging that they themselves would need to start over completely. We walked until about 2:30 PM to reach Lukla just as the raindrops began to fall. The town and the airstrip appear largely intact... And thankfully, the crowds (mobs...as we'd heard them described a few days ago) seem absent. So far, so good with our plan for coming down the valley slowly so as to allow things to normalize in front of us. One of our Sherpa team startled me today as we took tea in his sister's place in Monjo... He thanked me for saving his life. I was baffled and embarrassed until he explained that my decision (which had actually been made in consultation with Jeff Justman and Chhering Dorjee) to have the Sherpas drop the loads they were carrying for Camp II at Camp I on the day of the big shake had meant they weren't in the Icefall later in the day at the exact wrong time. As I say... I was startled... Hadn't done the math myself. We'd asked them not to carry on to CII because of the threat of snow and avalanches off Nuptse... Not because of imminent earthquakes. But I'm now so incredibly glad that they were well down the icefall and safe for whatever reason. I deserve no credit whatsoever for getting lucky... But our team can take generic credit for having put safety first, once again, and having reaped unexpected benefits. We are "scheduled" for the first wave of flights to Kathmandu tomorrow. Perhaps luck will still be with us. Best Regards, Dave Hahn

Torres Del Paine: Team Hikes to Paine Grande

February 26, 2022

Posted by: Mike King

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Torres del Paine

We got a casual start today. The day’s hike was approximately 8 miles to Paine Grande Refugio. We walked through the rolling and rocky hillside along Lago Grey. The landscape is mostly barren due to the 2011 fire that swept through the frontside of the “W”. The paste green colors of Lago Grey and the floating icebergs from glacier Grey took up most of our views. As we descended towards the Refugio we got a nice view of Lago Peohe (pay-way). Short day has us enjoying views of the Horns and Paine Grande, while some rain hits the windows of the bar, finally some traditional Patagonia weather.

Everyone is doing well and tomorrow we’ll see what the weather does regarding hiking into the French valley. Thanks for following along.

RMI Guide Mike King & Team

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Mt. Rainier: Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise Spend the Week Training

August 14, 2021

Posted by: Devin Guffey

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 11,200'

The All-Women’s Expedition Skills Seminar – Paradise led by RMI Guide Devin Wilkinson wrapped up their week by climbing to Ingraham Flats to watch the sunrise. Warm temperatures and overhead hazards on the climbing route prevented the team from reaching the summit safely.

The team has spent the last five days on the upper slopes of Mt. Rainier developing their expedition skills beginning with ice axe use and cramponing techniques and moving on to more advanced skills such as anchor placements, various self and team crevasse rescue techniques, steep technical ice climbing, belays, rappelling, knots, route finding and fixed rope travel. Evening lectures in camp include group discussions on mountain weather, medicine for mountaineering, altitude wellness and equipment.

Congratulations to our All-Women’s team!

Mt. Rainier: Four Day Climb Teams Enjoy Beautiful Day

August 21, 2022

Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Abby Westling, Ben Luedtke, Josh Geiser, Lily Emerson, Michael Murray

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 14,410'

The Four Day Climb August 18 - 21 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning at 6:05 am. The teams enjoyed clear skies and a light breeze during their climb. They began their descent from the crater rim at 7:20 am to return to Camp Muir. At Camp Muir they will repack and take a short break before continuing the final 4,500' descent to Paradise.

Congratulations to today's climbing teams!

Photo credit: Ben Luedtke

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Mexico Volcanoes: Cifelli & Team Summit El Pico de Orizaba

March 5, 2022

Posted by: Dominic Cifelli

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico

Elevation: 18,491'

100% team success on Pico de Orizaba!! We really had to dig deep for this one, but the months of training, hard work, and discipline landed us on top of the third tallest peak in North America today.
From Piedra Grande we head straight up an old aqueduct turned trail with loose rock and scree covering the winding trail. Ixta had us prepared for this though and the team made short work of the trail and up to the base of a feature called the Labyrinth. True to its name it’s a winding maze like feature made of rock that ascending teams must scramble and navigate in order to gain access to the glacier above. Once there, the never ending descending escalator begins. It takes us about three and half hours to climb from base to top. With no good place to take a break, it’s certainly a marathon. The team dug deep, pulled together and summitted the highest point in Mexico.

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

Mt. Rainier: Four Day Teams Turn at 11,400ft due to Avalanche Danger

June 3, 2022

Posted by: James Bealer, Ben Luedtke, Sam Hoffman, Josh McDowell, Trevor Katz, Nick Sinapius

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 11,400'

Today's Four Day Climb May 31 - June 3 reached 11,400' today before deciding to turn around due to high avalanche danger and deteriorating weather. The teams returned to Camp Muir and packed up. They started their descent to Paradise at 8:30 am. RMI Guides James Bealer and Josh McDowell reported that the winds were high and it was snowing hard as the team left Camp Muir on their descent. Once back at Paradise the teams will be shuttled back to Rainier BaseCamp for a closing ceremony.

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Our thoughts are with our team, the people of Nepal, and all those affected by this tragedy

April 28, 2015

Posted by:

Categories: Guide News Responsible Climbing

All of us at RMI are truly grateful for the support shown in regards to our Everest climbing team, Sherpa team, and guides—Dave Hahn, JJ Justman, and Mark Tucker. Our thoughts are with our team, the people of Nepal, and all those affected by this tragedy. It may be weeks before we really can comprehend the damage and devastation caused by this earthquake. While the rugged and mountainous terrain are a big part of what makes Nepal beautiful, this terrain also makes it very difficult to help those in need after such a major catastrophe. There are many great organizations helping out with disaster relief efforts in Nepal, and more help and money is definitely needed. We feel the best way to help is by donating to organizations that are directly involved with the disaster response. The organizations listed below have staff members in Nepal and are working hard to provide clean water, food, shelter, and medical aid to those in need. These selected organizations have also been vetted on the charity rating site Charity Navigator and score well for their accountability, transparency, and financial standards. We want to encourage everyone to do what they can to help the people of Nepal. Doctors Without Borders Mercy Corps American Red Cross We thank you for your continued support as our team, and many others, begin their journey home.

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Kilimanjaro: Grom & Team Visit Famous Ngorongoro Crater

September 21, 2022

Posted by: Casey Grom

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro

Hello again everyone,

Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is home to more than 25,000 animals that reside here year round, as its one of the few places that has natural springs. We started early with hopes of catching a few big cats before the heat of the day sent them in search of shade.

We saw many hyenas, jackles, ostrich, plus countless other huge birds, and even managed to get close to a large pride of lions with very full bellies. There was a Black Rhino spotted not to far off of the road also which was a highlight.

We wrapped up the day with a visit to a Maasai village not far from the crater's rim. The Maasai people are a semi-nomadic tribe that exist almost entirely off of their cattle. The team spent time asking questions and enjoyed being shown around their small and simple village.

We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the plantation lodge and the team is off to bed after a long, but very rewarding day on safari.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the safari crew