Most Popular Entries

On the road again! We said goodbye to Aconcagua Camp 1 today and hello to Camp 2. It was a beautiful morning for breaking down camp, with virtually no wind and the sun shining down on us. As we waited for the porters to come help carry some gear, we saw a furry critter scamper across the slopes above. Our guess is it was a fox. Its always exciting see wildlife. After jamming out to tunes in our respective earbuds, we arrived at camp. Camp was a lot quieter from when we left it on our carry day. Other teams moved to high camp, creating space for us. Once again we set up camp and began nesting in our new home. Summit day is just around the corner, but first we will do a carry to high camp tomorrow and rest the following day. The air is a little colder at our new camp. The zipper on our sleeping bags will go a tad higher tonight to keep in the warmth.

Happy friday everyone,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

After two days spent on the mountain the Five Day Climb reached to summit of Mt. Rainier early today. RMI Guide Jess Matthews called in as the team was on the descent. The team has had great weather while on the mountain, and everyone has climbed strong. They will return to Paradise this afternoon. Congratulations team!

Yesterday morning I flew into Kathmandu. It was my first daytime flight into this wondrous city. It was beautifully clear weather, and seeing the Himalaya from the air provided an awesome perspective -- with Everest, Lhotse, Makalu and many other peaks visible on the horizon. This is my third 8000-meter expedition, with previous expeditions to Cho Oyu and Shishapangma. My goal for this expedition is to climb Manaslu (8156m)- solo and without bottled oxygen. Today I had a relaxing afternoon catching up with my Nepalese friends on the outskirts of Kathmandu valley. Drinking Nepali Raksi (moonshine) and Chhaang (rice beer) along with some quite tasty finger foods - with no ill effects this morning - hopefully I'm working up some immunity to Nepalese microorganisms. However, the heat and humidity of Kathmandu have me daydreaming of Manaslu’s glacial base camp. I’m excited to be back in Nepal! The next two days I will busy myself with buying supplies and packing for the trek in. I plan to depart on the 2nd of September for Arughat, a small village in central Nepal. From Arughat it is an eight-day trek into Manaslu base camp. This time of year is hot, humid, and wet; I am packing my umbrella as the trek starts in the lowland rainforest. RMI Guide Alex Barber

The Four Day Summit Climbs led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Walter Hailes reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Brent reported clear and warm conditions. The teams are enjoying some time on the summit. They will return to Camp Muir later this morning 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! Happy Independence Day!

Holá from 18,000 ft above the sea! We spent a windy evening up here last night, but so far camp is holding tight. With any luck this weather pattern will relax by tomorrow and we will be in solid shape to move higher! Today we are going to review some crampon and ice axe techniques before lunch and then take a little stroll post meal. Then more resting to be prepared for a few big days coming up. The team is doing great, and now we just need a few good weather days to make our move to Camp 3 and then shoot for the top. For now we wait for the wind to relax and head up when the mountain lets us. RMI Guide Jake Beren & Team

We had high hopes as we left Camp Muir for our summit attempt. But as we crossed the Cowlitz Glacier, a misty rain started, which turned into a stout blizzard at Ingraham Flats. 

The team climbed well through the weather, but we started losing the fight to stay dry. We returned to Camp Muir safely.

We will be leaving Camp Muir around 9:30 am for our final walk down to Paradise.

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

PC: Joe Hoch

The Mt. Baker Coleman-Deming Climb team June 21 - 23 reached the summit of Mt. Baker this morning around 7:30 am.  RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo checked in to let us know the team has returned to camp and will pack up their tents and gear and continue their descent to the trail head, completing their program later this afternoon.

Congratulations to all the climbers!

Finally, the storm has fled. It was about six days of snow or the threat of snow... But the wind blew like crazy last night and our bad weather is now somebody else's bad weather. Bright and strong sunshine all day today... T-Shirts were just fine at midday in Everest Base Camp. The Icefall Doctors were hard at work in the big jumble and the rest of us stayed out of their way, just as planned. Teams could be seen clawing all over the ice towers close to camp, practicing in their own little chutes and ladders gymnasiums. We took an afternoon cruise through the maze of ice ridges and towers in the "safe" part of the glacier and then tried to catch up on 3G connections. Internet access has been a little squirrelly these past days what with the cloud blocking solar power and the wind wrecking reflector dishes. Word by late afternoon was that the route is almost restored to Camp One... With some difficult trail breaking through new snow remaining to be done. I'll try to keep up with our Sherpa team early tomorrow with C1 as our goal (once again). JJ Justman will take our climber gang hiking. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

RMI Guide Adam Knoff called on June 10 at 5:50 pm (PST) to report the team was on the summit of Mt. McKinley! They made a great push starting at 9:00 am this morning and were celebrating at the top. The weather was warm and beautiful and it was the best day ever for their team. They were going to head down to 17,000' camp to spend the night. On Saturday they plan to head to 14,000' camp and spend another night. The whole crew made it to the top and were very excited that their second push paid off! Congratulations to the team!

At 7:44 am today, we received word from RMI Guide Ben Luedtke that the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons July 12 - 17 team had reached the summit of Mt. Raineir with 100% of their climbers. They will return to Camp Schurman and spend a second night there.  Tomorrow they will descend to the trailhead and return to Rainier BaseCamp.

Yesterday, the Emmons Seminar moved up to Camp Schurman for the night! After waking up to a nice warm sun on their faces and enjoying some breakfast, they practiced some fixed line ascending. Then, donned heavy packs for the journey over the rock step to Camp Schurman. After a little rest, they practiced crevasse rescue before making an early dinner and laying down to get some sleep before their climb tonight.

Beautiful weather, light winds, enjoying every moment.

Congratulations team!

PC: Ben Luedtke from their ascent to Inter Glacier on the first day of their climb.

UPDATE: Summit Photos from the Emmons team. 7/16/2024