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We spent the day waiting for our weather window to fly on to the glacier, but two feet of snow at Base Camp last night and continuing snow through today have so far prevented us from making it on. Rather than idly twiddling our thumbs, we decided to make the best of a warm dry hanger and practice our crevasse rescue skills and self rescue systems. Everyone is feeling better about their systems after a lot of practice and playing with knots and tricks. We still have one and a half hours to go before the planes are grounded for the night, increasingly it is looking like tomorrow morning is more likely for flying. Hopefully our next post will come from there glacier! Best, RMI Guide Peter Van Deventer Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us today, and we were unable to fly in to Base Camp once again. While it seems as though the weather is improving, the conditions were not conducive to flying; no planes left Talkeetna today with the intention of trying to land at Base Camp. We took advantage of the down time today and did some dry-land review of crevasse rescue. There were also some pretty competitive games of ping pong going on this afternoon in the Hangar as we waited on standby for the weather to clear. We’re all eager to fly, but we understand that climbing Denali requires patience. Hopefully we get a break tomorrow and can fly in to Base Camp and establish ourselves on the mountain. In the meantime, we’re enjoying Talkeetna. Cheers, RMI Guide Mike Walter

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Update: 8 pm PT Summit day on Orizaba- Today our team bagged the 3rd highest peak in North America! This was quite a feat and the whole crew was feeling the effects of a hard and rewarding day on the mountain. We celebrated with dinner at the Reyes family dining room, sharing stories with each other and climbers we had met on the mountain before retiring for some much needed sleep. Earlier in the day, and I mean a lot earlier in the day, we woke to perfect starry skies, grabbed a quick breakfast and began the climb. After warming up on the first stretch of the climb, the trail deteriorates into a jungle of rock, snow and ice known as the labyrinth. Our team made short work of this challenge and advanced to the Jamapa glacier. The struggle ascending the Jamapa was rewarded with an amazing sunrise, views Ixta and la melinche and the impressive summit crater. Our team climbed strong back to the Piedra grande hut where we were transported back to town by 4x4. All in all it's been a great trip. Everyone is worn out but happy to have succeeded as a team on some impressive peaks. It's hard to believe 9 days in Mexico have already come and gone! RMI Guide Zeb Blais 6:00 am PT Hey all this is Geoff Schellens and team standing on the summit of Orizaba. It was a tough climb but everybody is quite happy to be here and enjoyed very good climbing conditions. It’s a beautiful day with light wind up here and a beautiful sunrise this morning. That’s all for now. We will check in when we get back down. Adios, RMI Guide Geoff Schellens

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After a difficult night of sleep, we woke to mostly clear skies and enjoyed our first views of Cayambe up close and most of the other major volcanoes poking out of the clouds in the distance. It was the perfect mood elevator after a rough first night at altitude and very loud bunkmates in the refugio who treated us to a nice and prolonged wake up in the middle of the night. Well, tonight it will be our turn because after today's training on the glacier we are prepared to take a crack at summiting Cayambe VERY early tomorrow morning. The team is anxious but ready! Wish us luck! RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

Day two on the trail was another splitter day with a great breeze to keep the heat at bay. Our team rolled out of camp at about nine this morning and enjoyed a great stretch of trail into the next camp at Casa de Piedra. Currently we're lounging riverside and soaking up some afternoon sun. Although everybody's chilling now, our first glimpse of the mountain today was a reminder of the prospective climb ahead and all of the hard work that entails. We'll check in again tomorrow from Aconcagua basecamp at Plaza Argentina after we climb up through the Relinchos Valley... RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Leon Davis, & the team

The Four Day Climb with Brent Okita and Henry Coppolillo reached the Summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Brent reported a clear, calm, and beautiful day on top.

The team spent time on the summit signing the summit registry, taking pictures, and celebrating before starting their descent back to Camp Muir.

Congratulations Team!

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer checked in from the summit of Denali at 5:50 pm PT on Monday, May 29th.  The team returned to their high camp at 17,000' around 1 am PT.

Congratulations to the May 9th Denali Expedition!

This morning, we left the comforts of the city for our tents at Orizaba. After a long day of travel, preparation, and a little bit of acclimatization, we will sleep at 14,000 feet. Tomorrow will be  another early start, in the dark for our climb. The team feels good after a much needed rest day in Puebla! No one said the climbing will be easy, but we are hopeful for a good climb with the challenge of the mountain tomorrow ahead of us.

RMI Guide Abby Westling

May 26, 2021 - 11:54 pm PT

We are happily reunited with all of our things at 14,000' Camp. We had a leisurely brunch before grabbing empty packs to drop back down and retrieve our cache at 13,500'. Laden back down with food, fuel, and snacks, we popped back up to camp in an easy hour. After a short siesta to discover what we'd hidden in that hole and go on a snacking binge, we threw our backs into building walls to protect our camp from what sounds like a bit of incoming weather. We're planning to take a rest day tomorrow, which lines up well with the weather and see what happens after that!

RMI Guides Pete, Matias, Chase, and team

Our team has made it to high camp after a great day of climbing. We're perched just below the Upper Curtis Glacier with outstanding views of Mt. Baker and the higher reaches of our climbing route, the Fisher Chimneys. We're hoping the fair weather lasts long enough to give is a shot at the summit. Despite the gloomy forecast, the team is upbeat and fired up from an exciting day making our way through the Chimneys and up Winney's Slide. The Slide is nearly a full pitch of ice at this point and made for a bit of fun right before camp. We'll check in soon. Wish us luck with the weather! RMI Guides Zeb Blais, Steve Gately and team

Unrelenting! That is the word that describes our weather on Aconcagua. Last night we received 10 inches of snow. When we awoke this morning the winds had scoured most of that snow off the mountain leaving several deep drifts around camp. Thankfully the weather settled down a bit and we were able to break camp and pack up. The scene looked more like Denali in Alaska than Aconcagua in the Andes. The team did great in the harsh conditions. It would have even made The Godfather of Denali, Joe Horiskey, proud as the team worked together in cold, blustery winds. We are now sitting in silence at high camp enjoying the sun at 19,600 feet. The team has run its final days. Tomorrow is our only shot. Then we have to head downhill. As luck I believe has it, the forecast is for light winds on top. We will touch base tomorrow, keep your fingers crossed, it should be from the top! RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map