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Tuesday, June 1, 2021 - 11:26 am PT

Snow and wind moved in last night, so both RMI Denali Expeditions led by RMI Guides Mike Walter & Pete Van Deventer are resting, tent bound at 17,000' Camp. The weather is not violent, but it is miserable outside of our tents with lots of blowing snow. On the upside, it’s pretty warm for 17,200’.

Hopefully tomorrow’s forecast verifies and we’ll have a chance for a summit bid. In the meantime we’re trying to stay warm and dry, hydrated and fed.

RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

The team left Base Camp at 2:00 am and summited

The team left Base Camp at 2:00 am and summited Urus Este at 7:45 am and was back in Base Camp before noon! We enjoyed the day resting in the beautiful Ishinca Valley and lying in the sun near the creeks watching the horses, burros, and cattle graze.

We will check in tomorrow from Huaraz

RMI Guide Alan Davis, Tatum Whatford and 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

Our climbing team came together in the last couple of days.  We got seven folks and their baggage through a bunch of airports and airlines all the way to Kilimanjaro International Airport.  And as of yesterday, we had the team, plus one guide, all assembled at The Rivertrees Inn in Usa River, Tanzania.  Today we got into the business of final preparations for the mountain.  We talked through the program and our priorities on the climb.  We went over schedules and logistics and expected difficulties.  And then we did gear checks (which everybody passed with flying colors). And finally, after folks had gotten packed up, we did the all important weigh-in to be certain nobody would be overloaded on the mountain.  The work done, we relaxed around a campfire and ate a fine dinner in the Rivertrees garden.  Tomorrow we climb!

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Live from the Boston Basin, RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo and Team reached the Summit of Forbidden Peak via the West Ridge Route!! The team climbed strong and had a few great days of climbing! Way to Go Team! 

Today was our second acclimatization hike and a travel day as well. It was another perfectly clear day, about as nice as I have seen here. There is a bit of a haze in the valleys from eruptions and perhaps a bit of an inversion. Despite the haze, we were treated to views of Cayambe all day, from a variety of angles.

We are now relaxing at La Casa Sol and mentally relaxing, with our harder objectives lying ahead. Now we just hope this dry weather doesn’t run out for Cayambe and Antisana!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Thursday, May 20, 2021 - 10:36 pm PT

Sometimes it’s not so fun to be right.  Turns out we were right about the incoming snow storm.   We moved to Camp 1 at 7,800' today through continuous snowy weather.   The guide team safely navigated us across the Kahiltna, while Eric proved he was a talented linguist by regaling us with stories during our breaks. Tomorrow we hope to cache food and extra equipment above Ski Hill and then return to our camp. 

RMI Guides Eric Frank, James Bealer, Jack Delaney and team

100% on top in 100% humidity!

The team got up at 11pm as I mentioned yesterday and were all ready by 11:30 for the ascent. We then had a quick midnight breakfast of porridge, tea and coffee before hitting the trail.

It was pretty cloudy when we left camp and soon enough there was light snow falling which continued with us all the way to the summit. The snow keep the breaks to a minimum and the pace steady. The team did an amazing job staying dry and positive despite the less than ideal climbing conditions and I’m very proud of them.
We did get just a slight reprieve from the snow at the summit, just enough to allow summit photos and a few phone calls to loved ones back home.

The team safely descended back to high camp, where we had a quick lunch, repacked and then continued further down the mountain to our final camp in the thick warm air at 10,000ft, where we just finished another fine meal prepared by our gracious staff. Now it’s off to bed for some well deserved sleep.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy Kilimanjaro summit crew

On The Map