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We woke early this morning, had breakfast, and packed up camp, ready to move to 14,200' before the sun had hit our tents. But the winds up high were too strong for my liking. We repitched our tents to seek shelter from the wind and waited for a few hours for the winds to abate. Unfortunately, the winds up high continued and a mean looking lenticular cloud had formed over Windy Corner, where we were headed. By noon we made the decision to stay in camp another day and avoid the risks of getting caught in a windstorm high in the mountains of Alaska. So we wait another day. Such is expedition climbing. The weather forecast looks good for the next few days, and we're confident that tomorrow will be the day to move camp. We'll let you know how it goes. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

We really shouldn't complain, as it could be much worse. Some people have been waiting 11 days already at Union Glacier to fly back to Punta. We've only been stuck for two days. But, for an active group of people, two days lying in the tent in a fog as thick as pea soup...well, that can be like an eternity. We're hanging in there, though. We got a brief respite this morning when the clouds lifted enough to expose the checkerboard of icefall immediately outside of camp, and a brief glimpse down to the Nimmitz Glacier. But, then it all socked in again, encasing us in a deep, thick fog and taking visibility down to about 50 meters. So, we read. We sleep. We listen to music. We eat. We repeat. Not much else can be done. Patience, and a good sense of humor - two essential elements for a good team in the mountains.

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

On The Map

Friday, February 28, 2025 - 5:20 pm 

Checking in from just over 14,000' on the side of Pico de Orizaba!

We said goodbye to cutie Puebla this morning and drove to Servimont (our local outfitter) headquarters. 

We were greeted with big smiles by Dr. Reyes adn team We reshuffled our gear (one duffel to the mountain, and one duffel stays behind), had a delicious lunch and then loaded the 4x4 vehicles for what would be an adventurous drive up to Orizaba base camp. 

Everything was going as smoothly as possible while on the wildest 4x4 road until it wasn't. The steering on hte truck we were in snapped and next thing know we were standing on the side of the road coming up with a new plan. Some of us started walking toward camp and some of us waited for the new truck. It was there before we knew it and we were off. We picked up the walkers along the way and finally made it to base camp. We got the tents set up, dinner cooked and ended with a summit talk about what to expect for the climb.

Everyone is doing well and we are all excited to see what the mountain has to offer tomorrow.

RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Josh Geiser and Los Chivos

Sunday, May 30, 2021 - 9:45 pm PT

The weather trend is finally improving for us! Today was a relatively pleasant day at 14,000' Camp. The ridgeline above was showing some wind this morning but that diminished through the day. Rather than jump up there and get cold, chilly, and tire ourselves out doing a small cache, we opted to stay in camp, organize, and prep to move to 17,000' Camp tomorrow. That didn't seem to stop most of camp from taking a run at it, which only reinforced our decision. We'll look to get up early tomorrow, be early out of camp, and be settled in to 17,000' comfortably so that we're ready to summit the following day. The pace of things will accelerate now and everybody is excited!

RMI Guides Pete, Matias, Chase, and team

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise met on August 11 with a full day of Technical training at Rainier BaseCamp. The following morning they loaded their packs and headed for Paradise. The team spent the next several days training on the lower slopes of Mt. Rainier and culminated their adventure by standing on the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI Guide Jenny Konway reported a great day on the upper mountain with some breezy conditions. The team will make a complete descent today and return to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon to properly celebrate their accomplishments. Congratulations to the ESS-Paradise team!

It's another great day on safari! Right now we're in Tarangire National Park and the animals are out in full force. There have been tons of elephants of course as this is 'the garden of the elephants'. In addition to the animals there are tons if really cool Baobab trees. We're all having a blast on the penultimate day of our trip. RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Peter Whittaker

The team left Basecamp today and descended all they way back to Pheriche at 14,000ft. We were excited to meet the Everest climbing team on their way up and wish them luck. Everyone is doing well and looking forward to the thicker air and warmer temps that lies below. Well do our best to send some photos tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

We had a wonderful climb today. As we left Namche Bazaar and headed up the trai,l the summit of Mt. Everest came into view. It would not be a good day to make a summit attempt as the plume blowing off the summit reached out for a mile or so and is an indicator that winds on the summit are likely in the 100 mph range. But it sure does make for a nice photo. We stopped for lunch by the river and then, with full bellies, headed up the infamous Tengboche Hill. The team did a great job and in a couple of hours we reached the Tengboche Monastery and were greeted by one of the elder monks. After our visit, we made a quick descent to the fairy tail land of Deboche where we will spend the night. The team is doing well, a few minor physical discomforts, but to be expected. The tea house staff is firing up the dining room stove with dried Yak dung, hey what ever provides a bit of heat, bring it on. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Mark Tucker here calling from Chukung. I'm not sure which one I like better Phakhing or Chukung. Pretty tight-laced. The teams in great shape up here. It was a nice about two and half hour about 2000-foot gain hike from Dingboche. It was just enough to get the blood flowing and breathing level up and still making that acclimatization effort. It's going real well, real happy with how the team is doing. The weather socked in once we got here to our tea house, and perfect timing for that. We hung around and had some food and fuel and did fine there. And then just in time it cleared up for perfect views and photos of fresh snow, on the white, tall Himalayan peaks that are surrounding us. We met up with our local guide, Perba and assistant/cook, Raz. We got a couple of nice guys. They helped out with Linden so they got all the recent information for the route, so that is great to have as well. Couple of nice guys and so thankful to have them with the team. So back in 1953 was the first ascent of Island Peak. It was made by a prestigious team. They were training in preparation for an ascent of Everest. One of those guys was Tenzing Norgay, who accompanied Kili on that famous day. So it makes you wonder if things go well here for Kim and John, could this be a stepping stone for the Big E? Maybe next year? I guess time will tell. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map