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The Five Day Climb June 24 - 28 was unable to make a summit attempt due to high winds at Camp Muir overnight.  RMI Guides Casey Grom and Alex Halliday reported that the wind picked up around 8 pm last night averaging 60 mphs at Camp Muir with gusts over 90 mph.  The wind continues to blow this morning which will prevent the teams from ascending above Camp Muir.  The Five Days Teams will be descending to Paradise later this morning and returning to Rainier BaseCamp.

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.

Update: 4:04 am PT RMI Guide Mark Tucker reports from Everest Base Camp that the climbing team has safely returned to Camp 2 (ABC). They will spend the night resting, eating and recovering from the summit climb. Tomorrow, Mark is looking forward to welcoming the team back to Base Camp.

On The Map

The Four Day Climb May 28 - 31th led by RMI Guides Christina Dale and Joe Hoch led their teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. It's a beautiful day on the mountain and Joe reported the route was in good shape and would likely be improving with the warm temperatures and stable weather expected.  The teams enjoyed about an hour in the crater and began their descent from the crater rim just before 8 am today. The team will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise later this afternoon.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

Today was a well-earned rest day for all. But it was also a day of getting ready to go higher; carefully selecting food and gear for what we hope to be a three night stay at Camp One, above the Icefall. We've had a longer stay at comfy Base Camp than we'd expected, and so it will be a little tough committing to the normal discomforts of a camp in the snow at 20,000 ft, but in the plus column, we will be a little better acclimated than we might have been with an earlier foray to the Western Cwm. And we are eager to get on with the climb... Which is a big plus. Our enthusiasm is tempered by the looming prospect of bidding a teammate goodbye. Larry Seaton has been climbing hard and pushing himself to extremes in the face of a number of physical setbacks. True to character, he isn't satisfied with staggering up Mount Everest at or beyond his limit... Larry has always been an asset to his climbing teams and won't chance being a liability to this one. He'll bow out and will head towards home in the near future. Obviously the team feels for Larry and regrets losing a key member, but we all applaud his prudent decision. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Five Day Climb May 26 - 30 led by RMI Guides Grayson Swingle and Dustin Wittmier were turned around by avalanche danger this morning near 11,400'.  The team safely returned to Camp Muir they reported blue skies above and a cloud deck below around 7,000'.  The teams left from Camp Muir just after 9 am on their descent to Paradise.  We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.

Namaste! 

Greetings from Nepal!

The team has finally arrived after some incredibly long flights and a 12hr time change.We spent our first day get acquainted and discussing the necessities to our upcoming adventure.

We then headed out to visit a few famous temples here in Kathmandu. First up was the Swayambhunath, also known as the "Monkey Temple", that overlooks most of Kathmandu. Then we visited the massive Boudhanath Stupa, which is one of the largest in the world. We wrapped up the evening with getting all our gear packed and an amazing meal at a restaurant call “Le Sherpa”. 

Today the team left Kathmandu and flew to Lukla, our starting point to the trek. Thankfully it was a rather uneventful flight to one of the world’s most famous airports. After arriving had breakfast then waited at a tea house for all the porters to be chosen and then hit the trail. We hiked for about 3 hours to reach our first camp of the trip in a small village called Phakding. The weather was perfect, and everyone did great on the hike. 

Team is doing well and oh so happy to be in the mountains!

RMI Guides Casey, Hannah, and Team

The Five Day Climb June 5 - 9 ascended to Camp Muir on Monday after their inital orientation and Mountaineering School days.  Yesterday they enjoyed some additional time working as a rope team and walking in crampons as they traveled above Camp Muir to Ingraham Flats.  They were able to explore more of the mountain and see a bit of the route.  Today they left Camp Muir hoping to reach the summit.  They traveled up to Ingraham Flats and then started to ascend the Disappointment Cleaver.  Unfortunately new snow and potential avalanche danger forced them to turn back at around 12,400'.  The teams will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise.  They will conclude their program in Ashford later this afternoon.

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

On The Map

Namaste from the small village of Pheriche.  

I know this might come as a surprise to many of you, but we woke up at the same time as the last 5, ate the same food and packed our bags for another meditative day of trekking.  The departure was a bit more emotional than the previous mornings because I had to say farewell to the host family I so thoroughly enjoyed seeing after so many years but as we all know, time continues to roll, and we will one day see each other again.   

Easing the sadness of leaving Phortse was the crystal blue skies and breathtaking views of the mountains we have been waiting to see. Within 30 minutes of leaving the Phortse Guest House, we were greeted with stunning vistas of three major peaks, one being Ama Dablam, arguably the most iconic peak in all of Nepal. Later in the day Mt. Everest even made a quick showing. Energized from such a powerful landscape we cruised the three hours to Pangboche which is the oldest Sherpa village in the entire region. It is also the location of a very old Monastery where we were lucky enough to arrange a Puja ceremony with the head Lama of the village. This ceremony is a special blessing granting us passage into the mountains with luck and safety.  Shortly after the Puja we had a good lunch giving us strength to polish off the remaining distance to camp.  

Making better time on the second half of the trail, we could focus on the walk and not take a thousand pictures because the clouds moved in and shut down the views. We rolled into our tea house just in time to have the fire warming the great room and hot tea ready. We were also very happy to see the other RMI group and share stories of the adventures already had and the ones to come. Casey Grom is one of my closest friends, so I feel lucky to have gone from one emotional encounter to the next. Although the visits are brief, they are meaningful, nonetheless. 

Now the team is all tucked in and I myself am off to bed, happy to have a rest day tomorrow.  Everyone is in good spirits and doing well.  

We will reconvene tomorrow at the same time.  

RMI Guide Adam Knoff and Team