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Mt. Rainier: Cifelli & Summit Climb team turn at 13,000 feet

May 12, 2025

Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Nicole De Petris, Avery Stolte, Hannah Blum

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 13,000'

The May 9–12 Four Day Climb enjoyed a beautiful morning on the mountain, with clear skies, calm winds, and cold temperatures. RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli led the team to 13,000 feet before route conditions prompted a turnaround. The climbers will return to Camp Muir for a brief rest before continuing down to Paradise this afternoon.

PC: Dominic Cifelli

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Mexico’s Volcanoes: Wedel & Entire Team Reach Summit of Orizaba

March 1, 2025

Posted by: Jess Wedel, Josh Geiser

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico

Elevation: 18,491'

UPDATE: Saturday, March 1, 2025 - 8:52 am PT

We received a quick note from RMI Guide Jess Wedel this morning:

100% on top. We just walked off the summit of Pico de Orizaba. Beautiful clear day, but snow and clouds are on their way.

They will check in later today when they off the mountain and are back in Tlachichuca.

Congratulations to all the ALA climbers! Nice work everyone!

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Peru Seminar: Davis & Team Train Near Basecamp

July 21, 2024

Posted by: Alan Davis, Tatum Whatford

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar

Elevation: 14,348'

July 20, 2024 - 5:45 pm PT

Woke with the sun and some good Peruvian coffee. The winds were quite strong and kept us tent bound initially. We spent the day resting and working on knots, hitches, and rappelling at our campside crag. After dinner it was early to bed for another alpine start as we attempt the valley’s namesake, Ishinca, in the wee hours of the morning.

RMI Guide Alan Davis

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Aconcagua: Smith & Team Move to High Camp

January 22, 2023

Posted by: Hannah Smith, Ben Luedtke, Daniel May

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua

Elevation: 19,600'

Hello from High Camp on Aconcagua!

The team woke to some light breeze and an eagerness to move to Camp Colera. A simple breakfast of oatmeal would fuel us up the 1,600' to our new home for the the next two nights. With each step we could tell we were taking in less oxygen. It is a weird feeling exerting one self while hypoxic. After a few hours of walking uphill we rolled into a busy High Camp. We found four spots to set up our tents and get settled in. This camp has no running water so most of the afternoon is spent making water. It will be early to bed for us since we have an early morning making our way to the summit. The winds have increased but fingers crossed we can stay protected from them and stay warm enough to make the tippy top. Wish us luck as we get ready for our big day!

We got this,

RMI Guides Hannah, Ben, Dan and Team

Mt. Rainier: Hailes & Emmons Glacier Team Turned backed by Winds

June 4, 2019

Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nikki Champion, Chad Gaffigan, Chase Halbert

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 13,200'

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons May 31 - 5 June checked in from Camp Schurman this morning. RMI Guide Walt Hailes and team returned to camp after making their summit attempt. The team reached 13,200' before high winds forced their decision to turn around. They plan to do some additional training today and spend their last night on the mountain. Tomorrow they return to the trailhead and then back to Rainier BaseCamp.

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Mt. Rainier: July 23, 2013 Summit!

July 23, 2013

Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Elias de Andres Martos

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 14,410'

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6:45am. The team reported nice weather and calm winds, they spent some time on the summit and have started their descent back to Camp Muir. The Expedition Skills Seminar – Emmons Led by RMI Guide Elias deAndres Martos also reached the summit via the Emmons route early this morning and have stated their descent back to Camp Schurman. Congratulations to today's teams!

Mt. McKinley: Hahn & Team Descend to 14K Camp

July 14, 2013

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Zeb Blais, Mike King

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 14,200'

Sunday, July 14th, 2013 Back at 14K. A couple of long, hard, exhilarating days have come and gone. When we left 14,200' two days ago, we were happy to even have a chance at getting to 17,200'. It wasn't certain that we'd get there with the leftovers from that two-foot snowstorm. And as we moved up, we were aware that teams were coming down from 17,200' because of avalanche conditions between there and the summit. But we had a perfect day for moving up and we weren't used to perfect days on this trip... we took advantage. The going was a little slow, what with trail-breaking, but it was better than we expected to find. We were able to walk on avalanche debris for a good portion of the approach to the fixed ropes. The climb up along the crest of the buttress was spectacular and difficult with our big packs, but all handled it well. It took 8.5 hours to reach camp at 17,200'. When we got there we were overwhelmed at the generosity of the teams who'd been waiting there for days. They gave us water and helped to build our tents... And most importantly, they pointed out that recent winds had virtually eliminated the avalanche hazard on the route to Denali Pass. They were going for the top in the morning and we were invited. It was just a matter of whether we could get camp up, dinner down, and people in sleeping bags fast enough that the team would be rested for a try on the top. The next day dawned cloudless and windless and our teams were all enthusiastic about a chance to climb. We took off at 10:20 AM just behind Rob Galler with AMS and Dennis with AAI. We'd discussed things extensively and were determined that the last guided parties of the season would work together to achieve this unexpected summit. Rob did a lot of the hard work breaking trail on the steep slopes to Denali Pass. We took over a little past the Football Field to make a route up to and along the summit ridge. Throughout the day, it seemed nearly unbelievable that on a storm-plagued trip, we'd get such a perfect opportunity for the top. The wind never blew and we were comfortable the entire day... no freezing hands, faces or feet. We hit the summit at 6:40 PM and stayed there for an hour, taking pictures, shaking hands and marveling at our good fortune. A few thousand careful steps later, we pulled into high camp at 11:30 PM. Everyone worked to get some dinner down before turning in. The guides were up for hours more, melting snow and filling water bottles. It seemed a great gift that the good weather continued into this morning. It is always rough packing up at 17K after a summit day, but it was made immeasurably easier by the calm, sunny morning. We set out at 1:00 PM and climbed ever so carefully down the narrow ridge crest and the steep fixed ropes with our giant packs. It was quite hot by the time we reached 14,200' and it seemed a good idea to set camp rather than chancing rockfall around Windy Corner. Tomorrow will be another big day as we'll try to make it to 8000', putting ourselves in position to go out the lower glacier early the following morning. Probably too much to ask, to get another nice day, but we'll ask anyway. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Mt. Rainier: May 25, 2013 - Update

May 25, 2013

Posted by: JJ Justman, Eric Frank, Nick Hunt

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 10,200'

Hi everyone! The team today awoke to conditions that are not ideal to climb in. With all the new snow it just has not settled enough to allow safe climbing. So to enjoy and have a full mountain experience the team went up to Muir Peak to watch the sun rise. It's my favorite part of climbing. The photos simply do not do it justice. We are safe and we are happy and we are still laughing and having fun! RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team

Aconcagua: Justman & Team Back at Base Camp

December 18, 2012

Posted by: JJ Justman, Geoff Schellens

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua

Elevation: 13,800'

Hi All, RMI Aconcagua team one here in Base Camp watching the torrent on the upper mountain as we pack and organize gear for the mules. After soup and snacks we moved on to sports and movie trivia with some of our German climbing friends. Although we are all disappointed to be leaving the mountain with out a summit, the foul weather and thoughts of steak and wine are reassuring. We will start our hike out tomorrow and get back to Mendoza on Thursday the 20th. Thank you all for all the support and we look forward to talking to all our friends and family soon. RMI Guides JJ Justman, Geoff Schellens & Team

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Summit Day on Aconcagua

January 19, 2009

Posted by:

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua

Elevation: 22,841 ft.

Last night at high camp, it just didn't seem like we would get a chance to make the top of Aconcagua... it was snowing and socked in when I sent yesterday's dispatch. But then, just before darkness came on, the snow stopped and the clouds dropped. During the night there were occasional waves of intense wind that could be heard coming from miles away, but these were short bursts and sure enough, at 4 AM the stars were out and the wind was gone. Our stoves were cooking by 4:15 and we were walking out of camp by headlamp at around 5:15 AM, bound for the summit. We had crampons on all the way and were lucky to be on snow for about 95% of our journey. Peter mentioned that he'd done the same climb without once touching snow, just loose rock, so we were happy with the conditions. It wasn't terribly cold and once we found sunshine things were quite pleasant. We lost that sunshine when we began the long, long traverse to the base of the Canaleta. There were perhaps a hundred other climbers going for the top today, but we ended up nearly in the lead by half-way up the steep and direct Canaleta. This broad gulley is about 800 vertical feet... easy at sea level, I'm sure, but beginning at 22,000 ft makes it somewhat challenging. We were challenged, but all did well, the extra nights at high camp had worked in our favor for acclimatization. We popped out on the summit at noon and enjoyed a sunny and wonderful hour up there. We were victorious and thrilled with the new views... but several of us cried like babies as we remembered our friend Fede and his tragic passing on the summit of Aconcagua all too recently. We left the top at 1 PM and walked quickly into a snowstorm. Not a vicious snowstorm, there was little wind, but a socked-in, steady snowfall. It only took us two hours to make it back to high camp and so we knocked the tents down and set out walking for basecamp. We were anxious to get down and rejoin the rest of our team who'd descended yesterday. In Basecamp by about 6:30, we had a fine reunion dinner and made plans for our walk down-valley begining tomorrow. An improbable summit became a treasured moment with great friends close to 23,000 ft above sea level. All are safe, all are down the hard part of the mountain.

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Mt. Rainier: Cifelli & Summit Climb team turn at 13,000 feet

Mexico’s Volcanoes: Wedel & Entire Team Reach Summit of Orizaba

Peru Seminar: Davis & Team Train Near Basecamp

Aconcagua: Smith & Team Move to High Camp

Mt. Rainier: Hailes & Emmons Glacier Team Turned backed by Winds

Mt. Rainier: July 23, 2013 Summit!

Mt. McKinley: Hahn & Team Descend to 14K Camp

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Mt. Rainier: May 25, 2013 - Update

Aconcagua: Justman & Team Back at Base Camp

Summit Day on Aconcagua

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