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The Four Day Summit Climbs led by Peter Whittaker, Ed Viesturs and Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning at 6:30 a.m. The teams reported a beautiful day up top: sunshine, clear skies and calm winds. The teams will return to Camp Muir and complete their descent to Paradise later today. At 9:00 a.m., the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by Pete Van Deventer also made the summit via the Emmons Route. They began their descent shortly after and will be descending back to Camp Schurman for the evening and returning to Rainier Basecamp tomorrow. The Four Day Climb of Forbidden Peak in the North Cascades led by Andres Marin reached the summit yesterday and will descending to the trailhead this afternoon. Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!

Tuesday, July 4, 2023 - 11:57 pm PT

Long day, but it ended with us reaching basecamp safe and sound, so it was a very good day. The start was hard, it was still snowing and blowing as we packed. There was a lot to do since our gear had been buried under a few feet of fresh snow. We set out at 9:40 in a whiteout, working by Braille and GPS. The first three hours were like that, pushing through endless new snow. We started to come out of the storm below ski hill, but conditions were quite mushy. Our snow shoes were sinking in, which made finding crevasses fairly difficult. We trudged on in surreal lighting as the clouds came and went. Heartbreak Hill didn't break any hearts. We were happy to be on the home stretch. We pulled in to basecamp at 6PM. It was all ours for a few minutes. Dominic Cifelli's team pulled in just behind us, but otherwise, camp was empty and gone, closed up for the season. Weather didn't permit a flight so we camped.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier & Ben Luedtke led their Five Day Climb teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  Dustin reported broken clouds and light to moderate winds as the teams were ascending the Ingraham Direct early this morning.  The teams enjoyed some time in the crater before beginning their descent.  The climbers will return to Camp Muir for a short rest and to pack their gear before descending the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise later today.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

What a day!

The team topped out on the tallest peak outside the Himalayas at 1pm this afternoon.

We stood tall and proud at 22,838'.

While not a technical climb, this climb still requires grit and to give it all you have - mentally and physically. The team did amazing! We are all safely back at our tents with bellies full of Ramen and letting our feet air out from a long day of walking.

Tomorrow, we begin our long descent back to Basecamp. There will be tired legs, feet, and backs but there is a huge incentive to get down: bathrooms, showers, pizza, beer, and wine. All of which each member deserves.

We would like to thank all that asked for good weather for us today, because by golly, it was a gorgeous day.

Now it's time to suck in what little oxygen there is here and rest up for tomorrow.

Well done team,

Hannah, Ben, and Dan

Our team will take another weather day at Camp 2. Strong winds and lots of snow will keep us from moving up hill today. Tomorrow is our last chance to move to High Camp. We will hope to have a summit bid on the 14th. The team is hunkered down in their tents as 40 mph wind gusts roar through camp.

RMI Guide Mike King

Namaste from Gorak Shep. Happy to post that the team's objective of taking time lapse pictures of the Milky Way spinning over and around the tallest mountain of the world has been accomplished! Despite the frigid cold and with permission from the ever watching sentinels of Pumori and Nupse, we biouvaked last night at 5,400m on the side hills of Kala Patar. Looking right at the summit pyramid of Everest, we had the clearest evening one can imagine; a crisp sky would merge without interruptions with the sharp, silky white silhouette of the mountain ridges while being lit by a perfect moon. Half way through the night, we'd experience once more why we westerners owe so much to the local people of the himalaya; our Sherpa Nawang would meet us bring up a 2l thermos of tea as we were experiencing the frost accumulating over our sleeping bags and camera equipment. Today, with the memories of an spectacular night, we payed a visit to the Khumbu Glacier's morraine where the Base Camp for Everest is set during the climbing season. We are now enjoying dinner at our lodge, with our minds set in our descent that starts tomorrow. Our first stop will be Dingboche to enjoy again astonishing views of the N. Face of Ama Dablam. More updates to come in a couple of days from the thicker air villages of the Khumbu. RMI Guide Elías de Andrés

On The Map

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Leif Bergstrom made it to the top of Disappointment Cleaver today. Route conditions and warm weather made it unsafe for our larger team to continue onto the upper mountain.  The Team is back at Camp Muir and will be descending to Paradise soon.

Congratulations Team! 

Thursday, May 18, 2023 8:12 pm PDT

Finally, we got to stretch our legs today!

We woke to beautiful conditions in camp, the first time we haven't woken to the tents flapping and slapping. We smashed an oatmeal breakfast and coffee and grabbed backpacks, sleds, and snowshoes and beat feet back to our hole in the snow that held all our best food and treats. We made quick work of the day, three hours round trip, and came back to sunny camp, warm tents, and dry sleeping bags. It was also our last day hauling sleds until we descended for good. So, when we walked into camp there was much rejoicing.

Tomorrow we plan to carry another cache up high to Windy Corner or 14 Camp depending. That will set us up to be ready to make a big move to 14!

RMI Guides Pete, Henry, Tatum and Team

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 12:26 AM PT Summit! The weather was beautiful this morning with no clouds above us and no sign of wind. We got the stoves cranking again at 4:30 in order to beat the crowds (today was the busiest summit day of the season so far, as there was a backup of climbers that were delayed by last week's stormy weather. We estimate about 100 climbers went for the summit today.). We got rolling out of camp at 8:30 and walked into the frigid, shady slopes of the Audobon, which is a steep traverse for a thousand feet up to Denali Pass. We clipped about 40 snow pickets in a running belay to add security. Around the corner from Denali Pass we stepped into the sun and began climbing south pass Zebra Rocks and the Arch Deacon's Tower into the Football Field. The last hurdle before the summit ridge was climbing up the strenuous Pig Hill up to the Kahiltna Horn. Then the narrow, corniced ridge brought us to the summit at 20,310'. The climb is always challenging, but it was made more so due to cold 15-25 headwinds for most of the climb. We needed to wear goggles and face protection to keep from freezing our skin. But we did it. And we're about to crawl into our sleeping bags at the 17,200' high camp for some well deserved sleep. Tomorrow we will start our descent. RMI Guide Mike Walter

We have arrived! Ahhh, it feels so good to be back at Base Camp! Let me tell ya, this team has faced some enormous adversity. Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to scare friends and family because this Wisconsin boy has faced worse weather watching the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in December. The weather on this expedition has flip flopped from beautiful to not so beautiful. And wouldn't you know it, the weather followed us down to base camp. However, it doesn't matter now. We've enjoyed pizzas, fresh fruit and coca colas. And we all deserve it! Everyone says hello and we are looking forward to our trek out. This is our last dispatch for this season's Aconcagua expeditions. Thank you so much for following along and thanks for all the comments! RMI Guides JJ Justman, Katrina Bloemsma and Team