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What a difference a day makes. Things didn't seem a whole lot better, first thing this morning. Talkeetna was still a little dim and grey with low cloud lurking as we headed out to the airstrip. It took a few hours of waiting for things to come around. Our pilots figured out a clear path in to the Kahiltna, despite a fair amount of lingering clouds hiding the mountains. What we were able to see was stunning and spectacular, as if to make up for all that was hidden. Unbelievably steep and immense mountains began to pop up all around us as we entered the heart of the range. Glaciers, snow and random ice seemed to hang on every possible flank. The K2 pilots did their normal perfect approach and landing with the big ski equipped DeHaviland Otters. We'd taken off from town at 11:30 AM and we were unloading gear on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna 35 minutes later. At basecamp it was intensely sunny and warm with no wind whatsoever. The cloud cover evaporated and we were treated to grand views of Mount Hunter, Mount Foraker and even Denali on occasion. We built camp and began reviewing glacier travel techniques. There was plenty to get done and we worked throughout the afternoon and evening at divy-ing loads and getting rigged for an early morning move to camp at 7,800 ft. What we could see from the planes backed up what we've been hearing from other climbers... conditions on the lower glacier are excellent. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

We wrapped up our seminar on Friday with more training amid the continuing snowfall. What a week – lots of snow, wind, and great training. Avalanche hazard awareness, beacon searches, and the decision-making process of travel in avy terrain dominated much of the week. We also spent quite a bit of time on camp craft and setting up expedition-style camps. Of course, rope and anchor work, fixed line travel, crevasse rescue systems and other Denali-prep skills kept us busy as well. Good luck to the Ski Mountaineering Seminar that starts today. The ski conditions look great! RMI Guide Casey Grom

Tonight we climb!

After a beautiful day spent carrying our gear up to high camp along the dusty and rocky trail, we are ready for our summit push of Izta. We have the mountain to ourselves today and enjoyed the solitude. It was just our climbing team, the mountain, and of course a few dogs to keep us company. After fueling ourselves with quesadillas and water, we tuck in and prepare for an alpine start.

RMI Guide Abby Westling

Wednesday, July 21,  2021 6:20 pm PT

Hi Everyone -

We ALL made it to the top of Sahale Mountain at 3:15 pm today! We are on the descent now, off rock and back to glacier. The team is doing great!  We will be back at camp soon, ready to get some rest and trek out tomorrow morining!

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer & Team! 

The Mt. Elbrus North Side expedition is a wrap. As I write, I am sitting in the Amsterdam airport, and the team is in the process of scattering to the winds; some will continue traveling, while others are headed home to family and friends. It's amazing that the trip is already over, as it flew by. We spent yesterday on a walking tour of the best cathedrals, gardens, and palaces of St. Petersburg. The sheer size and scale of St. Isaac's Cathedral was stunning, the luminous mosaics of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood were fascinating, and the history of the founding of the city and derive during WWII were enlightening. We wandered through the Hermitage, as enthralled with the architecture and ornate rooms as we were with the collection of some of the world's finest art. Degas, Renoir, Michalangelo, Picasso, and so many more were on display. We finished up the trip with a delightful boat tour in the River Nieva, seeing St. Petersburg from the vantage that most in 1800 would have seen it, via the canals. Finally we gathered one last time at the Jerome for a last celebration dinner before we parted. It's been a fantastic trip, with an smashing bunch of new friends. We had great weather, a perfect summit day, built a hut, and tried to become a bit more worldly along the way. So many thanks to this group of climbers. Mike and I had so much fun, and we look forward to crossing paths in the mountains again soon! RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Mike Uchal

We did it! 

100% on top!!!

The team has safely descended back to high camp after an 11:30 hour round trip to the “Roof of Africa”.

It was a cold but thankfully calm night into day here in Kilimanjaro. The team did an incredible job of taking care of themselves even when times got tough. I’m so proud of how this team did! 

We are exhausted as you might imagine and are just now sitting down to lunch and then we’ll head further down the mountain to our last camp at 10,000ft. 

So I’m going to keep this brief. 

We’ll share more when we get off the mountain! 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili Summiteers!

As the clouds dissipated and the grapple settled,  we awoke in our tents and decided to hit snooze. We waited for the warm kiss of the sun to dry our tents and only then, did we creak our sore muscles and joints into working.  Our walk down was a welcome change from the cold, damp weather of our night spent at Camp 3. The cool breeze, sunny skies, and grand vistas made our travel easy as we descended to Basecamp into open arms and champagne showers. 

We’re settled into Basecamp after a delicious asado and will sleep soundly tonight. Tomorrow, we start the walk out of the Vacas valley. It will be our final full day on the mountain. As pretty and rewarding as it’s been out here, we’re excited for the creature comforts that Mendoza has to offer.  

Tomorrow is a long day, but we’re excited to see the views and experience the valley without the nerves and trepidation that the beginning offers. 

Thanks for following along! 

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli 

Wednesday, July 7, 2021 - 3:24 pm PT

The winds are calm and it's snowing lightly at Denali 14K Camp. Our plan is to pack up camp this afternoon and journey down into the thicker clouds, hopefully making it to Basecamp sometime in the middle of the night. We're not overly optimistic that we'll be able to fly tomorrow...the pilots at K2 Aviation tell us that this weather is supposed to stick around until Saturday. If all goes well we'll at least be in position to fly off the glacier if a clearing presents itself.

We'll let you know how it goes.

RMI Guide Mike Walter

Nice to be in the mountains, especially the Caucasus. What a nice range of peaks it is. A bit of sun, a little cloudy at times, and some wind made for a nice variety during our day of hiking. We used the chair lifts to put us into thin air and then climbed to around 11,000'. Had a momentary glimpse of the Mt. Elbrus' upper mountain but saving the prolonged clear for summit day and time we will spend high on the flanks of the tallest peak in Europe. Good planning indeed. Ran across a number of guide friends today and played a good trick on one of them. The team got into character and did not break till we totally fooled my pal. They met him on the trail and immediately surrounded him saying how great to see you again, giving him hugs and the whole enchilada, while I kept just off stage watching his reaction. He was pretty cool, trying to remember what trip or where he knew them from, being old friends and all to this group of five ladies, acting as if yes, I might just remember you. We all had a good laugh after I showed myself. I better keep an eye out for he will definitely try to get me back. The team did great today on the hike. We are all well and having a fun time. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Today began with a team meeting at breakfast. Last night there was a possibility that mud slides in the Vacas Valley would prevent us from coming down the mountain the way we came. Fearless leader Dom confirmed we would not be able to backtrack the way we came and instead would go down the other side of the mountain to the Mulas base camp, a route known as the "360." Since we would not be able to go back to our original base camp, we'll have one of the helicopters pick up our duffels and bring them to us at the Mulas base camp. 

Our carry day to Camp 3 today brought many us to new high points, with Camp 3 at nearly 19,600ft. Since we would have to carry all our gear up and over the mountain, as opposed to caching it at Camp 2, we all had pretty heavy packs. As we climbed today, the air got thinner and thinner, for most of us requiring a breath every step. Even though we have been at 18,000ft for almost two days, it still required significant fortitude to keep climbing. 

High elevation does a number on your body. As you climb higher, the decreasing oxygen makes it difficult to even do the very basic tasks, you loose your appetite and have to force yourself to eat, and for most climbers there is a point where they need start taking Diamox to help prevent high altitude pulmonary and cerebral edema. 

After a few days at a particular elevation, we get acclimatized and start feeling good. But we can only bring so many supplies and we have only so many days to get to the summit and back. So our schedule keeps us moving to a new higher point just as we were getting used to our current camp. This is mountaineering and one of the many things that makes it so difficult and the act of doing it so rewarding. Getting to a rest stop on a hike or the next-higher camp on a carry or move day brings a sense of relief that is hard to find in any other activity. 
As we approach our last uphill move day, and followed soon after by our summit bid, it's important to remember what a great feat we have accomplished so far, and how lucky we are to be up here with the best climbing team you could ask for. 

Climber Andy Green