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This is Dave Hahn calling in from Advanced Base Camp again. Another windy day up here at the head of the Western Cwm. Apparently the jet stream winds are still on the mountain and it’s sure sounding like it. All day long big roaring noise as the air was hitting the south west face of Mt. Everest and the north face of Lhotse. And just ripping over the tops of the mountains. Didn’t make sense to do any hard climbing in those conditions, for us. That wouldn’t have worked for us anyway today we were into light exercise activities and trying to gain acclimatization. We all had a good night last night and we are try build on that. We just went for a short, couple hour long hike to gain a little elevation but didn’t get on to any technical ground. We returned back to camp and took it easy the rest of the afternoon. We are looking forward to some change in the wind and still surprised at how icy and dry the upper mountains are. I wouldn’t mind that changing a little bit and getting a little snow cover on the hills. But, everybody is doing well and we will keep you up to date. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Satuday, September 3, 2022 8:00 am PDT

Hey y'all,

On summit of Baker at 7:45.Moderate winds and smoky skies. 100% of team on top.

Tatum, Roland, and Team

Friday September 4, 2022 9:00 pm PDT

Hey y'all, 

Yesterday we had perfect weather for our hike to camp without a cloud in the sky. We made camp at 6,100. Today we had a good school day with light winds and smoky skies.

Tatum, Roland, and Team

Our Five Day Climb May 28 - 1 June, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Bryan Mazaika.  Andy reported a beautiful climb this morning without any winds.  The route is very direct and the teams training over the last few days set them up well for the climb.

The photo was taken by Andy on their ascent at around 13,300'.  The teams will return to Camp Muir and repack then continue their descent to Paradise.

They will conclude their program this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

SUMMIT! Our Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Paul Maier and Mike Haugen made it to the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams were able to spend a moment on top before heading downhill and are now en route to Camp Muir. Congratulations to today's teams!

Namaste from Kathmandu.  

Day 1 of our Everest Base Camp and Lobuche Expedition is in the books.  I would say yesterday was the official first day but I don’t want to start confusing people this early into things.  

Despite where we sit on the official green light of our multi week adventure, one thing isn’t confusing, this team is not afraid to drink a beer!  Yesterday, whatever day of the week that was for those of you reading this now, we all met for our first team lunch and within minutes were making a toast to all of our bags showing up, all of us showing up and to offsetting jet lag with alcohol.   I liked everyone from the get go.   The rest of the day brought some shopping, resting and a nice dinner.  

Today we started with a wonderful breakfast at our Hotel Yak and Yeti, quickly followed by a fun city tour.   We saw ancient Buddhist temples, a Hindu cremation ceremony and monkeys cute enough to want to bring home but would likely eat all your food and kill your cat.   

These are all beautiful sights with lots of history and meaning but to me the most intense part of this city is the traffic!  If anyone reading this has a family member on said trip, don’t expect them to come home and be the same person, especially crossing the street.   We all have a much different “margins of safety” when dealing with moving vehicles now.  Don’t attempt to stop us, just close your eyes and count to ten.  

After surviving our last walk to and from the restaurant zone, we are now packing for our anticipated 6am flight to Lukla, one of the most challenging runways in the world and gateway to Everest.   

We will report on the flight and first stretch of the walk tomorrow.   

RMI Guide,

Adam Knoff 

The Four Day Climb July 25 - 28 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Ben Liken. Clear skies and warm temperatures continue in the area.  Once the teams return to Camp Muir they will take a quick break to re-hydrate and re-pack their gear before continuing the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise. The teams will celebrate their achievements later this afternoon at Rainier Basecamp.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

Our hope was to make the summit bid short and sweet. Not so much because going for the top of Mount Everest is an awful and onerous chore, but more because dragging it out can be. Besides, we believed we were shooting for a discreet patch of calm weather and forecasts for such a patch are generally only reliable a few days in advance. It was to our advantage to cover big chunks of the mountain in a relative hurry. Leaving Everest Base Camp and relocating to ABC in one push was our first real test in this effort and that went quite well. Even so, we'd planned a full rest day at ABC in order to get recovered, re-hydrated and ready for the real test... -all of the Lhotse Face in one shot... about a vertical mile which would take us to 26,000 ft. The rest time was dull and frustrating though, to be honest. Most of our friends were already up poised for the summit and in fact, a fair number had already made the top and were coming back down. Hanging a day at ABC required patience and patience two months into an expedition required discipline. I drank absolutely as much water as I could and fretted over whether I'd be strong enough to keep up with my partners. Tshherring, Dawa and Kaji would each be carrying a bit more than me and Linden would be venturing into new terrain, so perhaps I'd eke out advantages here and there. And if all of those advantages failed, I'd rely on an old guide trick... specifying that my pace was the only one that would get us to our goal with strength intact... only fools would go slower or faster. The five of us got out of ABC at 2 AM and as usual, walking on a glacier in the dark cleansed my brain of concerns about competing with my partners. It was a perfect night with the peaks all lit by a giant moon. We all seemed to be climbing strong, making it to the base of the Lhotse Face in about an hour. Then we were across the bergschrund and moving steadily up the ropes with our headlights picking out steps worn into the ice. A few hours labor as the world got lighter and we cruised on into our Camp III site at close to 24,000 ft. We each added a ten-pound oxygen bottle to our load at this point, but the big advantage was that we got to turn those bottles on and start breathing right. Linden and I joked during the next hour on steep ice, heading up toward the Yellow Band, that it was the easiest climbing of the entire trip due to the introduction of the O's. Sunrise on the face helped a little as well, pushing back the cold. We'd begun the Face with only a few other Sherpa teams out and about, but by the time we passed Camp III we were in full traffic as plenty of Western teams were getting out of their camps and heading up. Sure enough, we also began to see folks coming down from the South Col -the day before had been a big one for Everest summiting and this same day (the 20th of May) was going to be even bigger. Eventually, as we climbed through the Yellow Band, we ended up in less-busy space and we were able to stop for a little water, food and photography. It was plain that we were enjoying perfect conditions and this made us pretty optimistic for the climb ahead. The Geneva Spur was to be our final obstacle of the day, guarding access to the South Col, but easy snow conditions and reliable fixed ropes on the Spur made it a cake walk. We were excited to link up with friends and fellow guides at the South Col and to hear their stories. And then we were excited to dive in our tents and get eating and drinking and resting for the evening. Winds actually increased during our afternoon at the Col and clouds and snow moved in, but we were pretty sure things would ease by the time we were ready for climbing. Linden and I shared a tent and kept reminding one another of things we needed to pack or prepare for the climb. We touched base regularly with Mark Tucker down at 17,500 ft and tried to find out if he had any updates about the weather and the whereabouts of other climbers. As it got dark, we pulled sleeping bags over our down suits and tried to shut our eyes, but it was pretty miserable rest. There were plenty of climbers around us on different schedules, coughing, moaning, yelling to one another, and testing their radios... there was our own anxiety and desire to get moving, and there was the cold and the noise of the wind. When Tshherring gave me a yell at about 9:40 PM, I was happy to get out of the tent and look at the weather. There was already a great string of about forty headlights moving up the Triangular Face below Everest's Balcony and I was pleased to see we were the only team shooting for a midnight start. The clouds had blown away and the wind was in the process of quitting. It was another beautiful night and it was time to get after some strong cups of coffee. Just before midnight, we wrestled ourselves into harnesses and crampons out in the cold and wedged Oxygen bottles into our packs. Kaji, Tchherring, Linden and I said goodbye to Dawa, who'd remain at the Col in case of problems, and we checked each other over pretty good before turning toward Everest and the Triangular Face. Kaji took the lead and set an easy but steady pace. In other years, I'd climbed over broken and loose rock on this steep and continuously difficult section of the climb, but this time we found good steps kicked in snow. Eventually we came upon other teams, but passed these without too much trouble since we were only four climbers and we were very capable of unclipping from the fixed ropes and putting things into "four wheel drive" with our crampons and ice axes. We were at the Balcony (27,500 ft) in just about three hours and were by then ahead of all but about a dozen climbers. Now on the SouthEast Ridge, we negotiated a narrow track on a crest of snow bordering the immense Kangshung Face. Winds came up, but not steady or greatly worrying winds... just irritating gusts that blew powder snow all over us for thirty seconds at a time. These quit a little after sunrise when we were coming to grips with the steep and rocky flanks of the South Summit. In the process, we passed a few more climbers and then got onto the South Summit by ourselves. This point allowed clear radio communication with Mark Tucker down in BC and we took advantage, letting him know just how perfect everything was up top. Then we got going on the thrilling traverse to the Hillary Step. The ropes were fixed perfectly, steps were well-kicked in the snow and the winds were non-existent... so when combined with the lack of traffic, it all had me thinking to more difficult and stressful times in these same places. We each felt lucky and happy to swing up and around the boulders of the Hillary Step. We made the top shortly after, at around 6:55 AM. There were a number of climbers there when we arrived, but most had climbed from Tibet (via the NorthEast Ridge). Temperatures were moderate and easy and so we didn't rush our own summit celebration. Eventually we had the top to ourselves and enjoyed the quiet. After months of life in deep valleys or on steep mountain faces, it was a welcome novelty to experience gigantic and open 360 degree views. But not for long. We needed to climb down to safety. This turned out to be a snap with three strong and experienced partners. In fact, we were back shaking Dawa's hand at the South Col in just a couple of hours. We ate, drank and broke down camp, getting ready to complete the last stage of our blitz... if we could get all the way down to ABC on this day, our bodies would be subjected to far less altitude related stress... we'd recover from the climb a good deal faster. But ironically, we'd have to work much harder in the short term. We hoisted big and heavy packs and climbed down the vertical mile... sweating like crazy in our down suits (but now in cloud and new-falling snow) our arms were getting tired from thousands of feet of rappelling, our toes were getting jammed forward in our boots, and our throats were getting parched from altitude and bottled oxygen... but we were getting lower and safer with every step. We rolled into ABC by mid-afternoon, glad to see Uberaj and glad to see our tents. I was exhausted but confident that I was exhausted in the very place I wanted to be. We were safe and the monkey was going to be off our backs for just a little while. Of course, the last trip down through the Khumbu Icefall would be in the morning... but worrying about that could wait until real sleep and real food had a chance to kick in and work their magic. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Still at Everest Base. Still a very difficult situation for all involved. JJ and Billy led the climbing team on a hike to Pumori Camp One today, where they enjoyed awesome views of Mount Everest (during our hike to the same point last week we had no views due to an ill-timed and swirling snowstorm). Mark Tucker and I attended a series of somewhat tense and serious meetings between team leaders, Sherpas, and the few government representatives present in camp. It is very difficult to say what will happen going forward but one cannot under emphasize the enormity of the tragedy to the Sherpa community. Each team, if it has not suffered death and loss directly, has lost relatives, close friends and neighbors to the icefall avalanche of April 18. In too many cases, survivors saw the friends perish before their eyes or else they dealt with the difficult aftermath of body recovery personally. Our Sherpa partners love their jobs and love to climb, but nobody is climbing now and all are struggling to come to terms with how to proceed in a way that honors those lost and protects those left alive. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Mt. Baker Easton Glacier Team was on the summit of Mt. Baker at 11:24 am today. RMI Guide James Bealer reported a "Blue Bird" day of climbing, with clear skies, and warm temperatures. The team climbed in their t-shirts and only passed one team on the way to the top, perfect conditions. They are on their way back to camp where they will spend one more night before descending to the trailhead.

Congratulations Team!

The Four Day Climb July 14 - 17 led by RMI Guides Bryan Mazaika and Steve Gately reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  As of 7 am they were in the summit crater.  The cloud deck is below Camp Muir, so the teams were enjoying clear skies and light winds. After returning to Camp Muir later this morning, the teams will continue another 4.5 miles to Paradise.  Once back at Rainier BaseCamp they can relax and celebrate.

Congratulations to today's teams!