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Hello, this is Jake calling in from Ecuador. Just to let everybody know that after our successful climb of Cayambe today, we have made it safely, soundly and well fed back to Chilcabamba where we will be spending tonight and tomorrow resting to get ready for Cotopaxi. All's well after a big day and we're looking forward to a little bit of R&R. RMI Guide Jake Beren

On The Map

Bathrooms can be an under appreciated element in our daily routine. But in the mountains, the basic elements of living are sometimes thrust to the forefront of our attention. Consider the act of performing our morning constitutional in a foreign and sometimes rather hostile environment and you can see why folks might be willing to go the extra mile to fashion a structure that offers room to indulge their sense of privacy, not to mention afford some measure of protection from the elements. Well, after another great day of climbing where we reached camp at 14,200' in good form and nice conditions, this remarkable team went to work not only setting up tents, but getting all the very important other tasks accomplished, like digging in and setting up the Posh tent where we cook, eat and commune. And also constructing the 'loo'. Perhaps we went overboard, but this loo is not only shelter from the wind, but has a roof overhead to offer the user an even higher degree of comfort. All constructed of ice and snow, and of course, engineered to the highest of standards with the use of snow saws and shovels. So there you have a little vignette of life in the mountains. Yes, your loved ones are doing quite well, perhaps just not always doing what you might think they're doing. All for now from 14,200'. RMI Guide Brent Okita

The weather is very comfortable here at 14k- lots of sun, light winds, and reasonable temps; but the winds persist up high. Wind speeds are around 40 mph at high camp, and probably 50-60 mph at Denali Pass and the summit. We climbed to the base of the fixed lines today (a little over 1000' above camp), just to stretch the legs and get some exercise. It felt good to climb for a couple of hours. Now we're back at camp, lounging around and waiting for the winds to ease so we can move to high camp and get a crack at the summit. The team appreciates everyone's comments on the blog...keep them coming! RMI Guide Mike Walter

My team laughed its way through a 3:30 AM breakfast and hit the trail promptly at 4 AM. We trudged along by headlight with the glacier snapping and popping away, signaling again that we were among the first of the day to challenge the Khumbu Icefall. Traffic was sparse since most climbers are higher on the mountain now and going higher still. We represent the tail end of those bound for the summit. I was pleased that my team was moving well...little talking was required as we switched off our headlights and clawed our way up and down the little ice walls that have now become familiar on the approach to the Khumbu. Subtly at first, and then a bit more obviously as we came into our first rest break, Erica's pace began to falter and things didn't seem quite so easy any-longer. This was perplexing at first, since conditions were perfect, the terrain was relatively easy and Erica's health was excellent. As planned at this point of the climb, where the Icefall steepens and the avalanche hazard to a group increases, I asked Seth, Melissa and Kent, along with Ang Kaji, to go slowly ahead. We'd stay in contact by radio. Erica and I finished our rest and moved upward, but by then, it had become clear that Erica was losing confidence in her ability to climb the mountain. Such moods come and go for climbers and I hoped this one would go soon. We determined to climb on up through the "Popcorn" section of the glacier and to reevaluate our situation at the Icefall's midpoint. Through the Corn, I was happy to see that Erica's strength and skills were intact... but clearly she had the weight of the world on her shoulders with some heavy decision-making going on. Her million dark thoughts were spawning a hundred or so in my own (less nimble) mind. I stifled the urge to "argue" Erica into an Everest summit attempt as we walked. I wouldn't do such a thing for an adult... I certainly couldn't begin anything of the sort for a seventeen-year-old. Everest is too dangerous a game... I've seen too many people die here... people who were rock-solid in their determination to climb the mountain while knowing full well the risks they took on. An individual's motivation for such a thing must come from within... not from their guide. I'd let Erica wrestle her own (very legitimate) demons. But that meant that I needed to take my own mind off of her demons for a bit, and so I climbed along with one eye on my client and one eye on the sun's first rays igniting the surrounding peaks. Seth, Melissa, Kent and Ang Kaji had prudently waited for us at the mid-point to check on our progress... and to make sure we negotiated the latest collapsed bridge on the way into the "Football Field". At first we just rested, ate and drank... the typical break. But then we came to the bigger stuff and Erica and I made the decision to descend. The mountain just seemed too big all of the sudden... the way they sometimes do. Erica decided she wanted more years, more mountains and more miles before next taking on Everest's summit and I certainly couldn't begrudge her any of those things. I barely scratched my way up the mountain for a first time at 32 years... I could not have done it at 17. We sent the others on up to CII and Erica and I worked our way carefully down to safety. As we down-climbed, both our moods brightened...much as my ego would have inflated with another great summit guiding triumph, I was plenty satisfied that six weeks of good, safe climbing was instead followed by a smart and mature decision. We listened to my radio as yesterday's summit team made ready to leave the South Col on their descent to basecamp. All sounded well with them and we looked forward to seeing them down low. Our own team made their way on up to ABC. Back in camp, I tried to rest away the bleary feeling that comes with 3 AM starts and I set about making new plans for my gang's summit bid. Latest forecasts show that a storm may encroach on our 24th of May attempt...so we may just can the proposed rest day at ABC on the 21st and move up for an earlier bid on the 23rd. I still hope to be of use to my teammates. I want Kent to get his camera rolling on the most spectacular vistas I've ever witnessed. I want Seth and Melissa to tag the top and I suppose now that my priorities have shifted and that Erica is safe in basecamp...I want to touch the top again myself. And so I'll move to CII on the 21st, and CIV on the South Col on the 22nd (they'll move to CIII tomorrow and then the Col on the 22nd, so we'll all be there together for an attempt on the night of the 22nd) At least that is the plan. We shall see how my legs work. We shall see how the weather flows and how the luck breaks. Stay tuned.

The Five Day Climb July 11 - 15 led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Sam Hoffman reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today on a beautiful day. The team is currently on their descent.  Their patience paid off as they waited yesterday for many RMI Guides to reestablish the route to the summit.  The teams will return to Camp Muir to repack and rehydrate before continuning down the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise later today. 

Congratulations climbers and a HUGE thank you to all the guides working on the route over the last several days!

PC: Stella Johnson

Monday, June 19, 2023 - 8:49 pm PT

We awoke early to crisp cold air, and stepped out of our tents onto the fresh snow which was like a field of frozen Baja-blast. We then headed downhill to bring up our cache, The sound of our snowshoes crunching on the ice sounded not too unlike biting into a fresh Crunchwrap supreme. Once we reached our cache we stuffed our duffel bags like they were beefy 5-layer burritos, and then we were on our way back up the “unrelenting” hill to camp. The sight of our orange sleds sliding across the glacier resembling slices of bacon gliding across a skillet. Out in the distance we had a spectacular view of Mt. Denali, a colossal tower of ice and black rock, looking like a delicious Oreo milkshake.

Once back at camp, after a quick meal of smoked salmon and cream-cheese bagels, there was no time to rest as we prepped our  camp for some snowy and windy weather for the next few days, cutting ice blocks and building walls in an assembly line like a bunch of McDonald’s workers prepping the most delicious McDouble….And it looks like this McDouble will be our home for the next few days.

RMI Climber Joey Myers

This is Dave Hahn calling from Everest Base Camp, 17,500 feet on the Khumbu Glacier. Well, we made it. We came up from Lobuche today, the entire team- six climbers, two trekkers, and two guides. Tschering Dorjay Sherpa, our Sirdar, leading the way, brought us up to Base Camp. I think we are about the first climbing team to make it into Base Camp this year. And at our base camp, incredible progress has been made. Our Sherpa team has done great work setting our camp up and Mark Tucker, our base camp manager, has been here the last couple of days and got things buffed out just perfectly for us to move in. We started up from Lobuche at 8:15. We got to Base Camp at 1:15, so we made great progress. It was a beautiful day with just a little cloud cover, and it was just about perfect for walking. Tomorrow we'll get squared away and get internet capabilities again, and get back into written distractions, but just wanted to bring you up to date for this evening. Bye now. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Come on baby! A couple more nice weather days for us and it can storm all it wants up here in the high country of Tanzania. It all boils down to needing a bit of luck when climbing big peaks like Kilimanjaro; when the mountain says no you need to listen. Even on climbs when you do not get to the top of are filled with events and memories that stick with you. I have great confidence that this entire team will stand on the roof of Africa, with safety leading the way. It is such a unique thing we do up high, to be allowed to stand on the summit is really icing on the cake. We take away an immense feeling of satisfaction on all climbs. The team has checked off all the prerequisite to get this done. When we leave Karanga Camp tomorrow morning, our summit push begins. We'll take a bit of a break at Barafu, the high camp, then up up and away! Man, this is exciting. All the prep work that has gone into this, the great support by all involved back home, is all making this last bunch of hours a reality. We promise to make you proud of what we do, impressed on how we did it, and thank for this beautiful mountain in supplying us this adventure. All is well at 13,000' on Kilimanjaro. We will check in with you tomorrow! RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

We jumped straight into it today. After six days of travel, hotels, and sight seeing, we were excited to don packs and point our toes uphill. The roughly sixty pounds of food, fuel, and gear each didn't dampen the enthusiasm, at least at first. Our goal was to move a significant bulk of our expedition kit up to 11,200 ft, just a bit shy of Camp 1. With the recent rains, as well as the cattle traffic, the first stretch was muddy and slick. Throw in the steep terrain and it felt a bit like we were climbing on ice skates. But with only a few bovine friends that needed to be shooed out of our way, we made good time and quickly gained the Berlin airfield, a large flat basin, that the Germans supposedly were able to land planes during WWII. Though the skies threatened rain (for much of the day) the clouds seemed to push up with us, keeping us dry for the time being. Through a series of steep climbs and flat benches we wound our way, perfecting our rest step and footwork, until after 3.5 hours, we arrived at the cache site. While periodically scanning for anyone spying our location, we stealthily sorted our cache gear and hid it in the rocks, then turned tail and headed downhill. The going was fast and easy until the last steep stretch to camp when we again had to contend with the mud churned up by our ruminant cohabitants. We slipped, slid, and squished our way down to camp. Our timing was impeccable, as the skies that had threatened all day finally delivered in the form of a drenching downpour two minutes before we reached camp. We ducked into tents and hung wet shells to dry. As the rain continued the ground saturated, and soon our tents seemed to wart to begin floating. Luckily the water has so far stayed on the right side of the tent fabric. We made a hearty dinner of soup with fresh veggies (a shift from last night's farm to table feast) and have retired to our abodes. It is still raining, but hopefully it will subside tonight so that we can move up to Camp 1 tomorrow. If not, it may be time for us to consider building an ark. We'll update you on our progress tomorrow! All the best from RMI Guides Pete, Jeff, and Gang

June 28, 2014 - 10:07 pm PT So good to be on Denali. So good to be on the move again. With our late flight onto the mountain yesterday evening, there wasn't so much time to be ready for the late season tradition of walking out of basecamp at 4 AM this morning. We built our camp and put priority on getting good rest instead. Our thinking was that with so much snow (30 inches from the last storm) that we might get by just fine without the early start. We'd plainly seen the lower Kahiltna Glacier during our flight and it certainly didn't look like crevasse bridges were going to be a problem. So we got up at a civilized 7:30 AM and did our organizational work and set out for a daytime Denali departure. As we'd allowed ourselves to hope, crevasses were no problem. In fact the glacier was in better condition than it had been for late season in decades. We made three hour-long pulls with some fifteen-minute restbreaks in between. But in the end we decided not to push on to our normal first day camp goal of 8,000 feet. Despite our snowshoes, the walk was getting strenuous due to the great amount of unconsolidated new snow softening with the heat of the day. We camped at 7,000 ft where the East Fork meets the main glacier and we'll happily begin earlier tomorrow to get ideal surface conditions. Nice to see a few of the other late season guides on the move today as well, a bit of a reunion. Especially nice to hear from Adam Knoff at 11K on the radio and Billy Nugent on top. RMI Guide Dave Hahn