Most Popular Entries

It is a day to explore the city of Puebla. The team is enjoying a day of rest and there's no better place to do that than in this colorful city. Some of the teammates are on the search for cowboy boots. Some of us are going to partake in a culinary class to learn how to make Puebla's signature dish...Mole Poblano! And of course, we will be sampling all the authentic cuisine we can. The weather is improving so don't go too far. Tomorrow we begin our adventure on Orizaba! RMI Guide JJ Justman

We packed up our luggage this morning, checked out of our hotel in Quito, and headed north, towards the town of Otavalo. As much as we enjoyed our time in Quito, I think we all are very excited to leave behind the hustle and bustle of car horns and traffic, get out into the mountains, and enjoy the views of the snow covered peaks of the Ecuadorian Andes. That is, after all, why we’re here. We summited our second peak today on our final acclimatization hike. Fuya Fuya was the objective this time. At just over 14,000’, the old volcano is lower than yesterday’s climb of Rucu Pichincha but the climbing was consistently steep, from the trailhead to the summit. The trail gained elevation quickly as it climbed thru high Andean grasses, culminating in a short rocky scramble to the summit. Although the summit was in the clouds once again, the weather was terrific for the climb. We were treated to stunning views of the Laguna Mojanda below us, a large lake formed in an ancient volcanic crater. Our team also caught a brief glimpse of an Andean Condor soaring in and out of the clouds around Fuya Fuya. Now we’re all settle in at our tranquil hacienda, Casa de Sol. We’ll have a relaxing morning tomorrow, visiting the Otavalo market, before heading up to the climbing hut on Cayambe for a couple of nights. We’ll keep you posted as always... RMI Guide Mike Walter

Greetings from the Kahiltna Glacier. We had a great day yesterday, as we flew into Kahiltna Basecamp in the morning, prepped our gear, and started climbing. The weather was beautiful and the snow conditions were perfect for efficient travel. We took all of our gear to our first camp, at the confluence of the Kahiltna Glacier and the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, at the base of Ski Hill. We started this morning with bagels & cream cheese, with bacon, before we packed up and started climbing. Leaving camp, Ski Hill provided the first (of many) up hills of our journey. We climbed once again with great weather and snow conditions, hauling our heavy expedition loads on sleds and in our backpacks. With tired legs, sore shoulders, and tender hips, we arrived at our Camp 2, 9,400' on the Kahiltna Glacier. A hearty dinner of Indian food filled our stomachs, along with plenty of hot drinks to rehydrate. We're in our tents now, looking forward to a restful night's sleep. It's snowing lightly, with no wind. We're hoping for good weather tomorrow, and moving up to Camp 3, at 11,200'. We'll be in touch again soon with an update. RMI Guide Mike Walter and team

On The Map

Monday, May 15, 2023 - 5:00 PM PT

We've been tentbound all day today in a storm, so not much to report. We delivered delicious breakfast burritos to our climbers in their sleeping bags, and we're all safe and comfortable in our tents. That's all the news to report from the Kahiltna Glacier!

RMI Guide Mike Walter

Thursday, July 4, 2019 - 9:38 PM PT Independence Day on Denali dawned clear and a bit gusty. Moving higher wasn’t terribly practical for us on this day, although it didn’t seem impossible. We were encouraged at our 9 AM breakfast to know that Mike Haugen’s RMI team was starting out from high camp bound for the summit. That will make our move tomorrow a great deal easier as we’ll be able to coordinate a "gear swap". Today, forecasts called for high pressure building, hence the wind, but the prediction was that the wind would calm as the day went on, which is what we saw. It was still gusting pretty good as we set off at noon for the “Edge of the World”. Twenty minutes of roped glacier travel brought us to the very edge of the plateau we are camped upon. It is always a fun shock to look virtually straight down for thousands of feet to the glaciers below. After days of camping on a flat expanse, one can forget how high we’ve already climbed and a visit to the edge serves as a great reminder. The views of the West Rib and a portion of Denali’s South Face are stupendous and today we enjoyed smoke-free views of the southern Alaska Range. Mt Spurr and the Tordrillos seemed much closer than their hundred miles. We each ventured out on an overhanging granite boulder for a hero shot or two and a look into the abyss. Back at camp we organized and pared down and packed for moving up. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Greetings again from Cuzco, We had a great first day of official activities, with a morning packed of visits to the main monuments of the city. From the amazing, earthquake proof Inca walls of Koricancha, to the 16th Century Cathedral, we did also, without noticing, start our acclimatization process by stretching our legs across this ancient city. Gear check and hike briefing with our local outfitter filled the afternoon. We look forward to yet another day of discovery, along the Sacred Valley Of The Incas tomorrow. Best regards, RMI Guide Elías and team

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

Our Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Billy Nugent and Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. It was a beautiful morning on the summit and the teams were able to spend some time enjoying the views. They have started their descent back to Camp Muir and will be back at Ashford Basecamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's teams!

Hello everyone from the 14,000' camp on Denali. We're taking a rest day today, in order to acclimate and get strong for our forays up higher on the mountain. After a breakfast involving lots of coffee and the universal favorite--bacon, we spent some time finishing off our snow walls at camp. The rest of the day was spent preparing gear for caching up high on the mountain tomorrow, as well as lounging around, reading, and eating. We're planning to carry supplies up high on the West Buttress tomorrow, in preparation for our move to high camp and subsequent summit bid. We'll be in touch again soon. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Our team woke to a beautiful morning after our first night at 15,300' Refugio Cayambe. Inspiring views of the glaciers and rugged landscape made our day of mountaineering skills amazing. The team is strong and we're all looking forward to a great summit day. We're hoping for good weather and climbing conditions as we make our summit push tonight. RMI Guide Jake Beren