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Posted by: Dave Hahn, Mike King, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Monday, December 27, 2021 - 5:32 pm PT
The news was mostly about canceled flights and snarled travel as our Vinson climbing team headed to a dozen different US airports to kick off the expedition. Incredibly, we were able to gather in Miami yesterday evening -With all our climbing gear- and board the Gulfstream 7 for the easy and pleasant part of our journey -a ten hour ride to Punta Arenas in the far South of Chile. We’ve been COVID testing several times a day now to satisfy immigration requirements and to be extremely careful with regard to going to The Ice healthy. Even quarantine for the afternoon in our hotel on the shores of Magellan’s Strait was relaxing and beautiful as we looked out at the summer light on the water. We organized gear and clothing with the high hopes of flying tomorrow morning once glacier conditions and negative test results allow. Our all star team of 12 includes astronauts, entrepreneurs and some of the world’s most accomplished and acclaimed climbers and guides. It is a happy reunion in a familiar place for a number of us and a brand new set of continents and experiences for others.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Casey Grom, Hannah Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 16,950'
Wake up, eat breakfast, hike, drink tea, order dinner, eat dinner, order breakfast, go to sleep, and repeat.
We hit the dusty trail once again, making our way closer and closer to Everest Basecamp. Yaks jingle jangled along the trail letting us know their presence so we could move aside and let them have the right-away. We weaved up and down, right, and left through the boulders in terrain that looks out of this world. We got our first views of the Khumbu glacier and then a great view of Everest. Our best views came on our hike up Kalapatar. Halfway up everyone got views of basecamp and the Khumbu icefall. The whole picture is coming together, and the mirage is disappearing. It’s hard to see where one mountain starts and another ends. Everyone is getting excited to arrive in basecamp, especially now that we have seen it from a far. Tomorrow is the day but for now we will all get a good night’s sleep after a sun-filled dusty day on the trail.
Till Basecamp,
Posted by: JT Schmitt, Alex Halliday, Augi Fleer, Bo Torrey, Trevor Katz, Tyler Meyers
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides JT Schmitt and Alex Halliday led their Four Day Climb June 20 - 23 teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier today. JT reported good conditions on the ascent with occasional wind gusts. The teams reached the summit around 8 am. As of noon, all climbers had returned to Camp Muir from the summit. The teams will pack up and continue their descent to Paradise and return to Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Awesome news! What route was taken? DC or Ingraham Direct?
Posted by: Nick Arbogast on 6/23/2022 at 12:28 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Abby Westling, Ben Luedtke, Josh Geiser, Lily Emerson, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb August 18 - 21 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning at 6:05 am. The teams enjoyed clear skies and a light breeze during their climb. They began their descent from the crater rim at 7:20 am to return to Camp Muir. At Camp Muir they will repack and take a short break before continuing the final 4,500' descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbing teams!
Photo credit: Ben Luedtke
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
On The Map
Posted by: Brent Okita, Matias Francis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Matias Francis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier earlier this morning! The team reported a nice day for this 4th of July holiday. The team on their descent and we expect them back in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
Congratulations Sarah, Nicole, and Jake on reaching the summit. This is a great accomplishment. We are proud of you! Be safe! Felly, Sam, and Kevin.
Posted by: Sam on 7/5/2022 at 6:33 pm
Congrats David & Stephanie! Epic! You two are beasts. Thankfully no 90mph winds this time. Denali is next. Love ya and happy for your success. Mom & Dad
Posted by: Richard on 7/5/2022 at 5:19 pm
Posted by: Win Whittaker, Avery Parrinello, Matias Francis, Jackson Breen, Erika Birkeland, Axel Ryd
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The American Lung Association (ALA) Climb for Clean Air Teams were on the Mt. Rainier summit early this morning….100% success! RMI Guide Win Whittaker called from 13,500’ on the descent back to Camp Muir.
THANKS, RMI! What an incredible team of guides (special shout to Erika!). Already pondering the next move…:)
Posted by: John on 6/28/2021 at 2:19 pm
Way to go climbers! And such a gorgeous day!
Posted by: Stephanie on 6/26/2021 at 12:14 pm
Congratulations little brother (Jon)!! You never cease to amaze me. One more thing off the bucket list. You rock!!
Posted by: cleep on 6/29/2012 at 8:26 am
Racheal we are so pround of you and we are all waiting for your return. we wanna hear all about it. we know you were gonna make it. Lots of love from your team in preadmit.
Posted by: Annett on 6/29/2012 at 7:42 am
Posted by: Luke Wilhelm, James Bealer, David Price
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
It's easy to forget how wild it is here. Over the past several days we have been surrounded by the hustle and bustle of helicopters, mules, and other climbers rushing in and out of Aconcagua Base Camp. Today brought a lovely change. Carrying our gear higher and higher, we were reminded of how incomprehensible the land we are exploring in is. The surrounding mountains took depth and the air became noticeably thinner. It was calm. No wind, no helicopters, no loud music. Just climbing. Wonderful.
Till next time,
RMI Guide Luke Wilhelm & Team
So excited for you Richie! Can’t wait to hear all about this and see pics. You are a rockstar!
Posted by: Andrew Hatfield on 1/29/2022 at 11:37 am
Sounds amazing! Keep it up and enjoy the adventure everyone!
We love you and miss you Pops! We’re all rooting for you!
Posted by: Noel Imfeld on 1/28/2022 at 9:29 pm
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Zeb Blais
Categories: Guide News
RMI: That night you left Camp Muir with the intention of skiing Liberty Ridge. Were you able to ski that line?
Zeb Blais: The key to skiing big exposed lines is always the snow conditions. When you're looking at skiing a line like Liberty [Ridge] you can only know what the conditions are like when you get there. We were hoping that the north and northeast facing snow would be chalky, smooth, and wind packed, but when we looked at the entrance to Liberty it was clear that it wasn't going to be skiable. The Liberty Ridge Route looked like mid-summer, maybe good for ice climbing, but certainly not skiable. The Liberty Cap Glacier was down to blue ice with lumps of rime glued to it, which I imagine is fairly common since it is so steep, but the skiing below looked the same. Rappelling the Liberty Cap Glacier and skiing the rest of the line did not look like an inviting option.
RMI: What did you end up skiing instead?
Zeb Blais: After realizing that Liberty was not suitable, we turned our focus to the Mowich Face - an amazing, steep face on the northwest side of the mountain. This looked tempting at first, but it was heavily rimed with blobs of water ice. It was not a place to be on skis! We retreated back to the ridge above and decided we needed to focus on warmer, spring like-snow. We decided on the Sickle, a west-facing chute on the Tahoma Glacier. The snow in the Sickle was prime for skiing!
Tyler Jones: On our ski we had nice soft spring snow down to 8,500 feet. From there we were able traverse to our objective for the next day: Success Ridge between the South Tahoma Glacier and the Success Glacier. We spent the night on the ridge, getting some well-deserved sleep, with the magnificent 4,000-foot Success Glacier Couloir above us waiting to be skied. The conditions on the Success Glacier were superb. The snow was firm for climbing and soft for skiing. After the amazing fall line decent, we continued traversing to [the trailhead at] Paradise. As we hit the Nisqually Glacier we added more vertical to our trip and finished at the Nisqually Bridge. In total Zeb and I traveled 24 miles, gaining 19,000 feet and skiing 21,000 feet in 3 days.
RMI: How does being a Guide help prepare you for trips like this?
Tyler Jones: Being a guide helps to develop your intuitive mountain sense, which is very important for making good decisions in the mountains. It is that gut feeling that can make all the difference.
Zeb Blais: Guiding also gives me a good base-line fitness for doing long days in the mountains. Mountaineering is a unique sport that requires specific techniques and fitness to be efficient. The more you do it the better you get!
RMI: What was your favorite part of this ski trip?
Tyler Jones: My favorite part of this trip was seeing a few new places, skiing a new run, and enjoying the views of the Tahoma Glacier from Sunset Ridge.
Zeb Blais: A huge part of the trip was sharing it with Tyler. Moving in the mountains with a partner who you enjoy and trust makes all the difference. There are thousands of big and small decisions to be made when doing a trip like this, from what gear to bring to what line to ski to 'do we go left here or right?' Making these choices and learning from other experienced climbers or guides is always something I enjoy.
Can't forget skiing! Maybe I should have said this first, but the skiing was awesome! Steep, exposed skiing with great snow is one of the most exhilarating things a person can do.
RMI: What adventures do you have planned next?
Zeb Blais: I am guiding a mountaineering trip on Shasta at the end of the month, and then I'll be back on Rainier for the climbing season with a Denali West Buttress trip at the end of June.
Tyler Jones: I am guiding a Denali trip in June. After that I am planning on flying back onto the mountain for a ski trip with my fiancé Laura. After that I will return to guiding on Rainier and the Grand Teton. Then, I am getting married in September!
Great trip guys! Serious vertical.
Zeb let me know if you’re still trying to unload those Spatniks. This is Steve, the splitboarder in Spatniks. We chatted on the way up Ellery Bowl back in April.
get me at stevebrezovec at the jeeeeeeemail dot com
Posted by: Stevee B on 6/19/2013 at 5:50 pm
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Posted by: Terri L. Jennings on 12/30/2021 at 7:34 am
Positive vibes for everyone!! Wishing you all a safe journey!
Posted by: Monica Isaacman on 12/29/2021 at 8:16 pm
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