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The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams reached the summit! They topped out at 8:38 am on a pleasant weather day. The teams are currently working their way back to Camp Muir and we look forward to congratulating them this afternoon at Rainier Basecamp.

What a great day in the mountains. The team was like clock work getting out of the lowlands. A pleasant drive to the Machame Gate where our climb began. Not too hot or cold, no rain just some broken clouds as we moved up the mountain in great style and all arriving at Camp 1 in fine shape. The usual perfect support by our fabulous outfitter the Dik Dik, best outfitter for a climb of Killimanjaro. We worked a lot on technique, and talked about strategy for the future throughout the day. We are all fed and down for the night. Awesome moon above and the summit clear and calling. How many times can I climb this beast and still get such a thrill. It's crazy, you have to make the time to do this one for sure! RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Humbleness is the key ingredient for climbing mountains. To embody the notion that you, the climber, are such a small part of the dynamic equation needed to safely climb an incredible peak is as challenging as the actual climbing. Our team was faced with such a challenge once we reached our high camp on El Pico de Orizaba. Weather was not cooperating with our plans to attempt the summit as wind, precipitation, and low visibility engulfed the mountain well into the morning. Many a time, emergency situations that arise in the mountains are rarely the product of just one issue, rather many tiny poor decisions that escalate to something worse. We discussed this over as a group and agreed that if we had left in poor visibility, precipitation, tough route finding, and difficult travel with the fresh snow we were not setting ourselves up for success and safety. The weather slowly eased it's temper as the sun began to rise revealing a beautiful, snow-covered landscape reaching down to nearly 12,500'. This unusual winter storm has left a dry, dessert-like alpine environment encased in the cold grasp of winter. A cloud cap swarmed the upper reaches of the Jamapa Glacier as our team headed out for a hike in hopes of reaching the glacier. Watching the wind whip through the mountain up high, reminded us how unforgiving mountaineering can be. The snow became deeper and deeper as we approached the last section of the rocky labyrinth just below the glacier. At the foot of the glacier, around 16,500 ft our team was knee deep in snow, gazing at the summit in awe. From this point the summit was beckoning us to climb, what looked like only a stone's throw away. This is when one must face the reality in this case of what looks so close is easily 3 hours away and with deep snow, more like 4 hours. Too long, too exhausting, too dangerous at this point to go on. Our team, satisfied with the journey and experience of climbing in Mexico, returned to the Reyes' lodge for some relaxation prior to our departure home. As we sat at our gates waiting for our respective flights, we all began to dream, to wonder of the next climb. For some us, a return trip is on the bill. For others, a future mountaineering expedition is right around the corner. For all, a peace knowing we came home safe, friends, and hungry for more. Thank you to Tom, Casey, Ryan, Jayson, Mazzie, Seamus, Collin, and Marty for making this an amazing climbing program for RMI!

May 27, 2023 9:00PM PT

Hello all,

Not a whole lot to report today since today was a whole lot of chilling. We took today to rest up and review skills for tomorrow’s carry. It will be our first time on the fixed lines and doing running belays. The team looks ready, along with a bit nervous and excited to go a bit higher. Once again, fingers crossed for good weather especially as the clouds begin to roll in from both above and below.

Talk tomorrow,

Hannah, Devin, Erika, and Team

Good evening from the Pika Glacier, on the Alaska Range! We had a great first day of activity today. We had a late afternoon flight in yesterday, and the pertinent camp building marathon. Today, with blue skies, we ventured down Glacier to the "Hobbit's Footstool" rock formation for practice; besides some rock climbing-cragging, we reviewed a lot the rope systems that we'll be implementing in the upcoming days. Everyone enjoyed their time on the glacier and rocks, but the hit today was definitely the steak dinner. We're now headed to bed, waiting for a better day of fun on this incredible area of the Alaska Range! Regards RMI Guide Elias and the Alpine Climbing Team.

Over the last week we’ve been trekking in the mountainous area above Gorkha. This area was at the epicenter of the quake. The villages we were getting “eyes on” had previously been declared “OK” by the Indian Army by helicopter observations. But these villages were anything but OK. Most were almost totally flattened. Don Bowie has been our fearless leader. His ability to coordinate with large NGOs, and even the UN, to facilitate supply drops to these hard hit and hard to reach areas has been amazing. And when I say hard to reach I’m NOT kidding. Our first day from Baluwa to Laprak was another precarious scramble up a 10,000′ vertical gain and unknown linear mileage over rough, broken, and treacherous terrain. The heat had us all hurting and in many places landslides made the trek in very precarious. Descending down from Laprak, through the villages of Lapu and Bhirkuna, was straight-up steep no-fall terrain through a thick prickly jungle. Landslides in this area took the trail out, so we had to bushwhack a new trail. All in all, though, we were able to deliver accurate needs assessment reports from these remote villages. Once we made our assessments we would then forward these by SAT phone to the NGOs incident command with the ability to respond by arranging to helicopter in the supplies which was our objective. Today Don Bowie, Ben Erdmann, Jess Roskelley and Cody Tuttle left to work with the UN’s World Food Program headquarters in Gorkha to assist in coordinating overland aid distribution. For more information, on Don and team check out donbowie.com. Whats next? Soon I’m headed back to Kathmandu then stateside to begin the guiding season on Mt Rainier with RMI. RMI Guide Alex Barber

Sunday, June 30, 2013 Another Denali day, another camp built. We slept in until three this morning and then sprang into action. It doesn't get dark in this part of Alaska in late June, but it gets shadowy, which can be a beautiful thing, even with a storm moving in. It was pretty plain, as we ate breakfast and then knocked down our tents at 9500 ft, that the forecasts were correct and that it wouldn't be long before weather deteriorated. But we felt we still had a little time. As we were getting ready, we enjoyed seeing Mike Haugen's victorious climbing team passing through on their descent. We exchanged handshakes, hugs, route information and then wished each other well. We were out of the old camp and on the site of our new one at 11,000 ft in just over three hours, which meant that we were sitting pretty a few hours after that when things began to get nasty. It rained a bit through the afternoon, which is not so typical this high up Denali, but by evening it was the more typical onslaught of wind and snow. By then we were well dug in and ready for it. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Wednesday, June 5, 2013 Hello, This is the RMI Mt. McKinley June 4th Expedition. The whole team is here in Talkeetna, Alaska, packed and ready to rock. Today we packed up, checked our gear and sat in on a National Park Service orientation to preview a bit of the upcoming adventure. The team is excited and ready to launch. So far the flying weather hasn't let many folks land these days, but it appears to be stabilizing just in time for us to storm the SE fork of the Kahiltna. With any luck we'll fly out tomorrow morning, so we better get some rest tonight. RMI Guide Jake Beren

On The Map

Hey, this is Seth checking in from our Ecuadorian Hacienda Chilcabamba near Cotopaxi. We had a lovely day on the Illinizas acclimatizing. Today we reached an elevation of just over 15,000 feet. The group is doing great and today after having lunch at the Refugio de New Horizons we descended back to our van and drove over here to the hacienda. We are about to have dinner and as I look out the window of the hacienda dining room I can just see Cotopaxi breaking out of the clouds. We were in mix of rain and hail for a little bit today with cloudy skies throughout the day. Then just as we pulled up to our hacienda we got our first glimpse of the mountain. We are all psyched to get rolling tomorrow and we are going to head up to the Cotopaxi Refugio and we'll be there for two nights. We will check in again soon. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

A thunderstorm swept in yesterday evening, enveloping the peaks across the valley in thunder and lighning, giving us a spectacular lightshow from the rooms of our teahouse. Thin, whispy clouds wrapped around the summits were all that were left of the faroff storm this morning. Leaving Namche as the sun crept into town, we climbed a series of switchbacks out of the bowl in which Namche sits and up to Syangboche, a collection of a few homes perched on the plateau above town and where a dirt airstrip is found. Closed for several years to planes and accessible only by helicopter, the Syangboche strip was recently reopened to cargo flights in a small single prop plane that has been busy ferrying construction supplies - rebar, lumbar, and plastic piping. Continuing across the airstrip and into a small forest of juniper we traversed the hilly plateau to a prominent outcropping on the northeastern side. There, sitting amongst the pines, sits the Mount Everest View Hotel, a large hotel built by the Japanese several years ago that features oxygen and pressurized rooms, in addition to spectacular views of Cholatse, Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam. While Cholatse and Ama Dablam were visible the Everest / Lhotse Massif was cloaked on clouds, lifting only ocassionally to reveal it's steep rock and ice slopes. We sat down to a cup of tea on the back porch waiting in hopes the clouds would lift but they never did. Leaving the sunny backporch of the Mount Everest View Hotel, we dropped into a shallow valley to the north, where the villages of Khumjung and Khunde are found. Although close to Namche, they couldn't be more different, as far as Sherpa villages go. Compared to Namche, steep, narrow, busy streets full of commerce, Khumjung and Khunde's big fields, winding footpaths, and quiet streets offer a very different experience. As we walked through Khumjung the path in front of us began to fill with children, running towards us, giggling and playing as they walked by, with their schoolbooks tucked under their arms. Soon we came to the grounds of the Hillary School in Khumnjung, the largest school in the area serving primary through high school grades. Classes had just finished for the morning and many of the students were returning home for lunch. After visiting the school's grounds, we continued onto Khunde, just a few minutes walk away where we stopped in at the Hillary Hospital there - both organized and funded by Sir Edmund Hillary. While at the hospital a patient arrived carried by the local ambulance, a pony. He was quickly escorted in while his ride waited patiently outside. We returned to Namche by climbing over the hills from Khunde, past rows and rows of Mani stones, and dropping down the steep hillsides into Namche. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, walking through Namche, catching up on reading and writing, and savoring a last hot shower. Tomorrow we climb further up the valley to the small village of Deboche, located in the shadow of the Tengboche Monastery, the largest in the region. We will do our best to keep you updated to our progress as we move higher.