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Posted by: Andy Bond, Grayson Swingle, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,301'
Thursday, July 30, 2022 10:20 am PDT
I’m going to start with the spoiler-100% of our team made it to the summit! This was very special because of the excellent chemistry we developed on this trip. To get to the summit, we had to travel across the Autobahn-clipping in and out of over 50 pickets, climb past Zebra rocks, take in the views at Denali pass, do the 100 yard dash across the football field, tackle pig hill before finally arriving on the summit ridge all while changing layers of clothing throughout the day. The summit brought tears to many of our eyes. It took us just under 7 hours to reach the summit from 17,000 camp. At the summit, everyone exchanged hugs and laughter. Some commemorated with flags and special notes for loved ones. We took lots of pictures and celebrated our hard effort before we descended back to camp in 3 hours and were completely exhausted. Our celebration included watching Steve, who carried a hula hoop he found in Talkeetna to the summit, break the world record for completing over 30 seconds of hula hooping at the highest elevation recorded for the activity. We all videoed the event for the record book.
We were blessed with incredible weather; 1st rate guides-Andy, Grayson and Ben; interesting, accomplished, funny and caring team mates.
I want to also share my own personal story which motivated me to climb Denali- The highest mountain in North America. After hiking the Appalachian trail in 2018, I decided I needed a new challenge which was tackling the highest point in every state. I quickly realized this goal included Denali and Mt Rainier and that i better get working on those two mountains since I wasn’t getting any younger. Having no mountaineering experience, I did some research and decided to climb with RMI since they guided on both mountains and came with high reviews. To get some experience, I decided to take the kahiltna seminar followed by a climb of Rainier. Covid initially delayed my plans by a year but in May 2021, I completed the Kahiltna seminar only to find out a month later that I had stage 1C ovarian cancer. I had surgery in July and started 6 rounds of chemotherapy which ended in December. I wanted to have a goal to focus on during chemo, so I signed up for the June 15th climb of Denali. Knowing this was a daunting task, I went hiking everyday during the four months of chemo no matter how sick I felt. Amazingly, I continued to get stronger and fitter and climbed a 13,000 foot mountain in Colorado in November. I think I had this overwhelming desire to push myself because I didn’t want to let cancer interrupt my goals. Another part of me wanted to do something that was as close to mentally and physically demanding as combating cancer as I could find. I certainly believe climbing Denali fulfilled that objective! Standing on the summit was thrilling but at the same time I realized the yearlong journey was the meaningful part not the single destination.
Mary-Beth and Team
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Taylor Bickford, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,000'
Wednesday, June 8, 2022 - 8:33 pm PT
With favorable weather for the next few days, we took the opportunity to rest without missing our weather window. We woke up to the sun, and ate a mellow breakfast of oatmeal and poptarts. The rest of the day was spent napping, and adjusting to our new High Camp. With good weather our plan is to climb tomorrow. The rest of the evening will be spent eating an early dinner, filling water bottles, and getting our beauty rest in.
Wish us luck, tomorrow should be the big day!
RMI Guide Nikki Champion
Woohoo! Good luck guys!
Posted by: Jerey Wilson on 6/9/2022 at 12:08 pm
Best of luck as you prepare to summit!! Hoping for weather and elements to be in your favor :-) it’s been so fun following along on your journey
Posted by: M on 6/9/2022 at 11:49 am
Posted by: Christina Dale, Nikki Champion, Cal Smith, David Price, Nathan Delmar, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb July 20 - 23 reached the 14,410' summit of Mt. Rainier led by RMI Guides Christina Dale and Nikki Champion. Blue skies but chilly temps and winds around 20 mph accompanied them on their climb. After enjoying the views from the summit of Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and the Cascade range, the teams began their descent from the crater rim around 6:45 am. Once they reach Camp Muir they will repack and continue their descent to Paradise (5,400').
Nice work climbers and congratulations!
Fantastic climb and amazing guides! So happy to be a part of this journey.
Posted by: Brandon Holper on 7/24/2021 at 8:10 am
Today the weather redeemed itself with perfect conditions on Cotopaxi. 100% of the team reached the summit in calm conditions just after sunrise. It could not have been a nicer day. We now can all go home having summited a big mountain and with a story to tell from Cayambe.
A huge shoutout to this team for embracing the team aspect of climbing. All members supported another member at some point during both of the climbs. It was impressive to see the group show genuine care towards people who were strangers just days earlier. On numerous occasions we spent two hours or more at a meal sharing stories, laughing and learning about each other.
Also a shoutout to our Ecuadorian guides who continue to show their professionalism in the mountains, this expedition would not be possible without their local knowledge and high level of skill.
Finally, thanks to friends and family who have been following along with this trip. It’s encouraging to know you’re out there supporting us and we always enjoy getting a comment from Farmer Dave!
Congrats to You Dustin and all the Team!!! I love the pictures from a sunny summit!! Now I know what it looks like without snow and ice fog!! :) I agree it is so cool how complete strangers become best of friends in a day or so when in the mountains!!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 12/11/2021 at 3:13 am
I am a gringo who lives in Ecuador… I am looking just for a guide for Chimborazo the weekend of Jan 22-23… Any recommendations on a good local?
Posted by: Spencer Chiaro on 12/10/2021 at 1:32 pm
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Taylor Bickford, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,310'
Thursday, June 9, 2022 9:42pm PT
RMI Guide Nikki Champion let us know that their Denali Team was 100% on the summit! They are back at camp resting and will give us full details of their climb soon!
Congratulations Team!
Jeff-Rob! What a tremendous accomplishment to be proud of! Wishing you and all your team a safe descent.
Lynn
Posted by: Lynn on 6/11/2022 at 7:04 pm
Congratulations Erik! Awesome job, now come back to work!
Posted by: Marc Taylor on 6/10/2022 at 4:39 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
Elevation: 21,300'
Dave Hahn calls in from Everest Advanced Basecamp.
On The Map
Happy Birthday Mark!
Posted by: Kent Tucker on 5/21/2013 at 9:46 am
such hard news to hear. may you lead your team safely to the summit and back to camp. wishing you well.
best regards,
michelle
Posted by: michelle on 5/20/2013 at 5:48 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Elevation: 16,067'
On The Map
CONGRATULATIONS RMI TEAM!
Posted by: Fred Klingbeil on 12/15/2012 at 3:21 pm
HW: Very happy for the whole team to reach 100% success rate. I hope you have taken many pictures at high camp today. Wish for good weather so you can come down and fly out soon. Kudos to Dave for going up the summit two days in a row to make sure everyone could summit! Over here, we had a fun birthday party for M today with 10 kids coming. Please stay safe. Love, -Fan
Posted by: Fan on 12/15/2012 at 12:14 pm
After an early morning and quick breakfast the team was off again. Our first stop, Amecameca, to grab food, water, and of course the street food.
When we get to the entrance of the national park, we generally like to walk the rest of the way. It’s a bumpy, unpleasant road to get to La Joyalita and it’s nice to stretch our legs after a long day of driving. Perfect weather once again with the only clouds being the ones in the valley below us. The business starts here though as we prepare for our climb of Ixta with a thorough gear check, packing demo, and refresher on tent setup. We’ll eat a hearty dinner and try to sleep as best we can at 13,000 ft. We start our first big climb tomorrow and the team is excited and ready for the challenge.
Wish us luck!
Late to the party but my congratulations are just as strong. You all rock! Steve and his hula hooping self and Mary Beth. MB for you I am just without words. I was diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer in 2018 and just getting through it all about broke me. Reading what you accomplished during your treatments and since is just so motivational. I’m so glad you were part of this team whose blog I followed because of Steve. The Universe sure is magical.
Posted by: Melanee Strootman on 7/5/2022 at 10:12 am
Congratulations to the whole team!! What an accomplishment for you all. Mary Beth you’re just amazing and I can’t wait to hear what your next adventure might be.
Posted by: Jan Sgroi on 7/2/2022 at 9:44 am
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