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Today's Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, which were headed to Camp Muir for their summit attempt tomorrow morning, aborted their climb at 7,700'. As they were ascending, the weather continued to deteriorate. After climbing several hours in the storm, the guides made the call to turn the climb and descend back to Paradise. This afternoon the teams returned safely back to Rainier Basecamp in Ashford.

July 1, 2017 12:51 a.m. PST We awoke to wind and snow this morning at our 17,000 ft camp. This did not phase our crew after our successful summit day yesterday. All we wanted to do is head down to warmer, thicker air. We made it all the way down to our old 11,000 ft camp, where we decided to set up tents and nap a bit. This puts us within striking distance of the airstrip at basecamp. We will have to get on the trail around 3:00 or 4:00 to make sure that the lower glacier is still frozen while we make our way to basecamp. We want those crevasse bridges as strong as possible! Wish us good flying weather for tomorrow! RMI Guide Mike Haugen

On The Map

June 17, 2017 1:43 pm PST Hello from the upper airstrip of Denali Basecamp. We made the arduous descent from high camp in snowy and windy conditions down to 11,000ft last evening. We unfortunately did not get a break from the weather... WINDS. Today we had a very alpine start to climb down to base camp in the cold of early morning in order to reduce our chances of breaking through snow bridges on the lower glacier. We were able to do just that! After arriving we were told the normal runway was to bumpy and crevassed. The whole team finished strong up the bonus hill to the upper runway. The weather continues to follow us here in The Alaska Range as I type this blog the fog and mist hold strong for the moment. When the clouds part we will be on the first planes to Talkeetna and on our way back from an amazing trip with lots of learning, and humbling moments. We have learned that the Summits are for our ego and the Journey is for our soul. The mountain is not going anywhere and we can always come back as long as we play safe in the mountains. High hopes for flying back to reality! Cheers, RMI Guide Tyler Jones

On The Map

A thin covering of clouds rolled into the Ruth Glacier last night just low enough to brush the summits of the surrounding peaks. The clouds acted as an insulating layer, preventing the previous day's heat from fully dissipating overnight and we awoke early to relatively mild temperatures. The warmer temps softened the blow of waking up early and breaking camp - not the most pleasant experience when the thermometer hovers in the single digits - and soon we had everything packed into our backpacks and sleds and were skiing down the Ruth Glacier as the first ray of sunlight reached us. We spent the day traveling downhill, dropping from Mountain House northwards into the center of the Ruth Amphitheater before veering to the east and making a large 180-degree turn until we were eventually headed south down the Ruth Glacier and into the heart of the Ruth Gorge. This early in the season the glacier is still covered in a thick layer of winter snow, smoothing over the crevasses and undulations in the glacier and among the travel very smooth and straightforward. Soon we entered the Ruth Gorge proper, a "narrow" stretch of glacier (still almost a mile wide) that is reported to be close to 3,000' deep, and walled by massive rock walls on both sides, the highest being the East Face of Mt. Dickey which rises an impressive almost 5,000'+ above us, whose summit remained shrouded in clouds. We traveled down the Gorge, occasionally stopping in awe to admire the landscape around us, until we reached an altitude of about 4,600' at the entrance to a side valley that is framed by "747 Pass" - a gap in the rock walls purported to be large enough to fly its Boeing namesake through. Here, we established our camp, just as the temperatures warmed enough to begin softening the surface snow and slowing our progress across the glacier. We spent the remainder of the afternoon establishing our camp in the center of the flat glacier that runs through the Gorge and brushing up on various climbing skills and techniques. If the weather holds, we are in a good position to make a push through 747 Pass and climb the glaciated West Face of Mt. Dickey tomorrow morning before returning to our camp here in the Gorge. RMI Guide Linden Mallory & Team

It was a great day here in St. Pete's! We started the day with a walking tour of this beautiful city led by our wonderful local guide Natasha. She took us to the major sites and enlightened us to the 300 years of this city's history. We took a short break where some folks did a little exploring on there own, and others headed to the famous Hermitage where we learned that if someone spent one minute at every piece of art, it would take 8 years to view it all! Needless to say, we saw only a fraction of it. Later in the evening the team headed out on a final tour of this majestic city by boat. We spent an hour touring the city from its many canals, which was a great way to wrap up our trip. It's been a wonderful adventure with a great team. We are all thankful for the great weather we've had, but are looking forward to getting back home. Missing all of our families and most of our friends. See ya soon! RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Jambo from Barafu Camp, Our fifth day on Kilimanjaro and we again have a bluebird day. There are clouds in the valleys and plains below us and nothing but blue skies above. We did not rush out of camp this morning as it was a relatively short day for our climb to Barafu Camp. We have been walking really well all week long, and today was no exception. The team is feeling strong and is ready for the summit. There is a lot of activity in camp this afternoon as the descending climbers are busy packing up to head down to Mweka Camp and the ascending climbers are organizing their gear for the climb tomorrow. We will have an early dinner tonight and try and be in the tents by 6:00 pm in anticipation of our 11:45 pm wake up time. The hope is to be walking by 12:30 am and standing on the Roof of Africa by 7:30 am. We will try to get a satellite phone call out when we are on the summit. Thanks to those who have made blog comments. We appreciate the encouragement. RMI Guide Jeff Martin & The Kili Team

Hey everybody this is Billy checking in from 17,000’ on Mt. McKinley or Denali. Another day of high winds has kept us pinned down at high camp. We were hoping the forecasted 20 mph summit winds were going to be a reality today but unfortunately they were not. So we were stuck in camp, hanging out and eating snack food. Tomorrow’s forecast is again for more good weather so wish us luck that it actually comes to fruition. If it does we’ll be taking a crack at the summit tomorrow. I will check in with you guys later. RMI Guide Billy Nugent

The Four Day Climb August 2 - 5, 2025 led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Joe Crawford reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  The teams reported a beautiful day on the mountain with a little wind a little precipatation while they were on the summit. They enjoyed a bit of time in the crater before starting their descent.  The teams are heading back to Camp Muir, and after a quick break will continue the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise to complete their climb.  Once back at BaseCamp they will enjoy a bit of celebration to conclude their adventure.

Nice work today team!

PC: Dominic Cifelli

June 28, 2017 9:41 pm PST Today our team practiced arguably the most important skill in all of mountaineering: patience. After a blustery, snowy night up here at 17K, the mountain finally came out this morning, but the upper reaches were cloaked in spindrift, lenticular clouds, and all the hallmarks of high wind. So, we decided to opt for a rest day at high camp to wait for the weather to clear up. The signs are looking more promising for tomorrow, and we're all hoping Denali will give us a shot. Keep your fingers crossed for us for clear skies in the morning! Hugs from 17,000', RMI Guide Mike Haugen

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Tyler Jones and Kel Rossiter stood on top of Mt. Rainier this morning! The teams enjoyed calm and warm conditions while on the summit and are making their way back to Camp Muir. We will see them back in Ashford later today. Congratulations!