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Aconcagua: Team Prepares and hopes to Move to Camp 3

February 4, 2022

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua

Day 15

Our team is so resilient. This storm continues to pound the mountain, but our positivity is overwhelming it! It was another really windy and cold one. Despite the bad weather, we were able to get out and stretch our legs a bit. It felt great to move around! The team kept themselves busy this afternoon sorting and preparing gear. If the weather allows, we plan to move to Camp 3 tomorrow.

Till next time,

RMI Guides Luke, David & Team

Shishapangma: RMI Guides Check in from 17,000’

September 12, 2011

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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Guide News Everest

Elevation: 17,000'

Hello, this is the Shishapangma team calling from 17,000’ in the middle of the Tibetan Plateau on the way to Advanced Base Camp (ABC). We have spent three days at Chinese Base Camp at 16,000’. The team is doing really well. We actually went for a nice, leisurely one-hour run, which was a record for everybody, yesterday. And we are really excited and having a good time. We hope to call in the next few days after we have set up camp at Advanced Base Camp. That is all for now. Hello everyone from Tibet. RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos checks in from 17,000' in Tibet.

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RMI Guides Seth Waterfall, Tyler Jones & Andy Bond’s Summit and Ski Descent!

April 28, 2011

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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 14,410'

The Nisqually Glacier is the most easily viewed of all the glaciers on Mt. Rainier. Facing the Paradise Visitor Center, it runs four miles from the 14,410-foot summit down to about 4,500 feet in the Nisqually Valley. At about 12,500 feet the ice forms a giant cliff where the glacier breaks apart over a large rocky step and smashes itself back together 1,000 feet below. Usually unskiable, the heavy snows this winter have filled in one side of the cliff and a continuous line appeared, begging to be skied. My friends Tyler Jones, Andy Bond and I had a random convergence in the Northwest after being on separate agendas for the winter. Tyler had been ski-guiding in La Grave, France, Andy spends his winters in British Columbia, and I had just returned from a trip to Haines, AK. Andy had recently been bombarding me with emails about how the ski conditions on Rainier were about to 'go off' so we all met up in Ashford, WA, to wait for some good weather. After a few days in town, the necessary conditions stacked in our favor, and we took the opportunity to pull off a big line on Rainier. In the Northwest, a full winter of storms on an endless conveyor belt had been pounding the mountain with snow. Now, with an approaching high pressure system, we had a few days of guaranteed sunny weather. So on Thursday, April 22, we left Paradise in a snow storm hoping that the forecast would pan out as advertised and once at Camp Muir the weather would break. Typically we could each do the trip to Muir without the aid of GPS in any conditions. We have over 200 summits of Rainier between the three of us. But this year every landmark is covered in snow, making navigation impossible without the aid of electronics. A quick consult with the GPS was all we needed to find our way to Muir. Once there, we packed into the tiny RMI hut that normally sleeps two. Poor Andy had to sleep on three coolers; it was either that or the snowy floor. The weather was pretty cold most of the night so there was no rush for us to start climbing until the sun came up. To our surprise there was another party climbing that day. They had left about an hour ahead of us and it was nice to follow their track for the first part of the day. We climbed up towards the Gibraltar Ledges route. This gave us a great vantage point of our desired ski route and I was able to take some pics in case we needed to use them as a quick-reference guide on the descent. Once we caught up to the other party, we took our turn breaking trail towards the summit. Conditions were great and we were able to make quick progress to the top. Our total climbing time from Camp Muir was four hours on the dot. Not bad for carrying skis on our backs! On top we spent some time checking out the different aspects of the mountain and taking photos of the gargoyle-like features of rime-ice; created as water vapor from the recent storm cycle beat against the mountain, freezing instantly. The wind was howling, so soon after, we clicked into our skis and started downhill towards the top of the ice cliff. The upper part of the mountain skied nicely. Rainier is like a big dome and the upper reaches aren't extremely steep and the snow was firm but edge-able. Once we dropped about 1,000 feet, however, the slope angle increased dramatically and the snow became even more firm. At 13,000' we could see directly down the glacier to the top of the ice cliff. From here we were committed, and any slip could result in a long slide off the cliff. Precise, controlled ski turns were necessary and we skied one at a time in pitches to keep an eye on each other. The line through the ice cliff was fairly straight forward. We trended gradually right, through an ever narrowing gap between big rock cliffs and the edge of the ice. The snow conditions steadily improved as we dropped lower on the mountain. In total we skied about 3,500 feet of terrain in what we considered a "no-fall" zone. The stress of all the exposure relented bit-by-bit as we descended, and by the time we exited the ice cliff section we were relaxed enough to fully enjoy the pitch out from under the cliff. We then threaded our way out of the large amphitheater formed by the ice cliff and through a myriad of crevasses onto the benign slopes of the Muir Snowfield. There were several groups of skiers there enjoying the fresh powder and sun. We stopped to chat before continuing on our way and they congratulated us on our journey. The snow was so good from here that we decided to drop below the elevation of the parking lot all of the way to the Nisqually Bridge at 3,500 feet. We knew that this could mean a long wait for a hitch hike back to the car but the day was going too well to worry about that. Plus, the lure of getting the longest ski run in the 'Lower 48' on top of a new route on Rainier was too much to resist. I think we waited for a total of 15 seconds before a really nice guy from Fort Lewis Army Base gave me a ride back to Paradise to get my car. Our luck was good all day!

Mt. Rainier: Four Day Teams Turn at 11,400ft due to Avalanche Danger

June 3, 2022

Posted by: James Bealer, Ben Luedtke, Sam Hoffman, Josh McDowell, Trevor Katz, Nick Sinapius

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 11,400'

Today's Four Day Climb May 31 - June 3 reached 11,400' today before deciding to turn around due to high avalanche danger and deteriorating weather. The teams returned to Camp Muir and packed up. They started their descent to Paradise at 8:30 am. RMI Guides James Bealer and Josh McDowell reported that the winds were high and it was snowing hard as the team left Camp Muir on their descent. Once back at Paradise the teams will be shuttled back to Rainier BaseCamp for a closing ceremony.

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Aconcagua Expedition: Hailes & Team Arrive at Basecamp!

January 15, 2022

Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jack Delaney

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua

Elevation: 14,500'

Hola Amigos! It’s finally happened, we have arrived on the mountain! After some last minute packing and eating a lot of empanadas while we waited, we got a weather window and flew into Plaza de Mulas at 14,000 feet. It was one of the most scenic and incredible helicopter flights I’ve ever been on. We settled nicely into our Basecamp, where we will spend the next several days acclimatizing. We’re happy to be here and are going to bed with full bellies thanks to the amazing food and hospitality of the staff at camp.

RMI Guides Walt Hailes & Jack Delaney

Glacier Peak: Summit!

July 9, 2022

Posted by: James Bealer, Erika Birkeland, Evan Sather

Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades

Elevation: 10,541'

The Glacier Peak Climb with RMI Guide James Bealer reached the 10,541' Summit yesterday. The team spent most of the approach to high camp in the clouds, but got incredibly lucky on summit day, as the clouds parted, and the peak showed off beautiful hues of pink. The team had a clear day for climbing. For two of the team members this summit completes their quest to climb all FIVE Washington Volcanoes!

The team will descend about seven and a half miles to the trailhead today and celebrate in Darrington.

Congratulations Team!

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Denali Expedition: SUMMIT!

June 25, 2022

Posted by: Hannah Smith, Kiira Antenucci, Daniel May

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 20,310'

Saturday, June 25, 2021 1:18 am PDT

Everything we worked for all came together today. We woke to nearly perfect weather conditions. It was game time. We packed and tied into the rope. A quick downhill gave away to steep terrain up the autobahn. Step by step we worked our way up the mountain. A breeze here and there kissed our cheeks, but all things considered was pretty calm until the summit ridge. One final steep uphill up pig hill brought us to the summit ridge. This is where the winds picked up. But we dug deep and pushed forward to the tippy top. What an accomplishment! The team trained hard, and it showed. They gave it their all and came out on top.

Congratulations team!!

Tired legs and bodies brought us back to our camp where we are resting up for two more big days walking to the airstrip.

Night everyone,

RMI Guides Hannah Smith, Kiira Antenucci, Daniel May and Team

Kilimanjaro: Team Simba Sita Completes The Big Five at Tarangire

February 23, 2012

Posted by: Jeff Martin

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro

Hello from Kikoti Camp, We had a bit more leisurely start to our day today and we were on the road by 9:00 heading to Tarangire National Park. En route there was a huge downpour, but all the rain stopped by the time we reached the entrance gate. From there, we worked our way south, stopping at every opportunity to view the animals. After yesterday, it seemed like we were in a dry spell because nothing can really compare to the amount of animals you see in one day in Ngorongoro Crater. In Tarangire, you have to find them! The usual suspects were all present, but the day was coming close to an end and we had still not seen a leopard. Then our safari driver decided to take a little detour, and 15 minutes later we were stopped in front of a tree with a leopard resting on a branch about 10 feet off the ground. Our viewing of the "Big Five" was complete. The last sighting of the day was a baby elephant, just a week old, with his mother spraying water on the both of them to help cool off in the afternoon sun. It was incredible. Now we are at the Kikoti Camp, sitting out on the porch, looking out over the African landscape and listening to all the sounds around us. We're going to take a short hike before dinner and go out and watch the sun set, and take a few customary "sun downers" to enjoy as the sun dips below the horizon. Unfortunately, this adventure comes to an end tomorrow, and we start to make our way home. It has been a great trip and we have enjoyed it. Thanks to all of you who posted comments and gave your support for us safely reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro. RMI Guide Jeff Martin & Team Simba Sita

Everest Base Camp Trek: Spend Last Day on Trail Soaking in the Sun

March 29, 2022

Posted by: Casey Grom

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest BC Trek

Elevation: 9,350'

Hello again,

We awoke to another beautiful sunny day here in the Khumbu. We started early to beat the traffic to Lukla. The team made good time on the trail and made sure to enjoy this peaceful and majestic place.

There were still dozens of loads headed for basecamp, as always, because much of the needed supplies that arrive via plane or by mules.

With a little luck, we hope to be back in Kathmandu tomorrow morning!

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Casey and Crew

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Mt. Rainier: Four Day Climb Reaches the Top!

July 8, 2022

Posted by: Bryan Mazaika, Josh Geiser, Joey Manship

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 14,410'

The Four Day Climb Led by RMI Guide Bryan Mazaika reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team had clear skies above Camp Muir and a good climbing route. The team is on the descent and will be celebrating at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.

Congratulations team!

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Most Popular Entries

Aconcagua: Team Prepares and hopes to Move to Camp 3

Shishapangma: RMI Guides Check in from 17,000’

RMI Guides Seth Waterfall, Tyler Jones & Andy Bond’s Summit and Ski Descent!

Mt. Rainier: Four Day Teams Turn at 11,400ft due to Avalanche Danger

Aconcagua Expedition: Hailes & Team Arrive at Basecamp!

Glacier Peak: Summit!

Denali Expedition: SUMMIT!

Kilimanjaro: Team Simba Sita Completes The Big Five at Tarangire

Everest Base Camp Trek: Spend Last Day on Trail Soaking in the Sun

Mt. Rainier: Four Day Climb Reaches the Top!

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