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We called an audible this morning after hearing updated route conditions. The last remaining snow on our summit day has not got a refresh and is firm ice. This traverse would likely shut our summit day down. Instead we decided to go attempt the old Ayoloco route since teams have been using it as a descent route. The team is doing well. We will check in hopefully from the summit tomorrow morning. Until then, rest, hydration and dinner will occupy our afternoon.

RMI Guide Mike King

Hello everyone,

We spent our final day yesterday touring Tarangire National Park, which is home to more elephants per square kilometer than any place on earth and it didn’t disappoint. There were plenty of other animals as usual, and we got pretty close which was amazing. There were also plenty of the other large African mammals, including a bunch of Giraffes and even a leopard napping in a tree.

We ended our day at a remote and off grid camp within the National Park and surrounded by wildlife. The camp has screened in rooms that allow the night sounds and smells of Africa in.

It's been a memorable experience for everyone with great friendships forged. But finally it's time to return home to our families and loved ones.

Thanks for following!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew!

Saturday, June 29, 2019 - 10:10 PM PT To deal with the heat, we got up a little earlier than we might ordinarily have for an easy day at 14 Camp. At 7:00 AM it is still shadowy and cool in camp but not so cool that we rushed our breakfast of bagels and salmon with cream cheese. The main task for the day was our back carry dropping down from 14,200 ft to retrieve the cached food and fuel at 13,500 ft. We were out of camp at 9:20 and down to the cache just 15 or 20 minutes later. The ravens showed no interest whatsoever in our buried treasure although we’d seen where they raided a nearby poorly done cache a few days back. After a bit of hard digging, we distributed the load and began trudging back up at 10:00. The route happens to be quite direct this season -- just a factor of a few crevasses either being bridged well or not in a given year -- and so it only took 45 minutes to get home. On the spooky side of things we witnessed the normally stable and well-frozen West Buttress shedding rock down its steep flanks due to the heat. Back at camp, the easy part of our day began. We took shelter and drank water. The forest fire smoke grew thick enough that we couldn’t see down onto the Kahiltna Glacier and all but the top 3000 ft of Mt Foraker was obscured. We were pleased to connect with RMI Guide Mike Walter’s victorious team when they came down and became our neighbors. In the afternoon we reviewed the techniques we’ll employ to safely ascend the fixed lines between 15,000 and 16,000 ft. Tomorrow the forecast calls for a weather change, but if that is slow in arriving, we’d like to carry up onto the West Buttress. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Stunningly perfect weather today at 14,200'. We got the stoves going at a leisurely 8:30 AM since we knew we'd be deep in the cold shadows until 9:30. One of the gang measured the overnight temperature at -10 F which was quite a departure from the tropical conditions of the lower mountain. While it was something of a novelty for us to share a camp with so many other folks last night, they'd snuck away for the most part by morning. We did get to wish Linden Mallory's team luck as they departed. Around midday we roped up and strolled down a half hour to where we'd cached food and fuel two days back. Bringing this back up in about an hour and a half completed our ten day "approach" to the mountain. We spent the remainder of the day resting and preparing for the climb. If the good conditions continue we'll climb to 16 or 17,000' tomorrow carrying supplies and acclimating, but then we'll duck back down here to our comfortable camp in Genet Basin. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Saturday, June 19, 2021 - 11:00 pm PT

Today was about prepping and packing.  We got out to the airplane hangar early for a fine safety briefing by a National Park Service climbing ranger.  We then conducted gear checks and set about organizing and sorting personal equipment and group gear.  This took us through mid afternoon and culminated in a weigh-in with the K2 Aviation ramp crew -the folks responsible for loading and unloading the aircraft.  We were happy to be sheltered within the hangar as it rained off and on through much of the day.  The rain mellowed by the time we got into town for dinner at the brewery.  Plenty of tourists in town enjoying the weekend, but we seemed to fit in just fine.  Tomorrow, with a little luck, we’ll get on the mountain. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Four Day Climb Team led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Dustin Whittmier were turned by winter like conditions on their summit attempt of Mt. Raineir this morning. The team reach Cathedral Gap at about 10,700'.  The team has started their descent from Camp Muir and are en rote to Paradise.

Congratulaions to Today's Team! 

The sun came around the mountain at 10 AM today, which was also about the time we got out of our sleeping bags and unzipped the tents.  There was a faint breeze keeping things cool, but we clambered into the dining tent for a leisurely breakfast/brunch/lunch.  By the time we waddled out and suited up for climbing it was 2 PM.  Yesterday, although we were roped to one another for glacier travel, it was just walking with ski poles.  Today, we had on crampons and carried ice axes.  It only took a few minutes to get to the base of the fixed ropes where we paused briefly to rig up and review techniques for climbing steep snow.  The goal was “lunch ledge” about an hour up the lines.  We were starting to get some pretty good views of our surroundings -including a cloud bank pushing in from the northwest.  By the time we’d descended, the clouds were covering the summits and blocking out the sun.  Luckily there wasn’t any wind to go with this change in our weather.  We were back in camp by 5 PM and set in for an evening of snacking and rehydration.  Dinner was fashionably late at 8:45 PM and we were back in the tents by 10 PM.  The plan is to move to highcamp tomorrow if the weather holds and everybody has stayed healthy.

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Wednesday, May 29, 2019 - 9:26 PM PT Howdy howdy. Its us again but this time from new location. We decided to pack up camp, load the sleds, and go for a walk. The clouds came and went, giving us gorgeous views of the surrounding peaks and than closing in us making it look like the inside of a pingpong ball. Regardless of where the clouds were though, the furnace was turned to high and sweat ran down our faces. The saying goes freeze or fry in the mountains and we felt the fry. Once we arrived to our new home, we put on our working gloves and got down to business. It's a lot of work putting in a new camp. You gotta make flat platforms for the tents, dig a bathroom, and dig a kitchen. But at the end of the day it feels good to work hard and do some shoveling. Tomorrow will be less work and more play hopefully. Looks like the weather will hold for one more day before the next weather system moves in. So we will take advantage of any sunshine we can get and go explore. Time to catch some Zzz, RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

June 24, 2014 - 8:12 pm PT Today we encountered the second oxymoron of the trip. The first, albeit not mountain related was not seeing the sun in the longest day in the norther hemisphere, hence the sunless solstice. Today's oxymoron was more exciting, helpful and might I say unexpected. At 13,500 feet there is a crucial feature of Mt. McKinley's West Buttress Route that one must pass to gain access to Advanced Base Camp at 14,200 feet. This storied gateway is called Windy Corner. There have been many a harrowing epic here where sleds have been known to take flight like kites, ropes bend outward like giant crescent moons and rumor has it a climber was even flash frozen like a walking tuna when hit by a fridges gust. For us the corner was breathless! Last night I had decided to make a carry of unneeded equipment and food up around windy corner because a snow storm is projected to pay a visit for the next few days. Despite having put our bodies to the test for the last four days without rest, this move seemed wise as to prepare the team to move up given our next nice weather day. Everyone's training has proven adequate and we are now in a great position for the days to come. We expect one or two more days here at 11,000 ft. Before making our next move. Everyone is happy and healthy. Climb on. RMI Guide Adam Knoff & Team

On The Map

Good morning friends and family! Well we are still in Talkeetna after a long day yesterday of rain. The skies this morning, while not raining, remain a canvas of clouds. Today we will continue ground training with mechanical advantage systems, remaining close to the planes if we get a break. Weather looks good on Thursday and honestly, we are having a great time here! RMI Guide Leon Davis & Team