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The Four Day Climb August 17 - 20 led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Nikki Champion reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  Mike reported moderate winds and a busy route.  Camp Muir sandwiched between two layers of clouds, dense clouds above Camp Muir and a light marine layer above Paradise currently.  The climbers will take a short break at Camp Muir to repack and re-hydrate before starting down to Paradise.  Once at Paradise the shuttle will return the climbers to Rainier BaseCamp where they will conclude their program with a short ceremony.

Nice work today everyone!

The Four Day Climb July 10 - 13 led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Jack Delaney reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6:45 am.  Hannah reported a good route, light winds and a nice route. The team enjoyed some time on the crater before starting their descent. They will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuning down to Paradise.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

Today we started our day at 6:30 refreshed after a much needed nights sleep, we had breakfast, then hit the trail one last time. It took just under three hours to reach the Kilimanjaro National Park gate where the team had lunch and said our final goodbyes to our amazing crew that took such great care of us on the mountain. 

We finished the little celebration by handing out their well deserved tips and then hopped aboard our awaiting bus for the ride back to the lodge. 

Finally we are all safe and sound, cleaner, and smelling fresh after an exciting seven day journey up and down Kilimanjaro. 

Stayed tuned, Safari starts tomorrow!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Greetings from Vinson High Camp @ 12,500. Much nicer day. No wind. Up in 6 hrs 15 min.  We are looking good for top tomorrow.  Other teams rested at high camp today. Forecast is for continued good weather.   We caught the 99.2% total eclipse this morning at 4:44 am. We were able to see Venus, but no stars. Still pretty bright out, surrounded by ice and snow, but a different light. We enjoyed it. Team is psyched for tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Thursday, July 7, 2022 - 11:52 am PT

We are calling ourselves lucky.  Very lucky.  The clouds moved away long enough for the glacier surface to freeze up for our nighttime ramble down the lower Kahiltna.  We started walking down from 11,000 at 12:30 AM.  The midnight sun was beautiful on the peaks around us as we cruised down in the cool shadows.  The first hours, to the base of Ski Hill, were straightforward… then things got complicated.  Lots and lots of crevasse crossings.  But that is where the freeze helped immensely.  It also didn’t hurt that other teams preceded us, breaking into holes and showing us where not to walk.  In the end we made it through without any collapsed bridges.  It took about seven hours to get to the airstrip.  Half the team flew off in a K2 Otter just before 10 AM but before the plane could make it back for the other half, clouds rolled in.  They didn’t roll away until mid afternoon, at which point the Otter swooped in to get the job done.  We were the last team on Denali for the 2022 season… and then we were just a bunch more tourists in Talkeetna with funny tans.  The team had a celebratory dinner at Mile High Pizza Pie, and then a late night Cornhole tournament in the beer garden of the Fairview Inn.  A little live music and a nightcap (or two) put a finish on an excellent expedition.  Thanks for following. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Photos courtesy of Dave Hahn

On The Map

The sun got a little brighter for us today, as we moved up to Plaza de Mulas. One only needed to look up from the trail to realize the unique contrast of the environment we were in. Dusty desert gave way to ice covered peaks, appearing to rocket upwards in an attempt to reach outer space. After a long day on the trail, we were greeted with good food and shade. 

Till next time,

RMI Guide Luke Wilhelm 

The team enjoyed a well deserved rest day at Basecamp. We spent the time napping, reading, and preparing gear for tomorrow.  Optimism and hope flowed out of our dining tent this evening as we were finally able to see the climbing route above us. We feel recovered and ready for what lies above. 

RMI Guides James, Luke, David & Team

On The Map

We met yet another stray dog friend today- oh wait, that’s not what this blog about! We are incredibly happy and proud to say that every single team member stood on top of North America’s 3rd highest peak, Pico de Orizaba, today! What a day it was too! We awoke for our alpine start to find that the sky was clear, the wind light, and the temperatures still warm from the previous day. The route takes us up an old aqueduct, then up a rocky slope for a couple of hours until you reach a feature called the labyrinth, aptly named. That is when the weather started to turn from warm and windless to bitter and howling. Up we went, navigating the labyrinth with all its ice, mud, and rock and to the base of the of the Jamapa Glacier. A team member described the glacier as “walking up a descending escalator”, never ending and relentless. On we pushed, with perseverance stretched to its limit we crested the caldera ridge and on to the true summit where we met back up with our 2 other rope teams and embraced.

We are back down now, safe and sound, about to jump in our showers and wash up before dinner, our last one as a team. Seems surreal for it to be over so soon, but we look forward to seeing everyone in the mountains again. This is the Mexico climbing team signing off.

Except there is the picture of our dog friend walking us down to Base.

RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli, Abby Westling and Team