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Posted by: Grayson Swingle, Seth Burns, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guide Grayson Swingle topped off the Paradise Seminar week- literally. They are on the Mt. Rainier summit right now! The team spent the week on the flanks of Mt. Rainier learning valuable mountaineering skills. Yesterday they moved to Camp Muir where they started their summit bid early this morning. We look forward to congratulating them this afternoon at Rainier Basecamp.
Posted by: Jeff Martin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Seven in the morning and we are out at the airport in Punta Arenas, through security and ready to fly to the Ice.
Lots of excited and oddly dressed people. There will be eighty people on the flight. Some climbers for Vinson, some skiers for the South Pole, some Emperor Penguin lovers and some eclipse watchers.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Mike King, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday morning we woke at Vinson high camp and finished the “day” around a campfire in Miami, Florida.
We packed camp on another cold but beautiful Antarctic morning and started climbing downhill at 11:30 AM. Getting down the steep “fixed rope” section was the tricky part, but we managed it without great difficulty and pulled into low camp at 1 PM. We switched gears, pulling off crampons and rigging sleds for the lower angled glacier walk to Vinson Basecamp. There were some low clouds about and a forecast for more to come, so it wasn’t certain that we’d be able to fly out. But we didn’t think too much about that as we walked the amazing walk down the Branscomb Glacier to VBC. We pulled in at 4 PM… minutes after Russ landed his ski equipped Twin Otter. We were greeted at VBC with fist bumps, champagne and COVID tests. We did the duffel shuffle into the plane and shared a last cocktail with the top notch ALE staff. Bidding Scott and Hannah goodbye, we loaded up and flew to Union Glacier. Our timing being perfect, as always, we showed up at 6:30, just in time for an excellent dinner -sitting in chairs at a table in the comfortable dining tent. By then we knew our Bombardier jet was inbound and so we simply extended dinner for a few hours to sit and talk and mingle with the other adventurers. Nimsdai, the great Nepali climber and expedition leader, walked in fresh off a plane from the South Pole, and regaled our team with accounts of skiing the “Last Degree”
The “Global” landed at 11PM on the blue ice runway as we watched and cheered. We took our last steps on the glacier and up the ramp to the luxury of the plane. Within minutes, Sniggy transformed from Vinson climber to Pilot and lifted us off the Ice. In less than four hours we were back to Punta Arenas, but only to refuel and say goodbye to Ed Viesturs -who stayed behind for a planned second Vinson climb. The team toasted Ed as we flew through the South American night. By early afternoon we were in Miami, Florida and welcomed “home” by Sean “Stroker” Gustafson. Stroker -the famous F16 pilot and former Vinson climber- had us out to his place for a memorable evening of jet skiing, fishing, and fabulous dining. Stroker’s family made us quite comfortable and welcome around a campfire to finish the “day”. The team told stories of mountain climbing and space travel. We laughed and plotted future adventures long into the night. It is rare to end an Antarctic journey with a campfire in the sand, but I highly recommend that you try it.
Best Regards
Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Geoff Schellens
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Hey Rich! Checking in every other day & thinking of you always. Have an amazing time & send me a postcard from the top!! Stef
Posted by: Stef on 12/18/2011 at 11:09 pm
Dave G. Thinking of you constantly, have a good and safe climb. Love you.
Posted by: Connie on 12/16/2011 at 1:36 pm
Posted by: James Bealer, Charlie Harrison, Lily Emerson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
RMI Guide James Bealer checked in from the summit of Mt. Baker this morning. He reported that 100% of the team was on top! The team enjoyed a beautiful bluebird day with little to no wind on their ascent to the top.
They were beginning their descent back to camp to celebrate and will get a good nights rest before packing up camp tomorrow.
Congratulations to the climbers!
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from Camp 1.
On The Map
Yo Mark -
Kim and John reporting in from the deck of the Tides Tavern in Gig Harbor! It’s been spectacular here the last couple of days - but we miss hanging out with you; well, maybe except for those two days in Gorek Shep.
Looks like you’ve settled in for the long haul - but hopefully you’re finding time for some golf!
Be safe, we’ll be following the team the next few weeks. Namaste.
J&K
Posted by: John Gilman on 4/23/2012 at 9:43 pm
Conrad and Dave H. you guys rock. if i had never seen the video of you guys climbing the Pacific Ocean wall in Yosemite, i never would have began to climb. Climbing has changed my life and i owe it all to you guys (along with Jimmy) Keep charging on, and be safe.
Posted by: Samuel Short on 4/23/2012 at 12:29 pm
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Camille Leininger, Augi Fleer, Dominic Cifelli, Leif Bergstrom, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Four Day Climb June 8 - 11 led by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Dominic Cifelli were unable to make their summit attempt this morning. Strong winds and blowing snow made for unsafe climbing conditions and kept the team hunkered down at Camp Muir over night. The telemetry from Camp Muir shows wind averages ranging from mid 20 to mid 60 mph over night with gusts up to 79 mph. When the group radioed the office this morning they were experiencing estimated 50 mph winds. The team will be descending from Camp Muir today and return to Rainier BaseCamp. Unfortunately, today was not their day to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier.
Next time boys!
Posted by: Brandon Sprout on 6/11/2021 at 9:54 pm
Posted by: Eric Frank, James Bealer, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,300'
Thursday, May 27, 2021 - 10:37pm PT
An uncertain forecast greeted us this morning as we packed up to move to Camp 3. We ate breakfast in a windy snow storm, but in a stroke of luck the clouds lifted as we climbed away from camp. Our good fortune was tragically short lived. By the time we got to Windy Corner, the wind was gusting so hard our sleds were blowing sideways. Sharp crampons, good footwork, and strong legs got us through our obstacle. After picking up a few items from our cache, we pushed through two feet of fresh snow all the way to Camp 3, at 14,300 feet.
We built camp in a mild blizzard and quickly hopped into our sleeping bags. Today was a tough day. Days like these are when you really earn your chance to be on the mountain. We’re proud of how our team performed and got the job done.
RMI Guide Eric Frank & Team
Go Heidi! Two feet of fresh. Brutal!
Posted by: Steve Christie on 5/28/2021 at 8:43 pm
Ooooh, I bet those sleeping bags felt good! Hope your weather improves for the next part of your climb!
Posted by: Maxine Kay on 5/28/2021 at 7:30 pm
I am constantly amazed at the determination of the human spirit, regardless of age. The Olympics is a great example. Our 17 year old luge racers travel 80 mph, our 14 year old uneven parallel bar competitors risk life and limb, 16 year old downhill skiers speed at 90mph! on two skinny boards! on ice! Some die from it. However, over half of the US population is unable to find their ass with both hands (despite their extensive “life experiences”). So, if some 18 year old wants to train and discipline themselves to conquor Everest, I salute them. No offense intended Michelle
Posted by: Bart Miller on 3/30/2011 at 10:53 am
I have to question the motivation/reasoning behind allowing kids under 18 to climb Everest. No matter how mature they might be, there just isn’t the life experience to draw upon in my humble opinion. While I think Dave Hahn is a very accomplished climber, it makes me lose some respect for him in his choices to accept clients such as this. Money talks I suppose.
Posted by: Michelle on 3/29/2011 at 9:55 am
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