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The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons July 7 - 12 led by RMI Guide Jordan Cargill reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning via the Emmons Glacier route. The weather is beautiful with clear skies and calm winds. The team was able to enjoy some time on the summit before beginning their descent. Jordan and team will return to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain. Tomorrow they will continue their descent to the trail head and then return to Rainier BaseCamp. Congratulations to today's Emmons Seminar team!

RMI Guides Lacie Smith, Nicole De Petris & Margo Kerr and the Mt. Baker - Easton Climb August 10 - 12 have enjoyed a few great days in the mountain. Yesterday, the completed their glacier skills training while watching the clouds roll in.  This morning at 5:50 am the team reached the summit of Mt. Baker. The climb included watching the northern lights, lightning on the eastern horizon and a meteor shower.  What more could you ask for?

Nice work team!

The Five Day Climb reached Camp Muir after what we deemed “the spiciest snowfield ascent ever”. We worked together in high winds and low visibility to stay warm and keep climbing. After a night of higher winds, colder temperatures and more snow, we opted to do some training at Camp Muir. We started the morning with some avalanche basics culminating in digging pits to assess snow instability.  The results weren’t promising so as a team we made the safe, but hard, choice not to ascend any higher. The sun came out and we spent the day learning snow anchors, crevasse rescue and taking in the beautiful views from Camp Muir.

We’ll begin our descent to Paradise this morning and conclude our program this afternoon. All in all, this team unified in tough conditions to have an incredible climbing experience. 

RMI Guides Andy Bond and Jess Wedel

PC: Jess Wedel

Saturday, June 22, 2018 - 9:43 PM PT All is well at 7,800 ft on the Kahiltna Glacier. At 30 minutes after midnight we fired the stoves at Basecamp and checked with the folks. This time all were feeling good and healthy and ready for climbing. We ate breakfast in the shadows -it doesn’t get dark this time of year, but it does get cool and shadowy without direct sunshine. We packed up and roped up and began shuffling out of base at 3:15 AM. Conditions were excellent -the surface had frozen up enough so that walking was easy and the sleds came along with minimal resistance. Best of all, crevasse problems were nearly nonexistent and the route was consequently more direct than in other years. Partway through our morning, we met Mike King’s victorious team heading for the airstrip. We exchanged handshakes and fist bumps and wished each other well. At 7:45 AM we pulled in to the base of ski hill and began building a camp. The sun was out by then but we had plenty of time to get shelter up before things got intensely hot in the giant reflector oven we call home. We passed the day napping, drinking water and chatting to one another. By evening there was a steady down glacier breeze but we were comfortably sheltered within our dining tent by then. Tomorrow is another early start. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

May 28, 2015 11:34pm PST After a big day yesterday, we took it easy today to rest up for a forthcoming summit push. We woke late and enjoyed a breakfast of eggs, bacon; and hash browns which stretched into afternoon. A few hours of sorting gear, napping, and reading led into a dinner of quesadillas. Unfortunately, the meat department may be getting low... From here on out its freeze dried dinners, ramen, and oatmeal. With that in mind we savored the fresh food, and wrapped up small details for tomorrow. Everything seems to be lining up for us to move to high camp tomorrow. We'll wake early, beat the sun out of camp, and take our second stroll along the West Buttress. Everybody is excited and fired up. Keep your fingers crossed for us! RMI Guides Pete, Josh, Robby, and Team

Thanks to everyone that have followed along... The team is back in Mendoza and enjoying some of the finer things in life: food, wine, sunshine, hanging by the pool, etc. We had a great team dinner last night and are now hanging out and lazing around while we wait for our flights back to the states and Canada. Despite not getting the summit we had a ton of fun and a hell of an adventure. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the group for being fun, hard-working, and determined. 'til next year, RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Walter Hailes and Katrina Bolemsma

This is Dave Hahn calling from the last RMI trip on Mount McKinley this season. We are still at Basecamp. We got up again this morning at 1 AM and in fact, this time we got up and had breakfast. We were in clouds, but it didn't seem that bad. Before we were done with breakfast, it started snowing and we had to get back in the tents and it didn't stop snowing for another 5 or 6 hours, and stayed cloudy and inclement for hours after that so we weren't able to move today in a white out and wet conditions. But by afternoon it cleared it up. And this evening things are crystal clear blue sky above and we're really hoping that it freezes up good and solid tonight and then we'll be on our way. Bye for now. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The Four Day Climb June 30 - 3 July was unable to reach the summit today due to high winds.  RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Tatum Whatford left Camp Muir with an alpine start but were turned back at Ingraham Flats due to extremely high winds.  The teams returned safely to Camp Muir where they spent the rest of the morning. They plan to start their descent from Camp Muir to Paradise around 9 am.

Wednesday, August 23, 2023 - 10:00 am PT

Good weather and good walking brought us up to 12,500 ft today. When we woke at 6:15 the clouds had sunk way below our 10,000 ft camp to form a uniform surface.  Above it was crystal clear and we could see Kibo, Kilimanjaro’s central peak, with its great cliffs and ice fields.  We ate a full breakfast and got walking at 8 AM with our lead guide, Naiman, taking a turn out front.  Immediately, the track was steeper than what we’d done yesterday.  Like a giant staircase in the giant heather.  After about 90 minutes we were on a ridge crest, still climbing, but now with big views all around us.  We got off the ridge at nearly 12,000 ft and began traversing toward the North.  The team didn’t slow down or hesitate when it came to putting hands on rock for some steeper sections.  We saw our first Giant Senecios -cactus like trees which are only found on Kilimanjaro- before we turned a last corner onto the Shira Plateau.  The final few minutes into camp were easy downhill walking.  We made it in under five hours to this westernmost point of our journey.  Tosha had a fine lunch for us in the dining tent and we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging and rehydrating.  The sun setting in the clouds and peaks of Shira was beautiful as we moved toward dinner.  But the stars when we came out were even more spectacular. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn