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June 18, 2014 - 3:42pm PT Hello again from 14k camp! Today we are taking a well-earned break to recharge both ourselves and our electronics before hopefully heading uphill tomorrow. Yesterday we took a quick trip up to the top of the fixed lines to work the kinks out of our systems and get in some acclimatization. The crew was treated to their first views of Mt. Hunter and Mt. Foraker poking out through the clouds, and everyone performed admirably on both the ascent and descent of the fixed lines. Looking forward, we have a tentatively favorable forecast for the next few days. We hope to make a push uphill tomorrow pending the weather, but in the meantime, we are doing our best today to rest and eat lots of food in preparation for the work ahead! Cheers, RMI Guide Katie Bono & Team

Greetings from the Dik Dik Hotel. Everyone has made it to Tanzania safe and sound. All of our baggage has arrived as well! We've just finished a light supper and tomorrow we kick off our trip with our first full team meeting at breakfast. So far so good. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

There were lots of heavy boots trudging by the tents in the dark this morning. Climbers and sherpa bound for the Icefall, naturally. Not from our camp today though. It was another packing/rest day for our team. Seth Waterfall and I took the opportunity to get our climber out on the ice pinnacles after breakfast for some more training in rope techniques. Erica is looking more comfortable with each session of rappelling down and jugging up the lines we fix. While out there in the middle of the glacier, we heard (and felt) a few big rumbles as ice avalanches cut loose in various places. One tumbled down off Everest's West Shoulder and obviously crossed the Icefall climbing route, luckily missing any climbers in the process. That one certainly pointed up the need for a slightly better and more protected route in the region, and I was encouraged to hear that Willie Benegas may have found just such a route a little farther out toward the middle of the Khumbu Icefall. We shall see whether his discovery is accepted and improved by the Icefall Doctors responsible for fixing ropes and ladders. The Ice Docs are a great bunch of guys. We had them over for a small gift of hats and T-shirts yesterday evening, and we heartily thanked each of the seven men who have been risking their lives to find us safe passage through the big jumbled glacier pouring out of the Western Cwm. We were all astonished when Ang Nima mentioned that he'd been climbing on Everest since 1975, when he worked for Chris Bonington's famous Southwest Face expedition. Since Gerry shot that beautiful and frightening footage of an avalanche crossing the climbing route above Camp 1 we have received lots of questions and comments about such events. That particular event was likely the result of a snow cornice breaking up near Nuptse's summit at 25,000 ft. The cornice -an overhanging snow deposit- may have built up due to strong prevailing west winds in the night and then busted loose when the first strong rays of the sun hit it in the morning, causing it to settle and fracture. Due to that type of process, we have to worry about "new snow" avalanches even when there hasn't been any "new snow" falling from the sky. An ice avalanche, by contrast, is a piece of glacier breaking loose and cascading down. These are scary. They are also a very normal part of the way glaciers move. One cannot predict when a chunk of glacier has decided that it has hung around long enough and that it is now time to thunder down on whatever is below (chunks of glacier -more properly "seracs"- are not made of light, fluffy snow, but instead of dense ice the consistency of concrete). There are a number of "hanging glaciers" threatening the West Shoulder side of the Khumbu Icefall, as I mentioned, but we also need to be quite careful of the seracs that make up the Icefall itself... a hundred foot high tower of ice collapsing a hundred feet upslope can be difficult to get out of the way of. To most of us, there is something slightly more menacing and inescapable about an avalanche dropping in near freefall for 5000 ft. off the West Shoulder though. I suppose that it is like choosing to get hit by a slow bus rather than by a sports car at top speed, understanding that both bring a fair amount of discomfort. Our various routes do get "dusted" from time to time, as Gerry's video showed, with no actual debris crossing the climbing route, but a big and dramatic powder cloud engulfing those on the track and likely causing them to hit the deck and cover up for a minute or two. Our best strategies for dealing with avalanches on the lower part of the mountain involve moving as quickly as possible through known hazard areas and looking for alternate routes (as Willie apparently did today) when we can. We go early in the day, before sunrise, because this affords us some protection from certain types of avalanches, but it doesn't solve our problems with serac fall. Glaciers move in the night, just as they move in the day, and so their chunks continue to get pushed off randomly rather than when we'd like them to. Getting an early start just feels a lot safer in a world of frozen bridges and towers. The footing can get sloppy later in the day and the heat can get oppressive when the high-altitude sun gets bounced around enough in a concave valley. So when our first team of climbers (Ed, Melissa and Peter) move up tomorrow, they'll go early and they'll try to move at a business-like pace and they'll look after one another on the move to Camp 1, in addition to checking in by radio with those of us at basecamp. We take the hazards of this lower mountain seriously, which is why we've "waited" a week before setting sites on sleeping at Camp 1. Best to be acclimated and ready to use all of one's fitness for this particular push. We built up that fitness a little more this afternoon by hiking down to the approaches to basecamp for a building project. Many teams gathered, perhaps a hundred climbers, in order to build a helipad. We don't want to use the helipad for helicopters ... they tend to crash up here in the thin air and hard rock, and we all live in soft shelters that perform poorly when subjected to shrapnel. But of course, if there is an emergency evacuation that a helicopter may be the correct tool for, we want the pilots to enjoy a flat and stable pad of rock. So we all moved rock around for an hour while laughing, breathing heavily, and catching up with long-lost pals from the mountains. Plenty more Pujas took place today ... the gods have to be at least a little bit impressed with all of the offerings and pretty flags and fragrant smoke. Perhaps they'll mind those seracs and cornices for us while we get the safest possible routes established.

Early this morning, the Five Day Climb team, led by Seth Burns and George Hedreen, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the iconic Disappointment Cleaver route. The ascent was graced with stunning views and crisp mountain air.

As they stepped onto the summit, smiles and cheers filled the air.  

At 7:00 AM, they departed the crater rim and began their journey back to Camp Muir. From there, they’ll continue to Basecamp later this afternoon, bringing with them stories, memories, and a well-earned sense of accomplishment.

Congratulations to Seth, George, and the entire team on a successful summit and a safe descent!

Monday, June 18, 2018 - 2:15 AM PT To all of our fans out there, we know you’ve enjoyed our stories, raps and poems for our blog to fulfill our energy during our long stay at 14,000' Camp on Denali. This evening however, was the beginning of our retreat down the mountain and eventually back to the airstrip as the weather allows. Today, we had a lull in the never ending storm and the team seized the opportunity to make the descent back to 11,000' Camp. This “lull” certainly wasn’t an easy escape but the conditions were the best we’ve had in days and better than what’s forecast for the next week. We quickly broke down camp and were walking just before 8pm. Walking into the white and knee deep post holing kept the pace down but the team was managing it well. Squirrel Hill was wind scoured and Motorcycle Hill into 11,000' Camp provided some more deep post holing. Thankfully, the wind was calm at camp and with some help from some other guides we know, that have also been stuck in this storm, we managed to set up tents quickly and crawled into our sleeping bags by midnight. Way to go team! The next few days still call for some snowy and windy weather so we might not move too quickly but we’ll take every window of opportunity! Happy Father’s Day! RMI Guide Tyler Jones

We had a windy day getting into our second camp of the 3 day trek to Base Camp. The colors and terrain of the upper Vacas Valley really stood out. The team put up tents in 30+ mph winds, which will prepare them for higher camps. We're fixing to have a big meal to celebrate the new year tonight and are thinking of family and friends. We will get an early start in the morning so we arrive at Plaza Argentina and can relax after three hot and windy days. Thanks for following along. RMI Guide Zeb Blais and Team

The Four Day Summit Climb led by Billy Nugent and The Five Day Summit Climb led by Lindsay Fixmer reach the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. RMI Guide Billy Nugent reported beautiful weather and great climbing. The team spend some time on the summit enjoying the views and are now en route back to Camp Muir. RMI Guide Mike Walter and team Checked in from the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz. The team had a great day today. We hoisted heavy packs and left the parking lot at Paradise this morning. After about 15 minutes of hiking we left the well beaten path and descended on to the Nisqually Glacier. With crampons on and ice axes in hand, we traversed the Nisqually and gained the Wilson Glacier. The climbing involved some moving over steep rocks with heavy packs, as well as ascending some steep snow slopes. Everyone is doing well and we're nestled in at our camp at 7600' at the Sharkfin. It's a beautiful night, and it's a real treat to leave the crowds behind and have this wild place to ourselves. Congratulations to the our Summit Climb Teams!

Tonight is the night! We are at Barafu camp, 15,240', the last stop before our summit push. The whole team is in good shape. A few high clouds have moved in, so we will see what comes along. I will start looking at the weather conditions at midnight and hope we can get moving shortly there after. Fingers crossed.

Coming into the teahouse dining room this morning under low, cloudy skies with a trace of new snow on the ground, it was obvious that we were each ready to be finished with trekking. Enough of the team was battling sniffles or tummy troubles that we were all getting borderline paranoid about sharing germs with so many others in these common spaces. We were ready to make it to our own basecamp and our own dining tent... we were anxious to meet our Sherpa climbing team and get started on a big climbing project. But for all of our restlessness, Gorak Shep hadn't been that bad a place for our team. A number of us hiked up Kalapathar yesterday evening in order to catch the sunset. In contrast to the ample daytime traffic for this sought-after destination, by 5 PM there was only a handful of folk left on the hill and these were hurrying down while we strolled up. The afternoon had been cloudy with periodic snow showers, but the higher we got, the more the clouds fell away from Everest and Nuptse and Pumori. We took picture after picture as the light changed and then trotted down in the dark when it had all been expended. We joined the flow of traffic around 8:30 this morning for what we knew would be a relatively short and easy climb into basecamp. The low cloud seemed to muffle sound and it was almost a relief to have our field of vision minimized so that we could concentrate on walking instead of gawking at the great peaks. Our path was, at first, along the rock and dirt of the lateral moraine and then finally we dropped down onto the glacial surface itself for the last half hour into camp. We passed plenty of fully dedicated trekkers, bent over and gasping for breath and I was reminded of how much importance is placed, by so many, in simply getting to Everest Basecamp, with no thought whatsoever of climbing the mountains above. I felt a little sympathy over the diminished views for these folks, but then the clouds began to break and lift as we reached the first tents. By the time we marched into our own camp, we could see plenty, including the rough and intimidating Khumbu Icefall stretching up toward the Western Cwm. We could also see that our Sherpa team had been hard at work in preparing our camp. We greeted them, as well as Ed Viesturs, Jeff Martin and Linden Mallory who'd come ahead yesterday to help get things in order. We wrestled with duffle bags for a time and moved into neat and new First Ascent tents. I made a quick exploration of a few of the surrounding camps to say hello to old friends but then I hurried back to my own camp for a lunch with my team. We strategized a bit and laid out a few of the normal ground rules that make living so closely for so long, not only possible but enjoyable. Then we gathered outside with the entire team, including basecamp personnel and climbing Sherpas and then each person introduced themselves and said a few words. Some of us chuckled to hear the casual delivery the older veteran climbers gave to their extensive resumes. It is funny to realize that we are in a place where someone might just forget to mention that time they climbed K2 or Ama Dablam or Kangchenjunga. Peter Whittaker reminded one and all that our top priority on this trip would be safety- for which he got plenty of agreeing and understanding nods in return. Then it got cloudy and a bit snowy again as most took the opportunity for a quick nap. I enjoyed scattering my junk in my own tent and plopping down in the middle of it all, drifting off to the thunder of avalanches as the glaciers around BC pushed one railroad-car-sized chunk after another over great drop-offs. We are in the midst of a crazy tapestry of tents and boulders. At any given time, one can hear cooks chopping veggies, shovels scraping gravel, rocks being moved from place to place, a few tinny FM radios playing Nepali music and an occasional live voice breaking into song. As peculiar as it may sound, this already feels like home and I have to make myself remember that I was anywhere else for the past ten months.

Tuesday, August 22, 2023 - 7:47 am PT

Everything went just like clockwork today for the start of our adventure.  We were up early, eating breakfast and shuffling duffels at Rivertrees Inn.  We actually drove away to start the climb several minutes before the 8 AM intended launch.  Ninety minutes in the bus brought us to the Machame gate of Kilimanjaro National Park.  At 6000 ft, this was to be our starting point.  Inevitably there was a little time spent getting the team permit paperwork finished, and some time spent getting porter loads sorted.  But we were able to start walking through the forest a little after 10:30 AM, not bad at all.  Freddy, one of our longtime local guides led today’s charge up the hill. We began with a gradual climb on a road, which eventually turned into a trail upward through the rainforest.  We considered ourselves lucky to have a fair bit of blue sky and sunshine for the first day, which is very often spent under or within thick clouds.  As well, we seemed to be a few hours ahead of most other teams which meant that the track through the woods was pretty peaceful.  We took several breaks to eat snacks and drink tea, but we kept at the hard work of gaining altitude and by 3:30 we’d reached Machame Camp at 10,000 ft.  Our amazing staff had our camp built and ready for us to move in when we arrived.  We only had to clean up and show up in the dining tent for tea time.  Easy.  Tosha, our world class chef is serving up dinner at 6:30 and the team is anxious to enjoy a good meal, see some southern hemisphere stars and get a good night’s rest. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn