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It's been an adventurous couple of days so far. It took three flights to finally get onto the glacier, the first attempt getting turned back about half way to the airstrip on the SE fork of the Kahiltna glacier. The second time we were just four minutes from the airstrip when ground fog turned us back. But, at 6:00pm we finally made it! I've got to hand it to our pilots. Three attempts is unprecedented.
Given the hour of the day we opted to make camp and begin our climb in the morning.
I'm sure I wasn't the only climber on the trip to fret about the winds and snow the was blasting our tents all night, but at 6:00am the weather settled and we awoke to calm skies. Unfortunately, it didn't last and clouds and snow soon became the order of the day. Navigating in conditions like this can be a challenge, but I soon discovered that we had a secret weapon on our team: our guide Maile Wade, whose uncanny eyes could pick out even the smallest speck of a wand in the white out conditions that our first day served up for us. Coupled with my gps, we made it to tonight's camp at 7800' in great order. Of course, the tiresome winds of the day challenged our camp building skills, but I have to hand to the entire team, everybody dealt exceptionally well with all that was thrown our way today. The first days of these big expeditions can be trying even in nice conditions, and that everyone was in great spirits at the end of the day bodes well for the rest of the trip.
In the parlance of the young: 'I'm psyched!'
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Hello again everyone,
All is well here at Base Camp! Not much new today. The team spent the morning relaxing at breakfast and listening to the BBC, our only current news source. After breakfast most of the members took their weekly showers (thankfully) and did a little laundry too.
Our plan is to rest as much as we can as we wait for the weather window to arrive. Currently looks like it won't be here until next week sometime. That works out perfectly for us as we have plenty of resting to do. A big thanks to Dave Hahn (Expedition Leader) for setting the schedule just right. Now we can just relax for the week. If we had rushed our acclimatization program we would be getting anxious like some teams seem to be. Lucky for us!
Meanwhile we will be hanging out enjoying the nightly dinner surprises that Mark Tucker (Expedition Coordinator) creates for us. Last night we had burritos and an amazing cake. Who knows what tonight might bring!
Hope all is well back home.
Hi this is Seth checking in from high camp on Ixta. The group is all tucked in their tents as it is cold and snowy here. The fact that there is snow on the ground here is an unusual thing but it did make for nice walking today. Everone is in high spirits as the summit is only a few hours away. The weather has been clear every morning and that's what we are hoping for in the early hours. I'll check in again tomorrow, hopefully from the summit of Ixta.
This was a great day for staying put. That said, it sounded like everything outside our little tents was moving around. The forecast called for snow and wind - the reality was exactly that. I was wide-awake at 5:40 a.m., listening to what sounded like a 20-minute train derailment: an avalanche pouring off Everest's Southwest face. Several times I zipped down the tent door, only to see that we were still in the milky midst of the turbulent powder cloud thrown off by the slide. I knew the actual debris couldn't possibly hit ABC - but it was a reminder to me that it wouldn't be a day for wandering around. The decision had been made the night before that our expedition business would be put on hold. No Sherpas shuttling supplies or camera memory cards-no members going on upper mountain "hikes" in a whiteout.
My gang was due for an ABC rest day in any event, but lack of morning sun and abundant frost shaking from tent ceilings kept us all deep in our sleeping bags this morning. Pathetic as it may sound, we were too lazy to even get up and begin resting.
Once up and about, we were granted breaks in the cloud that allowed us to dry our gear and view the mayhem up on the heights. Huge ribbons of snow and cloud tore back and forth across the mountain faces and circled us. The Niagara Falls noise of it all eventually became accepted background to our head tunes and reading.
Not much thought was given to an Everest summit today. Our radio traffic with BC just confirmed that the rest of the team was wisely pushing back climbing plans. It can be difficult deciding whether marginal weather should dictate climbing plans. Thankfully, that is no longer a problem. Real Himalayan storms don't invite calculation and outfoxing. Rather, it is an obvious time for patience, for rehydration, for resting and recharging,,, and the tying down of loose objects.
Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Move to high camp
Today, we moved camp from White Pass up to a beautiful spot amongst alpine lakes in Foam Basin right next to the White Chuck glacier. Getting up early, we said good morning to our fellow marmot friends, took in our first official view of Glacier peak, and set up high camp while enjoying lunch. After a short nap, we refreshed our glacier climbing skills, ate some tasty freeze dried meals, and called it an early night. Tomorrow is summit day. We will wake shortly after the sun disappears, but we are filled with excitement and we look forward to all the challenges tomorrow has to bring. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Ben Luedtke and Team
Thursday, July 24, 2025
The Glacier Peak Team led by RMI Guide Ben Luedtke reached the summit this morning a little after 8:00 am! With what little reception they had, the guides were able to call the RMI office from the summit and share the fantastic news that the entire team had made it to the top. They are now back at camp celebrating their accomplishment, they will spend one more night on the mountain getting some well-deserved rest before they descend back to the trailhead for the conclusion of their trip tomorrow morning.
Friday July 25, 2025
Summit day and walk out
Mountaineering is more than just a sport, a hobby, a vacation, or a summit. Mountaineering is about friendship, comraderie, beautiful views, unforgettable adventures, new experiences, and so much more. Yesterday, and for the entirety of this trip, we accomplished all of that which mountaineering offers. We encouraged each other with heavy packs, pushed one another with words of affirmation, and bonded over the stories of who we are. (And dad jokes). In the end, we summited Glacier Peak, together, as a team on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Some of us walk away with the success of another mountain complete, some of us with the completion of all 5 volcanoes, and some of us completing just 1 of many more objectives yet to come, but we all walk away with the memory of the people we shared it with, the laughs we had, the pains we felt, and the smile of what it truly means to be a mountaineer. Today, we walked out from high camp. Enjoying many a wild berry along the way, we are now basking in the sun that we are glad wasn't there on the twenty some odd switchbacks coming down. Cheers to all for tuning in.
RMI Guides and Team
The skies were clear early this morning, and so it was the perfect time to leave basecamp as the snow surface was nicely frozen and travel was "easy". We were roped up and on our way by 4 AM, watching the sunlight play on the upper slopes of Mts Foraker and Hunter. Glacier conditions were excellent. There were few open crevasses, and the route was fairly direct. We pulled into our destination -the base of "ski hill" - in just four and a half hours.
Camp then went up relatively quickly and we got in out of the intense midday sun for some quality naps. A breeze came up in the evening, but by then we'd built a dining tent and were able to enjoy dinner in peace.
We intend to make a carry tomorrow, to 10,000 ft if possible.
Best Regards,
RMI Guides Dave Hahn, Sam Hoffman, Sam Marjerison, Nick Sinapius
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Denali Expedition June 11, 2024
Our team is assembled, or bags are packed, and we are ready to climb onboard the airplanes and take off! We spent today going through all of our gear, packing and repacking our bags, and sorting lunch food. With all of the details dialed in, we're going to eat what is hopefully our last dinner in town for a few weeks, and catch some zzz's. Tomorrow with any luck, we'll board the planes first thing for one of the highlights of the trip: the stunning flight into
Kahiltna Base Camp. We'll be in touch!
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Robby Young, Josh Maggard, and team
Our first day went off without a hitch. Our logistics and prep was capped off by dinner at the always impressive La Marchigiana.
The team is doing well and we're set to head off to
Penitentes soon. We'll check in when we can!
RMI Guides Zeb Blais, Mike King and Alex Barber
The rains came in the wee hours at Machame Camp this morning. We were all snug in our sleeping bags and dry in our tents, but each of the team heard the showers and wondered how things might be if it all didn't quit by morning. Well, it didn't quit, but things weren't too bad, as it turned out. We geared up in waterproof clothing and got out into light showers and persistent mist. We'd breakfasted and busted out of camp by eight AM, climbing a steep and slippery trail with big lava-block steps. We climbed for several hours in the cloud, wondering just which grand views we were missing. It never got unbearably wet and we were spared from the possibility of overheating from too much sun. Most of our altitude for the day had been gained and we were beginning the leftward traverse which would bring us to the
Shira Plateau when we climbed out of the clouds. It seemed we were in a great garden of wildflowers as we proceeded around the corner to Shira. And then we could see - for the first time - the upper slopes and glaciers of Kilimanjaro. It was an exciting moment, made better by the realization that we only had some easy downhill walking left to go in order to reach camp at 12,570 ft above sea level. We were looking out over an endless sea of cloud and enjoying the sunshine for a time...the clouds washed back over camp in the mid-afternoon. By then though, we were well-fed and well-sheltered in our new and higher home.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide
Dave Hahn
On The Map
It snowed through the night and into the morning here at 14,200 ft. Not heavily, and there wasn't much wind finding our camp, so it wasn't like it was an awful or epic storm. But it was enough of a storm to keep us from going climbing today. We caught the odd view of the mountainside through occasional cloud breaks in the morning and saw dramatic avalanche scars in the
Messner Couloir and Orient Express that matched the rumbling we'd heard. After a long breakfast, we turned the day into a rest day to shore up our acclimatization. By evening, the clouds were breaking up and it seemed that weather was improving again. We'll try again tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide
Dave Hahn & Team
Got the message that you guys moved up to @ 9600’ Great job! Please post an update on how the team is doing when you can.
Posted by: Marina on 5/22/2011 at 7:41 am
HW- hope the weather will get better. BB made a new friend with a 3yr old boy with glasses in her soccer class today. All of us are well and we wish you & your team a successful climb. Love, F
Posted by: F on 5/21/2011 at 6:38 pm
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