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RMI JJ Justman recaps Ixta summit day.
On The Map
Posted by: Brent Okita, Leah Fisher
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,320'
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RMI Guide Brent Okita calls from the summit of Mt. McKinley, 20,320 ft.
On The Map
You are amazing Gerald!!!! You are one in a million, always have been and always will be!!! We miss you tons! Please come and visit with family ASAP! The Hamptons in the summer isn’t the same without you! Love you Gerald!
Love,
Kimmy
Posted by: KImmy on 6/24/2013 at 8:35 am
Simply phenomenal!
Congratulations
-th
Posted by: Tom H on 6/8/2013 at 1:53 pm
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
On The Map
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Ben Luedtke, Roland Scott, Joey Manship, Will Nash, Ben Thorneycroft
Categories:
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb July 3 - 6 led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Ben Luedtke enjoyed a beautiful morning on Mt. Rainier. The teams reached the summit at 6:15 am under clear skies and great route conditions. The team enjoyed an hour in the crater before starting their descent. Once back at Camp Muir the climbers will have a quick break and then continue the remaining 4,500' down to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.
Nice work team!
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Mike King has had a successful week of training and Denali Prep. While weather and route conditions kept the team on the lower slopes of Mt. Rainier, they were able to take advantage of the time to hone in on their mountaineering skills. The team trained on and discussed the following topics; avalanche forecasting, route finding, crevasse rescue, camp building, and various glacier travel techniques.
Congratulations Team!
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We were up before the sun at Lokisale, our tented hotel in the outback of Tarangire. It was wonderful to sip coffee as the baobab trees took shape with the rising sun. Some heard a lion passing near to camp. The great staff put out a fine and fast breakfast for us and then we said goodbye and hopped into the Landcruisers for one final morning of safari. We cruised the “swamp” -a vast expanse of grass- with no other cars around. There were herds of zebra and elephant, wildebeest and Cape buffalo stretching for miles and miles. Eventually, Saiman and Izach pointed our vehicles toward the distant park entrance, but on the way, we saw the good stuff… a leopard climbing a tree, a lion hunting, hyenas crunching the bones of a kill… some final scenes to sustain us during endless airplane travel homeward.
It was a few more hours back to Rivertrees Inn, and then showers and packing for travel. We had time for a last dinner together out under the big trees, and then we were headed to the airport and a million lines and our goodbyes to each other.
It has been a fine two weeks of seeing the world together. Thanks for following along.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,310'
Friday, June 17, 2022 1:47 AM
June 17th 2022 - THE TEAM SUCCESSFULLY SUMMITS!
Well hot diggity dog we did it! We went to bed with several inconclusive weather forecasts stressing us out and a weather check at 4:30 confirmed cloudy skies. Alas our actual wake up of 6:30 gave us the surprise “nowcast” we had been waiting for, clear skies and no sign of winds! Huzzah! We quickly set about rallying the troops and making hot water for breakfast. When it was all said and done we were walking by 8:30 headed up, up, up! We first scaled the imposing and cold “Autobahn”. A large steep traverse that gains us about a 1,000 feet. Next we zig and zagged through “Zebra Rocks” gaining more elevation rapidly. Next we meandered slowly and steadily uphill crossing the Denali summit plateau until we got to the “Football Field” a large flat zone that led to our final two obstacles. “Pig Hill” and the summit ridge proper! Pig Hill is a daunting final push up several switch backs to gain elevation before traversing the true summit ridge. The Summit Ridge gave us incredible views and big exposure before finally giving way to the true summit itself! The highest point in North America! There was much congratulating and picture taking and before you know it, it was time to head down. We retraced our steps safely and efficiently all the way back to camp. The crew was tired, thirsty and hungry but by jove they’d done it! All told 13 hours round trip. After being fed and watered, it was quickly lights out for everyone.
Talk to you tomorrow friends, family and loved ones!
RMI Guides Avery, Jack, Liam and the Team
Congratulations Heather and everyone on this expedition. What an accomplishment. I saw this image and got chills. I can’t even imagine the feeling of reaching the summit after all your training prior to arriving and then the last three weeks. Heather, thank you so much for fundraising for ANRF and arthritis research. YOU are amazing!
Posted by: Jenn on 6/20/2022 at 6:16 pm
Congratulations to all and Rebecca! Your Mecha Team has been cheering you on from Colorado. We are proud of you! Get home safe and soon!
Posted by: Courtney Hutton on 6/18/2022 at 7:19 pm
Posted by: Brent Okita, Henry Coppolillo, Trevor Katz, Sam Hoffman, Mike Bennett, Evan Redman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five-Day climb led by RMI Guides, Brent Okita and Henry Coppolillo, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They enjoyed absolutely beautiful day on top this morning with a great route and enjoyable weather.
They will enjoy a casual walk back down to Camp Muir to do some more training this afternoon and tomorrow morning. The team will return to Basecamp tomorrow.
Nice work team!
Great job everyone! Sorry I couldn’t climb with you.
Posted by: David Jesmer on 6/25/2023 at 9:01 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Pete Van Deventer, Leif Bergstrom, Nick Sinapius, Hannah Blum, Will Nash
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four-Day climb led by RMI guides, Mike King and Leif Bergstrom, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams were standing on top at around 5:40am after a quick ascent.
They will descend to Rainier Basecamp this afternoon to bask in their success and enjoy a bit of rest after their hard work.
Great job team!
Posted by: Geoff Schellens
Categories: Guide News
On May 9th Jake and I departed from Base Camp around 8:00 AM, skiing down the Southeast Fork through the cold, crisp morning air to the main flow of the Kahiltna Glacier. We continued down the glacier for another half hour and reached the West Ridge of Mt. Hunter. Here Jake and I cached our skis and began climbing. We approached this objective in a light and fast technique, known as “alpine style,” bringing four days of food, a small stove, a lightweight tent, and no comfort items. As we started climbing we found a very nice boot pack leading up the ridge that made for extremely efficient travel. At first we felt guilty drafting behind someone else breaking trail, but soon decided that each of us has done our fair share of trail breaking on other peaks and that we ought to just enjoy this one. As the two of us climbed higher on the West Ridge with ear-to-ear smiles we decided on a plan, “Lets climb until we’re not having fun and then camp there.” Well, the climbing on the West Ridge was extremely fun and after twelve hours of navigating the corniced ridge, peppered with exquisite sections of rock, steep snow and ice, we found ourselves at the 11,400’ bivy - tired but still smiling. We set our tent in a small notch and ate freeze-dried dinners with a fantastic view of the Alaska Range. It was truly an awesome place to be.
The next morning brought beautiful weather and a sense of excitement for where we were and what lay ahead. With our approach of simply having fun, we enjoyed the morning views and a few cups of coffee before breaking camp at noon. Moving quickly relishing every step and with a swing of an ice tool we ascended steep snow pitches and navigated gaping crevasses. Soon we found ourselves on the summit plateau at 13,000’ walking across the largest stretch of horizontal terrain we had seen in thirty hours. From there we ascended the final 55° slope that took us to the summit ridge. From there, forty more minutes of easy climbing gave way to the summit of Mt. Hunter. While standing on the summit Jake and I hooted and hollered with excitement, “What a fun climb!”
Soon we began our descent with the same approach we used on the ascent - climb until it is not fun and then set up camp. Down the ridge we went back to our bivy site, where we decided to descend via the Ramen Route. Quickly Jake and I realized that we had made a wrong turn into the entrance of the Couloir. This meant that we had to do a few tricky rappels and down climb through seracs to get ourselves back on route. Once we were back on track, we had a few more rappels before softer snow conditions allowed us to down climb to the base of the 3,300’ Ramen Coulior.
Now, for the second time in two days, we found ourselves again on flat glaciated terrain. At this point it was getting late in the day, but we were still enjoying ourselves and decided to continue our descent. Due to the time of day we chose to navigate the extremely broken-up glacier since it provided more camping opportunities if we needed to set up camp. This was a time intensive descent however as Jake and I soon found ourselves in a world surrounded by incomprehensible seracs and crevasses. A couple more hours brought us back to the main flow of the Kahiltna Glacier and our skis. After forty-two hours we arrived back at Base Camp exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and smiling. Employing our tactic of “climb until we are not having fun” had been the perfect strategy for this route.
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RMI Guide Geoff Schellens is a senior guide leading trips on Aconcagua, the North Cascades, Mt. Rainier, as well as, guiding Ice Climbing and Mt. McKinley. He is currently preparing for his next adventure this spring on Dhaulagiri, an 8,000 meter peak in the Himalayas. See more of Geoff's mountain photography on his website.
HI TA,
Congratulations on your summit!it is really cool that you made it to the top.Did you have a good time on the mountain? Looking forward to having you back for a visit again. Hooray for you from the grade fours at Bishop Abraham Elementary.
Heather and the grade four class
Posted by: Heather Courage on 10/25/2012 at 4:31 am
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