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The Mt. Rainier Four Day Climbs led by RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Kiira Antenucci remained at Camp Muir overnight. The teams did not make a summit attempt due to poor weather. They will be descending from Camp Muir this morning and we look forward to seeing them in Ashford this afternoon.

Guides and climbers often struggle with sitting still, so RMI Guides Jake Beren, Leon Davis, and I quickly decided on a personal trip into the Alaska Range this spring. The three of us have guided Denali many times - and as any climber who has been to the Alaska Range knows, it is difficult to travel past countless beautiful peaks, ridges, and faces and ignore the siren call to come climb them. This trip was all about pulling the wax from our ears and sailing directly towards the siren’s song. With no clear plans or objectives, we decided to simply climb what looked enticing. After ten days in the Ruth Gorge, the three of us were picked up from the Ruth Glacier and flown to the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. In early May we climbed the Southwest ridge of Mt. Francis, an excellent ridgeline that offered quality alpine rock and steep snow climbing. With good weather holding, we rested and restocked for the West Ridge of Mt. Hunter. 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. _______ 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.

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

Today we are training at Camp Muir. The weather is not cooperating with our training, but we are having fun teaching and using advanced techniques for our very advanced clientele. It is very winter like here at Camp Muir a lot of snow and a lot of wind. Our last session will be navigation, and that will come in handy tomorrow getting down the Muir Snowfield. JJ, Dan & the Expedition Team

Yesterday we made a valiant effort on Cayambe. The team stuck together and supported each other along the way.  We sat down for a break at 18200' anticipating one more hour to the summit.  However, Mother Nature had a different plan, and we were privy to a surprise lightning show that was a touch too close for comfort. After packing up at the hut we made the trek south to Chilcabamba Eco Lodge where we are letting the bodies rest and reset.  The team went for a neighborhood walk this morning and were delighted to have the neighborhood dogs join, although it seems the dogs had the ulterior motive of getting into mischief. Currently we are taking in stunning views of Cotopaxi and setting our sights towards our next high altitude adventure.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier and Team

Hello everyone,

We spent today touring Tarangire National Park which is home to more elephants per square kilometer than any place on earth, and a huge diversity of other animals, it was amazing to say the least.

We saw elephants, giraffes, warthogs, impala, mongoose, baboons, ostrich, and a lot of other animals, and 13 lions! Several of them were cat napping in trees and even one that was still dinning on last nights feast by the looks of things.

We ended our day at a remote and off grid camp within the National Park and surrounded by wildlife. The camp has screened in rooms that allow the night sounds of Africa in. Hopefully everyone sleeps well tonight!

This is our last dispatch as we will exit the park tomorrow and head back to our lodge near Arusha for a quick break and shower. Then it’s off to the airport to return to our loved ones.

Thanks for following along.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew!

Hola Amigos! It’s finally happened, we have arrived on the mountain! After some last minute packing and eating a lot of empanadas while we waited, we got a weather window and flew into Plaza de Mulas at 14,000 feet. It was one of the most scenic and incredible helicopter flights I’ve ever been on. We settled nicely into our Basecamp, where we will spend the next several days acclimatizing. We’re happy to be here and are going to bed with full bellies thanks to the amazing food and hospitality of the staff at camp.

RMI Guides Walt Hailes & Jack Delaney

It wasn't the wind that blew us away, it was the view! The south face of Aconcagua towered over us all day. Impressive, humbling, breathtaking, epic. We soaked it all in during our acclimatization hike. While not the route we are climbing, it was a good reminder of the challenge that lays ahead. Our spirits are as high as the mountain itself. 

Till next time,

RMI Guide Luke Wilhelm

Mt. Rainier, everyday, when it’s not cloudy … I get to see Mt. Rainier. Ever since I moved to the Seattle area 10 years ago, I’ve been looking at that mountain, knowing that I would summit it someday.  This September, with RMI Expeditions, I will be able to attempt the climb and hope that the mountain allows me to summit.   Every day for the past 8 months I have been waking up and heading to the gym at 4 AM to work out.  I have been part of a fitness program getting back into shape, and now, down 80lbs, I have been inspired to make my summit a reality this fall.  The great thing about living in the Pacific Northwest is that I get to look at the mountain almost daily and it serves as a constant reminder of what I am training for.  That training has to be incorporated into a very busy life, balancing my work and family schedules, but as many I have talked with, every bit of training you do is more ‘fuel’ in your tank for when you summit - that is what drives me to get up every morning. As someone who works in marketing for a major software company in Redmond, my days are kept very busy, and 9 - 10hr work days on top of training is at times challenging to keep up with.  The way I keep life balanced is by starting my days early as it helps me get in what I need to at the gym and allows for some quiet time in the office to catch up on email before the busyness of the day begins. My days look like the following: • 4 AM: Alarm goes off and I drag myself out of bed. • 5 AM: At the gym to get in a 60 - 90 minute workout doing either circuit training, or a mountain conditioning class at the Pro Sports Club. • Around 7 AM I am into work for a full day. • 4 PM: I either head home for the day to relax or I head to Tiger Mountain’s cable line trail for training on Tuesdays & Thursdays. • Eat dinner when I get home. • 8:30-9 PM: Head to bed to rest for another busy day. Right now I’m doing a combination of circuit training and a mountain conditioning course Monday - Thursday at the gym and on Fridays I workout my bigger muscle groups and do a short 30 min on cardio.  On Monday and Wednesday after work I head to the driving range to mix it up a bit and have some fun.  Tuesday and Thursdays are my big days where I have both mountain conditioning and I head up and do the Tiger Mountain Cable Line Trail (1000 vertical feet in a little over a mile).  I use Fridays to recover and I do major hikes for training over the weekends, and try to include my wife on some of these more “fun” hikes.   Balancing the heavy training schedule with work and a family is very tricky, but I also remember this is only for a short period of life, and I am constantly reminded of the goal ahead when I catch a glimpse of Mt. Rainier peeking out from the clouds. - Jeff Marcoux _____ Jeff Marcoux is an avid hiker & lover of micro brews who lives with his wife in Seattle, WA.

Greetings from the top of Orizaba! We had a beautiful day climbing up today. A beautiful moon to climb with, amazing shadows from Popo and Ixta and the team did super well. So, we are psyched. We are happy we are up here. Pretty soon we'll start walking down. We will give a shout from Tlachichuca when we get down this afternoon. It has been a great climb and we are going to keep it rolling. RMI Guide Jake Beren

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