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Saturday, June 30, 2018 - 8:25 pm PT The weather clearing did not happen until late last night, so we could not make a break to Basecamp. The clear weather did make for a great rest day at 11,000' camp. We slept in and enjoyed the sunshine while we gathered our strength for one long and final push to the the snowy airstrip. The team is in great spirits and ready to get back to summer and away from days filled with snow! Keep your fingers crossed for clear, flying kind of weather for us tomorrow! RMI Guide Mike Haugen and Super Crew 6

On The Map

Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - 9:27 PM PT Today we had another great breakfast. Then the crew geared up for a climb up towards the fixed ropes. We have had more than our share of good rest in the past few days. We needed to move some blood and keep our fitness we have gained on this trip. From the forecast we are seeing it looks like we could have a few more days of poor weather. We hope to take another climb for fitness tomorrow and be ready for a break in the weather. Fingers crossed! RMI Guide Tyler Jones

On The Map

Greetings, Just a quick note that our whole Chile Ski Team is here with all of their gear. Sergio picks us up in 10 min and we'll be headed out for our first day on skis at the base of Lonquimay. Will try to check in later with more of a dispatch... Cheers, RMI Guide Tyler Reid

June 18, 2014 - 3:00pm PT RMI Guides Adam Knoff, Lindsay Mann, Andy Hildebrand and Team have arrived in Talkeetna, AK to start their 2014 Mt. McKinley Expedition. Everything is going as planned for the team. They have completed their equipment check, met with the National Park Service and with good luck plan to fly onto the Kahiltna Glacier tomorrow. Follow along on the RMI Expeditions Blog for updates on the team!

Woke this morning to four inches of new snow. It was full on snowing when we went to bed last night and Viesturs and I, like expectant little kids, peered out the window to see how much had fallen. Lobuche had turned into a winter wonderland overnight. Nonetheless, at 16,200' the sun is quite powerful, and by late morning the temperatures were balmy, with some of the porters staging snowball fights! After breakfast, we received a bit of disheartening news that 22 of our expedition loads are still in Katmandu. We were under the assumption that just four were there and that the rest were on their way to Base Camp. After a morning powwow, we decided to send Linden Mallory (Base Camp manager) up to Base to get a physical count of bags and inventory what was there. Our agenda does not have us occupying Base Camp for two more days, but we must have adequate gear and equipment to make our move up. We should be OK but we'll know more tomorrow. The team is firing on all cylinders. It is an honor to be a part of such an accomplished group of climbers. We have a wealth of mountain experience and knowledge starting with Viesturs and Hahn, with 16 Everest summits between them. Our climbing team will function the same way we do on Rainier when we are stacked heavy with experienced guides. Though there is an expedition leader and climbing leaders, all team members share in the decision-making process. Our production team rocks as well, as Gerry Moffatt and Jake Norton have both stood on top of the "Big E." This is a talented team, deep on experience. Now, with a little luck our Katmandu bags will find their way up the Khumbu to Base Camp and we can put our team's mountain experience to work. Uh-oh, it is beginning to snow again outside...

Thursday, June 12, 2025 8:54pm PDT

Denali dispatch -Don’t let her savagery fool you. This mountain has a mind of her own. Sun turns to snow and calm turns to wind. A cyclical pattern as unpredictable as the market’s response to earnings beat these days. Volatility is the name of the game, and a patience rooted in readiness is a must. When she cooperates never expect ideal but tolerable is enough. Embrace her wind and moodiness, it makes her that much more endearing.

We spent the day eating, resting, and visiting the edge of #4 the world. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Here are some more lessons learned for the loved ones back home.    

1. If it has a name, it means the mountain wants it to be named. For example, Squirrel hill is “squirley,” that may take a minute to digest. The names mean obstacles, and the obstacles mean hard. Don’t let the inviting nature of the titles fool you. If your guide calls a part of the mountain anything other than the route, you know you’re in for it.

 2. Pee bottles, I know to those back home this is a grotesque thought, but up here they are a gift. Embrace your gift. Own your gift. Treasure your gift. As Lacie said, under no circumstances, zero circumstances, does she leave her tent at night to pee. Now I understand her logic.  

3. Nighttime and darkness are not symbiotic here in Alaska. Night is light and day is light. Another essential item is the eye mask but really the eye shield. It’s amazing how you can trick your “I need darkness to sleep” body into submission. The titled portions on the route are extra wreck you parts, the foundation of your hard as hell sundae, and the eye mask is the cherry a maraschino cherry on top. Does anyone even like those?

4. Ditch loops are magic. Sprinkled fairy dust when you need to throw off your pack. Punches and cream? Rumple punchskin? Puncharella?

5. Healthy is consuming the most calorie dense food you can. Frozen or thawed, who cares. Eat it and eat a lot of it. #frostingdoesnotfreeze.   

6. Blue bags are a triple bag system for a reason. Do not roll. Do not wrap. Twist tie then knot, your pack and guide will thank you. Extra tips required for solving your personal poop problems.

7. A 38-degree tent is warm, sauna like warm. No cold plunges needed on this mountain, just walk outside and you’re set.

8. Foot baths in the cook tent are a no A forever no. A never again no.

9. When the guides say you have an hour before we are walking it feels more like five minutes. If you’re sitting around at any point, you are doing it all wrong. Remember cramming for tests in school? Bring that urgency and maybe you have a chance of being on time if you’re container store organized.

10. Lather on your sunscreen Even on the days you are not sure you’ll ever see the sun again. Bathe in your sunscreen. You can never apply it too often. Pro tip: bring a sunscreen stick for the extra miserable, inopportune moments you must reapply

10.Rest breaks go something like: parka, pee, sit on pack, drink, eat, apply sunscreen, drink again, throw your pack on, repeat. Super restful, obviously. Side note, just because you see another team resting it doesn’t mean you get to “rest” there too. Best not to get your hopes up.

12. Most people don’t realize there is a dry cleaner up here. The life of luxury, truly Your sleeping bag isn’t just your haven of warmth, but it serves as your personal drying machine. You know when you do laundry and you fill the machines to capacity to fit it all in one load? Or when you’re bringing groceries inside and you load up both arms to make one trip? That’s your sleeping bag. Fill her up and let her go to work.

13. Rest step. It’s as essential to your movement efficiency as brushing your teeth is to your smile.

14. Bring a pillowcase. One that smells like home. A little bit of comfort in the uncomfortable.

15. Do not assume relationships. Father, daughter, mother, son, grandparent, grandchild etc. Sure, everything is fine when you get it right. But when you get it wrong, well, someone walks away like a small child without a piece of candy from a candy store. My aunt said she is the butterfly on my pack, or this trip and she nailed it. To all the butterflies on with us, thank you. Your encouragement and belief fuels us in the valleys and celebrates with us on the mountaintops

Thank you for the continued prayers, we can’t wait to make it back home to all of you. Weather permitting, we are on the move again tomorrow, our last big push to embrace all the hard this mountain has left for us. We may have underestimated her beauty, but we never underestimate her boss-ness.

Love,

RMI Climber Caroline and Team  

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

All is well here on Kilimanjaro!

Today we woke to beautifully clear skies with even better views of Kilimanjaro and clouds obscuring the valleys below. Our morning ritual has been waking around 6:30 and getting everything in our tents packed up before heading into our very spacious dining tent for a great breakfast feast.

We hit the trail once again around 8 am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 15 minute break, then back on the trail for another hour. All total today we hiked for just over 6 hours before reaching camp which is set up and ready for us. 

Along the way we passed around the famous and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000', setting new altitude records for some and we also chatted with a few other climbers who are on the same schedule with us. All in all it was a really nice day with clouds gathering in the afternoon to help keep the temperature comfortable for hiking. 

That’s all for now. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew

We were in clouds from daybreak at Shira Camp today. We could still see Kibo, Kilimanjaro’s central peak, from time to time but mostly we saw clouds and more clouds. It was not necessarily bad for walking though. We got on the trail just before 8 AM and walked up gently inclined slopes toward Kibo. The trail was much less steep than yesterday’s workout, but we still gained altitude steadily. By noon we’d reached our intended high point for the day, 15,200 ft at the base of the “Lava Tower” we were denied the big views as the clouds were particularly thick and a little cool there.  That did not stop us from enjoying a picnic lunch provided by our amazing kitchen staff.

We were certainly ready to get lower, so we followed Omar down the steep track leading to the Barranco Valley. Omar is one of our five local guides. Yesterday we followed Happyson and the day before that Godlove. It didn’t take the team long to go from the “Alpine Desert” vegetative zone to the Moorland. We came down into a garden of Giant Senecios and Lobelias. Dropping to 13,000 ft we rolled into Barranco Camp at about 2:30 PM. Eventually the clouds parted to reveal Kibo with its hanging glaciers and ice fields as well as the Great Barranco Wall -our challenge for tomorrow morning. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

We are settled in at the Cayambe hut and planning to climb tonight. It has been off and on rain and wind throughout the day, but is currently nice. We will see what we get in a few hours when my alarm goes off!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Sit back and relax. We let the sun warm our tents before crawling out this morning. The valley below was swallowed by clouds giving camp an almost eerie feel. We sat just above them with a clear sky above. There was nothing on our agenda besides relaxing and organizing our belongings for our move tomorrow. A big part of expeditions is self entertainment during rest days. The team occupied themselves with flying colors. Camp was quiet most of the day until a team from below carried gear to Camp 1. They lacked some self awareness and implanted themselves in the middle of our scene. It gave some comedy to the day and a topic at dinner. Everyone is looking healthy and strong after resting all day, so tomorrow we will make our move to Camp 2. We will make our new home at 18,000'. You can feel the excitment in the team as our summit day approaches. Its less than a week away...

Adios,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map