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The Four Day Summit Climb Team for August 20 - 23 were unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today due to route conditions. RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Leon Davis led their teams to the top of Disappointment Cleaver at 12,300' which was their high point today. The teams will descend to Camp Muir and continue to Paradise later this morning.
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
At 8:30 am the Expedition Skills Seminar – Muir led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Walter Hailes crested the summit crater of Mt. Rainier. The team will spend about an hour on the summit enjoying light winds and mild temperatures before beginning their descent to Camp Muir. The team will spend one more night at Camp Muir before returning to Ashford on Friday. We look forward to hearing of their training and climbing adventures.
Congrats everyone, can’t wait till it’s my hubby and I!
Posted by: Carmen on 5/22/2015 at 5:50 pm
Posted by: Seth Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Mambo poa... We are full on safari pros now. We left the Plantation Lodge at a relaxed pace this morning and after a couple of quick shopping missions we made it into Tarangire National Park. This is the 'Garden of the Elephants' and true to its name we have already seen about 50 of them before lunch. We are going to make our way through the rest of the park this afternoon on our way to Kikoti Camp. I'll check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
What a wonderful adventure for all of you!! We miss you Bridget and Kevin! So nice to get the pictures of your smiling faces. Enjoy!!
xxoo
Lizzie, Thomas, Kit and Mary
Posted by: liz Blaney on 8/28/2014 at 6:05 pm
Now that is what call a first class safari! Smiles,friends,and meals you don’t have to cook!
Posted by: Marcy on 8/28/2014 at 2:17 pm
Posted by: Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
May 25, 2014 - 6:27 pm PT
Our team is spending another day at the 14k Camp today, with strong winds apparent up high again. We're hoping to take advantage of a brief window of calmer winds this week in order to take a crack at the summit. We're hoping to move to high camp tomorrow if the weather allows. We've got our fingers crossed, as tomorrow will be day 19 of this expedition and the shot clock is winding down.
We'll let you know how it all plays out.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Fingers crossed that you make it!! Living vicariously through you guys. Good luck!!!
Posted by: Steven on 5/27/2014 at 6:20 am
No big parties last night, all was quiet at Basecamp until the morning helicopter began what seems to be its morning workout at 7AM, just before the sun hit. We were all up and half-packed by our 8 AM breakfast. Everybody had lots of details to chase down and loads to figure out before our 9:30 AM departure. The production teams used their scouting of the previous day to figure out some nice shots as the guides and climbers chugged higher over now-familiar terrain. We took four hours to make it into our new camp, a bit higher than we'd cached yesterday... concensus seems to put us at around 16,500 ft. We found a place of our own up here, which is actually quite nice. This is a busy mountain in its prime climbing season, so there are almost always other teams around us, coming and going. At our Camp One, though, we've carved out a little privacy by virtue of walking a little farther than most choose to. We had clear skies today and strong sunshine, but we have all transitioned from the cotton clothes, shorts and t-shirts that we wore during the trek in. Now we are in mountain climbing clothing and gaurding against the cold. Even so, the afternoon was very warm and comfortable as we napped in the tents. We did dinner over by Melissa's tent, sitting on our sleeping pads in the pumice and gravel with puffy coats on. The light is just getting good now at 7:30 PM, we are in shadow, but we are high enough now that we can see out of the surrounding valleys and watch the sun set on South America.
Rest/Acclimatization day tomorrow... maybe a carry or two for the guides and some production work for the artistically inclined photographers and filmers, but basically tomorrow will be a day designed to allow our bodies to catch up with our rate of ascent.
Posted by: Mike King, Avery Parrinello, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,200'
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Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 8:55 PM PT
Well, today we finally got out of 14 Camp. We had spent eight nights there and by an early season Denali trip that’s nothing but for us and the weather we have had, it felt like an eternity. Today proved to be no cooler temperature wise, HOT going up the fixed lines and once we gained the West Buttress proper it was some of the figurative coolest ridge walking this group has done. We didn’t get great views due to thin clouds but that’s ok, our entire trip has been good views.
We don’t know what tomorrow holds and we could take a rest day if needed. High pressure is building over Denali and we are hopeful to summit tomorrow. Getting to 17 Camp can be a chore, but once you're there Camp must be built, 6 XGK stoves must be managed to make drinking water and hot water for meals. Camp is situated in a glacial depression and we can see the Autobahn which plagues climbers for the first two hours on summit day. This section gets its name from how fast you can get going if you fall and are not clipped into the running belays. Other than a long day, the Team is doing mostly well. It’s normal to not feel 100% here at 17,200’. None of us are living our best lives physiologically, but we are really excited to have a crack at 20,320’. Thanks for the support and blog comments, I’ve been saving them for an alternative pep talk tonight instead of my traditional surly high school gym coach style motivational speech.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Go team go! We’re rooting for you Allan and today’s possible summit!!!
Posted by: Bryan C-G on 6/20/2019 at 12:59 pm
Is so amazing what you are doing!!! Keep up the good work!!!
Please send my regards to Boris! We miss him!
Posted by: Laurent Villa on 6/19/2019 at 5:59 am
Posted by: Robby Young, Nick Scott, Joe Hoch
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Saturday, June 9, 2019 - 10:08 PM PT
Hello world,
Checking in from 14,000' Camp here on Denali. All is well. Today, was all about one thing...supreme chill! A true rest day was enjoyed by all here at Camp under sunny skies and no wind. It was truly a glorious day to be in the Alaska Range. We were up and attem at 9:30am for a bagel, cream cheese, and salmon feast. Breakfast rolled into Gin Rummy, then into sun tanning, then into ‘Hot Drinks Poker’ and right into Buffalo Chicken dinner. It was just what the doctor ordered for this team today. Tomorrow, if the weather allows, it’s back to business. We hope to carry some food, fuel, and gear to the upper mountain tomorrow; probably to Washburn’s Thumb above 16,000’. The weather looks to remain nice for the next few days so we’re cautiously optimistic that we might be able to spend some more time on the upper mountain in the near future (knock on wood). For now, the sun is behind the ridge and we’re tucked in the sleeping sacks. We’ll check in with you all tomorrow.
RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe and Team Poker Face
On The Map
Have a good rest, a good food and a very good climb to the summit ! Hope the weather will be sunny and fine… Waiting for you
Posted by: Sylviane Philippon on 6/9/2019 at 11:48 am
We left Quito early this morning and headed north towards our main objective, Cayambe. Today’s agenda, though, was our second acclimatization climb up Fuya Fuya, an extinct volcano that rises up above 14,000’. Fuya Fuya rises up from the beautiful crater lake, Mojanda. The climb started with a hike up a trail through high altitude grassland that got steeper with every step. Just shy of the summit, the climb got even steeper and involved some fun rock scrambling to get to the top. The weather was good, but cloudy, with intermittent views of the surrounding peaks and valleys. After a steep descent we were back at our vehicle and headed to Guachala, our hacienda for tonight. Tomorrow we will visit the market in Otavalo and then head up to the climbing hut on Cayambe where we’ll spend two nights and hopefully grab a summit.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Our team got shut down by weather on our summit push, but that didn't stop us from having an amazing trip. The climbing and views on our way to high camp below the Upper Curtis glacier were worth the hard push getting there.
The Fisher Chimneys is an incredible route- alpine rock, a pitch of easy ice climbing, and outstanding views of Mount Baker and the Curtis glacier make it a classic!
We got out last night and the team celebrated a great, safe and fun trip! Until next year Washington.
RMI Guide Zeb Blais and Team
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Sean Collon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
May 10, 2015, 9:28 pm PT
We woke today in Talkeetna to beautiful weather and were able to fly on to the Pika Glacier before noon. We spent the day building the camp that we'll be calling home for the next week, and also had time for some avalanche education and training. For now, we are in and out of light clouds and snow, but things are relatively calm, temperatures are mild and all of us are excited to be in Little Switzerland after a weather day in Talkeetna. Fingers crossed for blue skies in the coming days!
RMI Guides Sean Collon, Elias de Andres Martos and Andy Hildebrand
Praying for all!
Spoke with Phillip and Christy last evening. Phillip sent me a picture of he and his girlfriend.
Love You Brian
Posted by: Duane Mycroft on 5/12/2015 at 6:18 pm
The trip looks beautiful! We admire your courage. Be safe and enjoy a trip of a lifetime!
Posted by: Ken and Pam on 5/12/2015 at 8:56 am
Hey Team!!! Congratulations for reaching the top of Disappointment Cleaver, 12,300! That’s a wonderful accomplishment. A lot of hard work. I missed being there with you in person, I was there in spirit.
Barbara
Posted by: Barbara on 8/23/2017 at 10:36 am
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