Most Popular Entries
Posted by: Seth Waterfall, Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Posted by: Casey Grom, Ben Liken, Christina Dale, Augi Fleer, Nick Sinapius, Nicole De Petris
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb July 25 - 28 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Ben Liken. Clear skies and warm temperatures continue in the area. Once the teams return to Camp Muir they will take a quick break to re-hydrate and re-pack their gear before continuing the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise. The teams will celebrate their achievements later this afternoon at Rainier Basecamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Mira Schoeberlein, Nick Sinapius, Charlie Harrison, Lily Emerson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Casey Grom and Dominic Cifelli led their Four Day Climb teams for August 15 - 18, 2022 to the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Climbers reached the summit around 5:30 am. They reported an excellent climb and overall great day. The teams are heading back to Camp Muir where they will take a quick break before continuing the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise. Their program will conclude this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Win Whittaker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'

Way to go Pete Lynn! Want to hear all about it. Tracked all the way up.
Posted by: Bill Adkins on 8/1/2014 at 6:43 pm
Hi Arthur and Owen with team Emmons. Have been following you all the way to the summit (well at least since 6.00am!). That was so awesome to watch. Congrats to the whole team and a special thanks to whoever packed the GPS tracker! Can’t wait to hear all about it. Love M & D
Posted by: Shirley Eigenbrot on 7/31/2014 at 6:05 pm
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro


Safari time!
Today was the first day of safari for us and we headed west to visit Lake Manyara, which is known for its tree climbing lions, and vast species of birds. We didn't manage to see any of those famous lions, but we had a very close encounter with a few elephants. Nothing dangerous, but they passed close enough that we could have almost touched them.
It was a pretty hot day here in Africa, so I'm sure that keep many of the animals hiding in the shade. We did manage to see a few zebras, Cape buffalo, giraffe, hippos, baboons, impalas and so many birds I lost count. It was a pretty nice introduction to the incredible bio-diversity that Africa has, and everyone enjoyed the day riding around in our safari vehicles.
We finished the day spending a few hours relaxing and exploring the grounds of our amazing lodge.
That's all for now,
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari Crew
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro



It is always tough to leave the Plantation Lodge. It is just too comfortable and the people are way too kind and friendly. But we tore ourselves away because of Tarangire National Park. It is a worthy motivating force… the chance to see incredible numbers and varieties of wildlife on a seemingly unlimited expanse of beautiful land. We got rolling out of Karatu at 8:30 AM but couldn’t resist a fine shopping opportunity for some Tanzanian keepsakes a short distance out of town. We still made it out to Tarangire by late morning and immediately began seeing animals and then more animals and more animals still. At first it was just the flavors we’d already become familiar with (zebra, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck, eagles, vultures, giraffes) but then we started seeing new things. Family after family of elephants, each with a wee one just a few months old. We saw a python up a tree. We saw lions chewing on a zebra. We saw hartebeest and elan and bushbucks and Dik Dik. We looked up every likely tree for leopards… but they are still hiding from us. Then we finished the day at Lokisale Lodge, deep within the park. The staff gave us a friendly welcome and lit a fire for us to enjoy sunset by. They warned us gently of the wild animals roaming through the grounds of the lodge and then showed us to our deluxe tent cabins. We are about to eat our final dinner together, way out in East Africa.
Best Regards
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Jess Wedel, Nick Sinapius, Josh McDowell, Eric Frank, Brian Walters
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Four Day Climb June 5 - 8 was unable to make their summit attempt. Strong winds overnight at Camp Muir kept the climbers safely inside the hut. RMI Guides Mike Haugen and Josh McDowell reported sustained winds of 50 mph with gusts in the 60's. The winds have decreased enough to allow the climbers to ascend above Camp Muir to check things out. After their walk, they will return to Camp Muir and then make their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing the climbers at Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.
Mike/Jess & Team-
Great climb, thanks so much for taking us! The views were amazing, I learned a ton, and you guys made it really fun, and safe! Good luck with the Kautz Route Seminar later this week!
-Bill
Posted by: Y on 6/8/2022 at 10:59 pm



Saturday, February 12, 2022
As I write this from my top bunk in the third row of five from the hypoxic altitude of 15,100 feet, I have a strange nostalgia of a sixth grade slumber party. With nine grownups stacked side by side, telling jokes and having laughs, I wonder if we aren’t actually at RMI’s Ecuadorian summer camp.
Hannah was a camp counselor in her younger years but come tomorrow, our activities should resemble more of a mountaineer trip than that bad 80s flick.
But, before we put the cart before the donkey, let’s hear about today.
It started famously with chirping birds, hot coffee and a lovely breakfast. This got everyone all fired up for our mega shopping extravaganza at Otavalo, Ecuador’s largest craft market. After we crushed our huevos, we then needed to carry our big bags down the street a ways to load up because the day before, Hector our driver, accidentally ripped a chunk of the entrance gate off with the bike rack and was put in the penalty box 50 yards away. Wait, I don’t think Ecuador has hockey.
Once loaded we left our beautiful hacienda and our brave group of summer camp mountaineers dispersed into the stalls of color and crafts ready to finagle the deal of a lifetime. I highly doubt this happened but with wobbly espanol I think we all managed something. Don’t worry significant others, you’ll probably get a gift.
After the market we had lunch at a sandwich shop shared with some “hot and rugged” older bikers, (that wasn’t my quote) and then proceeded to the secret rendezvous point where we did a covert transfer from the bus to the 4x4s.
It was here we finally found some real adventure! Fifteen miles up the windy cobblestone road, we hit a mud bog likely to make any redneck proud! With our trucks tearing up the track, only to fail 30 feet from gripable salvation, we worried we might not make it to the hut. I think we cheered, never fear Jaime is here! And he finally won the mud track battle. With all the trucks passed the crux we had a relatively smooth go up to the refugio.
A fine dinner of coke marinated chicken and water grass soup readied us for bed, so here we are. Snuggled up just waiting for someone to start snoring!
Find out tomorrow if that happened.
This is Entertaining Adam!! 2 blogs a day please! LOL Brings back Awesome memories! All the best!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/13/2022 at 12:25 pm
Posted by: Casey Grom, Ben Ammon, Erika Birkeland, Trevor Katz, Evan Sather, Ellison Boord
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climbs August 7 - 10 led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Ben Ammon reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. As of 7:30 am the teams were at 13,100' on their descent. They will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing down to Paradise.
The program will conclude this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers.
Thanks for a fantastic adventure! Guides Casey, Erika and Evan were great!
Posted by: Darrell Jesse on 8/11/2022 at 3:06 pm
Way to go Brian! We are so proud! Love, Mom and Dad
Posted by: Joan Schneider on 8/10/2022 at 8:55 am
Posted by: Mike Walter, Taylor Bickford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Mike Walter checked in from camp this afternoon. Mike reported avalanche conditions and decided to turn due to unstable snow conditions, rain on snow, some natural avalanche conditions and 30 - 60cm postholing.
They hope to climb thru Coleman-Deming and then hike out tomorrow.
Sterling,
Looking forward to following your adventure. Be safe and enjoy yourself. Colleman is bringing Barney down on the next plane. Take care, Leff
Posted by: Steve Leff on 12/8/2012 at 12:03 pm
We so enjoy following your adventure and photos every day. best of luck, have a great climb and stay safe. love
Posted by: Dad and Fran on 12/8/2012 at 10:34 am
View All Comments