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Saturday, May 29, 2021 - 10:52 pm PT

The wind died down for us last night, but in its place the snow ramped up. Our hope was to try to climb one of the peaks surrounding camp, but lack of visibility and new snow avalanche concerns kept us away from big steep slopes. Instead, we opted for plan B, which was to head east out of camp and do some ice climbing on an exposed part of the main Kahiltna Glacier. It turned out to be a great venue.

Twenty minutes of walking out our front doors put us on top of a few different 60-80 foot climbs. We lowered in from the top and climbed back out. Everyone got a handful of laps in. We even put up one notable first ascent which earned the name, I Just Need a Minute to Rest(MFA), AI4, 60 feet. Due to the long approach and shifting nature of the glacier, we do not expect this route to become a classic. That’s a real shame, because it got five stars in our book. We wrapped up the day with a bunch of macaroni and cheese with bacon, and some surprisingly deep and affirming kitchen tent talks. The only way this day could have possibly been better is if we could have seen a single thing all day, but living in a whiteout is part of being in the Alaska Range.

Tonight looks to be another snowy one, so we’ll see what we can get done tomorrow. At some point we’ll need to start working our way back towards base camp. As always, everyone sends their best and we’ll check in tomorrow.

RMI Guide JM Gorum

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides JM Gorum and Ben Ammon climbed above the clouds and reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Ben reported clear skies and chilly temperatures. The team has started their descent and are en route back to Camp Muir. Congratulations to today's team!

May 29 12:04am PT

This morning we woke up with the goal of caching gear and food as close to 17 camp as possible. As we passed each of the normal places people cache below 17 camp, such as the top of the fixed lines, below Washburns thumb etc., we just couldn’t find a reason to not keep going.

The weather was perfect, not a whisper of wind, and the views endless. The team was performing extremely well at such high altitude for the first time this trip, not to mention how they floated through the most technical terrain we’ve encountered thus far, so we went all the way to 17,000 ft camp. After digging ourselves a hole to cache in, we retraced our steps back down the west buttress and the fixed lines until we rolled into camp just as the shadow of the mountain engulfed the tent city.

All in all, a successful day completed by a strong team!

Guides JT, Matias, Jackson and the RMI team

Tuesday, June 1, 2021 - 10:48 pm PT

A fresh few inches of snow covered camp this morning as we waited for the sun to warm us up.  We slowly rolled out of our sleeping bags and ate a leisurely paced blueberry pancake breakfast.  The day was spent preparing for our move to 17,000' Camp tomorrow.  We sorted our gear into summit gear and gear we can leave here at 14,000' Camp as well as planned our food for our summit push.  The afternoon was full of movie watching and sport eating, a favorite Denali pastime.  After dinner and philosophical discussions, we all tucked into our tents to be rested for the coming days ahead.  

RMI Guide Eric Frank

RMI Guide James Bealer checked in from the summit of Mt. Baker this morning. 

After a warm walk into camp, the team enjoyed their breakfast before starting their ascent in the mid-morning. They stood atop Mt. Baker (Komo Kulshan) at around 11 am this morning. 

Congrats team!

RMI Guide Grayson Swingle topped off the Paradise Seminar week- literally.  They are on the Mt. Rainier summit right now!  The team spent the week on the flanks of Mt. Rainier learning valuable mountaineering skills. Yesterday they moved to Camp Muir where they started their summit bid early this morning.  We look forward to congratulating them this afternoon at Rainier Basecamp.

Our last night in base was made dramatic by a lightning storm rolling through. A few inches of snow fell thick and fast, making morning, bright, fresh and beautiful. At 11:15 AM we filed out of the ghost town that Mount Everest Basecamp has become. The climbing team, accompanied by Lam Babu, made good time in losing three and a half thousand feet to reach Pheriche in four hours and forty-five minutes. We each paid Everest's summit a couple of last longing looks during the march, but then paid more attention to the task at hand; walking an uneven, slippery mountain trail while dodging trekkers, yaks and porters. The gang stuck together wonderfully, demonstrating what a close knit and fit climbing team we've become. With each village on the descent, through Gorak Shep, Lobuche and Thukla, we each noticed the thicker and easier air. We coughed less and walked faster. All enjoyed seeing the baby yaks trying out their legs on our homestretch into Pheriche. Tonight, we are indoors again... safe, enjoying each other's company, and quite comfortable. We hope things are going well for Mark Tucker and the bulk of our Sherpa Team, back at EBC for a last couple of days to button things up properly. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

There is nothing more fundamentally Mongolian then riding a horse. Today we got to try our hands at the national mode of travel as we exited our base camp via the Tsagaan Gol Valley on horseback. Five hours of trotting, cantering and the occasional gallop alongside a beautiful river brought us to a small ger camp in the base of the valley. In the States we call them yurts, but here in Mongolia the round semi-permanent tents made of felt are called gers. Each summer, when the nomadic people of the area move their herds- thousands of sheep, goats, yaks, horses and camels- to the upper valleys to feast on green grass, they set up small ger camps and live out in the open. Tonight part of the team is staying in tents and part of the team have elected to join our hosts in their ger for the night. Even though they don't know us and we don't share any common language, these kind people have welcomed us into their home and made us comfortable in every way possible. Despite the fact this might be highly unusual at home, this is quite normal in Mongolia and another reason to love the hospitality of this culture. RMI Guide Eric Frank and team

Namaste from Ama Dablam Camp 2, We climbed to the famous Yellow Tower, surmounting the most technical terrain that this route presents. We dragged our feet leaving Camp 1 as to get bathed by the sun a little bit. Then we crossed with ease the beautiful yet incredibly exposed crest with several hundreds of feet to drop on either side, contemplating how the now distant Base Camp became smaller and smaller down in the valley. The winds are strong here, but the sun shines and it is comfortable inside the tents. Air feels thin, but our acclimatization process has been productive. We're going to hope for the best with the winds and we will put up a good fight, smart though, but we won't know until we get higher later tomorrow morning. We sure hope to make a phone call from the summit! RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

Long-time RMI Guide, Alex Van Steen, visited a local second grade classroom at Columbia Crest STEM School as part of RMI’s Community Outreach program. STEM schools, a relatively new concept in Washington State, have a distinct emphasis on hands-on learning and the integration of science, technology, engineering and math into student lessons. RMI has partnered with Columbia Crest STEM to bring our mountaineering experiences right into the classroom. With Alex, the second graders studied the essential question, “What causes a volcano to erupt?” Students thoroughly enjoyed the lesson and learned ways to explain and create their own shield, composite, cinder cone and caldera volcanoes! RMI Guide Alex Van Steen