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RMI Guide Andy Bond reported from summit of Mt. Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys earlier today: "Hey we’re on top. 100% of the crew. Fun climb and we are heading back down to our camp at Lake Ann." Congratulations to today's team!

Monday, May 21, 2019 4:43 pm PT We're taking another planned rest day today in order to get strong and acclimate for our forays up higher. As it turns out, the forecast for high winds came to fruition and we would not have been able to climb higher today even if we had wanted to. Instead, we had another leisurely brunch and worked on fortifying camp with more snow walls. We also practiced fixed line travel for moving above here. Steve Gately's crew (RMI Denali 2) just rolled into camp, so we're gonna go welcome them with some water. We hope the weather will let us put a cache up high tomorrow and then return back down to our current camp at 14,200'. We'll let you know how it goes. RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team

On The Map

Start to finish... another grey day of clouds and snow at Union Glacier... with no horizon, no contrast, not much visibility and zero chance of escape. Except... today was the Antarctic Ice Marathon and everybody was excited. Our own Abdul surprised his climbing team at breakfast by inquiring as to whether he might enter the race... scheduled to begin in an hour. It turned out that he could and did. 26.2 miles was going to be run in whiteout conditions over four laps on a ten kilometer groomed loop. But with new snow falling, the grooming wasn’t all that good. It was a lot like running in sand at the beach. Abdul took off with the crowd at 10:30 AM... his first marathon-and the only one of 59 entrants to have climbed to Vinson’s summit three days earlier. Skeptics expected one lap from him. Abdul finished the marathon, completely comfortable and in control. The winner took 3.5 hours and the final contestant 13 hours with Abdul very respectably in-between. The evening was a memorable and international celebration, with cheers going up from the Chinese, the Australians, the Dutch, the Austrians, the Russians, the Indians and the Sri Lankans... not to mention the Americans and Brits. The end of the day was exactly like the beginning... snow, cloud, murk, calm and quiet. But pretty fun too. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Hello everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in again from Kilimanjaro. We woke up to beautiful clear skies again today, which was very, very nice after a bit of rain and snow showers that we got last night. And, to be honest, that has kind of been the trend the last few nights. We've been able to get in to camp generally before any little clouds roll in and we've been getting some sprinkles and there were some snow in the evening, but we have been waking up to clear skies thankfully every morning. Today we left Karanga Camp which is about 13,200 feet or so and we hiked up to our High Camp, which is called Barafu and sits up at about 15,000 feet. Everybody did fantastic and again, we had super nice weather getting up here shortly after arriving at camp. same thing as the last couple nights, we had clouds roll in and start spitting a little moisture on this, but thankfully our gracious crew already had camp set up and lunch waiting on us so we able to pull in and stay dry and then fill our bellies full of good food up here. We took a little nap and then had dinner and then we also discussed the upcoming game plan for tonight's climb. Finally we're here and ready to do it. So everybody's all packed up squared away. They know what they got going on and what they're going to be wearing and bring with them tomorrow. The plan is going to be for us to wake up at 11 p.m.. It's a little busy up here so we're going to try to get out ahead of some some of the groups. So we're going to get up at 11. We're going to try and hit the trail about midnight or so after a small light breakfast with some porridge, and some maybe some fresh fruit and some toast and obviously plenty of coffee. Then we'll hopefully be walking uphill at midnight. If all goes well we should be at the summit somewhere between 6 and 8 hours. I'm guessing we'll be around 7 or so will be ideal and like the last trip. We can all get to get up there to bring the satellite phone and everyone's going to give a call to their loved ones back home, so if your following the blog and this makes it to the blog before we get to the summit, keep your phone handy again. We should be near this summit somewhere between 7 and 8 o'clock Tanzanian time. So if your phone rings, and you get a funny number, it's probably a satellite phone and someone is calling from the summit to say they miss you and wish that they had you there with them. Anyway, that's all for now time to get some sleep, and we'll check in hopefully from the summit and certainly when we make our way back down. Have a good night. RMI Guide Casey Grom

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Tyler Reid was able to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Strong winds kept the group from spending much time on top. As of 7:15 am they were at 12,900' on their descent. The group will take a short rest at Camp Muir before continuing down to Paradise later today. Congratulations to today's team!

Another early wake up to good weather; good weather for Denali anyway. The skies were a bit overcast and light snows were falling but the winds were calm. We did a "back carry" today. This means that we went from our 11,000' camp back down to retrieve our cache at 10,000'. We bury our caches well over a meter deep so the ravens don't get into our food if the warm days melt the snow. Our strong team ascended back up to camp with style and spent another afternoon sport eating in the posh house (cook tent). RMI Guide Mike Haugen

This is Solveig checking in from Mt. McKinley. We left camp today at 11 am for our carry to 13,200’. Three hours of walking up Motorcycle Hill, Squirrel Hill, across the Polo field, and around Windy Corner to our cache site. Gusting winds and cool temperatures subsided as we approached our cache, a welcome relief. We took a nice break and buried 12 days worth of food, fuel and extra gear. Eager to be back in the shelter of camp we hustled downhill. Everyone is now relaxing after dinner and hot drinks. The forecast calls for moderate wind and continued low pressure throughout the week. So weather permitting we will make our move up to 14,000’ feet. We will check in again soon. RMI Guide Solveig Garhart

On The Map

RMI's May 12th Denali Expedition led by RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier, Dan May and Lacie Smith have spent the last few days traveling to Talkeetna, Alaska, packing gear and weighing all the gear.  They are now at the K2 Aviation hangar and getting ready to fly to the Kahiltna Glacier and get this expedition started.

Good luck team!

Hello from our teahouse in Phakding!

At 3:45am, our alarms went off and we woke up - ready with our duffel bags and all the excitement (and maybe some nerves) for our flight to Lukla.  Everything went smoothly and we were first in line at the airport. After security checkpoints and the duffle shuffle, we were called to board our plane. It was a little cloudy out so we crossed our fingers it was clear in Lukla! And boy, was it our lucky day.  We made it in and we were one of the only flights that did.

We were so excited to finally be hiking, the trails were quiet and the clouds hung around to keep the temperature perfectly cool. We meandered down the path, passing ancient mani stones and crossing our first suspension bridges. After three hours, we made it to Phakding! Our home for the night. Warm RaRa soup (the Nepal version of a hearty ramen) filled our bellies and we spent the afternoon resting to the sounds of the Dudh Khosi river out our windows.

All is well and everyone is doing great!

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team

Wednesday, May 19, 2021 - 10:15 pm PT

Last night gave us a taste of what the weather can be like on a big mountain when it doesn't want to play nice. We listened to the tents shake with gusty winds that also carried a fair bit of snow on their icy breathe, packing it into the tent vestibules and any other crevices it could reach. Our tents are stout though and we weathered it in comfort. Come morning, the skies were blue, but the wind persisted, lifting tall plumes of snow into the air above us and making it an easy decision to stay in camp and take a rest day. We'll look to cache the first opportunity we get once the wind relents. That might be tomorrow or it might take a bit longer. We're cozy in camp for now, so we'll practice patience.

RMI Guides Pete, Chase, Matias, and team