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The Four Day Summit Climb led by Billy Nugent and the Five Day Summit Climb led by Garrett Stevens were forced to call 13,000' their high point today. The teams reported high winds, low visibility, and a descending cloud cap. The teams will rest for a short time at Camp Muir before beginning their descent to Paradise. We expect to see them back in Ashford early this afternoon.

May 18, 3:27 pm PT Greetings friends and family! The second Alaska Mountaineering Seminar - Expedition team is here in Alaska and almost ready to fly! Most of our gear is packed and weighed and now we are waiting for departure time. We have a few hours to go so we are setting up tents and prepping for our first night onto the glacier. Fingers crossed for an on time flight! RMI Guide Leon Davis and Team

Sitting at over 14,000' on the west side of the mountain it takes the sun awhile to reach camp in the morning, so when we got up this morning it was cold, cold, cold. We hurriedly wolfed down breakfast and loaded up our packs with supplies for our cache, all the while hopping back and forth from one foot to the other trying to generate whatever body heat we could. By 8:30 we headed out of camp. Below us the entire lower Kahiltna Glacier came into view as we climbed higher, stretching for dozens of miles through the peaks of the Alaska Range. Above unfortunately wasn't quite so clear and a bank of clouds swirled over the summit of Denali. We climbed straight up the side of the West Buttress above 14 Camp, soon reaching an ice bulge at 15,500' known as The Eyebrow. From there the route steepens to 50 degrees or so for the final 700' of climbing to reach the ridge line of the West Buttress itself. This section is set with fixed ropes to help protect climbers on the exposed terrain. After a quick break we set out up the fixed lines, soon setting into a comfortable routine as we worked our way up the face, sliding our ascenders up the ropes as we climbed. Before long we topped out of the fixed ropes onto the ridge, stopping at 16,200' on a beautiful but exposed ridgeline, both sides rolling away several thousand feet. By now the clouds which started higher on the mountain had settled down around us, occasionally parting to reveal 14 Camp below us to the south and the Peters Glacier to our north. We cached our small load of supplies there before turning around and heading back down the fixed lines and continuing on into camp. The team climbed well today, making good time and figuring out the intricacies of fixed lines travel easily. With our cache of gear established on the Buttress we are planning on taking a rest day tomorrow before heading up to high camp for our summit bid should the weather allow. We are all looking forward to some down time tomorrow and are excited to be preparing for the summit push. RMI Guide Linden Mallory

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The storm hitting us at Camp Muir originated in the tropics and we wouldn't have been surprised to see palm fronds waving in the breeze given how unseasonably warm it is up here. Yes, it's still snowing, but just. And for being at 10,000' that's warm! We started our day discussing numerous topics in the Bunkhouse, but ventured out by mid morning. Equipped though we were with full on Gortex storm gear it took less than an hour for the moisture in the cloud enveloping our world to permeate the vaunted membrane of our rain gear. But we persevered and got some great training in, developing our expertise in handling running belays and evaluating snow stability through studying snow pits. Lunchtime found us back inside, thankful for the plywood protection of our bunkhouse and trying to dry out our external layers through our bodies natural internal combustion. It does work, but slowly. There was plenty to talk about through the afternoon, and when queried whether anyone wanted more outdoor training a decided no was the response. A smart group! The evening culminated with war stories of Everest and beyond. Now that we're back in our old sleeping bags the weather gods are unleashing a tempest like no other. All we can hope is that this big bad storm is blowing itself out. Dreams of a pleasant descent tomorrow morning might allow some well deserved sleep tonight. Goodnight from Camp Muir. RMI Guide Brent Okita

The Four Day Summit Climb led by Brent Okita and Casey Grom were standing on the true summit of Mt. Rainer, Columbia Crest, at 7:00 AM PT this morning. At the time of the call they reported winds at about 30 MPH and were beginning the journey back across the crater of Mt. Rainier for the descent. We are looking forward to seeing them back on our Ashford Basecamp sometime around 3:00 - 5:00 PM PT. Congratulations climbers!

Friday, June 15, 2018 - 5:50 PM PT Today was a prime lesson in the Three Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. We got some comments and stares yesterday while building 7 foot walls around our Camp with such blue skies and warm temps. This morning we got even more remarks from people as we continued to build. By 4 pm the winds had picked up to 30+ mph gusts and the Pigs who had built their homes from straw were in full scramble mode while our Pigs rested in their tents surrounded by snow bricks. We practiced some skills for climbing the fixed lines, they gets us higher on the West Buttress and will hang out while Denali does what Denali wants to. Currently it's demanding that we, "respect it's authority". RMI Guide Mike King

On The Map

Good morning friends and family! The Alaska Seminar team here in Talkeetna is getting things done in great style. Weather is looking better with each passing hour and everyone did a fantastic job with rigging their gear. Here it is noon and we are just about ready to fly! So the team is gonna grab a last meal in town and our next communique will be from base camp! Have a lovely day everyone, RMI Guide Leon Davis

On the morning of Saturday, the 27th, I had been pined down at Camp 3 by high winds for two days. Camp 3 in is in a wind-exposed location, and for the previous 48 hours I’d had to go out and dig out every two to three hours from the wind-drifted snow that built up around my tent. In the morning the wind had finally died down, and I had decided to push on to Camp 4 and started packing up to make the move up to Camp 4 -- but then I got an updated forecast that predicted heavy snow later Saturday and through Sunday morning. With the delay at Camp 3, I was running low on provisions, so if I couldn't make the peak push by Sunday morning I would be forced to turn back. The forecast for the rest of the week, though, looked very promising... and I made the reluctant decision to retreat to base camp, with the plan to start back up again re-provisioned on Sunday morning. So here I am Saturday evening, back at Manaslu Base Camp. The forecast is now for the winds to stay relatively calm and for clear skies for the rest of the week So my plan is start back up the mountain in the morning and make my summit push on Wednesday. I'm beginning to wonder how many times I'll have to climb this mountain before it allows me it's summit. RMI Guide Alex Barber

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Seth Waterfall along with the Five Day Summit Climb led by Lindsay Fixmer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams enjoyed some time on the summit with clear skies enjoying the views. The team began their descent and as of 7:45 am were on the top of Disappointment Cleaver en route to Camp Muir. The teams will take a short break to repack their gear and then start the final descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier BaseCamp later today. Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!

It was another beautiful day here on Mt. Elbrus! We woke to clear skies, calm winds and a amazing view of the enormous Caucasus range. (Really you should google it sometime!) We had our standard breakfast of porridge, boiled eggs, assorted meats, cheeses and coffee. Today was our planned acclimatization hike and we did just that. The team hiked for about three hours uphill and reached about 15,000 ft, which was a new record for some. We enjoyed the views took a few photos and then headed back down to camp for lunch. The remainder of the afternoon has been spent playing cards, reading and napping. All is well and we are looking forward to having a rest day tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map