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Billy Nugent led the way out of Namche, down the big hill and into the valley of a thousand farms and small villages. We made it in six hours to a comfy tea house next to the airstrip in Lukla. The rain caught us for the last hour or so, but didn't actually bother anybody enough to make them put a raincoat on. We ate the afternoon away in our new low-altitude home. Mark Tucker made a surprise appearance for dinner, having finished up his duties at Basecamp today and figured out a way to heli-hike in minutes what had filled up three days for the rest of us. We are now poised for an early wake-up and some airport hustle that may or may not get us to Kathmandu by fixed-wing aircraft. All depends on the weather. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

RMI Guides Brent Okita & Dustin Wittmier led their team of climbers to the summit of Mt. Rainier.  The Four Day Climb team July 9 - 12 enjoyed a beautiful morning on the mountain with a nice route and 15 mph winds.  The teams were on Columbia Crest at 7:30 am and began their descent from the crater rim just after 8 am.  The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break to repack and refuel before descending the remaining 4,500' to Paradise.

Congratulations team!

RMI climber Rue Beyer on her way to Camp Muir for her summit climb of Mt. Rainier in 2014. ---- In honor of our 50th Anniversary, we are featuring stories of first climbs. Stories from guides and stories from climbers. Today, we are excited to share Rue Beyer's story of her first climb - Mt. Rainier in 2014. Since Rue's first climb, she has continued to climb around the world - Denali in Alaska, Ecuador's Volcanoes, and Peru. Her next adventure is Kilimanjaro in August! Find out more about having your first climb featured on our blog! ---- My first climb was with RMI on Mt. Rainier back in 2014 on a team led by RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Katie Bono, and JM Gorum. This may sound corny or clichéd, but I always had a calling to the outdoors. However, it was during one of the most difficult times in my life, that I picked up a book on mountaineering and set a goal for myself to one day go climb mountains. It was that goal I set for myself that helped get me through depression and one of the worst times of my life. It took some years to get around to calling RMI, but after a visit to Mt. Rainier in 2013 where I trudged up the Muir Snowfield to Camp Muir, I knew I had to come back and climb this thing all the way. It all happened during a particularly turbulent time at my place of work where there were massive layoffs happening plus the mine site I work at (I’m a mine geologist) was being bought out. I couldn’t keep putting life on hold so I made the call to RMI and booked a trip for late July 2014. Shortly afterwards, my (now) husband, Mike, and I moved from Winnemucca to Elko, Nevada and settled into new jobs. In the chaos of moving and starting a new job, I managed to keep my focus on preparing for this trip. I had no idea what mountaineering really entailed other than what I read in the stories. Whenever I asked other climbers how they got into climbing, they never gave much of answer and acted almost secretive about it as though it were some special club. I didn’t know where to start, but I was determined to not let that perceived attitude get to me. I told my brother from another, Chris Franco, that I was going to climb Mt. Rainier that summer and he was so excited for me. He was a major in the US Army that had done multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and when he got out, he got into mountaineering and was the one who had initially challenged me to try Rainier. He had recently been diagnosed with a rare, aggressive cancer that attacks the spine and shortly before the climb, he became paralyzed. I wanted to do something for him on this climb so I decided to record a little film for him that would hopefully bring a smile to his face. The day before I had to be in Ashford for the team check-in, I was about to board a flight out of Elko on a little regional jet to Seattle. It was the second of two flights that are flown each day. At the time, Mike and I were only dating and he had zero interest in climbing so one of his college buddies flew in so they could hang out. He was flying in on the plane that I was supposed to fly out on. Upon arrival, I said my goodbyes and was prepared to board the plane but the pilot walked in and said there were mechanical issues and the flight would have to be cancelled. I was devastated. I thought, “Great, it’s nearly 6:00 PM and I have to be in Ashford tomorrow at 3:00 PM.” I walked out of the gate and told Mike what had happened. He could see how upset I was and we realized I wouldn’t be able to fly that night even if we had driven to Salt Lake City. He thought about it for a second and then said, “Hold on. Seattle isn’t that far. It’s a 12-hour drive and if we leave soon, we can get you there by morning.” So we loaded up and he and his friend took turns driving all night. We got into Seattle around 7:30 AM, had a quick breakfast at Pike Place Market, and then headed to Ashford. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is and certainly made for an adventurous start to the climb. I met the team that afternoon and they were all wonderful people. I was surprised to have met a father and two sons from my home state of Georgia on my team. It was great! The Mountaineering Day School session the next day was enlightening for me since practicing something is very different than just reading about it. On the climb to Camp Muir, I was in heaven. I had to remind myself that it was all one step at a time. So I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and breathing. Every now and then, I’d try to take in the views and end up nearly tripping over myself. It couldn’t have been better weather that day. The views were out of this world and I was feeling good. Once we got to Muir and the guides sat a bunch of us down to discuss the logistics of summit day, I felt the butterflies kick in my stomach. I was excited, nervous, scared, and everything in between. I couldn’t believe I was actually here doing this, the thing I had dreamed about for years, never thinking it would become a reality. I wasn’t very smart on that trip when it came to food and sunscreen. I took the pre-made food bags that Whittaker Mountaineering offered in Ashford and didn’t really listen to them when they said to swap out foods I didn’t like with ones that I did. I learned there was very little in my bag that was appetizing to me. I also had no clue on the proper way to eat a Mountain House meal as I poured the bag’s contents into a mug, which later meant, I couldn’t eat breakfast out of it because I couldn’t finish the meal. I didn’t really sleep when we were at Camp Muir. Mostly I just laid there trying not to get in my head about it. When the wake-up call came, I was a bit dazed at first and anxious with all the rapid moving around and getting ready. I scrambled myself together and before I knew it, I was roped up and our team was on our way. It was weird hiking in the dark, I hadn’t done it very often but there was something oddly peaceful about it. It was quiet and I found myself mesmerized by the crevasses we had to step over. As we kept going, the sun started to come up and I could see more of the surroundings. It was incredible, but then I started feeling really nauseated. I couldn’t really eat anything since dinner several hours earlier and I suddenly felt the hunger pains surge. I kept putting one foot in front of the other and telling myself to just keep moving and breathing. The weather started to turn and I wasn’t sure we’d make it. I was sure we’d end up turning around, but as we ascended into a cloud cap, it became clear we were going all the way. The visibility wasn’t great and I thought we were just coming into a break when Katie ran up to me and gave me a big hug saying, “You made it!” Rue Beyer on the summit of Mt. Rainier in July 2014. I looked at her, confused, not realizing we were standing on the summit or at least a few hundred yards away from it. I lagged behind the team getting to the summit and was walking with Tyler when I turned and started puking on the side of the trail. He laughed and said I wasn’t pressure breathing. It could’ve been that or the lack of calorie intake, but I felt much better afterwards even though I looked awful! After photos and signing the Summit Registry, I asked Tyler if he would film a video for me. So I sat down and started speaking to the camera as though I was talking to Franco, trying to rally his sprit the way he’d done for me for years. It was an emotional moment for me and even Tyler was getting excited from how charged up I was. We made our descent and I was even more in awe of what I saw coming down that I couldn’t see in the dark going up. It was breathtaking! We made it back down to Paradise and my face had horrendous sun/wind burn. I was pissed that the sunscreen I used didn’t work very well. I got back to my hotel that night and really felt it: the sunburn and the euphoria of my first mountain climb. I was hooked! I knew right then this was something I loved and wanted to keep doing. All smiles as Rue Beyer descends the Muir Snowfield after reaching the summit of Mt. Rainier. Six years later and I’m still climbing. I’ve traveled to places I never thought I’d go, met some of the most amazing people who are now lifelong friends, grown and healed as a person, learned many lessons through many mistakes, and found that I’m at my best when I’m in the mountains. Thank you, RMI and the guides I’ve climbed with, for providing all these amazing opportunities and experiences!  Cheers, Rue Beyer

Dave and I are safely back at Everest Basecamp. The Sherpa team has one more load to carry down from Camp 1 in the morning and then the expedition will officially be done with the Everest climb. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall [Audio posted from Dave Hahn after returning to Basecamp]

Hello everyone,

Today we headed to Tarangire National Park known for its abundant animals and plentiful elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many elephants we saw, probably several hundred at the least. It wouldn’t seem like we could get tired of seeing elephants, but there were so many that eventually we had to keep driving so we could see other animals. There were lots of giraffes, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many others. One of the highlights was seeing a male Lion up close, only about 30 feet away. He was just relaxing under a big tree with some shade and a nice breeze, hardly seemed to notice us.

We are spending our last night here in Africa at Lolkisale Camp, which has beautiful, tented rooms with screen windows to allow the sounds of the African night in. Everyone is doing great and hoping to see a few more big cats on our way out tomorrow. Then it will be back to our main lodge near Arusha for a quick shower before catching our evening flights home.

Come join us for an adventure sometime!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari Crew

I recently completed the American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) 10 day Rock Instructor Course (RIC) held at Smith Rock near my home town of Bend, Oregon. The RIC is the first in a series of courses by the AMGA to become certified as a rock or alpine climbing guide. The course exceeded all expectations by provided valuable knowledge and techniques that I can apply not only to rock guiding but to Rainier and much of my personal climbing. During the 10 days, the weather ranged from sweating in a t-shirts to shivering in a down Jacket and although it threatened rain or even snow at times, the weather held nicely the whole course. The Canadian geese had arrived for nesting and were an ever present entertainment of squawking and fighting for nesting sites in the background. What really made this course for me were the quality people I met both instructors and students. We had three instructors that each brought years of unique experiences and different skill sets to the table. This gave a diverse prospective on each topic and provided many learning opportunities. The group dynamic with the other students was awesome and created a very fun learning atmosphere that yielded new friends. My RIC was made financially possible though the RMI / First Ascent Guide Grant and I want to thank them for their generous contribution to the course tuition as I look forward to future courses with the AMGA. RMI Guide Cody Doolan

Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling in from Advanced Base Camp on Mt. Everest 21,300'. The climbing team came up here in good style today, all the way from Base Camp, this morning. We started out about 4:15 in the morning, still dark, climbing by head light. The climbing route is ok but kind of spooky. We walked thru some very large debris fields from avalanches that have come down in the last couple of days from both the West Shoulder of Mt. Everest and from Nuptse. Both mountains have thrown down debris that is across the climbing route. We didn't have a bad day, we were pretty lucky with our conditions. It was kind of a breezy day and they say the jet stream is right over Mt. Everest right now. The weather we are experiencing certainly seems to bear that out. It was sunny, cold and gusty and windy most of the day but that saved us from being too hot coming up into camp, this big reflector oven of the Western Cwm. Thing are really dry up here. Our camp is great, our Sherpa team did a wonderful job building up our Advanced Base Camp ahead of our arrival. We are going to spend our first night here tonight. We will see how we are doing in the morning. Tomorrow will probably be a rest day, but we might get in a hike or two. That's all for now. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Seven in the morning and we are out at the airport in Punta Arenas, through security and ready to fly to the Ice. 

Lots of excited and oddly dressed people.  There will be eighty people on the flight.  Some climbers for Vinson, some skiers for the South Pole, some Emperor Penguin lovers and some eclipse watchers. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Our Elbrus Northside team has returned to the U.S. and had a bit of time to work through the jet lag of jumping nine hours back in time on the return trip home. Our time in St. Petersburg was spectacular. The city has the feel of Old Europe, and is often compared to Venice because of the numerous canals and rivers that crisscross the city. Founded by Peter the Great, and the capitol of the Russian Empire for nearly 200 years, St. Petersburg is still considered the cultural capitol of Russia. We arrived mid afternoon with enough time to take a stroll around the city, before a delicious dinner at the Jerome, a perennial favorite restaurant year after year. The following day we took the city by storm, following our tour guide Olga as we walked as many of architectural and public space sites as we could fit in. From St. Issacs Cathedral with it's colorful mosaics, massive pillars, and scars on the facade left over from the 900+ day siege of St. Petersburg during WWII, to the luxurious Summer Gardens of the Romanovs, St. Petersburg displays the wealth, opulence, culture, and liveliness of the Tsar era. We spent the afternoon wandering through the massive winter palace of the Romanovs, now home to the Hermitage Museum. We spent the evening on a delightful canal tour by boat, and our last dinner in Russia. St. Petersburg averages only 60 days of sunlight each year, but our impression was far different - blue skies, comfortable temps, nice breezes on the canal, it was everything that summer should be and a nice refresh after our time on the mountain. International climbing trips at their best are about far more than just the mountain or the climbing. The cultural and historical sites we saw, the insight into their history that we gained, and the people we met along the way are just as important. We had a number of interactions with teams of Russian climbers in camp, eager to understand how and why we had come so far to climb their humble mountain. The stories we read in the news, on either side of the ocean, can paint the other's countries as adversaries and opponents, but everyone we met was overwhelmingly friendly. As one climber in a hut one evening put it, "The people you meet in the mountains - they are good people." That was true of the climbers we met, and most certainly true of our team as well. Watching everyone work through the tough days, have their great days, and come together in difficult moments - such as setting up tents at 15,000' in a blustery 35 mph wind - is one of the joys of guiding and climbing, and it was such a pleasure to work with this team. Thanks so much to them, to our local outfitter, to Sasha, our local guide, translator, and fixer of all, and thanks to everyone who followed along. We’ll be back at it next year! RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Mike Uchal

We got our first day of glacier climbing in, and finally used all of the gear that we've been carting through airports and carrying up trails. Our main goal was to move our tents up to our high camp at Lenz Rocks and get some acclimatization time in too. We accomplished both. We roped up and climbed 2.5 hours of warm, sunny, and sometimes in the clouds glacier. Just below Lenz Rocks, we found the wind, the telltales of which we'd been watching for awhile. It wasn't any match for us though, and another half hour of climbing got us to our cache site. The trip down is direct and fast. What took four hours to get up took maybe an hour to get down as we opened our strides up and rolled out of the wind back into the furnace. We're hoping conditions look good in the morning to make our move and prepare to head for the summit. Best, RMI Guides Pete and Mike, and team "why are the hut doors all made for people who are 5 feet tall?"