Most Popular Entries
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Chase Halbert, Erika Birkeland, Avery Parrinello, Grayson Swingle, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Avery Parrinello led the Five Day Climb to Ingraham Flats, 11,200', this morning. High winds overnight at Camp Muir had prevented the teams getting an alpine start and thus they were unable to make a summit attempt. Winds at Camp Muir averaged between 40 - 80 mph with gusts as high as 93 mph around 9 pm.
Once the winds subsided later in the morning the teams roped up and traveled to Ingraham Flats to check out the conditions and see a bit of the route. They will return to Camp Muir and descend to Paradise later this morning.
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Billy Nugent, JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
On The Map
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 19,348'
Good morning,
I am happy to report that on a beautiful morning the team made the summit of Cotopaxi. Sunny skies and light winds made for great climbing conditions. The local guides have departed and the team is headed back to Quito for an afternoon of relaxation and a celebration dinner. This trip has thrown some curveballs, but I'm proud of the team for sticking with it and being flexible along the way. Everyone, regardless of whether they went to the summit of Cayambe or Cotopaxi did a really fine job pushing themselves towards goals they have worked so hard for. Cheers to this team!
Thank you for following along with our blog and please continue following the final RMI Ecuador trip of the season which starts next week!
RMI Guides Dustin, Avery and Team!
Awesome!! Sunny Summit!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/4/2022 at 3:45 am
Congrats all! Great to see that mountain summited
Posted by: Sam on 2/3/2022 at 12:50 pm
Posted by: Robby Young
Categories: Guide News Guide Grant
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Joe Hoch, Ben Luedtke, Ellison Boord, Nicole De Petris, Charlie Harrison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb August 20 - 24 reached the summit of Mt. RaInier on Tuesday, August 23rd led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Joe Hoch. The teams were able to spend time in the crater enjoying the beautiful morning. After taking all the photos, the teams started their descent to Camp Muir. Climbers enjoyed some rest and a final night on the mountain. They plan to start their descent to Paradise around 9 am. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp early this afternoon.
Congratulations team!
Congratulations Team, with a special shout out to Alex and Kristina Beuning. Lots of pride and love coming from this Mom
Posted by: Deb Anderson on 8/24/2022 at 8:08 am
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Mark Falender, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: Summit
I was part of the 4 day summit climb on June 19 with Mark & Solveig. What a magical day it was and I feel extremely privileged to have been part of it. Thank you guys so very much for your guidance, expertise and support. This has truly been one of the greatest challenges of my life and I will cherish it for a long time to come. I have taken so much away from this experience - the challenges that this mountain presents, especially the Cleaver, had me digging deeper than I ever had to attain success. Mark, Solveig, Sean, Geoff and Levi - you guys are all rock stars!! RMI can and should be very proud of you. I was sad to see the program end. Hopefully, I will link up again with Mark for a climb up Grand Teton!
Thank you again very much!
Ben Elliott
Posted by: Ben Elliott on 6/21/2012 at 2:19 am
Hey Hans ....... GREAT JOB. Blue sky’s 365 !!! Gotta love it. xoxo Love and hugs greta
Posted by: greta hardwick on 6/20/2012 at 9:18 pm
Peter Whittaker on the radio with Linden Mallory.
Peter Whittaker explains choice to stop climbing for the night.
Posted by: Casey Grom, James Bealer, Jackson Breen, George Hedreen, Joey Manship, Charlie Harrison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The June 13 - 16 Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Casey Grom & James Bealer were unable to make a summit attempt due to high winds overnight as well as avalanche conditions. The Camp Muir telemetry shows winds over 70 mph. Around 7 am the weather had improved, the team was going to do some avalanche forecast training. The teams have packed up and started their descent from Camp Muir. We look forward to greeting them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Photo: James Bealer
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Nicole De Petris
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
-640x480.jpg)
Thursday June 20th (day 10 on the mountain)
We woke up to a chilly morning in camp 3 at 14,200 feet elevation. My tent mate Dave and I were lingering in our warm sleeping bags, listening to the crunchy steps of our teammates who had gathered enough courage to step outside. Everything in the tent that could freeze had done so unless it was tucked inside our sleeping bags, including water bottles, sunscreen and even pee bottles…. The inside of the tent was crusted with a thin layer of frost that would rub off or drop down on us whenever we touched it.
I have to admit that the early mornings in the tent are my least favorite part of mountaineering. Just the thought of unzipping the comfortable sleeping bag and pulling on stiff, frozen pants, forcing my feet into rock hard, ice-cold mountaineering boots and crawling out of the tent into the outside winter land makes me shiver. Still, I know that only a few minutes later life is much better after taking care of the morning routine and sitting in the kitchen tent with a hot cup of coffee, courtesy of our guides. Today was an “active rest day” which mostly meant hanging around camp and doing some ascender training, but also entailed a back carry trip down the slope from our camp to retrieve the cache we left a few days ago at 13,500 feet elevation. By the time we left camp just before 10am the below zero morning had turned into a blisteringly sunny day, and coming up the hill back to camp with heavy backpacks we were sweating through our single base-layers. Otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful round trip if it wasn’t for the fact that I did a complete face plant going down the hill while fiddling with my phone and tripping over my crampons. What a rookie mistake…
Coming back to camp we were treated to an amazing brunch consisting of burritos hot from the camp stove served by our bad ass guides Seth and Nicole. They had been granted a day off from carrying loads thanks to their super human efforts the last couple of days, accompanying our team mates Tait and Sophia who decided to abort this climb, all the way from camp 2 to base camp and then back again (a 20 miles round trip with 5,000 feet elevation gain!), only to rejoin the rest of our team on the 3,000+ feet ascent with heavy packs & sleds to camp 3 the next day. Truly impressive!
Given that today was mostly a rest day I had an opportunity to reflect on the experience thus far. I’ve been on a number of guided climbs in different corners of the world over the years, including some that have been expedition style like this one. They’ve all been great experiences and my guides have generally been top notch. However, I do think there is an RMI Difference based on what I’ve seen so far. Not only has the guiding been outstanding thanks to our world class guides Dom, Seth and Nicole, but the overall logistics, route planning and camp facilities have been flawless. Climbing mountains is hard as it is, so having delicious cooked meals (not freeze dried), 3-person tents between 2 of us, and a few extra rest days in the itinerary has made this experience as enjoyable as possible and will hopefully allow us all the best odds possible to summit the mountain. A special shoutout to our lead guide Dom who is expertly masterminding the giant chess game that it is to climb Denali while at the same time fostering a genuinely positive and supportive team environment.
Just a quick note on the team before I wrap. We’re all from very different backgrounds as highlighted in Rossi’s blog a couple of days ago, and with a variety of mountaineering experience. However, 10 days into the trip I’m really impressed by how we have bonded into a cohesive team that helps and supports each other. We’re now all seasoned Denali mess tent small talk, being an introverted Swede, I do enjoy listening to it! �� fantastic experience so far! And a gentle request to the Gunnarsson family to leave some comments - we can’t have Dave get all the attention!
RMI Climber Mattias Gunnarsson
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition June 9, 2024
The genuine camaraderie and respect you have for each other as individuals and as a united, strong team is evident in these fantastic blogs. I am continually amazed and inspired by you all
Posted by: Kim C on 6/22/2024 at 4:48 am
Hey Thomas, Onward and upward to you and team. Keeping you in our prayers❣️
Posted by: Paul and Valorie on 6/21/2024 at 9:28 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, James Bealer, David Price, Axel Ryd, Jackson Breen, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and James Bealer, were on the summit at 6am this morning. The weather had clear skies and a steady breeze of 15-20 mph. They are currently working their way back to Camp Muir.
Well done to everyone who was a part of the summit team! You are all amazing!
Posted by: Jena Marks on 7/1/2021 at 10:35 am
Way to go team.. Looking forward to stories.
Posted by: keith Acheson on 7/1/2021 at 9:23 am
Nicole LoBiondo: I hope you have safe travels back home and I am so happy to hear that you and your team are safe! I’ll see you soon! Much love, Sammy
Posted by: Sam Borneman on 4/28/2014 at 8:25 pm
I hope you all have safe travels back home! I can’t wait to hear all about your adventure at Copper Canyon with a margarita! And of course the salad with the bacon, fish tacitos and the steak!!!! Love ya Nicole!
Posted by: Lisa Taddeo on 4/28/2014 at 7:13 pm
View All Comments