Most Popular Entries

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

The Mt. Rainier Four Day Summit Climbs led by Paul Maier and Lindsay Mann reached the summit at 6:30 a.m. Both teams were able to enjoy the bluebird views for over an hour before beginning their descent at 7:50 a.m. Congratulations to the summit climbers!

Hello everyone,

Today the we had an early start and left behind our beautiful lodge as we have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb. We left around 8am and drove along the rural country side and small villages for 2 hours before reaching the Kilimanjaro National Park entrance.

Most of the area surrounding Kilimanjaro has been cultivated and primarily used for coffee and banana production, plus a variety of other agriculture needs. There are still a few areas that have been untouched and resemble more of a savannah that Tanzania is known for. Kilimanjaro’s base is mostly forested and resembles more of a jungle, this area is called the cloud forest.

Once we arrived at the park gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our porters and other staff to carry before hitting the trail. Once everything was in order we started our climb slowly making our way up the winding trail that ascends continuously through the thick forest. Thankfully the overhead canopy provided a bit of relief from the hot sun overhead.

The team hiked for about five hours, reaching 10,000' and arriving at our first camp. After settling into camp and get situated the team was served a nice warm meal for dinner.

Everyone is doing well and looking forward to a good nights rest.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

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

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

It is always tough to leave the Plantation Lodge.  It is just too comfortable and the people are way too kind and friendly.  But we tore ourselves away because of Tarangire National Park.  It is a worthy motivating force… the chance to see incredible numbers and varieties of wildlife on a seemingly unlimited expanse of beautiful land.  We got rolling out of Karatu at 8:30 AM but couldn’t resist a fine shopping opportunity for some Tanzanian keepsakes a short distance out of town.  We still made it out to Tarangire by late morning and immediately began seeing animals and then more animals and more animals still.  At first it was just the flavors we’d already become familiar with (zebra, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck, eagles, vultures, giraffes) but then we started seeing new things.  Family after family of elephants, each with a wee one just a few months old.  We saw a python up a tree.  We saw lions chewing on a zebra. We saw hartebeest and elan and bushbucks and Dik Dik.  We looked up every likely tree for leopards… but they are still hiding from us.  Then we finished the day at  Lokisale Lodge, deep within the park.  The staff gave us a friendly welcome and lit a fire for us to enjoy sunset by.  They warned us gently of the wild animals roaming through the grounds of the lodge and then showed us to our deluxe tent cabins.  We are about to eat our final dinner together, way out in East Africa. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

After two days of carrying big packs and moving from near sea level in Moscow, to 8,000' at Base Camp, to 12,000' at Camp 1, it was a fine day to rest and let our bodies catch up to the altitude. We had a leisurely rolling breakfast and coffee session outside the dining hut in the sun, watching climbers on the route above, some still ascending, some descending from their midnight departures. Some of us found nooks to tuck into and devour our books, while others stood around and chatted. Caffeine consumption was a theme for most. We did a short climbing refresher on the toe of the glacier in the afternoon, double checked that our climbing equipment and skills were ready for a carry to 15,000' tomorrow, and then returned to camp to nap and wait for dinner. The most exciting part of the day was saved for just before bed when Pamela spotted a red fox cruising through camp. Everyone pulled out to catch a glimpse, though the fox was quick to slide behind some rocks, out of sight. Our plan tomorrow is to make a small cache of gear at our next camp, Lenz Rocks, in preparation for a move and summit in short order. RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Mike Uchal, and Team "we saw a red fox and it wasn't the clothing brand"

The June 26 - 29 Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer & Josh McDowell reached the summit of Mt. Rainier just before 6 am today.  Pete reported a very nice morning on the mountain.  The teams enjoyed an hour in the summit crater before starting their descent from the crater rim.  The teams will return to Camp Muir for a quick break and then continue the final 4,500' to Paradise.  They will celebrate their achievement at Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.

Nice work team!

Dave Hahn here calling in from 21,300' on Mount Everest, Advanced Base Camp. A big day for us. We went as planned up on the Lhotse Face. We went to 23,500', very nearly to where our Camp 3 is gonna be, just short of that. A good day out on the Face. We broke Dan Johnson's altitude record. We didn't quite break Seth's or mine. But really nice to be climbing up on the Lhotse Face and a beautiful day. And from way up there, looking at Everest, the top of Everest and the plume blowing off, it was impossible not think of the day that Jim Whittaker and Nawang Gombu, two of our heroes, summitted the mountain 50 years ago in a big cloud and snow plume, in high winds. But pretty remarkable anniversary and neat to be around the mountain for that anniversary. We are definitely thinking of that incredible accomplishment 50 years ago, but also our own incredible accomplishment today. It felt really good getting up there and getting back down. And as well, a number of Sherpas, from various teams got together and fixed rope all the way to the South Col today. So rope is fixed to 8,000 meters and that is pretty much opening the door for summit bids. May is here and it's all gonna start happening. But we're pretty psyched with what we accomplished on this round. We're headed down in the morning and looking forward to the comforts of Base camp. Bye for now. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Oh, what a difference 24 hours makes!

Last night the team was at dinner enjoying mole, drinking beer, and recalling our climb on Ixta.

Tonight, we find ourselves at the Refugio below Orizaba repacking our bags and preparing for an alpine start. Tomorrow looks promising for us. The weather is good, the team is strong and reports say that the route is in good condition.

With any luck we look forward to reporting in tomorrow morning from the summit!

RMI Guides Dominic, Abby, and Team