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Hey, this is Dave Hahn, and I'm on the summit of Vinson with a wonderful team. I'm with Billy Nugent, Seth Waterfall, and eight very strong climbers. We had a wonderful day. We got up on top at 4:45 in the afternoon. We headed out of camp this morning at 9:30, it all went really well and we lucked out on the weather. We've got blue sky and sunshine. On the top right now with gloves off and it's just a beautiful day. We're all feeling extremely lucky. We will give a call again from our high camp, when we get back there. I don't expect to have too many troubles getting back there as everybody's climbing really well. Everybody seems quite happy here on the highest point in Antarctica, 16,067 feet. There we are. Very good. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

RMI Guide Mike Haugen reported sunshine, great weather and a light 5 mph breeze as his team was on the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The Four Day Climb July 25 - 28, 2021 led by Mike Haugen and Alex Halliday were descending from the crater rim at 7 am.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

Our Five Day Summit Climb Teams led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and JJ Justman reached the Summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team reported fair weather with winds of about 15mph and a cap on the top of the mountain. The teams spent some time on the summit and are now on their way back to Camp Muir. Congratulations Brent, JJ, and teams on the first summit of our 2013 Mt. Rainer climbing season!

RMI Guides Casey Grom & Alex Halliday led their Four Day Climb Teams July 10 - 13, 2021 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  The teams reached the crater rim at 5:10 am.  Skies were clear and winds were calm as the teams enjoyed some time on the summit.   They began their descent from the crater rim at 6:30 am.  Once back at Camp Muir they will repack and continue the remaining 4,500' to Paradise. 

Congratulations to today's climbers!

Tuesday, December 28, 2021 7:47 pm PT

When we met for breakfast at seven this morning, we were optimistic…about COVID test results, about weather in Antarctica and about a thousand moving parts and plans meshing perfectly.  Turns out our optimism was warranted; this was a great day.  We fired up the Gulfstream 7 at 12:30 PM and flew out of Patagonia headed South.  We watched out the windows as sea ice began to appear and then mountains and massive glaciers.  Our pilot slash climber extraordinaire, call sign -Sniggy- landed the plane ever so gently on the ice runway at Union Glacier just after 4 PM.  We got out, marveling at our new world, unloaded our gear and then watched pilots Kurt and Rob lift the G7 off the ice and back into the sky bound for Punta Arenas.

We boarded two ski equipped Twin Otters and took off just after 5 PM for Vinson Base Camp. It was a clear and sunny day, so we could see thousands of the jagged and angular peaks comprising the 200-mile-long Ellsworth Mountains.  We landed uphill at 7000 ft on the Branscomb Glacier a little before 6 PM.  We met Hannah, Scott and Forrest, the excellent ALE guides we’ll be partnering with for this trip.  With Superstars like Conrad Anker and Ed Viesturs on the team, there were plenty of outgoing climbers anxious for handshakes and pictures.  Then it was an easy and pleasant evening of getting settled in camp and sorted for moving up the mountain tomorrow.  We ate a fine dinner in the comfortable basecamp dining tent and attended to chores, some jogged in the snow around the 1/4-mile perimeter of basecamp for a little exercise.  All of us spent a fair bit of time with our mouths hanging open, just staring at gigantic and precipitous Mt. Vinson a few miles East of basecamp.  And then we called it a day.  But a great and memorable day.

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

June 3, 2023 10:48 am PDT

We woke up to snow,

Was hoping to be in town,

More freeze dried it is.

June 2, 2023 10:01 pm PDT

The planes come and go,

but we are still here waiting,

tomorrow we fly?

 

RMI Guides Nikki, Leif, Lauren & Team

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guide Dan May watched the sunrise from Ingraham Flats today. Due to route conditions the team was unable to safely climb higher. They are on the descent from Camp Muir to Paradise.

Things are looking good for the team. The wait should prove itself worth it, the weather window and the overall health of the team is like having the pole position at the Indy 500. An early breakfast, and six plus hours of climbing should put the team at Camp 2 tomorrow. We enjoyed a great pizza dinner send off tonight. Some last minute packing, and early to bed. Go team go! RMI Guide & Everest Basecamp Manager Mark Tucker

On The Map

I was a bit worried on my first night at Smith Rock State Park when my Nalgene bottle froze solid over night. How were we possibly going to climb when it was a struggle just to keep the numbness from our fingers and toes? I was in Central Oregon for an American Mountain Guide Association Rock Instructor Course with four of my fellow RMI guides: Katie Bono, Levi Kepsel, Elias de Andres Martos, and Solveig Waterfall. All of us were on the ten day course with the aid of the RMI/First Ascent Guide Grant. This educational Grant was established to promote the continued professional development of RMI guides. We were looking forward to that instruction as well as some sunny rock climbing after a long season of guiding in Washington and Alaska but the weather would need to cooperate. I had heard that our instructors were hardened veterans of the rock realm, but without some really good tricks this weather seemed like too big a hurdle to overcome. I quickly thought about what my option were and did not come up with much except to kick myself for signing up for a rock course in November. As it turned out I needn’t have worried. On day one the weather was much warmer than the days of the previous week and the course kicked off without a hitch. Instructors Dale and Tom brought eons of experience to each day’s lessons. We tried to soak up every bit we could. The best analogy I could come up with for this was trying to take a drink of water from a fire hose. Every day added another layer of complexity in strategy and technical systems. And the weather kept cooperating! Day after day we received ominous weather forecasts but the weather never materialized and we climbed for eight days straight! When the snow finally did arrive we had moved indoors for the classroom portion of our course. Perfect timing. By the end we all agreed how far we had progressed. We were blown away by the mastery of rock that our instructors possess and thankful that a little rubbed off on us. We can’t wait to put our newfound skills to use guiding next summer in the North Cascades and elsewhere. We hope to see you there! RMI Guide Zeb Blais

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!