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RMI Guide Jess Wedel and custom climbing team reached the summit of Glacier Peak yesterday evening just in time to watch the sunset from the top.

With the forecast for the next couple of days looking rather grim, the team took advantage of the good weather and made their summit bid on the second night of their trip, after a successful climb the team returned to camp in the early morning for some much needed sleep. They will spend today at Glacier Gap camp and descend to the trailhead for the conclusion of their trip tomorrow morning.

Nice work team!

Yesterday we converged at baggage carousel #1 in the Anchorage airport... having come from far and wide to form our Denali climbing team. A commute with Denali Overland and our driver Bill brought us into Talkeetna, Alaska by 9 PM. Today we got down to brass tacks and started preparing seriously to go on the mountain. It wasn't all drudgery as our first official team meeting was conducted over a fine Roadhouse breakfast with plenty of good hot coffee. Introductions were completed in time for our mandatory National Park Service Orientation Slideshow at the Talkeetna Ranger Station. We were reminded that it had been a tough season for weather on Denali, with only 30% of climbers making the summit so far. Indeed, we'd begun the day walking the streets in steady rain. By midday when we headed for the K2 Aviation hangar, things were beginning to look up. We conducted a thorough check of each climbers gear and clothing as big stretches of blue sky too over. We kept looking toward the Range as we went through sorting tents and ropes and food for the group, but the big peaks stayed well-disguised in the murk and cloud. By early evening the loads were in order and weighed for hefting into airplanes. The work done, we headed back into downtown Talkeetna for dinner at the bustling Twister Creek. It is high season for tourism in Alaska. We all relaxed a little and made final preparations for "getting on" in the morning. Getting on a plane, getting on a glacier, and getting on a climb. With a little more improvement in the weather, we'll be on our way. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

June 8, 2015, 10:59 am PT After a strenuous day getting to 14 Camp yesterday, we slept in this morning. The sun crept into camp around 9:15 am and we slow crawled out of our tents shortly thereafter. The weather today was pretty good but the forecast is calling for some more snow and wind so we spent the day building giant snow walls around our camp and resting. The team is doing very well and acclimating well. If the weather is good tomorrow we might go do a short walk up the West Rib but either way we are dug in here at 14,200' and are ready for whatever the weather gods allow us to do. That's all for now. RMI Guide Geoff Schellens

On The Map

We stretched our legs today with the first acclimatization hike of our Ecuador's Volcanoes program. Despite a slow start due to weather, we were able to successfully summit Rucu Pinchincha, a 15,400' volcano in Quito's backyard. The day started off with a short taxi ride from our hotel to the base of the Teleférico, a gondola that brought the team to just above 13,000'. Upon arriving, we ducked into the upper station to wait out the clouds and moisture that seemed to be hanging in the air. We drank coffee, told stories, and used the time to get to know each other a little bit better. Soon our waiting was rewarded with a break in the rain. Grabbing our packs, we headed out into the clouds. The views were obscured, but at least we remained dry. A three hour hike and a bit of scrambling brought us to the top, where we grabbed a couple of summit shots and prepared for our descent; we didn't stay long because the rain seemed eager to return! Moving as a team, we made it back to the gondola in about half the time it took to go up, but not soon enough to outrun the rain. We had to shoulder our rain jackets for the last leg of our descent; thankfully the team was strong and spirits were high. Now, back at the hotel, we're packing our duffels in preparation of our move out of Quito tomorrow morning. Hasta mañana, RMI Guides Nick Hunt and Casey Grom, and the rest of Team Ecuador

January 14, 2015 Hola de Pampa de Leñas! Today our team made our first moves in the mountains in great style by ticking off the first stretch on our three day journey to Plaza Argentina, our basecamp. The trail was hot and dusty but we enjoyed a nice breeze from time to time and incredible views that made the heat bearable. After setting up our camp we had the good fortune to greet another RMI expedition as they arrived in camp returning from a successful summit bid a few days ago. Big congrats to Zeb and his crew! We all got to share an asado last night complete with grilled beef tenderloin and vino which was quite a treat. The herrieros (mule drivers) cooked for us over an open fire... Pretty classy backcountry living. We're thankfully not on the ramen noodle program yet, it was nice to hold that off another day. Anyway, all is well and tomorrow calls for another day of walking up the Vacas Valley... We'll check in and let you know how it goes. All for now, RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Katrina Bloemsma, and Billy Haas

On The Map

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Scree...every uphill travelers worst nightmare. Today we got to see more of the mountain as we did our first carry. We left Basecamp, packs loaded up with food and fuel and made our way through the rocky terrain. The middle portion of the day looks like a cratered martian land. We weave our way around the craters to the final scree hills to camp. The last 100 feet are a butt kicker. Everyone showed determination and that they were willing to embrace the suck. After taking a well deserved break, we unloaded our packs, made are cache, and enjoyed the scenery of camp one. A couple hours of much easier downhill travel, we were back to the comforts of basecamp. The team did a fantastic job navigating the terrain and the altitude. We are looking strong and getting ready for our move. Now we will enjoy one more rest day before leaving basecamp.

Adios,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

Friday, June 28, 2019 - 10:23 PM PT The heat wave is on. The highest temperatures of the season -so far- are hitting the mountain. The freezing level was up at 13,000 feet today and that is the expectation for tomorrow as well. (It might "normally" be down at 8,000 feet this time of year). We were up at 4:30 to take advantage of the cooler morning shadows. It took until about 7:10 to get on the move though after a good breakfast and some packing and gear sorting. We rolled up the now familiar series of hills -Motorcycle, Squirrel, Polo Field- but this day had much less cloud about than our carry two days back. There are layers of forest fire smoke in the air though -a big fire (56,000 acres) is burning down on the Kenai Peninsula, among others. Even so, we could see all the way down to the Tordrillos at the southern end of the Alaska Range. We moved quickly around Windy Corner and then lost any wind or breeze as we worked up into the giant reflector oven of Genet Basin. It was getting downright hot at 1PM as we pulled into camp at 14,200 ft. It was a fine thing to be greeted by Mike Haugen’s team taking their rest day. They helped us out with some water to get started and showed us a nice set of pre-built tent platforms not far from their own. We built our new home and then crawled in to take shelter from the blazing sun. Each time any of our climbers or guides came out -there’d be a few “wow’s” and some jaw-dropping or head-shaking as they tried to take in the views out over the mountains and glaciers to the South. And usually bigger WOW’S as they turned to look at Denali’s South Peak standing a mile in the sky straight up over us. We ate our dinner in a new snow dining room, told some stories and talked over plans for the next few days. First off, we plan to get a good night's sleep after a hard-working day. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Saturday, June 1, 2019 - 11:00 PM PT And the train keeps on rolling! We were up and attem early again this morning, rolling out of bed at 530 am and on the trail by 730 am with all of the remainder of our food and gear on our backs. We spent about 6 hours breaking trail from 7800’ camp all the way to 11,000’ Camp, without a single other climbing team in sight. The snow and clouds kept us cool, and allowed us to make efficient work of the climb. We made it to “11” camp just in time to see our fellow RMI teams led by Mike Walter and Steve Gately before we got down to building camp, which should be our home for the next few nights. Tomorrow, we’ll ‘back-carry’ and finally get the rest of gear up here at 11,000 and be all set to start setting our sites on some of the more fun climbing of the trip. Until then, keep it real out there in the real world. We’ll keep you updated on our progress. RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe and Team Trail Break

On The Map

Today dawned beautifully clear, cold and calm. But we knew it wouldn't last as a multi day storm was forecast to start impacting the mountain today. So we got up early and had breakfast and fellow guide Alan Davis and the crew took advantage of the clear weather to head over to the Edge of the World, a dramatic overlook just outside of 14 camp that looks down on the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier and out to the Base of Ski Hill on the main Kahiltna Glacier where we established our first camp nearly two weeks ago. After returning from the Edge, the team returned to camp and got right to work fortifying our already impressive snow walls. The goal was to be ready for any strong winds that will hit out camp during this imminent storm. Meanwhile, fellow guide Alex Halliday and I went back down to the 11,200' camp where we had cached some extra food and fuel. We dug up the cache and snagged the supplies and returned back up to 14,200'. The goal here was to be sure we had sufficient supplies should the storm extend further than forecast. All in all, it was a productive day. And now the storm has begun. It is currently snowing with very limited visibility and gusty winds. And we're ready for it. We hope to weather the storm and take advantage of a potential weather window early next week to make a bid for the summit. That's it for now, RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Bryan Mazaika spent a stormy night at Camp Muir. They woke very early in the morning to blowing snow and whiteout conditions that forced the team to go back to bed for a few hours. They woke up again for breakfast, and the skies started clearing. The team decided to make the best of the morning and are going for a walk to Ingraham Flats so that they can see the upper mountain. This is the final climb of Mt. Rainier for our 2018 season, they will enjoy this views from the flats before heading back to Paradise. Congratulations team!