Most Popular Entries

Thursday, June 6, 2019 - 5:04 PM PT There was a light breeze that rattled the tents last night. The first few nights away from a comfortable bed can be an adjustment. The Team woke to a cold and mostly clear morning. We pumped the brakes a bit to let the air warm up and see what the clouds were doing North of us in the interior. After breakfast the clouds lifted and we launched to take advantage of the clear skies before forecasted thunderstorms and snow arrived. Our route to the cache at 9,300’ takes us up Ski Hill (it’s got the grade of a ski hill) and along the flanks of Kahiltna Dome. The pack loads are heavy but the Team handled it with mostly smiles while taking the time to enjoy the scenic down glacier vistas. We have to cache our food and fuel in the snow so ravens do not dig it up, this typically requires a 1 meter deep hole. We are back in a white out at 7800’ Camp hanging in tents enjoying the solar and having some lunch. Tomorrow we hope to get clear skies and a cold/early start to beat the weather into 11,200’ Camp. Thanks for following along. Everyone is healthy and happy. RMI Guide Mike King

On The Map

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Jenny Konway reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 9 AM today. Dave reported cool temperatures, and moderate winds. The team spend a short amount of time on the summit before starting their descent. Congratulations to Today's Team!

We're on a roll now with another great day today. We woke to clear skies with a cloud deck slightly below our camp. There was some blowing snow visible up towards our destination, Windy Corner. So to drag our feet a bit and let it warm up and see what the winds were going to do we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of toasted bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon--not bad for breakfast at 11,200' on Denali. The sun eventually hit our camp and the winds abated. So we followed suit and finished packing up, donned our crampons and off we went. We were loaded down with food and fuel in our backpacks, intent on establishing a cache around Windy Corner. The first obstacle out of camp was climbing Motorcycle Hill, which took us 45 minutes to climb. Next we climbed Squirrel Hill and crossed the Polo Fields. Before we knew it we rounded Windy Corner and arrived at our cache site at 13,600'. We dug a deep hole in the snow, buried our gear, then headed back to camp. We were psyched to see the second RMI Denali team, led by Steve Gately, building camp next to ours here at 11,000'. The next stage of the game for us is to move camp to 14,000'. We'll see what the weather does and that will influence whether we try to move tomorrow or take a rest day. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb August 2 - 5 led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Chris Ebeling reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today around 7:30 AM. Dave reported a beautiful day on the mountain. The team will spend some time in the crater and enjoying the views. They will return to Camp Muir and continue their descent to Paradise this afternoon. Their program will conclude with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp later today. Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!

Tuesday, June 5, 2018 - 4:28 pm PT Well our lucky streak with the weather continued today. The Team was up early packing our equipment and taking down tents for our move to 14,200ft camp. The group of gentleman we have on this trip seem to get stronger each day developing skills both physically and mentally. Though we are all a bit warn down from this week's efforts, we are happy at our newly-built camp in the basin. We have spectacular view from our tents, which are currently glacier-front property. We are sitting pretty and looking forward to a full rest day tomorrow along with hydration, acclimatization, and a few skills for higher on the mountain. The camp will also get a few upgrades I’m sure. RMI Guide Tyler Jones

On The Map

Today was half preparation (which we've been doing a lot of lately) and then finally.... Walking uphill.  We took a "shakedown cruise".  Roping up and then carrying a load about half the distance to Low Camp.  It was a perfect day, in terms of weather.  Clear, calm conditions with bright and strong sunshine.  Great for getting started.  We only went a couple of hours uphill on the broad Branscomb Glacier, but as usual, the view got better and better as we went.  Eventually we were getting to see the surrounding spires and cathedrals of the Sentinel Range.  Mount Shinn, Mounts Epperly and Gardner.  And we couldn't miss the vertical mile of Vinson's West Face getting gigantic in front of us.  Our goals achieved at "half camp", we cached the gear and supplies and rolled on down to Vinson Base.  This evening was a little easier than last night, not so hectic since the camp was already built.  We're hoping everybody gets a full rest tonight, as tomorrow could be another good climbing day.  Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Mt. Rainier Summit Climbs, led by Casey Grom and Nick Hunt, watched the sunrise from Ingraham Flats this morning before heading back to Camp Muir. The guides assessed unfavorable avalanche conditions, which kept them from the upper mountain. Both teams are back at Rainier Basecamp, safe and sound.

Hey gang, Being on the border of the Amazon Rainforest almost always keeps some clouds floating around Cayambe, but last night it brought more than just clouds. We awoke to a soaking mist that would have drenched the team within minutes of climbing. So we postponed for an hour and a half until there was a minor let up. Then we gathered our gear and started walking up hill in what can best be described as a "dry mist". For 45 minutes we had optimistic smiles as the moon was poking through the clouds and the team was moving strong. But at the first break the rains came and didn't let up. We pushed a bit further to 16,500 feet until the crew was soaked and the decision was clear to head down. To go higher would mean freezing our wet clothes and pushing the limits of a safe climb. The descent went well and the whole team is now at Papallacta hot springs, happy and healthy. Everyone is turning their sights to more training and our next big climb......Antisana! Stay tuned RMI Guide Ben Liken and the Team

Hello to everyone at home!

Today we had a rest day in Pheriche.

A few of us went on a lovely walk through the village (making sure to stop at the bakery, of course!), some hiked a little ways up the hill behind the village and the Lobuche climbers went to the top of Nangkartshang Peak reaching over 16,600 feet.

Whatever we chose to do, we all got better acclimatized to the altitude before we head higher tomorrow. This team made smart decisions about what their body needed to keep our goals of Everest Base Camp and Lobuche Peak in mind and that’s what any guide likes to see.

We all made it back in time for lunch together at the teahouse enjoying warm rara soup and heaping plates of french fries!

We spent the afternoon having coffee in the warm sunroom, working on puzzles, and even doing a little harness and ascender demonstration for the Lobuche climbing team.

We had a lively dinner followed by some cribbage and Uno. We’re all tucked into our warm sleeping bags with hot water bottles keeping our toes warm and looking forward to our hike to Lobuche tomorrow.

RMI Guide Jess, Sam and team

Namaste Everyone,

We woke up this morning to sunshine and beautifully clear skies. From our dining room window, we had views of Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam. We’ve settled into our daily routine of getting up, packing our duffel bags and heading to breakfast where we have all found an affinity for Tibetan bread with honey - it’s delicious warm fried bread (think funnel cake) and we have made it our mission to review every Tibetan bread in the valley. We’ll let you know which one we think is best!

After breakfast, we head outside, determine which layers to wear for the day, put on sunscreen and our buffs over our mouth and nose to protect us from that cold, dry air. Once on the trail, we do our best to maintain a nice, steady pace, with stops every hour or so to stay hydrated and take in the insane views. There haven’t been too many other hikers on the trail but we are constantly navigating yak trains moving up and down.

Our mantra of today as we moved to nearly 14,000 feet was “I’m strong like a yak”.  We hiked for a little over five hours to get to our tea house in Pheriche and everyone did great. We’re looking forward to spending two nights here as we let our bodies acclimate before moving higher.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and the base camp crew