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July 2, 2015 12:36 am PST This day didn't start out all that bad, but then it didn't waste too much time getting bad. It got snowing about an inch an hour by mid morning. That didn't stop some of our neighbors from picking up and moving to 14K anyway, but it stopped us. We didn't want to risk getting caught at Windy Corner when the wind started. So it was a quiet day for us, sitting in our tents listening to the snow. Just about right in the middle of a nice dinner in our beloved POSH tent, a cannon shot of wind hit and ripped the shelter nearly in half. We sat for a few minutes more anyway, chowing down, looking out the big new vent and wondering who'd be first to abandon ship. Then it was a mass exodus back to the tents for what promised to be a windy, snowy, stormy night on Denali. We'll figure out a different plan for our cooking and dining shelter needs. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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June 3, 2015 - 3:48 pm PT Pitter, patter, pitter, patter! Snow day at 11,200'. Well, as we mentioned the snow started last night and throughout today we have received more that a foot of light dry fairy dust. This a has been the first session of shoveling out the tent every other hour and almost surely not the last. With a day to sleep in and recover and hide from the pesky weather. This morning we had some excellent grilled breakfast burritos packed with cheese, eggs, salsa, and of course bacon. This afternoon will work on some more skills will need higher on the mountain and spend some time building our walls higher as the storm continues to swirl. With fingers crossed will try to move our bright orange homes up to 14 camp as soon as we get a break in the weather. RMI Guide Tyler Jones

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Resting at 17,000. Not much to report on today other than the wind. It continues to blow and blow. We all slept in after a tough climb yesterday. That sure was nice. After breakfast (we’ve all begun to really love instant oatmeal) we reinforced our camp walls. Unfortunately it had not gotten any easier to cut blocks out of the snow. Oh well, a little elbow grease and the walls were looking good. No one tried to go to the summit today. The wind is just too high. A few more groups have arrived in camp and the folks that have been here longer than us are starting to get a little nervous about having to go down without taking a shot at the summit. We’re still sitting pretty good, but a few more days of this and we’ll have to go down too.

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Who wants some pancakes? To celebrate our last rest day before moving to High Camp and trying for the summit, we enjoyed a pancake breakfast. Pancakes at 18,000' topped with jelly and peanut butter make the tummy happy. With a happy tummy, we took it upon ourselves to then enjoy a siesta. By mid day, a few teams showed up carrying gear from Camp 1. It was nice to socialize with some new faces and break up our rest day. This will be our last rest day because starting tomorrow we will be on the go for the next 5 days. All the resting, self care, and acclimatization the past 12 days were for these next 2 days. Tomorrow we will move to high camp, followed by our summit bid. You can feel the excitment and nerves in the team for what is to come. We are ready and we are looking strong. Fingers crossed mother nature doesnt throw us any curve balls. 

Be good to us mother nature,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

RMI Guide Eric Frank checked in from 14,000, High Camp, on Pico de Orizaba. The team arrived at the hut today and will try to get a few hours of sleep tonight before their early alpine start. If weather and conditions allow they will check in tomorrow from the summit of Pico de Orizaba. We wish them luck and a safe climb!

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The Four Day Summit Climb September 13 - 16 led by RMI Guides Christina Dale and Chris Ebeling were unable to reach the summit today. The teams left Camp Muir around 1 AM but poor visibility along with increasing winds and precipitation forced them to turn around at 10,800'. They returned safely to Camp Muir and will begin their descent to Paradise this morning. Their climb with conclude this after once they return to Rainier BaseCamp.

The Four Day Summit Climb teams reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Jess Matthews. The teams spent time in the crater before starting their descent. Once back at Camp Muir they will repack and continue to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today. Congratulations to today's climbers.

Balloon Camp was the perfect final night in Africa for our team, tranquil and wild in equal measures. There were leopard tracks in the dirt of the driveway this morning. But the big cats stayed away from us in the day. We looked hard for the lions, cheetahs and leopards, scanning every acacia branch and watering hole, but all we saw were beautiful birds and herds. Vultures, eagles, lilac breasted rollers and mongooses, impalas, waterbuck, elan, Zebra, giraffes, elephants, baboons and monkeys. Until we rolled out of the park entrance at 11 AM and reluctantly left Tarangire. Adamson and Makubi piloted the Landcruisers along the dusty, busy two-lane toward Mt. Meru and Arusha. On the outskirts of town, we stopped for a picnic and a perusal of the Cultural Heritage Center. We pulled into our home away from home, the Arumeru River Lodge at 3PM. Showered, repacked and regrouped. We had an early dinner together and chased out to Kilimanjaro Airport as the sun got low. Now we are in 17A and 42K, etc... winging our way to Amsterdam, where we'll split up... but only until the next adventure together. It is too good a team to lose... random reunions in beautiful places are in order. Thank you for following along. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

A day after the big and arduous week on Kilimanjaro, nobody in our team had the slightest trouble rallying for the Safari departure this morning. We were driving westward just before 8 AM in two souped up and modified Toyota Landcruisers. Rush hour traffic on the outskirts of Arusha fascinated us, but we were plenty happy to leave it behind and break into open country for a couple of hours. Lake Manyara National Park was today's destination. At first, we stopped for every velvet monkey and baboon, but we gradually grew more demanding and Manyara kept delivering. We were in game viewing heaven by midday with Cape Buffalo, hippos, thousands of storks and pelicans, zebras, warthogs and wildebeest roaming the lake's edge. The forest elephants we saw up close and personal delighted us to no end. In late afternoon, just when eyelids were beginning to droop and the cruisers were pointed toward the park exit... we had an impromptu and unexpected encounter with a leopard. Our eyes widened, his/her eyes widened, our cameras clicked and the beautiful cat came toward us and crossed the road in full view for just a magical moment. The big kitty melted into the brush and we went on our way... amazed at our good fortune. We drove up the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley (which we learned runs 10,000 kilometers from Jordan to Mozambique) and found our way to the Plantation Lodge. The perfectly tended gardens, luxurious accommodations, and welcoming staff caused more than one Taoseño to contemplate staying indefinitely in East Africa. We'll tear ourselves away for a day in Ngorongoro Crater tomorrow though... luxury can wait. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

June 18, 2017 It was overcast and gray in Talkeetna this morning when the team got in for a 7AM breakfast, but we were optimistic in any case. Things had brightened just a bit by the time we assembled in the K2 hangar, but the word was passed that fog on the glacier surface would keep planes out of Basecamp initially. We drank coffee and fidgeted with our gear for a bit. Then we loaded the planes. Then we fidgeted a bit more. Then it was time to fly and we got our boots on. We hastily texted friends and loved ones as our two big beautiful De Havilland Otters taxied out to the runway. We were off! But then the fog came back over Basecamp and we did a u turn and landed in Talkeetna. We texted, we drank more coffee and then we loaded up for real. The flight in got markedly more dramatic and spectacular as we entered the Alaska Range. Before we knew it, we were setting down perfectly on skis on the SE Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. There were about a hundred climbers assembled, ready to fly home and so it was a busy scene. We were very pleased to shake hands and give hugs to the two RMI teams finishing their adventures with Jake Beren and Tyler Jones. Then we set to building camp and reviewing safety procedures for travel on the lower glaciers. We'd stop every now and then to stare in wide eyed wonder at massive Mt Foraker and vertical Mt Hunter, towering over us. Dinner, some story telling and some packing completed our big day. We turned in at 8 PM with the sun nowhere remotely even close to the horizon. We'll get up early -weather permitting- and make our move in the cool of morning when the glacier surface is firmer and safer. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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