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May 19, 2016 - 12:07 a.m. PDT Today was a beautiful day to go for a walk, so we grabbed our already packed packs from yesterday and headed up Motorcycle Hill. A thin layer of high clouds kept it from getting too hot, and we cruised across a smooth, and relatively crevasse free, Polo Field to Windy Corner, and then around to our cache site at 13,500.' After folding a shovel in half trying to dig through a surprisingly thick ice layer, we found and abandoned cache hole that had blown in and excavated that instead. With food and fuel buried, we made short work of the return trip to 11,200'. Should the weather be fair in the morning, we plan to pack up camp and head up to 14,200' to join Mike Walter's crew. With luck we'll be checking in tomorrow from our new camp! Do your favorite weather dance for us, RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Jess Matthews, and Robby Young, and Crew

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May 21, 2015 - 10:46 pm PT The team has made it to Camp 1 in almost perfect style. I am on my seventh Denali climb as a guide and have never gone from Base Camp to Camp 1 with such seamlessness. No one had a single sled issue or cursed my name for giving them so much gear. No one got a blister or fell behind a single second. Like I said earlier, I am very pleased with this team. One day down, who knows how many more to go. Stay tuned for tomorrow's report. RMI Guide Adam Knoff

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July 11, 2014 - 4:31 pm PT Hey Everyone – This is JJ Justman with team #1 here on Mt. Elbrus. It’s about 3 am in the morning. We have the crampons on, it’s a breathless night here for climbing. We are about to jump on the snow-cat, which will give us a little lift higher up on the mountain. It’s a gorgeous evening, it’s going to be a gorgeous day tomorrow. We will touch base again. And I am pretty darn positive we will be doing that from the highest mountain here in Europe. Take care everyone, talk to you soon. RMI Guide JJ Justman

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Our time spent in Puebla amongst the dozens of beautifully lit cathedrals, vibrant colonial architecture and calming atmosphere is never enough. But our two nights in the lovely Hotel Colonial and a full day of rest were just enough for the group to refresh from La Malinche and Ixta. 

After a laidback day of trinket shopping, napping and sightseeing, our group of newly relaxed climbers met for a dinner of steak and gold plated burgers last night above Puebla’s main square. The stoke was high and there were smiles all around and excitement for our final and largest mountain. 

This morning we reloaded the van and set off for Tlachichuca and 18,500’ Pico de Orizaba.

Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

Wednesday, June 5, 2019 - 10:39 PM PT Wow! We got a little bit of every weather pattern today on our move to Camp 1 located at 7,800’. It was overcast, hot, cold, windy, calm, thunder and we got two different rounds of snow. Back to the beginning of the day, our flight into the Alaska Range was spectacular. After a quick breakfast, K2 Aviation told us to suit up and put boots on, we were going flying. The Team did well with the heavy packs and sleds. We got into camp after seven hours and while the tents are bombproof, the rest is like that pig who made his house out of straw. Tomorrow we hope to carry half our camp up to 10,000’ but we might get weathered in. Regardless we’ll check in and look forward to another day on Denali. RMI Guide Mike King

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Today was another beautiful day on the lower slopes of Mt. Baker. We started with a leisurely breakfast and then packed our gear for a short walk above camp to reach the snow and our training site. After a good day of training, we’re relaxing in our tents before dinner and then off to bed before we gear up again early in the morning for the real thing. The team is looking forward to heading uphill to put our new skills to use with the summit in our sights! RMI Guides Jess Matthews, Jessie Poquerusse, Dustin Wittmier and Team.

Sunday, July 8, 2018 - 4:00 PM PT Hello Loyal Blog Followers! Peru Expedition Skills Team here, enjoying a nice sunny day here in the Ishinca Valley. We slept in today; well deserved after our big climb of Nevado Ishinca yesterday! Per usual, we feasted for four meals today. You wouldn’t believe we’re at 14,400’ in the mountains of Peru given the fact that our diet today included fresh pineapple and melon with yogurt and cereal, yellow potato salad, dried corn and charcuterie, and pork chops for dinner! Oh boy, what a treat! It wasn’t just r+r today, however. We got a second chance to hike to the overlook of Tocllacoccha (Lake Toclla), this time without the wet weather. What a sight it was; with large glaciers pouring into turquoise water below the hulking mass that is Tocllaraju. We spent some time geeking out on crevasse rescue, and even practiced rigging rappels off the big boulders here at camp. A great day indeed! Tomorrow (tonight rather), we will make an attempt on Nevado Urus. Wish us luck! We’ll let you know how it goes! RMI Guide Robby Young, RMI Guide Alan Davis, William and team Peru.

Greetings from Karanga Camp. We'll be spending the night at the same elevation as Wheeler Peak -at 13,161 ft, the highest point in New Mexico (which most of us call home). The day began back in the cold and shady Barranco Valley. We were at the upper edge of the clouds this morning and we got swallowed up by them shortly after our 9 AM departure. There was plenty of anticipation and perhaps a little trepidation at the chance to come to grips with the great Barranco Wall. The team handled the rough and rocky "trail" well, moving safely from ledge to ledge while dodging hundreds of heavily laden, hard charging porters. We spent a fair bit of time simply standing and waiting in line at the various bottlenecks that developed around the dicier moves. But our gang was patient and sure-footed... The perfect mix of traits and talents for getting through the day. We were cloaked in thick fog for our entire walk beyond the wall. The team never saw the Karanga Valley itself -our last encounter with Lobelias and Senecios. We just knew we were in it by the steep descent and just as steep ascent out the opposite side. And that put us in a fog shrouded camp at 2 PM where our tents were already up and the table was set for lunch. The afternoon was spent resting. Some enjoyed the quiet of their tents while others played a laugh-filled Uno tournament with the local guides and waiters. Just before sunset, the clouds dropped away to reveal unreal views of Kibo bathed in golden light. It was one of those magical times when we didn't know whether to focus on the setting sun, the rising moon or the glowing glaciers above. It all added up to another great day on a mountainside in Africa. Today's shoutouts... TG loves MV... and a long distance happy birthday to my brother Hal. Best Regards, Dave Hahn

After an early breakfast and some last minute packing we loaded up our shuttle and said good bye to Huaraz. We headed north out of town for over an hour before leaving the paved road for the washboard dirt road taking us east to the village of Casha Pampa. Here we unloaded our van and helped load the mules that will carry our mountain of gear into base camp for us. Now in the mid-morning sun we started our hike into the Santa Cruz Valley, the first hour and a half was dusty and hot but soon the dirt and rock gave way to beautiful rolling meadows. Beautiful streams trickled down from the surrounding hills and soon we began to see the tops of stunning snow-capped mountains emerging from above the valley walls. By late afternoon we reached our camp at Llama Coral where we set up tents, had a delicious dinner, and settled in for the night. The team is doing very well and we are happy to be on the trail. Thanks for following along. RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and the A Team

May 30, 2017 We woke up to an unexpected foot of fresh snow this morning and unable to see the Buttress above us, let alone many of our camp neighbors. Our initial plans to head uphill became questionable at best, but we crawled out of our warm tents for some breakfast burritos and hoped for a change in the weather. The skies eventually cleared and the sun began to warm the basin, but the winds persisted up high long enough to set our sights on tomorrow. Anxious to stretch our legs, we took advantage of the warm afternoon with a short walk to the "Edge of the World" for some spectacular views of the Alaska Range. The sun brightened spirits and kept folks lingering outside their tents all afternoon to soak it up before dinner. It was a much needed lift to prepare us for our uphill push tomorrow to 17 camp and on to the highest point in North America. RMI Guides Jess Matthews, Jenny Konway, Pete Van Deventer and team

On The Map