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June 15, 2015 10:20 pm PT We woke up early to beautiful weather. After a quick breakfast and packing session, we were headed up glacier towards our next camp at 11,200 ft. We made great time with our strong crew and found a partially dug out camp. We proceeded to make it an RMI quality camp. Since we arrived into camp early and had most of the day to work, we decided to go big. Instead of stairs leading down into our cook tent, we decided to make a large tunnel through the side of the hill as our entry way. It turns out you have to move a bunch of snow to make a six foot entry tunnel. RMI 7 "El Siete"

On The Map

Sunday, May 31st 1:54pm PDT Mike Walter called from 14K Camp on Mt. McKinley. Both his team and RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer team will be heading down to 11,000’ Camp or 7800’ Camp tonight. Their plan is to be at the airstrip in the morning. If the weather cooperates, they will be in Talkeetna by tomorrow afternoon. RMI Guide Mike Walter

Hi there. This is Adam Knoff calling from the Cayambe Hut at 15,300 feet. We had an unexpected bad weather day today. We had hoped to climb to the glacier and do some training, but we were bouted by high winds, blowing raining and cold temperatures. We did manage to squeeze in a good amount of training around the hut here and the team is feeling psyched that now, this evening, the clouds departed and we have a clear view of the mountain. We are getting up in about four hours to start our climb of Cayambe at around midnight. Things are looking much better than they were earlier in the day so we are optimistic that we have a good shot at making the top. We will call tomorrow with a progress report until then, buenes noches. RMI Guide Adam Knoff

Started today before sunrise with a 6:00 a.m. departure from the hotel. We drove along scenic roads high into the hills around Quito and were rewarded with beautiful views of the city and some of the surrounding volcanoes, including our future objectives: Cayambe and Cotopaxi! When the road ended and we reached the trailhead, we began hiking toward Rucu Pichincha. We walked through gorgeous grasslands and scrambled over rocks, moving in and out of the clouds all day. A few hours and a few thousand feet later, we reached the summit (15,407 ft). After a quick descent back into warmer weather, we arrived at the top of the TelefériQo just before some afternoon thunder. We waited out a brief storm while enjoying coffee in the restaurant before taking the gondola back into town. Most of the team spent some time at the spa, testing their mental fortitude in the cold plunge before dinner. Another great day enjoying Ecuador and acclimating to the altitude!

Thanks for following along—we’re all looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures!

RMI Guide Jackson Breen & Team

Cowboy camping and waking up under the stars was quite refreshing. Shoutout Starlink. My circadian rhythm said awe dope bro, that’s what’s up. After a salty breakfast, we left Pampas de Leñas at 8:15am and the first thing that comes to mind: Aconcagua Slay. Heading off with the team towards the so-called “suspension bridge.” Riddles and jokes were had by all. Forwards I am heavy backwards I am NOT.. definitely not a pregnant woman but Ben’s jokes and riddles are TON’s of fun…you maggots! Pocket rocks were found, ketchup and salami sandwich’s were had, we saw guanaco, and learned a pirates favorite letter is definitely “aye.” After 10.2 miles we made it to Casa de Piedra to set up camp. What I thought would be a siesta turned into Erica taking us to school In Farkle… I think I now “underment what she stood.”

In the words of ChatGPT, “no cap, this climb’s straight bussin’, we keep slayin’, there’s no discussion.”

RMI Climber Ethan Pickett 

Tuesday, June 5, 2018 - 10:46 PM PT So there we were, standing in our cook tent on Mount Denali. This morning was a beautiful morning, and it really doesn't get much better here in Alaska, but tomorrow's forecast had been showing elevated winds for some time. With that stability of forecast, it didn't look like a summit day tomorrow, so we decided to drag our feet at 14,000' for one more day. It was a beautiful rest day, well enjoyed by the whole team. The cook tent was humming this evening with the energy of expectation of a move to 17,000 ft Camp tomorrow. We are all excited and ready, and can't wait to give high fives to RMI's Denali Team led by Mike Walter as we pass them on Denali's West Buttress. RMI Guides Pete, Jess, Taylor, and team

On The Map

Friday, August 11, 2017 - 6:59 pm PT Hello, this is Eric Frank calling in from the South side of Mt. Shuksan. I just wanted to let everyone know we're doing well. We had a good day of climbing through the old grow forest and we have settled into our little bivy camp here for the night. So far the team is just getting camp set up and relaxing. We are going to make some dinner, watch the sun go down and enjoy ourselves a little bit. Thanks for following along. We will check in again tomorrow. RMI Guide Eric Frank

June 2, 2017 As cold as it is at 6:30am here at 14,200', we knew that an early start to our day would be for the best. The crew was up and at 'em even before hots were quite ready. We all knew this was a big day, and it was. The sun hadn't hit our part of the mountain yet, so we were bundled up. This is my usual plan, and surprisingly, we were the first group out of camp. This always bodes well in terms of being one of the first on the fixed lines - that part of the mountain which is quite steep where passage up it is protected by fixed ropes that we can secure ourselves to while climbing slopes up to 50 degrees in steepness. The team really crushed it, then climbed well again on the West Buttress itself. This really is the most spectacular and challenging part of the route. A few of us cached our loads at our standard location at 16,600'. But two of our rope teams climbed all the way to high camp at 17,200' and cached there! Great work by everyone. Later, upon return to camp, we heard that a group that left an hour after us had to wait for two hours due to the congestion in the fixed roped. We were all pretty psyched that we didn't have that issue. Instead, we had one of the most perfect days climbing the Butttress I've seen. Windless and warm. The weather forecast is, of course, on everybody's minds, with this window of nice weather perhaps coming to an end in a couple of days. Some guides are even accelerating their timelines to head up to 17,200' a day or so earlier. I've toyed with this idea too, to forego our rest day tomorrow and try to get a summit in while we can. But, my gut tells me to practice the patience I always preach, so we'll enjoy our rest day tomorrow and take it one day at a time. I know we'll all be the stronger for it, and after our big day we're all a little tired right now. So, good night from 14,200'. RMI Guides Brent, Christina an JT

On The Map

May 14, 2017 Happy Mother's Day! We celebrated Mother's Day by taking a rest/acclimatization day at 14k. The weather was beautiful and we were able to get some much needed rest and dry out all of our gear. We took a leisurely stroll out to the Edge of the World to take on the magnificent views of the Kahiltna Glacier nearly 7000' below us. We also took time for continued training with fixed rope travel and running belays, which we will likely employ tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we plan to carry a load of supplies up high on the West Buttress so we will be ready to move to high camp soon. We'll keep you posted. Again, happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there. Especially: Jeanne, Liz, Mimi, Kelly, Cynthia, Diane, Jarah, Victoria, Lea, Judy, Gale, Roberta, Pam, Joanne, Martina, Meme, Ann, Nancy, Debbie, & Renee. RMI Guide Mike Walter

June 16, 2016 - 4:16 P.M. PDT And we're off! RMI Denali Expedition #7 (known in some circles as "el Siete") landed on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier this morning around 10 o'clock to clear skies and breathtaking views of the Alaska Range. The team took advantage of the clear weather by leisurely setting up camp, and then brushing up on anchor building, crevasse rescue, and sled rigging skills. Our next move is to make some dinner and head to bed early in anticipation of our move to Ski Hill camp while the snow is at its most frozen state- is 3 A.M. early morning or late at night? We'll let you know... For now, excitement is high, stress is low, views are stunning. Love to all friends, family, and Joe Horiskey, RMI Guide Mike Haugen & gang