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We have settled in to high camp at
Lenz Rocks after a beautiful day of climbing. Warm sun, and a cloudless sky at breakfast let us dally a bit longer than had been our want, and then we set to packing up camp, paring down our gear to the essentials, and getting ready to climb to 15,000'. The climbing is very smooth, mostly walking straight up a broad shoulder of the glacier, and everyone performed well. The scale here is pretty large, and difficult to get a grasp on, and it was quickly apparent that it was better to focus on one's steps than looking up, as things took much longer to approach than it seemed like they should.
With camp built, we're headed to bed early in anticipation of an earlyish start for the summit tomorrow. With any luck, we'll be calling in from the summit tomorrow!
Dobrye din,
RMI Guides
Pete Van Deventer,
JM Gorum, and team
On The Map
RMI Guide
Leon Davis and the
Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams checked in at 7:00 a.m. They were at 13,000' on their descent and Leon reported that it was really nice day on the mountain.
Mt. Baker did not fail to impress our small team this week! We set out from Glacier, WA to make an attempt on
Mt. Baker's mighty North Ridge. Our approach put us at camp at the toe of the Coleman Glacier where we reviewed relevant climbing techniques and relaxed ourselves to sleep.
We awoke under the full moon and set out at dusk to begin the climb. A few hours of casual glacier travel found us at the base of the route. The forbidding clouds to the west stood down and we began our ascent. We gained the ridge and with some steep snow climbing and we were in business! Soon it was time to get into the meat of the route, the ice pitches. Under the snice (snow+ice) there was quality ice, so it didn't take too much excavation to find good placements for our tools. As we topped out the ice pitches the clouds returned and soon we were relying on instruments to find the top. After a bit of thought-provoking route finding we navigated the jumbled glacier that guards the cumbre (summit) and celebrated efficiently before descending the Coleman route back to camp.
It was a great day with good company - all you can ask for in the mountains! Standing on top doesn't hurt either.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
May 29, 2016 - 2:38 p.m. PDT
Tents were broken down early this morning. The team hit the trail a quarter before five after a 3:00 am wake up and a quick breakfast. The midnight sun cast a soft blanket of gold and pink on the north faces of Hunter, Foraker, and the
Kiahiltna Dome. Low winds, cool temps, and the unique lighting of a summer Alaskan night made for an enjoyable start to the morning walk. These conditions were especially welcome after having to deal with 25 mph head winds on our carry day two days ago.
We made efficient stops and good time to our cache site and beyond up to 11 camp. Upon arrival, camp saw it's first daylight as other groups began their ascent up the mountain. Some renovations, and more digging and our camp is up and ready for whatever the mountain throws at us! We will be all restocked and digging deep in the lunch sacks hopefully buy this time tomorrow and will keep you updated.
RMI Guide
Tyler Jones & Team
The May 15 - 20
Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir teams finished up their training at Camp Muir this morning. With a successful summit climb on Wednesday the teams spent yesterday working on crevasse rescue training. Today they packed up and left Camp Muir shortly before 11 am headed for Paradise.
We look forward to seeing them later today.
Congratulations to the Seminar Teams!
Rain, rain, rain that's the name of the game on
Kilimanjaro this month. The unseasonably wet weather has continued for another day. We only had it for the last 45 minutes on the trail though and we were eating lunch in camp for some heavier showers that came through.
Despite that the team is doing really well. We all came into camp together after a 4.5 hour hike today. The start of the hike was sunny and warm and the views were great for a couple hours. Before it got a chance to get too hot for us the clouds moved in and that kept the temps mild. That was perfect as today's hike is up a fairly steep ridge formed by an old lava flow. The vegetation is pretty low to the ground too so if the sun is out you can really cook.
There's a couple of scrambling sections that we did in the rain so that added a little challenge at the end of the day. Everyone handled those like the champs they are so no problem with slippery, steep terrain for these folks.
As I type this the sun is poking back out and warming our tents. Most of the team is relaxing and letting their bodies adjust to our altitude of 12,500'. Tomorrow we will head up again to 14,900' before dropping to below 13,000' to the next camp.
I'll check in again there.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Greetings from Huaraz...
Alpamayo expedition is kicking off!!!
Everyone arrived yesterday in Lima on schedule, and we made it to Huaraz less than 24 hours later. After checking into the Hotel Andino, early to bed was almost mandatory. Today we woke up to the clearest skies ever, and soon after a copious breakfast, we jumped in the van that took us to the Quebrada LLupa, where we'd venture on a morning stroll. What a better way to start acclimatizing than an active hike? Huaraz sits at 3,000m of elevation. Two hours after the van stopped, we found ourselves at the beautiful Churup Lake, "just" 100m above the summit of our beloved Mount Rainier. Lunch by the water with a casual talk and laughter to exercise the lungs without effort at such elevation, and back down to allow the body to rest and start adapting.
We packed our gear, took a nap, went for dinner and got excited about what's ahead... tomorrow we'll leave early towards Cahsapampa, to start the hike in towards Alpamayo BC. Our next post will be from the satellite phone. Stay toned and cheer for the team!!!
Best,
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and the RMI
Alpamayo team
Greetings from the Ishinca Valley! We're writing from our base camp, at 14,400ft, right at the foothills of our first two objectives;
Nevados Ishinca and Urus. We left our hotel this morning in Huaraz, and an uneventful bus ride took us to the sunny village of Pashpa, where we met our pack of donkeys and their gentle drivers. Four hours of hiking through a forest of quenuales (the Andean staple tree) took us to the open meadow where camp sits. Everyone hiked in pretty good style! Our first day of training starts tomorrow, and everyone is looking forward to move further uphill soon!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Monday, June 2, 2025 - 3:45 pm PT
We woke up at 17 Camp to large plumes of snow sublimating off Denali Pass. We slow rolled putting on every layer of clothing we had waiting for water to boil, hoping the wind would subside by the time breakfast was ready. To no avail. By the time we were packed and headed downhill the wind had reached our front door and we were blown down the West Buttress back to 14 Camp with our tails between our legs. Reuniting with friends back at camp and worsening weather reassured us that we had made the right decision.
We have gained a lot over the last couple of weeks; new friendships, good conversations, silly jokes, and some peace from the fast pace of modern life. Though reaching the summit isn’t out of the cards yet for our team, we are beyond satisfied with what the mountain has given us so far. Climbing brings people to their best and their worst, it can cause great joy and great fear. It is a very vulnerable and intimate relationship.
In this world of rat races and anonymous faces it is refreshing to be with good people in a beautiful place. Thank you Mt. McKinley for brining us all together.
Peace, love, gratitude--
RMI Guide Ray Holt
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McKinley Expedition May 13, 2025
Jambo amigos!
Well we’ve finally arrived at our high camp, after a good night's rest and a short hike up to 15,000ft. It was mostly sunny all day with great views of
Kili and our climbing route for tomorrow. The team is doing great and feeling well at this new altitude which is a good sign for things ahead.
We’ve just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what we’ll be wearing and what will be in the pack as well as the schedule. Our game plan will be to wake at 11pm and have a quick breakfast at 11:30, then hopefully hit the trail right at midnight.
I’m expecting the team to reach the summit in seven hours or so if things go according to plan, and if the weather is in our favor.
The team is planning on making satellite phone calls from the summit to loved ones back home. So if you have a loved one with us please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the summit bound Kili crew
On The Map
Congratulations all on reaching the summit! Wonderful news.
Gayle
Posted by: Gayle Hitton on 8/13/2016 at 6:06 pm
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