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Saturday June 13th 11:15 pm PT In days of yore when men where men and battles raged across the lands and glory rose in the mountains, there came upon the mountaineering stage a great climbing team called "el siete". This fellowship of dynamic professionals hailed from all corners of the great U.S. of A. and even called on brethren from distant Norwegian lands to converge here below "Ski Hill" at Camp One on Denali (which is French for "The Nali"). The determined team worked to achieve the glory of their pursuit by trudging upward to 10,000 feet to strategically deposit in their mountain bank expedition supplies for safe keeping. Nestled in their beds the great team awaits a strong move in the wee hours of the morning to 9,600 feet. Stay tuned for more adventures of the soon to be mountaineering legends know as "el siete." Stay classy lower 48 - and Norway! RMI Guide Mike Haugen

On The Map

May 21, 2015 - 10:26 pm PT Hello from 14k on Denali! We took a planned rest day today, which was a good thing because the weather was a bit inhospitable this morning in camp. Winds were swirling and blowing snow around, with very little visibility. We took advantage of the situation and had a three hour brunch in the comfort and relative luxury of our cook tent. The weather improved a bit in the afternoon, and we did some work around camp fortifying our snow walls. By this evening, the skies were nearly clear and the wind was light at camp. Strong winds were still obvious up higher on the route. The weather forecast for the next few days is still calling for high winds? So our plan is to sit tight and wait for a better weather window in which to climb higher. In the mean time, we're resting, acclimating, and telling lies in the cook tent. We'll keep you posted as we continue to watch the weather. Cheers, RMI Guide Mike Walter and team

On The Map

May 13, 2015, 10:49 pm The weather today was a bit squirrelly, but we were able to make it back down to our cached gear at 9,600' and haul it back up to our camp at 11,200'. We're all doing well out here and sitting pretty on the mountain. Our next mission will be to take a cache of food and fuel up around Windy Corner at around 13,600'. We plan on tackling that tomorrow if the weather allows us. Today would have been too windy for a foray to higher altitudes. We're all excited for the next stages of the climb, where we exchange snowshoes for crampons, and trekking poles for ice axes. We're also psyched at climbing steeper terrain and enjoying the ever ever impressive views. That's the news from this end. We'll keep you up to date with our progress. RMI Guide Mike Walter and team.

On The Map

A dozen bright eyed cyclops laboring through the labyrinthine network of undesigned trails, clinging to each breath knowing the next will have less to offer. A cough escapes. For some of us this is the highest we've been, for all, the highest in recent memory. More to go.
Many hours later our team reached the summit of Iztaccíhuatl under a warm sun and brilliant blue sky. No small feat. And neither was the return. Though the views of the day extended far beyond the dusty trail of the night. Deep glacial valleys whose soft rock has been reworked by more recent year's liquids- delicate degradation of cyclopean castle walls. A gently erupting neighboring volcano, dispensing its vapors toward the valleys below.

Now as we look back up through the haze, the bittersweet, almost somber, feeling of a difficult journey tholed holds the occupants of our van; pensive and grateful.

RMI Guide Will Ambler

Sunday, May 18, 2025 - 1:53 am PT

We woke up this morning with the feeling that we would fly today and in the end we were right.  A little after noon we got the call we had been waiting for.  And quickly got into our boots. After a circuitous and beautiful flight we landed on the Kahitna Glacier. Despite the later hour, with good weather and high stoke, we quickly left base camp and made our way to Ski Hill.  The team is very happy to be on the mountain and making our way up.

RMI Guide Seth Burns and team

Today was our last slow day. Our last day of naps and leisurely mornings. Our last day at 18,000' camp. Tomorrow we head uphill. Uphill to our High Camp at 19,600' where we will set off for the summit. We spent the day today charging our devices, eating as much food as we could so we dont have to carry it down, and starring uphill at the mountain. Keep your fingers crossed and good wishes that the weather holds for the next 72hrs. Happy Superbowl Sunday, RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

This is Mike King checking in on the Sahale climb. We are at the campsite after a hot day hiking through the dense lower slopes of Boston Basin. We will check in after our climbing school tomorrow! The group is enjoying the views and looking forward to some dinner and rest.

We had another great day on the lower Kahiltna. Our goal was to carry a load of food and fuel to around 10,200', just shy of 11K Camp. We had a sneaking hope that we might move well enough and everyone would feel good enough to carry the load all the way to 11,000', eliminating the need for a back carry. After 3 good stretches of walking, we were just below the usual cache site with plenty of time to spare and everyone in good spirits, so we decided to push on. It was a great effort by the whole group, and now most of our food is waiting for us at our next camp. Tomorrow we'll pack up camp at the bottom of Ski Hill and make the move to 11, where the cycle will continue. RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

On The Map

Sunday, May 20, 2018 - 1:12 a.m. PDT The squirrely weather persists on Denali. It snowed all night last night, but fortunately we only picked up 4 inches or so. We woke up to more snow, wind, and very limited visibility. After breakfast we slowly started to pack up camp, hoping the weather would improve. Around noon the weather finally improved so we packed up our tents and rigged up our ropes. By the time we were ready to walk, the weather was back its former, stormy self. We decided to give it a try and if conditions worsened we would make camp down on the Kahiltna Glacier and at least make some progress on the mountain. It was a good call because we made it all the way to Camp 2, at the base of Ski Hill (7,800'). We were in a ping pong ball most of the day -- navigating using the wands marking the route, faint traces of other parties' tracks, GPS, and a little Braille (well, maybe not Braille). Our navigation techniques worked and we cruised into camp in 5 hours flat! Tomorrow the plan is to carry and cache supplies higher on the route and then return to our current camp. This will make for lighter loads when we move camp later this week and will help our acclimatization process. RMI Guide Mike Walter and team

On The Map

We got a few more rain showers in the night at Shira, but the dawn was sparkly, cold and clear. Kibo had a dusting of new snow to dress up the ice fields, rock walls and hanging glaciers. Out to the West, Mt Meru could be seen poking through the endless cloud blanket below our camp. At 8 AM we got walking again through the high desert vegetation. Our time in the sun turned out to be short lived as the clouds enveloped us once more. It began to look as though we might get pretty wet at one point close to noon. We put on rain jackets -and endured at least 2.5 minutes of light precipitation before things got better -against all odds. We reached 15,200 ft -our high point for the day, at the Lava Tower. This represented a new altitude record for Olga, Pawel, Lynn, Joe, Dereesa, April, Steve and Colin. Only Kathleen and Patrick had been higher. We rested for a bit and then got moving down toward the Barranco Valley. The trail was delightfully quiet on what can be a very busy climbing route. We seemed to have the place to ourselves. Dropping 2000 vertical feet, we came into chirping birds and exotic plants -the magical setting for Barranco Camp. We had some hints of the great rock walls of Kibo above, but the clouds never let up enough to reveal the big views. The team was surprised and enchanted by a rollicking singing and dancing performance by our entire fifty man staff as we came into camp. This was our longest day so far, nearly seven hours on the trail, but by dinner the gang seemed to have recovered nicely and spirits were high for taking on the Great Barranco Wall in the morning. Best Regards RMI Guides Dave Hahn

On The Map