Entries from Expedition Dispatches
RMI Guides Seth Burns and Calvin Jiricko reached the summit of Forbidden Peak yesterday afternoon. The team had a beautiful day climbing in the North Cascades Range! The route to the summit of Forbidden Peak consists of climbing a small glacier below the South Face and then low 5th class rock and 40- to 50- degree snow and ice in the West Ridge Couloir. At the top of the couloir the team cached their glacier gear and don rock shoes for the enjoyable 5.0 to 5.6 rock climbing along the exposed crest to the summit.
The West Ridge of Forbidden is a true alpinist's classic. Congratulations Team!
July 6, 2024
Posted by: Drew O’Brien, Mike Bennett, George Hedreen, Lacie Smith, Josh Geiser, Layne Peters
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb with Drew O’Brien and Mike Bennett reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 5 am PDT today. The team left Camp Muir and climbed for 6 hours to reach the top. They enjoyed clear skies and great views in every direction.
Congratulations Team!
PC: Drew O'Brien & George Hedreen
Thanks again for pushing us to reach the summit. Up against high winds and odds not to reach summit Team RMI delivered a life long dream of mine to be on top of that mountain. Cheers.
Posted by: David Eldred on 7/7/2024 at 7:04 pm
Was a privilege and honor to climb with this wonderful group of guides and climbers! A memory for a lifetime, thanks RMI!
Posted by: Heath Scheibmeir on 7/6/2024 at 10:51 pm
July 5, 2024
Posted by: Brent Okita, Leif Bergstrom, Evan Redman, Bailey Servais, Claire Pennell, Dylan Anderson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Leif Bergstrom reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Brent reported bluebird skies, and that the entire team 100% stood on TOP!! The team is on their descent and in route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations Team!
July 4, 2024
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Jackson Breen, Roland Scott, Will Ambler, Avery Stolte, Rosie Hust
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier and Jackson Breen reached the top of Mt. Rainier this morning around 6:20am. They enjoyed the sunrise before starting their descent.
The team will take a break at Camp Muir before starting their final descent back to Ashford for a celebratory dinner and certificate ceremony. Nice work team!
July 3, 2024
Posted by: Henry Coppolillo, Joey Manship, Raymond Holt, Mac Nolde
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Emmons Glacier mid-morning. The Team dodged the worst of the wind, but it was still quite gusty. They will return to Camp Schurman and finish out their week of alpine skills training preparing for future big mountain adventures.
Congratulations Team!
Way to go team!!!
Posted by: Susan Sherman on 7/3/2024 at 5:20 pm
July 3, 2024
Posted by: Joe Hoch, Tatum Whatford, Mitch Valaitis, George Hedreen, Arianna Drechsler, Stella Johnson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Climb June 30 - 3 July was unable to reach the summit today due to high winds. RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Tatum Whatford left Camp Muir with an alpine start but were turned back at Ingraham Flats due to extremely high winds. The teams returned safely to Camp Muir where they spent the rest of the morning. They plan to start their descent from Camp Muir to Paradise around 9 am.
July 2, 2024
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Sam Hoffman, Sam Marjerison, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 348'
Tuesday, July 2, 2024 - 8:15 am PT
So the plan was to walk out in the early morning with the glacier surface frozen up nice and firm. Good plan. But it didn’t freeze. We had a wet snowstorm from 11 PM until 6 AM at our final camp… mostly it just preserved the slush. And then we were socked in with cloud until midday. But when the clouds lifted, we broke records taking down camp and stretching out the rope teams. We were moving at 1PM and then stopped at 1:01 PM figuring out the first crevasse crossing. There were a few thousand more to figure out. Our final day took about six hours and included a couple dozen snowshoed feet and legs going into crevasses, but thankfully no bodies. And magically, as we pulled up the final hill, the weather cleared and two beautiful K2 Otters glided in to the snow strip. We loaded planes and were off deck by 8 PM. There wasn’t much time for gear sorting back in Talkeetna. But there turned out to be time for Mountain High Pizza Pie and the Fairview Inn. The team still has a couple of high altitude hacks, some tired legs and some sunburned faces, but those faces were smiling last night as we settled into the Swiss Alaska Inn.
No summit… it is true. But we tried.
Best Regards
RMI Guides Dave Hahn, Sam Hoffman, Sam Marjerison, Nick Sinapius
PC: Dave Hahn
Sign Up For Denali Expedition June 11, 2024 Emails
Tony - Wow. Incredible on so many levels. What an experience. Life is what you make of it … and clearly you are making the most of it!
Posted by: Marc on 7/7/2024 at 8:27 am
Congratulations to the guides and climbers on a job well done! Whether in climbing or so many other things, some day’s a diamond, some day’s a stone. Hugs to all. Saying hi to Karen. Hope to see you soon at Green Lake Fitness. We’ll keep the light on for you. Dean
Posted by: Dean Wingfield on 7/2/2024 at 2:45 pm
July 1, 2024
Posted by: Ben Luedtke, Robert Whyte, Hannah Billings, Drew O’Brien, Josh Geiser, Miles Watson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
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RMI Guides Ben Luedtke and Drew O'Brien led the Five Day Climb to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They report chilly and breezy conditions on the summit. The teams began their descent from the summit around 9:45 am and are making their way back to Camp Muir where they will spend one more night on the mountain.
Way to climb!
PC: Ben Luedtke & Drew O'Brien
Congrats to everyone, great accomplishment, that beer will taste great. Our team hopes to summit on July 10th, hardly wait!
Posted by: Barry Milne on 7/4/2024 at 8:54 am
Congratulations to the team. Proud to be called Chandan’s family.
Posted by: Sougandh Mulini Golla on 7/3/2024 at 12:17 am
July 1, 2024
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Sam Hoffman, Sam Marjerison, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 8,000'
Sunday, June 30, 2024 - 10:16 pm PT
It was cold at 14,000' this morning because we didn't wait for the sun to get around the mountain. But the cold was nowhere near what we'd experienced up high. We ate breakfast, packed and got on our way. Back to pulling sleds. We pulled them around Windy Corner, through the Polo Field, down Squirrel and Motorcycle Hills. Down at 11K, we dug up the cache of gear and made our switch to snowshoes. It was a treat to be the only team left on the lower mountain (there are perhaps five or six teams still above us). It was pretty easy going down the Kahiltna Glacier until we reached Ski Hill where the combination of mushy snow and crevasses made things less fun. Even so we made good time reaching 8,000'. We set up camp as clouds rolled in from above and below. Our hope is to have things freeze up in the night to make for safer and easier travel, but with cloud cover, that doesn't always happen. We'll see what we get. Basecamp is potentially just four hours away.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
PC: Dave Hahn
Sign Up For Denali Expedition June 11, 2024 Emails
Bummed you guys didn’t summit.
Was of course hoping you would on July 1st.
I was fortunate enough to summit on July 1st 1994 with Craig John, Ford Huntington , and Jennifer (?) as our guides.
Guess there is always next year.
If any of you see Joe Horiskey tell him Hi for me !
Posted by: Don West on 7/1/2024 at 8:15 pm
RMI Guides Jess Wedel and Mike Bennett led their Four Day Climb June 27-30 to the summit of Mt. Rainier. The teams reported winds on the crater rim 15-20 mph and an overall nice day. The teams reached the summit around 6 am and are on their descent to Camp Muir. Once back at Camp the teams will pack up their gear and continue the remaining 4,500' down to Paradise. Their program will conclude this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Wow what a great trip! The guides are some of the coolest people on the planet! They were funny, extremely knowledgeable, and humble. every aspect of the trip was fun, but challenging in some way. Be physically and mentally ready. It’s a full few days with no real sleep to get to the top. Loved every minute. Thanks Jess, Dillon, Mitch!
Everyone, please remember to tip your guides.
Posted by: Karl Rummel on 7/1/2024 at 8:08 am
It was a great day and thank you Jess and Mitch for leading our team to the summit. Was a great feeling to summit after trying and failing due to weather back in 2008 for me. However, just FYI, we all thought the winds were more like 30 mph based on how cold it was at the peak. ;-)
Posted by: Eric Dirst on 7/1/2024 at 8:05 am
Reminds me of Tuckerman Ravine in NH especially in early to mid May. Good job!
Posted by: John Buckett on 7/7/2024 at 6:07 pm
Congratulations on achieving another adventure!
Posted by: granny jay on 7/6/2024 at 11:07 am
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