RMI Expeditions Blog
July 5, 2022
Posted by: Alex Halliday, Leif Bergstrom, Daniel May, Sam Marjerison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,200'
RMI Guide Alex Halliday called from Cmap this afternoon. The team turned at 12,200', at the top of the Ice Chute, due to deteriorating weather. He reported cloudy condition, some snow but an overall nice day of climbing. Alex mentioned that despite the team turning, that everyone was stoked after their ascent of the Ice Chute.
Their plan is to walk back to Paradise tomorrow and retun to Basecamp in the early afternoon.
July 5, 2022
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Monday, July 4, 2022 - 9:46 pm PT
We woke to a calm but cloudy morning at 17,200'. There was light snow falling -some of the first snowflakes we’ve had on this trip. It wasn’t too hard to be out in it for packing though. We got it all done and got walking at noon. Many careful steps were taken along the crest of the West Buttress in the clouds. We got a little surprise when we started down the fixed lines at 16,200. There was an actual squall with snow blowing in our faces as we delicately stepped down and across crevasses. Things eased as we got to 14,000' at 3 PM and re-established camp. We then had a quiet afternoon and evening of resting, relaxing and eating, with everybody making mention of how much easier life at 14,000' was compared to 17,000'.
Tomorrow we’ll hope the clouds go elsewhere as we get down to 11,000' and get set for the big walk out the lower glacier.
Best Regards
July 4, 2022
Posted by: Brent Okita, Matias Francis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Matias Francis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier earlier this morning! The team reported a nice day for this 4th of July holiday. The team on their descent and we expect them back in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
Congratulations Sarah, Nicole, and Jake on reaching the summit. This is a great accomplishment. We are proud of you! Be safe! Felly, Sam, and Kevin.
Posted by: Sam on 7/5/2022 at 6:33 pm
Congrats David & Stephanie! Epic! You two are beasts. Thankfully no 90mph winds this time. Denali is next. Love ya and happy for your success. Mom & Dad
Posted by: Richard on 7/5/2022 at 5:19 pm
July 4, 2022
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 20,310'
Monday, July 4, 2022 - 1:50 a.m. PDT
Briefly…Because it is 12:38 a.m. at 17,200 ft…we did it! Fabulous climb to the top of North America. The day started out a little more windy than predicted, so we pushed our start back to 10:15 a.m., by which time thinks were looking more promising. We went back and forth all day between a little cool and a little hot. Luckily, when we hit the top at 6:30 p.m., it was calm and easy. In fact we enjoyed it so much we spent 50 minutes on top! There was only one other team today and we will likely be some of the very last for the season. Beautiful views down into all the fascinating glaciers and valleys surrounding Denali. We picked our way carefully down, leaving the summit at 7:20 p.m. and arriving back at high camp at 11:00 p.m. Late night dinner and then crawling into sleeping bags for well earned rest.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and team
nice to visit this site.
Posted by: Ruhiarsha on 3/13/2024 at 2:36 am
Congratulations to Jim Karmozyn and the entire team on reaching the summit! I knew you could do it.
Posted by: Ted Wioncek on 7/7/2022 at 10:56 am
July 3, 2022
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 17,200'
Saturday, July 2, 2022 - 8:56 pm PT
It was a rest day, although slightly less restful for taking place at 17,200'. Everything is a little harder up here. We were lucky to have a nice sunny day (again) which made it easier to relax. It was breezy from time to time, which was forecast. We’re hoping the winds quiet down, in keeping with those forecasts, for our summit day tomorrow. We ate and drank water and stared out at the amazing views. We made last minute adjustments to our packs and the gear we’ll rely on tomorrow. We talked strategy. We looked up at the “autobahn” -the route from 17,000' to Denali Pass and tried to judge its difficulty. After weeks of hard work to get in position, we are ready.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
July 2, 2022
Posted by: Mike King, Dustin Wittmier, Lauren Macklin, Mike Bennett, Jackson Breen, Trevor Katz
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb with RMI Guides Mike King and Dustin Wittmier were on the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Above this heavy marine layer, team had clear skies, sunshine and mild winds. The climbing was great with a with a direct route and it took the team 5 hours to get to the top.
Congratulations team!
Woo hoo! Way to go Kelly and Janette! I’m super proud of you both. Can’t wait to hear the details and celebrate. Have fun sliding down! :)
Posted by: Jerry Verhoff on 7/3/2022 at 9:26 am
Congrats Kelly & Janette! So proud of you- woohoo!!! Love you both!
Posted by: Christina on 7/2/2022 at 5:05 pm
July 2, 2022
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 17,200'
Friday July 1, 2022 11:25pm PDT
We were repetitive today. “What a gorgeous day” was heard over and over. We were out of our sleeping bags and firing the stoves at 7 AM and … as usual… it was calm and clear and perfect at 14,000 ft. A little cool in the shadows, but by the time we’d eaten breakfast and done another big gear sort, it was 9:50 and the sun was coming on strong. We headed up the now-familiar terrain leading to the fixed ropes and the crest of Denali’s West Buttress. The work was certainly hard, carrying big packs on steep snow, ice, and rock at high altitude, but the scenery was magnificent. It was even more magnificent once we loaded up the supplies from our cache at 16,600 and pushed on to new ground. It was a thrill to walk along the ridge crest, balancing between the big drop down to Genet Basin on one side and the Peters Glacier on the other. We rolled into 17,200 ft at about 4 PM in calm and sunny conditions and began to build our high camp.
The decision was made, over dinner in our rather compact high camp dining tent, to take a rest day tomorrow (Saturday) and to focus on a summit bid Sunday. Conditions look good for Saturday, according to the forecast, but even better for Sunday and we’d like everybody to have their best shot at the top after so much hard work.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
On on everyone! You’ve all worked SO hard. You are ALL amazing! MASSIVE GOOD LUCK guys n gals!
Posted by: Margaret Nolan on 7/2/2022 at 9:23 am
So proud of everyone and with you in spirit!! You can do this!!! Cheering you all on!!! Go, Jim, go!!!!
Posted by: Deborah Karmozyn on 7/2/2022 at 8:49 am
July 1, 2022
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Tatum Whatford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 14,200"
Thursday, June 30, 2022 11:25 pm PDT
Another beautiful day, but this was an easy one. We just rested and solidified our acclimatization today. And ate and ate and ate. It was great to see Andy’s RMI team come back into the camp at 14,000 on their way lower. We congratulated them and wished them a safe journey out.
In between afternoon naps, the team roped up and walked to the “Edge of the World” overlooking the Kahiltna Glacier’s NE Fork. Camp at 14,000 is in a broad and mostly flat basin, but at the edge, there is a fairly breathtaking view straight down… seemingly for miles. The gang enjoyed watching clouds race up the face and catching glimpses of the Cassin and West Rib climbing routes. Back at camp we had dinner in calm sunshine and prepared for the big move up to 17,200 ft.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
June 30, 2022
Posted by: Andy Bond, Grayson Swingle, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 20,301'
Thursday, July 30, 2022 10:20 am PDT
I’m going to start with the spoiler-100% of our team made it to the summit! This was very special because of the excellent chemistry we developed on this trip. To get to the summit, we had to travel across the Autobahn-clipping in and out of over 50 pickets, climb past Zebra rocks, take in the views at Denali pass, do the 100 yard dash across the football field, tackle pig hill before finally arriving on the summit ridge all while changing layers of clothing throughout the day. The summit brought tears to many of our eyes. It took us just under 7 hours to reach the summit from 17,000 camp. At the summit, everyone exchanged hugs and laughter. Some commemorated with flags and special notes for loved ones. We took lots of pictures and celebrated our hard effort before we descended back to camp in 3 hours and were completely exhausted. Our celebration included watching Steve, who carried a hula hoop he found in Talkeetna to the summit, break the world record for completing over 30 seconds of hula hooping at the highest elevation recorded for the activity. We all videoed the event for the record book.
We were blessed with incredible weather; 1st rate guides-Andy, Grayson and Ben; interesting, accomplished, funny and caring team mates.
I want to also share my own personal story which motivated me to climb Denali- The highest mountain in North America. After hiking the Appalachian trail in 2018, I decided I needed a new challenge which was tackling the highest point in every state. I quickly realized this goal included Denali and Mt Rainier and that i better get working on those two mountains since I wasn’t getting any younger. Having no mountaineering experience, I did some research and decided to climb with RMI since they guided on both mountains and came with high reviews. To get some experience, I decided to take the kahiltna seminar followed by a climb of Rainier. Covid initially delayed my plans by a year but in May 2021, I completed the Kahiltna seminar only to find out a month later that I had stage 1C ovarian cancer. I had surgery in July and started 6 rounds of chemotherapy which ended in December. I wanted to have a goal to focus on during chemo, so I signed up for the June 15th climb of Denali. Knowing this was a daunting task, I went hiking everyday during the four months of chemo no matter how sick I felt. Amazingly, I continued to get stronger and fitter and climbed a 13,000 foot mountain in Colorado in November. I think I had this overwhelming desire to push myself because I didn’t want to let cancer interrupt my goals. Another part of me wanted to do something that was as close to mentally and physically demanding as combating cancer as I could find. I certainly believe climbing Denali fulfilled that objective! Standing on the summit was thrilling but at the same time I realized the yearlong journey was the meaningful part not the single destination.
Mary-Beth and Team
Late to the party but my congratulations are just as strong. You all rock! Steve and his hula hooping self and Mary Beth. MB for you I am just without words. I was diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer in 2018 and just getting through it all about broke me. Reading what you accomplished during your treatments and since is just so motivational. I’m so glad you were part of this team whose blog I followed because of Steve. The Universe sure is magical.
Posted by: Melanee Strootman on 7/5/2022 at 10:12 am
Congratulations to the whole team!! What an accomplishment for you all. Mary Beth you’re just amazing and I can’t wait to hear what your next adventure might be.
Posted by: Jan Sgroi on 7/2/2022 at 9:44 am
June 30, 2022
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Wednesday, June 29, 2022 - 10:32 pm PT
This was a big and beautiful day on Denali. Sunny from start to finish with barely a puff of wind all day. So we made good use of it. We were up at 7 and out of camp by 8:50 in the morning shadows. We powered on up the hills just out of camp that steepened to headwalls a few hours along. The team did great in managing the fixed ropes on the steep ice leading to the crest of the West Buttress. We were at the top of the ropes by 12:15 PM where we took a short break looking out over about half the planet. We proceeded up the ridge for some interesting climbing, putting our hands on clean granite while our crampons worked up firm snow. At 16,600 ft -the base of “Washburn’s Thumb” we declared victory and dug a cache for the supplies we’d carried. We made our way back down, slowly and carefully, reaching camp at 14,000' about 7 and a half hours after we’d departed. Just in time for a pre-dinner nap. The team was excited to hear of Andy Bond’s team tagging the top in perfect conditions today. We look forward to seeing them back down at 14,000' tomorrow. We’ll be resting and getting ready to move up to 17,000' when we get the opportunity.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Way to go team!
Diana and Tom
Posted by: Diana Weiss on 6/30/2022 at 9:27 am
Amazing progress everyone!
You are all AMAZING!
Posted by: Margaret Nolan on 6/30/2022 at 9:07 am
Lia & Chris: Congratulations on making the climb. Can’t wait to hear from both you about the adventure! Very proud of both of you
Posted by: Marcella and Bill on 7/6/2022 at 7:34 am
To the most badass climbers Lia and Chris, we are so proud of you! At 12200 ft, we’re sure there was plenty cu-see cu-see cu-see. Can’t wait to hear all about your incredible adventure
Posted by: Ana & Yukichi on 7/5/2022 at 11:34 pm
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