RMI Expeditions Blog

The Five Day Climb June 24 - 28 was unable to make a summit attempt due to high winds at Camp Muir overnight.  RMI Guides Casey Grom and Alex Halliday reported that the wind picked up around 8 pm last night averaging 60 mphs at Camp Muir with gusts over 90 mph.  The wind continues to blow this morning which will prevent the teams from ascending above Camp Muir.  The Five Days Teams will be descending to Paradise later this morning and returning to Rainier BaseCamp.

Monday, June 27, 2022 - 8:14 am PT

Good morning all!

What a walk we had! Leaving 14,000' Camp with sights on basecamp is a long journey. We woke at 10pm, packed our things, and were on the downward trend by midnight. It felt good to be walking downhill but pulling a sled was less than desirable. But with so much motivation it made it possible. With the help from another RMI team, who dug up our 11,000' cache, we made fast work reorganizing and moving on. The glacier down below has changed a little. We zig and zagged left and right to avoid big crevasses. Hours went by, miles gained, elevation lost. As we got near basecamp we did a quick crevasse rescue scenario, before making our last uphill walk. Heart break hill is truly heartbreaking with tired legs, tired bodies, and tired minds. But as usual the team dug real deep and blew up it.

After a few hours napping at base and some luck the clouds parted in Talkeetna and the pilot took off. The sounds of those Otter planes were glorious music to our ears! A shower, a toilet, a beer, food, and sleep never felt or sounded so good. The team earned every amenity possible from such a long hard day. I am thoroughly impressed and proud of all the team members. It has been a fantastic journey. One for the books! Here's to healing sunburns, chapped lips, and sore muscles.

Congrats team, you made it!

RMI Guides Hannah, Kiira, and Dan

Sunday, June 26, 2022 - 10:37 pm PT

It’s been another great day on Denali. We had a hearty breakfast of granola, oatmeal and lots of coffee. The conversation in the posh was lively as it meandered from Halloween traditions to serial killers’ preference for smooth peanut butter to octopus reproduction.

Then we got to the work of the day - caching our summit gear at 16,200'.  After an “easy” hike, we stowed our trekking poles, broke out the ascenders and hauled ourselves and our gear up the fixed lines to just below Washburn’s Thumb.

There were many teachable moments going both up and down the fixed lines, but we managed to move efficiently and safely. Our readers will have to wait for their loved ones to return to explain the arm wrap descent technique. We gained 2,200 vertical feet over three hours and then another hour and a half to get down. Team Euro once again led the charge and showed Team America how to walk up a hill.

We’ll dine early tonight on soup and tortellini and head for the tents so our bodies can recover. Then one more rest day tomorrow and, with a bit of luck, we launch for High Camp on Tuesday.

RMI Climber Hyde

Sunday, June 26, 2022 - 9:56 pm PT

A full night’s sleep was had by all.  We got up for a leisurely breakfast at 8:30.  Followed by a leisurely lunch at 1 PM.  And there were naps.  Our run of good luck with the weather has continued.  It was partly cloudy today with some breezes blowing but it hasn’t been stormy at all and the forecast continues to be relatively stable.  There are very few teams here at 11,000 now as new arrivals to the mountain taper off with the end of the climbing season in sight.  We were happy to have Hannah Smith’s successful team pass through in the early morning hours as they made their way to the airstrip. 

All in all it was an excellent rest day and the team is ready for the big move to 14,000 ft.

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Saturday, June 25, 2022 - 11:14 pm PT

Today was the epitome of doing nothing, which are team excelled at.  It was a 10:30AM wake up, breakfast and a whole lot of lounging around as we adjust to the thin air at 14,000’.  The team is doing great and we are set to do a carry up the fixed lines tomorrow to 16,400’. As we go to bed we’re enjoying the views of Mt. Hunter and Foraker off in the distance.

Don’t worry the crew will be back tomorrow writing a more exciting dispatch.  We truly did excel at doing nothing today which is a great thing when it comes to climbing a big mountain!

RMI Guide Andy Bond

Saturday, June 25, 2022 - 10:04 pm PT

We did another 5 AM wake up.  It was cool in the morning shadows, but not uncomfortably so.   Breakfast fortified us for a 7 AM departure up the steep Motorcycle Hill.  To finally be in crampons rather than snowshoes felt great.  Our first rest break -midway up Squirrel Hill- gave us brand new views of the Peters Glacier and Denali’s Northwest Buttress, in addition to ever closer views of the formidable granite forming the end of the West Buttress.  We finished off Squirrel and came onto the “Polo Field” below the end of the Buttress.  One more pull got us to the saddle below Windy Corner where we took a break before tackling the corner itself.  The Corner is always exciting, traversing steep slopes with huge chunks of granite just above us and crevasses just below… all while trying not to stare too long at the Kahiltna Glacier far below, or at Mount Hunter and Mount Foraker in all their glory.  Finishing the Corner leaves one looking straight at Denali’s South Peak for the first time.  We cached food and fuel just beyond the corner, spending about 50 minutes there at 13,500 ft before starting down.  We actually walked down into a layer of wildfire smoke that had moved in.  Luckily the smoke didn’t stick around for too long.  We were back at camp at 1:30 PM and diving into the tents shortly afterward to get out of the intense high altitude sun. 

It was a good day of climbing and we’ve had a few now… so tomorrow looks good for a rest day to solidify our acclimatization before moving up. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Saturday, June 25, 2022 - 7:46 pm PT

Good evening all,

It's been quite a day and it's not even over yet. We woke to a chilly morning at 17,000' Camp. It made for a slow break down of camp and packing due to cold fingers and let's face it tired bodies from the day before. But with some effort we left camp and made our way to 14,000' Camp. Like usual it got real hot when we got low. By the time we arrived it was hot and we were tired. We opted to stay at 14,000' for the evening. Another RMI team helped set up our tents and gave us water. True team players. After shuffling gear and eating breakfast burritos for dinner we are all laying down for a few hours before we wake to start walking at midnight for the airstrip. It's going to be a long day but we've got this. Lots of motivation to propel us forward. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon we will be flying back to civilization.

Time to nap,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

The Four Day Climb June 23 - 26 led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Steve Gately reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  Brent reported a beautiful day and nice route conditions.  At 7 am, the team was at 13,600' on their descent.  All climbers will return to Camp Muir, pack up and continue the final 4.5 miles down to Paradise.  Their program will conclude this afternoon with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.  

Congratulations to today's climbers!

RMI Guide James Bealer checked in from the summit of Mt. Baker this morning. He reported that 100% of the team was on top! The team enjoyed a beautiful bluebird day with little to no wind on their ascent to the top.

They were beginning their descent back to camp to celebrate and will get a good nights rest before packing up camp tomorrow.

Congratulations to the climbers!

Saturday, June 25, 2022 12:27 pm PDT

Today, we waked up at 6:30 am with a blue sky and still a beautiful view over the mountains. We ´ve had a nice warm drink and breakfast with Bagel cheese and bacon. We took off our tents, made ready our backpack.

We have filled up our 11000 cache with duffels bags, snow shoes and some foods. We started moving from 11,000' camp at 9:30am and come to 14,000’ camp at 2 pm. We went through motorcycle hill, polo field, squirrel point, windy corner. We didn’t see horses at Polo Field, but we heard noises of horses couple of time from the group :-) Getting higher, we saw the valley with the rivers getting water from the glaciers. We have been lucky with a Moon walked above our head.

We saw the beautiful Mount Hunter and the difficulty to climb this mountain.

When we arrived, we set our camp and are ready for the rest day tomorrow.

-Yann

Thanks to Yann and Sebastian for writing the last two dispatches in their 2nd and 3rd languages and giving our group a diverse and international feel.

Everyone is doing great, and we climb incredible strong.  Rest days have been filled with dance parties, great conversations and lots of food.

As we sit at 14,000 camp we’re enjoying another much deserved rest day. Are hope is to carry up the fixed lines tomorrow than wait for a weather window.

RMI Guide Andy Bond & Team