RMI Expeditions Blog
June 18, 2023
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
June 17, 2023 11:04 PM PT
Day 12 of our Denali climb.
Today we had a sleep in at Camp 3 and woke up in beautiful sunshine and 15cm (6 inches) of fresh powdery snow. We looked at all the climbers who went up the fixed lines to get to 17k camp for a summit push on Sunday, but we all agreed the night before that we need more time at 14k camp before our summit push. We hope for another weather window at the end of next week (fingers crossed). No worries, big strong Andy still has two pounds of cheese left and will be safe.
Instead of climbing, we hired lovely Lenhardt for an intense yoga session to get mentally and physically ready for this mountain. After that railroad, Jeff improved our eating tent to make it comfier for the following days and Katherine worked hard to make Joey's long hair cut more functional and fashionable for the mountain.
The focus of the afternoon was listening to music, chill outside, eat snacks and hydrate, and let our bodies adjust to the new altitude. We also improved our sleeping tents, so the polar bear can sleep well at night and doesn't attack his tent mates. In the evening, Heidi gave us a call to come to the edge of the world for the first round of Denali's Next Top Model. We stretched our legs and walked over to this stunning place where the mountain drops 7,000 feet to the northeast fork of Kahiltna. We had great views of Mount Foraker and the valley. We had a good photoshoot, and all the Bond girls made it to the second round. Heidi was very proud of us. When we came back to our camp, Mr. Bond had already prepared a nice dinner for us.
To finish the day, a short German "th" joke for you . The captain of a boat is calling the German coast guard "Help, we are sinking, we are sinking". The German coast answers "Ok, no worries, what are you thinking about?".
Stephan Schiffer aka Polar Bear
June 18, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
June 17, 2023 10:50 PM PT
It was snowing again at 4 AM when we hoped to get up for climbing. We checked it repeatedly in the following hours but didn't feel good about what we saw.
Eventually, the snow quit, but by then we'd have been pushing up three hours of hill in the hottest part of the day. We decided to call it a rest day instead.
It ended up sunny and hot in the tents and we napped, read and snacked our way through the day. We'll try again tomorrow.
June 18, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
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June 17, 2023 8:56 PM PT
The weather had other plans for us up here at the base of ski hill. We woke up to wet snow hitting the tent and an ominous cloud staring at us from our intended path.
When Denali speaks, we listen. After a lot of watching and waiting, we turned our move into a rest day. We ate, slept, played cards, and read books to pass the time. Luckily, it’s in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Tomorrow, we’ll try again. Wear your pajamas inside out for us.
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli and Team
Thank you for the updates!!
Posted by: Jenni on 6/19/2023 at 5:56 am
June 18, 2023
Posted by: Steve Gately, Emma Lyddan, Ellison Boord, Trevor Katz, Robert Whyte, Mitch Valaitis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,000'
The Mt. Rainier Four-Day climb led by RMI guides, Steve Gately and Emma Lyddan, turned around near 13,000’ this morning. After a cold morning and a light dusting of flurries, the team made the decision to turn back. The climbers are currently on their descent and will be back to celebrate their hard-work this afternoon in Ashford.
June 17, 2023
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
June 16, 2023 11:38PM PT
On this glorious morning, we awoke to partly sunny skies and light snow showers (for those who don't know, this means mostly cloudy.) As temperatures warmed, we all gathered in the posh for another round of pancake Hibachi. Yours truly went for broke and landed a double pancake flip (that is one pancake flipping twice). Unfortunately, the blast wave of this extreme maneuver broke our big strong Andy's fork.
To make the most of our relatively mild weather and rest day, we headed out of camp and practiced fixed line travel and clipping pickets. The team did great and is ready for whatever gloves the mountain throws at them.
Famished, we made our way back to camp to gorge on snacks, mainly cheese. This helped quell our toilet paper crisis for the near future.
After dinner and a sweet treat of Jack's cheesecake the team retired to hopefully sleep deep and oxygen rich.
June 17, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
June 16, 2023 10:20 PM PT
Day 2 started with a much enjoyed few extra hours of sleep as light snow delayed our alpine start. The skies cleared quickly though, and we were able to begin our work for the day - carrying a load of gear and food to cache just below 10,000’.
Everyone put in a good effort, and we were back down to out tents just as light snow began again. The rest of the day was filled with naps and relaxation in preparation for our move to 11,000’ tomorrow.
June 17, 2023
Posted by: Mike King, Mike Haugen, George Hedreen, Charlie Harrison, Cal Seeley, Bailey Servais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI guides Mike King and Mike Haugen called from the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They reported some chilly temperatures, moderate winds and beautiful weather for climbing this morning. Despite the cold temperatures, the team enjoyed a great climbing route. Congratulations climbers!
June 16, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 9,800'
It was snowing at Kahiltna Base last night when we wanted to get going, so we pushed back the wake-up time to a leisurely 4 AM. Conditions improved as we ate breakfast in the shadows. We were climbing by 6:50 AM. Conditions were excellent due to recent snows and cold temps.
The dreaded crevasse crossings of the lower Kahiltna Glacier were practically nonexistent. Sled pulling was quite easy (relatively speaking), though everything was heavy as usual. We reached our intended camp at ski hill in five hours and built a fine home. We dove into tents to beat the afternoon sun.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and team
Way to go, Team Hahn! We are thinking about you and praying for each of you. Mitch, I’m so happy your knee is holding up! I love you!
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all the Father’s up there!!
Posted by: Leslie vance on 6/18/2023 at 8:17 am
Hey Dustin! All the Best to You and Dave and your team! I’m following along.
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/18/2023 at 3:19 am
June 16, 2023
Posted by: Camille Leininger, Jess Wedel, Pete Van Deventer, Nicole De Petris, Will Ambler, Hannah Blum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb teams June 13 - 16 led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Jess Wedel reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Casey reported a windy day with a great route. The teams were able to spend a bit of time in the crater before starting their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 am PT. Once back at Camp Muir the teams will take a short break before continuing the remaining 4,500' to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Thanks everyone for a great climb yesterday! Great meeting everyone and good luck with the next adventure.
Special thanks to Jess as Cam and I probably wouldn’t have made it without you! Jess, since we didn’t have much time for pictures, would you happen to have any pictures of our climb or previous Rainer climbs? If so, could u send them to my email or post some where on the Rmi blog? Thanks again for everything!
Posted by: Steven Funanich on 6/17/2023 at 11:48 am
June 16, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Michael Murray, Sam Marjerison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
Thursday, June 15, 2023 - 9:20 pm PT
We couldn't hang around Talkeetna long enough for breakfast this morning. Denali was calling and we heeded the call. We snacked as we were gearing up to fly. The planes took off at 9 AM and at about 9:45 we were in basecamp unloading. We built camp. It is pleasantly cool for mid June. We made it a training day. We watched airplanes and helicopters come and go as we reviewed glacier travel techniques. Tomorrow we're going climbing.
Wow! You are going to summit soon!! What a thrill and what an amazing achievement - so proud of you!
Posted by: Mary McKinley on 6/19/2023 at 7:05 am
Praying y’all get good weather for your next push! 17K! I can’t believe it! Good luck guys! Stay safe y’all!
Keep killing it Mikayla!!
Posted by: Mack Thompson on 6/19/2023 at 5:12 am
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