RMI Expeditions Blog
June 13, 2023
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Joe Hoch, Ellison Boord, Charlie Harrison, Raymond Holt, Tom Skoog
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb June 10 - 14 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams were lead by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Joe Hoch who reported a gorgeous day of climbing. The teams reached the crater rim a little before 9 am and were able to spend time crossing the crater to the Columbia Crest. As this is a Five Day Climb, the teams will return to Camp Muir to rest and relax. They will spend their second night on the mountain tonight. Tomorrow the teams will descending the remaining 4,500' to Paradise and return to Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
June 13, 2023
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Monday, June 12, 2023 - 10:06 pm PT
Day ???
As a kid I remember snow days being a little more fun than this. The team emerged from hibernation and were greeted by less wind, but a lot more snow - both key ingredients to our second straight rest day. We spent most of the morning uncovering and digging our tents out while Chef Joey cooked up some delicious breakfast burritos - a fair trade if you ask me. The team passed the time lounging in the posh, playing games, and learning that some are much worse at spelling than others. The weather finally cleared (kinda) in the afternoon, and we crawled out of our cocooned tents to soak in the sun. Days like this are what the Bond Girls prepared for.
Hoping the sunshine continues to hold so we can venture out of our little camp tomorrow and push toward 14k.
- RMI Guide Andy Bond aka Sled Dog
June 12, 2023
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
A new chapter in the adventures of the newly named RMI Denali team - The Bond Girls - The flapping sound of our tent walls in the winds acted as our alarm clock this morning. We awoke to a freshly snowy and wind drifted camp. Egads! After shoveling off / out our various camp structures including the kitchen, living room, bedrooms and bathroom, we set about to enjoy a slow morning. Hot drinks were casually sipped and topics with no answer were discussed. Is Texas just a terrible place or just an awful place? Whatever happened to David Hasselhoff? Or Oprah for that matter? At some point smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels were devoured. It became clear as morning went on that we would not be granted a break in the weather to head uphill to cache supplies. So with the plans for the day settled the team got ready for another weather day. Snacks were devoured and stories were told, all while the wind and snow raged on. We dug trenches through the snow that would have made a French WW1 general proud. Hopefully in the night the storm will break and the wind will cease. I know I would love myself some sunshine right now. Or perhaps a beer in a Bavarian town. If the weather persists, you’ll find us here again, same place, same time. Doing battle with The Great One.
Signing out from,
Camp 2 (11,000 feet) - Denali, Alaska
RMI Guide Jack Delaney and the Team
Praying the weather breaks. In the meantime the Bond team will eat snacks and Bond.
Posted by: Michelle on 6/12/2023 at 5:46 pm
June 12, 2023
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Alex Halliday, George Hedreen, Cal Seeley, Bailey Servais, Calvin Jiricko
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Avery Parrinello and Alex Halliday lead the Five Day Climb June 8 - 12 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Alex reported a lovely day with a light breeze. The teams reached the summit crater between 6:30 and 6:45 am PT. The teams enjoyed some time in the crater before starting their descent just before 8 am. Once back to Camp Muir they will take a short break to refuel and repack before descending the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Five Day Climb team members!
June 11, 2023
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
Today was our promised “easy day” by our guides and the jury is still out. We climbed down to 10K to grab our previously buried cache and climbed back up to camp 2. The day was and still is snowy and windy, but we got to spend a lot of it in our tents eating our newly uncovered snacks.
Tomorrow - should Denali allow, we will climb to 14,000, to bury another cache.
Happy adoption day to my dog Mav and early birthday to my best girl Alex, and lastly to my mom, we are giving it hell! I love you.
Ps I wrote a really great dispatch yesterday, but the German guy stole my blog.
Thanks Mikayla! I love checking the blog and you wrote this one. You all are a crazy, dedicated bunch. I hope Denali allows. I love you Capt., Cakes, Baby girl.
Posted by: Michelle DeMers on 6/12/2023 at 5:41 pm
Y’all are absolutely amazing, hoping all the best to the whole team for the rest of your journey!
To Mikayla- be safe homie, I read every new blog post to kumar and the production team, they all think y’all are crazy, but also are all rooting for you all the way from South Korea…I love you and I promise we will make a cake for Mav once you get back to celebrate his adoption day, be safe Mikayla.
Posted by: Mack Thompson on 6/12/2023 at 2:34 am
June 10, 2023
Posted by: Brent Okita, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Emma Lyddan reached to summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team had low visibility, and light snowfall and only spent a short amount of time on the summit before starting their descent.They will be back at Rainier Basecamp in the early afternoon to celebrate their success.
Congratulations team!
June 9, 2023
Posted by: Joe Hoch, Kiira Antenucci
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Mt. Rainier Four Day Climbs led by RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Kiira Antenucci remained at Camp Muir overnight. The teams did not make a summit attempt due to poor weather. They will be descending from Camp Muir this morning and we look forward to seeing them in Ashford this afternoon.
June 9, 2023
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
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Thursday, June 8, 2023, 9:52 pm PDT
This morning we woke up to Joey the Guide’s scrumptious pancakes. Does he moonlight at Benihana’s? Conditions weren’t favorable so we made it a rest day. We ended the day with dinner and optimism for a move to Camp Two tomorrow. And now, a poem:
All day we were stuck at Camp One
Blueberry chocolate chip pancakes are fun
Tomorrow we’ll try for 10 And if this happens again
Call our team the cloistered nuns
- Lenhardt Stevens and the June 4 Denali Expedition Team
--
Scott, hopefully the weather clears quickly so your third attempt proceeds safely!
Posted by: Roger Coffey on 6/10/2023 at 11:28 am
Hopefully today the weather is more favorable. We are all rooting for you Mikayla and your team! One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time. -Barbara Walters
Posted by: Larisa Corbett on 6/9/2023 at 9:37 am
June 8, 2023
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Trevor Katz, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons June 4 - 9 stood on the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI guide, Dustin Wittmier called from Camp Schurman to report their success. The team has spent the last few days making their way from camp to camp before their climb this morning. Along the way, the team enjoyed many training oppurtunities to prepare them for larger expeditions like Denali or Aconcagua.
The team will do some more ice climbing tomorrow morning before beginning their descent back to Basecamp in Ashford tomorrow afternoon.
Nice work!
Awesome Dustin!!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/9/2023 at 4:05 am
June 8, 2023
Posted by: Eric Frank, Mike King, George Hedreen, Mike Bennett, Bailey Servais, Calvin Jiricko
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Eric Frank and Mike King led their Four Day Climb June 5 - 8 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Mike reported good climb and a good route but they climbed in a cloud cap with limited visability. The teams reached the crater rim around 6:30 am and were starting their descent shortly before 7:30 am. They will return to Camp Muir for a quick stop before continuing down to Paradise. We look forward to seeing the groups at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Congratulations!!!!! So proud of Marc, Skyler and Savannah!!!! You guys are amazing!!!
Can’t wait to see you back at camp!!!!
Love, mom, Athena and Mitch!
Posted by: Annette Gibbens on 6/14/2023 at 1:20 pm
Congratulations Savannah, Skyler and Mark!
You did it!!
What a great accomplishment and experience.
Posted by: Wanda Stallings on 6/14/2023 at 9:58 am
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