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Entries By ben liken


Mt. Rainier: Summit Climb Teams Climb Under Full Moon

The Four Day Summit Climb August 15 - 18, 2016 enjoyed an alpine start from Camp Muir under a beautiful full moon. RMI Guides Jake Beren and Ben Liken reported great climbing with warm temperatures and calm winds. After spending time on the summit both teams left the crater rim on their descent just before 7:30 am PT. We look forward to meeting the groups back at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Leave a Comment For the Team (1)

One year from a septuagenarian and never having participated in snow activities probably is not the most propitious period to start mountaineering, especially on Mt. Rainier. It was Theodore Roosevelt, though, who said, “... Far better is it to dare mighty things, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”

Being in good physical conditioning and active all my life I decided to follow Teddy’s advice. I made it to Ingraham Flats and realized appropriately that my slower pace was a deterrent to team members’ having a successful climb. No regrets from me, though. I met wonderful professional guides who were patient and indulgent with me throughout the climb.

I am proud of those individuals who summited. I also take particular pride in cultivating a friendship with young 18 year old Kyle who impressed me deeply with his poise, maturity beyond his years, self-discipline, physical ability and love of his family of whom he spoke proudly. Go through life Kyle, spreading your wings and soaring as high as you dare to achieve mighty things as Teddy most assuredly would say to you.

RMI is a professionally run company. Its professional staffs are highly skilled mountaineers who place a premium on customer safety. While safety is their number one priority the professional guides establish prudent parameters for customers to maximize available opportunities to apply their skills for a truly memorable and amazing experience.

With Kindest of Regards,
Jerry W Doyle

Posted by: Jerry W Doyle on 8/20/2016 at 2:58 pm


North Cascades: Ben Liken Leads His Team to the Top of Sahale Peak

Over the past four days the Sahale summit team enjoyed perfect weather and excellent climbing in the North Cascades National Park. As we ascended out of the forest on day one the views kept getting better and better until we stopped to set up our base camp at 5,300 feet. Looking up at the spectacular Boston Basin the team was excited to go up high over the next few days. Day 2 was a training day at the toe of the Quien Sabe Glacier; filled with efficiency techniques, crevasse safety, and rock climbing. After a full day of training we went to bed early to rest up for a summit attempt on the classic peak. Summit day went flawlessly and we found ourselves on top at 10:30 am after some really fun glacier and rock climbing sections. Here are a few shots from the trip. Enjoy! RMI Guide Ben Liken
Leave a Comment For the Team (1)

Ben - fix the links under the photos! I click on them and they take me to a Mt. Denali expedition.

Posted by: Malcolm Butler on 8/17/2016 at 9:23 pm


Mt. Rainier: Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons Summit!

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. RMI Guide Ben Liken Reported that the team was 100% to the summit today with a total round trip climb time of 11 hours. They plan to practice some crevasse rescue this afternoon back at Camp Schurman and then do a bit of training tomorrow morning before returning to Ashford Basecamp. Congratulations to the Emmons Team!
Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

This was pretty much the most fun I’ve ever had doing anything. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end, and I am happy I got to share this experience with such a great group of people. To the guides: I am thoroughly impressed by your professionalism, knowledge and patience. If I could have you guys on every climb I do going forward, I would.

Posted by: Michael Tamburello on 8/16/2016 at 8:56 am

Way to go, team. Thanks to everyone for making last week’s trip such a success.

I enjoyed meeting and getting to know all of you. Please look me up if you are ever in San Jose or Silicon Valley more generally.

Hats off to our guides for their professionalism, patience, sense of humor and motivational skills! You guys are a class act.

Posted by: Scott Henderson on 8/9/2016 at 6:36 pm


Mt. Rainier: July 28th Summit!

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Tyler Reid and Ben Liken reached to summit of Mt. Rainier at 5:20 am this morning. Tyler reported clear skies, calm winds and warm temperatures on the top. The team has started their descent and are en route back to Camp Muir. Congratulations to today's team!
Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Congratulations to everyone, especially Mario P. I can’t wait to hear about the trek and see some beautiful photos. What a great accomplishment.

Posted by: D Zabel on 7/28/2016 at 1:11 pm

Well done ... Can’t wait to hear about the trip.

Posted by: Jeff and Karen on 7/28/2016 at 9:42 am


Mt. Rainier: July 22nd Update

The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Seth Waterfall and Ben Liken, reached the summit at 6:45 a.m. With some wind and snow falling, the teams began their descent shortly after tagging the top. As of 7:50 a.m. they had descended to 12,500' and are moving well back to Camp Muir. Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

I threw out my back hours after snow school and had to withdraw from the expedition. So happy for the teams summit!

Posted by: Alex on 7/22/2016 at 8:35 pm

Way to go Christy and Brian! So happy the weather was good. Have a safe trip home :)

Posted by: Krissy on 7/22/2016 at 3:49 pm


Denali Expedition: Hahn & Team Down and Out in Talkeetna

The longest day is finished. We "woke" at 10 PM at 11,000 ft, broke camp and hit the trail by midnight, bound for basecamp. Heavy packs and sleds and miles of glacier later, we pulled in to what had been basecamp three weeks ago. That is all gone now though with the finish of the climbing season. We saddled up one last time to go thirty minutes more for the "upper strip" -a better stretch of late-season glacier, and then two beautiful K2 Aviation Otters came in to fetch us. We were back in Talkeetna by 10 AM and eating drinking drying sorting and celebrating for the next 24 hours... Oh yeah, and showering and sleeping too. It was a fine finish to an excellent climb. Thanks for following. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

My son Trevor climbed w/him years. He said last night that he had been notified that David died. Is this true

Posted by: Ruthie Bohnert on 7/29/2016 at 12:25 pm

Congratulations once more, Dave.  This was a tough one I bet.  Great following you from a distance.

Posted by: Chuck Roberts on 7/11/2016 at 10:11 pm


Denali Expedition: Hahn & Team Arrive in Talkeetna

RMI Guide Dave Hahn just checked in with the RMI Office. His Denali team was able to take advantage of a good weather window and fly off of the Kahiltna Glacier this morning. The team arrived in Takeetna at 10:00am AKDT. The team will spend some time celebrating their success before catching flights home tomorrow. Congratulations to Dave and team, and to all of the RMI Expeditions Denali teams for a successful 2016 Denali season!
Leave a Comment For the Team

Denali Expedition: Hahn & Team Rest Up at 11K Camp

Saturday, July 9, 2016 - 8:46 p.m. PDT As planned, today was something of a forced rest day at 11,000 ft. By virtue of our having slept through the night here -which we certainly needed- the next option would have been to travel the lower glacier in the heat of the day... Or to rest up and aim for going out tonight when it gets cold and the glacial surface is frozen and safer for travel. We are all about option two. So the team woke late and folks talked about having gotten a real night's sleep for the first time in weeks. We ate long slow breakfasts and then went back to sleep. It is possible that this will be our last full day in the park, so many took longer looks than usual at the ice and rock cliffs surrounding and towering over us. At first the sky looked threatening, as if it might get to snowing again, but by dinner things had changed back to calm, sunny, blue skies... making us all optimistic about smooth travel out the glacier and the chance for prompt flying from the mountain tomorrow morning. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Leave a Comment For the Team

Denali Expedition: Hahn & Team Descend to 11K Camp

Saturday, July 9, 2016 - 2:23 a.m. PDT Yesterday was an unlikely summit day. There were clouds everywhere and breezes blowing... But we'd begun to think we wouldn't get anything better. So we went for it, leaving high camp at about 10 AM. Right out of camp though, we were breaking trail... And it went that way all day. Slow going and strenuous climbing. But it mostly went our way. The winds died just before we reached Denali Pass. It was a cold day - by July standards- but our team dealt well with the challenge. Sadly, we never got much in the way of views due to the clouds, but when we topped out at 7:15 PM, no one seemed overly concerned with the things they might have seen on a better day. We made it back to high camp at midnight and had a late late dinner. Breakfast this morning was a rolling thing, with folks wandering through the kitchen one by one as they woke. It was a stunningly nice day... Clear and sunny the way it never seems to be anymore. But we could not have known such a fine day was coming... The forecasts didn't hint at it. In any case it was good for descending. We dropped down the crest of the West Buttress, the fixed lines and the snowy hills above 14 camp. It took time to reorganize there and then we set out for 11,000ft. The route was barely recognizable as there'd been huge snow and plenty of avalanches. We were sinking in deeply and engaging in a great sled rodeo on the steep side hills, but we kept on trudging and finally reached our old home at 11,000ft. We look forward to some deep sleep and recuperation here -6,000 ft below our last home. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (1)

Wow! Impressively strong work! Tremendous congratulations to all for summiting…and, for surviving a side-hill-sled-rodeo.

Posted by: Julia on 7/9/2016 at 7:47 pm


Denali Expedition: Hahn & Team Summit!

Friday, July 8, 2016 - 3:19 a.m. PDT Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling in from 17,000ft on Denali. We summitted today. It was a hard day- 14 hours out there, mostly due to new snow. It was a difficult day to guess what the weather was going to do. We spent a lot of it socked in cloud and light snow, but the good thing was we didn't have much for wind. So it was a hard day, but we're all safe back at high camp. We'll let you know a little bit more about it in these next couple of days. Bye for now. RMI Guide Dave Hahn


RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls in after their successful Denali summit.

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Congratulations on making it to the summit! Michael Waters, I am so excited to hear about your adventuring when you return :) I hope you logged that EarthCache @

Posted by: Megan Brown on 7/8/2016 at 10:29 pm

Was never a better feeling to hear your voice last night David, from the top of Denali!  All your hard work has paid off, what an adventure you’ll have to remember for the rest of your life. Hats off to you and an obviously strong & determined Team 8, so proud for you and that moment. A huge thank you to Dave Hahn and the rest of his team for making your wish to summit this mountain a reality. His expertise & knowledge is immeasurable, how awesome is it to say you’ve summited Denali with such a respected and admired mountaineer!  Now we’re all ready for you to safely travel home so we can hear all about it, love you long time!!

Posted by: Sondra Schnautz on 7/8/2016 at 9:18 pm

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