Entries By ben luedtke
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Ben Luedtke, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 2,449'
And we are off! RMI's second team of the Aconcagua season has officially begun.
Everyone has arrived in Mendoza feeling well. It's been a busy couple days sorting gear, grocery shopping and locating duffels. We are ready to hit the dusty trail, but first we needed to do some introductions and toast a glass of wine to celebrate being a team with the same goal of having fun, learning something new, and hopefully standing on top of this tall, tall mountain.
No good night ends without something sweet, so the team enjoyed some yummy Gelato before sinking into their beds. Only one more night in a bed before we take to the sleeping pads and sleeping bags. Tomorrow, we hit the road to Uspallata where we will do more gear sorting for the mules and our journey to basecamp. A 3-day hike up the Vacas and the Relinchos valleys will bring us to basecamp where we will gear up for the upper mountain. For now, we rest our heads on our comfy bed enjoying the simple comforts.
Buenos Noches,
Posted by: Steve Gately, Matias Francis, Ben Luedtke, Charlie Harrison, Mike Bennett, Nicole De Petris
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Five-Day teams led by Steve Gately and Matias Francis enjoyed a beautiful walk to the Ingraham Flats this morning. The team decided not to climb due to unfavorable route conditions but enjoyed two days of great weather and lots of hands-on training. The teams will pack up camp and head downhill this morning. We expect the teams back at Basecamp in the early afternoon.
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Joe Hoch, Ben Luedtke, Ellison Boord, Nicole De Petris, Charlie Harrison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb August 20 - 24 reached the summit of Mt. RaInier on Tuesday, August 23rd led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Joe Hoch. The teams were able to spend time in the crater enjoying the beautiful morning. After taking all the photos, the teams started their descent to Camp Muir. Climbers enjoyed some rest and a final night on the mountain. They plan to start their descent to Paradise around 9 am. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp early this afternoon.
Congratulations team!
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Abby Westling, Ben Luedtke, Josh Geiser, Lily Emerson, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb August 18 - 21 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning at 6:05 am. The teams enjoyed clear skies and a light breeze during their climb. They began their descent from the crater rim at 7:20 am to return to Camp Muir. At Camp Muir they will repack and take a short break before continuing the final 4,500' descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbing teams!
Photo credit: Ben Luedtke
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Dustin Wittmier, Erika Birkeland, Michael Murray, Ben Luedtke, Ellison Boord
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climbing Teams led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Dustin Wittmier reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team has clear skies and calm winds for their climb. A blue bird day! The team is back at Camp Muir and will begin their descent to Paradise shortly.
Congratulations Team!
Posted by: Brent Okita, Christina Dale, Ben Luedtke, Erika Birkeland, Josh Geiser, Trevor Katz
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four-Day teams reached the summit this morning at 5 am! RMI Guides Brent Okita and Christina Dale reported great route conditions and no winds on the summit. They are currently finishing their descent to Camp Muir for a quick break before packing up camp and starting their descent to Paradise in the summer sunshine.
Congrats team!
Congratulations to everyone! Special thank you to Lead Guide Christina, and to Trevor for all his help with me on the descent. So very proud my son Christian Rainier Culbert summited a 2nd year in a row with RMI. On an even more beautiful day this time when they got to see the sunrise from the summit. I’ll always remember (rue?) the unique challenge of Disappointment Cleaver. Pre-dawn on the Ingraham Flats with Gibraltar Rock looming behind us in that early light, a canopy of stars just beginning to fade above us…a moment I will treasure. Appreciated everything so much; RMI you are a credit to your stewardship of our beloved Mt. Rainier.
Posted by: Geoff Culbert on 8/8/2022 at 7:35 am
Posted by: Ben Luedtke, Augi Fleer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
Friday, August 5, 2022 7:15 am PDT
Baker Easton Glacier100% summit! Great day of climbing with a Strong Team!
Thursday, Augsut 4, 2022 6:31 pm PDT
We woke up this morning to some light rain that started sometime during the night. We remained in our tents most of the day taking advantage of the time to nap, rest, and enjoy some of our snacks. Before dinner we freshened up on some more skills in preparation for our climb. We are now cozied up in our sleeping bags and will try for the summit early in the morning. All is well and everyone is excited!
RMI Guides: Ben Luedtke and Augi Fleer
Posted by: Mike Walter, Leif Bergstrom, Ben Luedtke, Sam Marjerison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz July 22 - 27 led by RMI Guide Mike Walter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team reached the crater rim at 6 am and tagged Point Success. They will return to their high camp for their final night on the mountain and descend tomorrow to the trailhead.
Nice work team!
Posted by: Casey Grom, Kiira Antenucci, Ben Luedtke, Leif Bergstrom, Trevor Katz, Jenna Burkey
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb July 17 - 20 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by RMI Guides Casey Grom & Kiira Antenucci. The teams enjoyed clear skies, sunshine and light winds today. After enjoying the views and spending time in the crater they began their descent from the crater rim around 6:45 am. Once back at Camp Muir they will pack up and continue down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Awesome job! Parking lot is next.
Posted by: Rene Gonzalez on 7/20/2022 at 10:12 am
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
Congratulations Team, with a special shout out to Alex and Kristina Beuning. Lots of pride and love coming from this Mom
Posted by: Deb Anderson on 8/24/2022 at 8:08 am
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