Entries By dominic cifelli
June 20, 2021
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Just like that… we woke up in Talkeetna and the clouds were gone. We scrambled on over to the airstrip at 8 AM and started putting on the big mountain boots. By a little after 9, we were up in the air in two glorious DeHaviland Otters… prop driven ski planes built in the 1950’s. The Alaska Range was visible in full from the moment we cleared the Talkeetna tree tops. Denali was spectacular and seemed bigger and steeper than in previous years. We flew straight at the peak and then moved a little West as we crossed into the mountains. Our K2 Aviation pilots eased the planes down on to the SE Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier at 7100 ft and we slid to a stop at basecamp. A few minutes of shuffling and shuttling loads in mushy snow ensued. We built our camp and got settled in before a day of light training and a review of glacier travel techniques. As the day proceeded, we went from hot sunshine to cool overcast, but the clouds didn’t rob us of the magnificent views of impossibly big and steep mountainsides. We watched a handful of ginormous avalanches drop off various surrounding mountains. We capped the day with a burrito dinner and an early bedtime. Our hope would be to get up in the night and climb in the cool part of the early morning tomorrow.
Best Regards,
June 20, 2021
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 348'
Saturday, June 19, 2021 - 11:00 pm PT
Today was about prepping and packing. We got out to the airplane hangar early for a fine safety briefing by a National Park Service climbing ranger. We then conducted gear checks and set about organizing and sorting personal equipment and group gear. This took us through mid afternoon and culminated in a weigh-in with the K2 Aviation ramp crew -the folks responsible for loading and unloading the aircraft. We were happy to be sheltered within the hangar as it rained off and on through much of the day. The rain mellowed by the time we got into town for dinner at the brewery. Plenty of tourists in town enjoying the weekend, but we seemed to fit in just fine. Tomorrow, with a little luck, we’ll get on the mountain.
Best Regards,
June 19, 2021
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 348'
Friday, June 18, 2021 - 10:18 pm PT
It is usually a good sign when the easy part goes smooth and easy. Our team of seven climbers and guides flew in and met up in Alaska without a hitch. It was cloudy and overcast as we drove up from Anchorage, but not so much that we couldn’t get glimpses of the big mountains up mingling with the cloud tops. We stopped briefly in Wasilla for a few final provisions from the world of supermarkets, and then cruised on up the Parks Highway to the Talkeetna spur road. After settling our gear at the airplane hangar and ourselves at the hotel, we braved mosquito hoards and labor shortages to find a fine dinner at the West Rib. A well-fed climbing team then waddled out to the banks of the great Susitna River to see if the mountains had come out. Not quite, but we judged it all to be good enough for day one.
Best Regards,
June 16, 2021
Posted by: Christina Dale, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,300'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Christina Dale and Dominic Cifelli turned at the top of Disappointment Cleaver early this morning. The team had clear skies above, but due to recent winter-like storms, route conditions on the upper mountian are unstable. The team is in route to Camp Muir and will be descending back to Paradise in the early afternoon.
Congratulations to today’s team!
June 11, 2021
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Camille Leininger, Augi Fleer, Dominic Cifelli, Leif Bergstrom, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Four Day Climb June 8 - 11 led by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Dominic Cifelli were unable to make their summit attempt this morning. Strong winds and blowing snow made for unsafe climbing conditions and kept the team hunkered down at Camp Muir over night. The telemetry from Camp Muir shows wind averages ranging from mid 20 to mid 60 mph over night with gusts up to 79 mph. When the group radioed the office this morning they were experiencing estimated 50 mph winds. The team will be descending from Camp Muir today and return to Rainier BaseCamp. Unfortunately, today was not their day to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier.
Next time boys!
Posted by: Brandon Sprout on 6/11/2021 at 9:54 pm
June 5, 2021
Posted by: JM Gorum, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,100'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides JM Gorum and Dominic Cifelli turned at 13,100' on Mt. Rainier this morning. Low visibility, moderate precipitation, and wind prevented the team from climbing above 13,100' feet. JM Gorum radioed the RMI Office to let us know that the team is currently descending and will be back to Camp Muir soon.
Congratulations to Today's team!
May 31, 2021
Posted by: Christina Dale, Joe Hoch, Dustin Wittmier, Dominic Cifelli, Erika Birkeland, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb May 28 - 31th led by RMI Guides Christina Dale and Joe Hoch led their teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. It's a beautiful day on the mountain and Joe reported the route was in good shape and would likely be improving with the warm temperatures and stable weather expected. The teams enjoyed about an hour in the crater and began their descent from the crater rim just before 8 am today. The team will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Yeahhhhh Aunt Sam and Matt!!!! We are cheering you on the whole way, and can’t wait to hear your summit story!! Baggin’ peaks and being awesome. ❤️❤️❤️
Posted by: Ellis Bond on 5/31/2021 at 2:54 pm
May 24, 2021
Posted by: Robby Young, Dominic Cifelli, Camille Leininger, Joe Hoch, Nikki Champion, Axel Ryd
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Robby Young and Joe Hoch were turned around at Ingraham Flats due to high winds and blowing snow. The team returned to Camp Muir and enjoyed a brief break in the weather. The team left Camp Muir around 9:30 am en route to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
May 13, 2021
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Jack Delaney, Stephen Inman, Dustin Wittmier, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Dustin Wittmier began on Sunday May 9th with the team meeting at Rainier BaseCamp for a full day orientation. With gear checked, sorted and packed they departed Paradise on Monday morning en route to Camp Muir. For the last two days they have based out of Camp Muir working on mountaineering techniques to prepare them for a summit climb of Mt. Rainier and more. Today they got their chance to test their skills climbing to the summit of Mt. Rainier. Just before 8 am PT, RMI Guide Dave Hahn radioed that the teams were ten minutes from the crater rim. He reported perfect conditions with light and variable winds, and an overall nice and sunny day. After they enjoy some time in the crater and get all the photo ops, the group will start their descent and return to Camp Muir for their final night on the mountain. Tomorrow the teams will descend to Paradise and return to Rainier BaseCamp. The weather has been great all week and we hope they enjoyed their time on the mountain.
Congratulations to today Seminar teams!
Congratulations!! Well Done! Sooooo happy and excited for each one of you!
Posted by: Kendra Madrid on 5/14/2021 at 12:27 am
Congratulations! So happy for you all!!
Posted by: Tracey Inman on 5/13/2021 at 2:22 pm
May 6, 2021
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Andy Bond, Ben Luedtke, Dominic Cifelli, Jack Delaney, Luke Wilhelm
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,000'
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Andy Bond led their team of climbers on the Five Day Climb May 3 - 7 to 13,000' today before deteriorating weather forced them to turn around.
The team completed their Mountaineering School on Tuesday and ascended to Camp Muir yesterday for their first night at 10,080'. They will return to Camp Muir today for their final night on the mountain. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp tomorrow.
A valiant climb made by all! Good work, climbers. Sorry you did not reach the summit, but glad for your safety. <3
Posted by: Lauren Kraft on 5/7/2021 at 9:20 am
Bummer.
Hope they get the chance and make the summit.
Posted by: Don West on 5/6/2021 at 9:56 pm
Good luck Aaron!!! Thinking of you and can’t wait to see pictures of your climb! Be safe! Love you!
Susan ❤️
Posted by: Susan Wells on 6/21/2021 at 1:22 pm
Good luck to the entire team. Watch out for Aaron.
Posted by: Bob Telford on 6/20/2021 at 4:18 pm
View All Comments