Entries By dominic cifelli
January 16, 2024
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Ben Luedtke, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 10,550'
Life is a series of stories, so you might as well make them good ones. We’re only three days, but pretty sure this will be a good one.
Fueled by last night’s asada feast and our bellies full of Malbec, and well rested after a night slept tentless under a show of stars unrivaled by any planetarium or AI manipulation, we set out this morning for 11 miles of the high desert’s finest.
Led by the galloping gait of our fine Irishman, an unreasonably large number of doctors, the poet who engineered yesterday’s post, a reformed lawyer and our hockey-stick-wielding air force officer, we owned the trail like the parking lot scene in Reservoir Dogs.
The Vacas valley treated us to long views of the mountains to come, galloping burrows, a lone guanaco and the Rio Vacas flowing with enough force to make us eager to walk upon the snow that must be powering it.
That same river forced us into our first sketchy scramble and our first bit of exposure. Good to get the juices flowing.
After finally rolling into our campsite - with another posh welcoming spread - Dominic choreographed a photoshoot in front of our first view of the great mountain we hope to summit.
All in all, today we showed that although we are dirty, and sweaty, and stinky … this group is STRONG and worthy of this mountain.
We are not, however, without weakness. In the last few days our greatest fears have temporarily shifted from “how are we going to handle the extreme altitude?” to irrational anxiety about the elusive scorpions, the phlebotomist black flies and whether we lost our toothbrushes.
Until tomorrow … onward!
Postscript: Best snack of the day - yellow bell pepper stuffed with leftover carne asada.
Climber Chris Lind
Sign Up For Aconcagua Expedition January 12, 2024 Emails
January 15, 2024
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Ben Luedtke, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 9,000'
Greetings from Pampa de Lena's! We awoke this morning at the rustic Hotel Ayelene eager to start our way up Aconcagua. We busily made final adjustments to our packs as questions about readiness filled our minds. Are we trained enough? Do we have the right gear packed? Will those croissants from this morning make it till break tomorrow? Will present Chris get in the way of past Chris helping future Chris pack?
But as we started walking questions like these fade away. Fueled by sweet bell peppers as we arrive at camp in style.
Climber Jon Honda
Sign Up For Aconcagua Expedition January 12, 2024 Emails
January 14, 2024
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Ben Luedtke, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 9,000'
Welcome to the Blog! This first one will be written by me, Dominic Cifelli, but throughout the trip we pass the torch to all the climbers in order to gain different perspective on the day in/day out of the trip. Keep a lookout for your loved one's name on the blog and please enjoy!
We're off! Landing in Mendoza, we were greeted with the warm temps and long days of the South American summer. A far cry from the cold snap our loved ones are experiencing in the U.S.A. The day was filled with long lunches, a siesta or two, and perusing the local markets for gifts and very late Christmas presents.
The first days of an expedition are exciting and quite hectic as we prepare, check, and recheck our equipment for the journey ahead. I always find that once we start walking, everything gets simpler because we can no longer quadruple check that we packed that favorite pair of socks or brought the right mittens. What's packed is packed and the job will become putting one front in front of the other.
That's for tomorrow's enjoyment, however. The rest of the day will be filled with prepping the duffels and food for the rough ride they take on the mules to Basecamp.
We do this in the "town" of Penitentes, close to the entrance to Aconcagua Provincial Park.
Stay tuned and wish us luck as we try to finish up the monstrous task of packing for a three-week trip.
Adios!
Sign Up For Aconcagua Expedition January 12, 2024 Emails
Get it! Wishing you all enjoyable and safe travels. You all trained and prepped so diligently, now it’s time to enjoy the trek to the top. Prayer and encouragement from Seattle.
Posted by: Ed DaPra on 1/16/2024 at 6:18 am
Good luck! Praying for a safe summit!
Posted by: Michelle DeMers on 1/15/2024 at 4:38 am
August 18, 2023
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Dominic Cifelli reached Ingraham Flats today. The team had a good climb above Camp Muir to 11,200'. On going route conditions and a windy morning made that the high point for the team today. They enjoyed the sunrise over the Cascades and descended to Camp Muir. They will be back in Paradise in the early afternoon.
Strong work to all the climbers!
August 12, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Sam Hoffman, Erika Birkeland, Cal Seeley, Ellison Boord, Trevor Katz
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Sam Hoffman reached the summit of Mt. Rainier on Friday Morning. The team took advantage of the cooler temperatures which made for good climbing on the route. They spent the night at Camp Muir sharing stories and soaking in their success and all the views. The team will descend to Paradise in the early afternoon today.
Congratulations team!
You guys rocked this trip. Side messages.. Cal thanks for the bottle of water. Can I please get an invite to the google pics/vids sharing of the group of 8 I wasn’t in? I know some team members had some cool stuff to share. Thanks!
Posted by: Jimmy on 8/27/2023 at 1:18 am
August 7, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Steve Gately, Sam Hoffman, Jackson Breen, Erika Birkeland, Hannah Blum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,200'
The Four-Day climb of Mt. Rainier led by RMI guides, Dominic Cifelli and Sam Hoffman, were turned around this morning due to thunder and lightning. The team is currently on their descent and will celebrate their hard work at Basecamp in Ashford before team members head their seperate ways.
July 19, 2023
Posted by: Casey Grom, Dominic Cifelli, Trevor Katz, Joey Manship, Evan Redman, Robert Whyte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five-Day Climb with RMI Guides Casey Grom and Dominic Cifelli reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Our Five-Day Climb ascends Mt. Rainier's classic route while providing an additional day on the mountain to allow the flexibility to adjust the summit schedule to take advantage of the best window. With great weather all week, the team took a short acclimatization climb to Ingraham Flats on Tuesday, choosing to climb last night. The team had clear skies and light winds on their climb.
Congratulations team!
July 6, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Like we’ve said before, the weather hasn’t been in a good mood here in Alaska. Keeping with that trend, was the dramatic ending to our long and hard-fought expedition. As we resigned ourselves to sleeping yet another night on the glacier, we got the call that planes were in the air.
Hopeful, salad eyed, and smelly we packed our stuff and waited for our return trip home. Then the rain started. As we stared down the southeast fork of the Kahiltna, we could only hear the buzz of the planes and the patter of the drops on our coats. Muttering “ cmon, cmon” as if to plead with Mother Nature to abate and let the clouds lift. We willed the weather to let up just enough for the pilots to pull off a landing and high tail it out of there.
We slept in beds last night, took showers, and celebrated like it was going out of style. We can’t wait to see our friends and family soon. Thank you all for following along and cheers to another great, successful expedition on Denali. See you next year!
RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Dan May and Team
July 5, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
Wednesday, July 5, 2023 - 12:55 am PT
The team woke up to snow and wind distorting the shapes of the tents we call home for the last 21 days. We hit snooze and hoped for the best. While I wouldn’t say the best ever came the allure of Roestis, showers, and beds pulled us out of our sleeping bags and into the fray. From 11,000 ft to the base of Ski Hill was a near total whiteout. We persevered through the wind, moisture, and visibility to reach basecamp at about 6pm, but conditions didn’t allow planes to come and land. We’re hopeful that tomorrow we’ll be back in civilization.
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli
Yay! Mission almost accomplished! Such an amazing group you are
Posted by: Kim on 7/5/2023 at 8:53 am
Sunday, July 2, 2023
While it hasn’t been unlike Denali to act up at inopportune times. Today was a low blow. We descended from High Camp today under mostly clear skies and on top of tired legs. We were awarded new views from the West Buttress that were previously shrouded and the team descended fast and well.
At 14,000' Camp we took a good break and then kept the train going. Clouds were billowing, wind was picking up, and snow was falling as we passed Windy Corner, which once again held true to its name. A storm was coming. We’re in that storm right now, hoping for it to abate and to get off the mountain we’ve called home for the past 19 days.
We’re hopeful, but not too optimistic we’ll be able to walk to the airstrip tomorrow.
Wish us luck.
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli
Wishing you luck with the weather and praying you’ll be walking to the airstrip tomorrow!!! You are a brave and amazing team. I can’t wait to read tomorrow’s post! Love you, Alex!!!
Posted by: Kim on 7/3/2023 at 8:36 pm
I salute each and every one of you for your patience and determination on this climb that has been full of challenging weather. Stay safe. You’re in the home stretch!
Posted by: Doreen on 7/3/2023 at 2:07 pm
Seems like the start of a great joke: “a doctor, a lawyer, and a poet go into a bar.” What’s not a joke is your team’s pace. You all are crushing it. Keep up the great work!
Posted by: Ed DaPra on 1/17/2024 at 2:57 am
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