Entries By dustin wittmier
July 12, 2023
Posted by: Brent Okita, Dustin Wittmier, Daniel May, Sam Hoffman, Mitch Valaitis, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Brent Okita & Dustin Wittmier led their team of climbers to the summit of Mt. Rainier. The Four Day Climb team July 9 - 12 enjoyed a beautiful morning on the mountain with a nice route and 15 mph winds. The teams were on Columbia Crest at 7:30 am and began their descent from the crater rim just after 8 am. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break to repack and refuel before descending the remaining 4,500' to Paradise.
Congratulations team!
July 6, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7300'/ 348'
Wednesday, July 5, 2023 - 11:59 pm PT
Difficult day today, waiting for the weather to clear, then scrambling like crazy in the evening to fly and finally an unintentional split of the team. As some made it in to town and some remained on the mountain for the night.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
July 5, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
Tuesday, July 4, 2023 - 11:57 pm PT
Long day, but it ended with us reaching basecamp safe and sound, so it was a very good day. The start was hard, it was still snowing and blowing as we packed. There was a lot to do since our gear had been buried under a few feet of fresh snow. We set out at 9:40 in a whiteout, working by Braille and GPS. The first three hours were like that, pushing through endless new snow. We started to come out of the storm below ski hill, but conditions were quite mushy. Our snow shoes were sinking in, which made finding crevasses fairly difficult. We trudged on in surreal lighting as the clouds came and went. Heartbreak Hill didn't break any hearts. We were happy to be on the home stretch. We pulled in to basecamp at 6PM. It was all ours for a few minutes. Dominic Cifelli's team pulled in just behind us, but otherwise, camp was empty and gone, closed up for the season. Weather didn't permit a flight so we camped.
Hey Dustin and Dave! Awesome job getting your team back to basecamp! You guys Rock!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 7/6/2023 at 4:48 am
July 3, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Michael Murray, Sam Marjerison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Monday, July 3, 2023 - 12:28 am PT
We battled our way down to 11,000 ft. A big day of work. Lots of packing, lots of dicey climbing down the tricky steps of the West Buttress. This day was supposed to be a nice one, but we could see every sign that the storm was coming in early. We had to fight a little to get around Windy Corner. It snowed on us as we climbed down and as we fought to get a camp up at 11,000'. But we are happy to have made such progress should the storm now come in hard.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
July 2, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 20,310'
July 2, 2023 - 4:16 am PT
Summit!!! On a fine day. A little bit of a long one though -fifteen hours round trip. We got tangled with a couple of other guided parties. Those other teams were breaking trail, so it is tough to fault them for being slow. We were on top at 8:30 PM and back to 17,000' Camp just after 2 AM. The weather was very nice, but it wasn't the warmest day on top. Most of us had on all the clothing we had.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Congratulations Mitch!!! Such an inspiration at, dare I say, 61!
Safe travels back down and thank you to ALL the team for keeping making it happen.
Posted by: Marcelle Flowers on 7/3/2023 at 12:57 pm
Well done team! Cheers to a tremendous accomplishment. Special props to Dustin and Sam for their guidance on Rainier last month. Safe travels my friends!
-Joe
Posted by: Joseph Mueller on 7/3/2023 at 7:51 am
July 1, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 17,200'
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Saturday, July 1, 2023 1:12 AM PDT
Right on schedule, the clouds cleared out and the wind dropped down. First nice day we've had, actually. We used it well. The team made the jump to 17,200' feet. It was tough climbing and the packs got even bigger and heavier when we stopped at 16,200' feet to add yesterday's loads. But we got 'r done. The views were amazing, considering that the team really hadn't seen much of our surroundings yet. We have a forecast of fine weather tomorrow. Perhaps we go up.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
So exciting for you Mitch & your amazing team. Stay strong & know that we are all praying for you!
Posted by: Pam Cashion on 7/1/2023 at 1:24 pm
A really exciting day for everyone! Thinking about you all and hoping it’s a summit!
Posted by: Leslie Vance on 7/1/2023 at 11:08 am
June 30, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
Thursday, June 29, 2023 10:25 pm PDT
Not much of a break in the weather today but we made the best of it. We watched, waited, and slow-rolled and then went for it, leaving camp at noon. There was still snow falling, but the wind had quit. We trudged up to the fixed lines and then ascended them with little difficulty, reaching 16,200 ft. Nobody got to enjoy the spectacular views as we were still locked in cloud and snow, but we cached our supplies and dropped back down, reaching camp at 6PM.
Hoping for some clearing tomorrow (as usual) we would like to move to 17,200ft.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
Sending Best wishes for a break in the weather for you Dustin and Dave and Team!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 7/1/2023 at 7:23 am
Keep up the great effort team! Hoping for a window so you can top this off soon and get down safely.
Posted by: Dan Murray on 6/30/2023 at 2:49 pm
June 29, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Michael Murray, Sam Marjerison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Wednesday, June 28, 2023 - 9:41 pm PT
We celebrated Tibor's birthday with a storm day and a no-bake cheesecake. Familiar weather to us, clouds and snow with winds aloft kept us confined to 14,000ft Camp. We slept, we ate, we dug snow and cut snow blocks. We talked and we read... we passed time. Looking forward to going climbing again when the storm quits.
June 28, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Tuesday, June 28, 2023 - 9:28 pm PT
We set out on our quest to get a load of supplies onto the West Buttress but the weather deteriorated steadily as we climbed. At 15,400 ft we decided to turn. We set a few personal altitude records, but it was just short of the fixed rope section we had been hoping to climb today. We returned to camp in light snowfall. The afternoon became a quiet napping contest in the tents. We'll try again when we get a break in the storm.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Bummer….Sending prayers for clear skies and no wind !!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/28/2023 at 8:08 am
June 27, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Michael Murray, Sam Marjerison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Monday, June 26, 2023 - 9:44 pm PT
As expected, the weather was still a little "off" today, with lots of cloud and some wind up high, but it was definitely improving. We took it easy this morning but got in a training session in the afternoon, reviewing techniques we hope to employ tomorrow when we go for a carry, attempting to put supplies at 16,200 ft. This evening, some of the high cloud finally cleared out and the team got to see mountains Hunter and Foraker along with a magnificent view straight up at Denali.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hey Dustin And Dave,
Hopefully those clear skies come down by you guys and your team!!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/28/2023 at 3:39 am
If I had one word to describe the RMI team it would be professional. They really took good care of our team and let us enjoy the experience. A top notch crew I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone considering a Rainier summit in the future. Thank you ALA for all your support as well! Climbing for a purpose (other than bagging a peak) is really special and I’ve been happy to support your cause. Thank you team, you really made it enjoyable and it was a pleasure to be part of this group that is forever connected by this amazing experience!
Posted by: David Lamp on 7/20/2023 at 12:48 pm
Such an awesome experience! Thank you to our guide team and to all of the other climbers who worked hard out there. From the guides to everyone climbing with with ALA, you all made this such a memorable experienced. Climb on y’all!!
Posted by: Jonathan Mack on 7/15/2023 at 9:56 am
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