Entries By lacie smith

Friday, June 12 - 8:20PM PST

Welcome to your Denali Wrapped!

Hello all, and welcome to your end of climb playlist, fam. Congratulations to us on making it to the top, on forging lifelong friendships along the way, learning new mountaineering skills and pushing ourselves harder than we thought possible to achieve incredible things in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Here are some songs that we curated to help us remember the grand adventure.

They say the summit is only a small fraction of the joy of climbing , so why don’t we start with the beginning? The journey from the airstrip to our first camp at the base of ski hill was a heavy and hot one; with full sleds that tripped us up so who can’t help thinking of Tubthumping by Chumbawamba? We get knocked down, but we get up again, at least until the heat of the day began to make our sun shirts stick to our backs and warmed us all the way to our toes, and then maybe our thoughts turned to Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes. Thank goodness for Leuko tape and Compeed pads. But eventually we got to drop our sleds off at 11k camp, with Can I Kick It? By A Tribe Called Quest summing up our relationship with our bright orange friends.

Ski Hill and 11k were wonderful camps, notable for the amazing weather we had and easy time we had slowly caching gear higher on the mountain. Notes of Hot in Herre by Nelly, Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby, and Ice Cream and Sunscreen by Martha were punctuated by real bonds being formed over games of backgammon, trivia, conversations about our families, and working together towards our goals.

We didn’t hear much of the music from the guide tent, but what we imagined them playing on repeat were: That Don’t Impress me Much by Shania Twain, I’ll Make a Man Out of You from Disney’s Mulan, and, on hard mornings when we were tired and our guides pushed us to our limits, You Always Hurt the Ones You Love by the Mills Brothers was heard floating softly through some headphones. So thank you for pushing us to our limits, even when we complained or threw up, for creating the space and opportunities for us to realize we were stronger than we ever thought. For doing the hard thing, even when we complained about the lack of time for our pourover coffees or how cold and uncomfortable we were. Thank you for Betting on Us (Francis and the Lights) For you, Jackson, Ray, and Lacie, we listen to Whitney Houston’s Higher Love on repeat. The higher you get, the higher you are. 

When things got rough from Windy Corner onwards, we certainly sang The Kids Aren’t Alright by the Offspring to ourselves, In Too Deep by Sum 41, and perhaps there were one or two members of the team still dreaming of a miracle man to carry their load singing Holding out for A Hero by Bonnie Tyler. Some of those days had the Proclaimers Over and Done With as our camp anthem, and who couldn’t help humming Jame’s Arthur’s Say You Won’t Let Go while we went up the fixed lines or Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer while shivering on the Autobahn? 

We tried to add an bassoon song for Lacie, but we don’t know any. For Ray and his rays of sunshine, we will always be listening to the spiciest latin beats. And for Jackson, our favorite JBL, his song isn’t a song, but rather every single inspirational locker room speech in film history. 

Overall, we collectively spent more than 408 hours on the mountain living out the song “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” on repeat! That makes us Marvin Gaye’s top .0001% fully embodied fan! Our second favorite song was Miley Cyrus’s The Climb, and today in Talkeetna, some great recovery tunes have included Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira, My Neck My Back by Khia, and I’m So Tired by Lauv. Enjoy the sun, my fellow climbers, you’ve earned it. 

For the one crazy member of our team spotted running in his very short shorts the day we returned, Lenny Kravitz’ Always on the Run is just for you. For our favorite Brolonzo, obviously our staple is Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins. For the girl who is 5’2 but somehow thinks she’s 6’5, there’s Bad Mutha by Lord Finesse. For the guy who does a cracking impression of Lacie; I’m a Goofy Goober from SpongeBob made the cut. For the climber who looks like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, we obviously gotta give you the song Gaston. And finally, for the man with a million degrees, I Love College by Asher Roth. 

Not all of us made it to the top, but all of us are gonna make it home, and we are all leaving with lifelong bonds and real love in our hearts for one another.  That seems pretty lucky to me. While the mountain summit may have been the goal, the real gift was the friends we made along the way. As The Wind and the Wave sing, Happiness is Not A Place, it’s the people who make your heart feel fullest. 

So, thanks for the one last dispatch, and until next time. Xoxo

-RMI Climbers

Friday, June 12th @ 4AM PST

Today we undid all of the work we spent the last 14 days doing in just 14 hours. We woke up to a clear cold morning at 17k camp. We descended the West Buttress in chilly conditions but were treated to nice weather and familiar faces when we saw our RMI family at 14k camp! Best of luck to Dan May and his strong team of climbers! Down we continued to 11k camp where we dug up our cache and enjoyed some relatively warm temps and sunshine after having been at over 20,000’ less than 24 hours ago. Still further down the mountain we went to camp one to pick up another cache where we saw Ben Luedtke and another RMI team. Finally we retraced the very first day of our trip and walked our way back to the airstrip on a tranquil Alaska range night. The day was truly unbelievable. We were treated to views of Hunter, Foraker, Denali, and the rest of the central Alaska range. Days like today stir up a great deal of gratitude for the privilege this life is and an overwhelming reminder of how small we are. We arrived at camp under the midnight sun and treated ourselves to refreshments, charcuterie, and friendly conversation before finally turning in for the night. Morning? The sun doesn’t set. Who knows? More importantly, who cares?! We achieved so much more than our goals and with any luck we will be flying back to Talkeetna and returning to the “real” world tomorrow. We can’t wait to see you all and tell you about the wild journey we had together!

Best,
Jackson

Wednesday, June 10, 2026 - 10:58pm PDT

Cumbre!

We got up early this morning and were the first team on the autobahn. A chilly start paid dividends throughout the rest of the day. We enjoyed the best weather you could ask for, incredible views, and a virtually empty route. Despite the perfect conditions the team is still pretty spent and has a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible.

Peace, Love, Gratitude.

RMI Guide Ray Holt and Team

Tuesday, June 9, 2026 - 11:04 pm PT

Our team woke up early this morning for the first time in many days. We packed up and moved from 14,000’ camp up to 17,000’ Camp. We walked up through the cold of the morning towards the fixed lines. After ascending the fixed lines we found ourselves on the West Buttress itself. And in all of my years I have never had such a pleasant day on the West Buttress. It was truly a day you dream about. We climbed in base layers in the sunshine weaving through the rocks looking down at 14 Camp where we started the day. It was not all sunshine and rainbows however, and the day had its fair share of struggles and suffering. After a long hard fought day we arrived at 17 Camp where we set up tents, made water, ate dinner, and prepared our gear for a summit attempt in the morning. Thank you for reading along and sorry I am not as entertaining of a writer as our climbers. We will check back in tomorrow with an update on our summit attempt!

Best regards,

RMI Guide Jackson Breen and Team

Monday, June 8, 2026 - 7:51 pm PT

D(ave): Hey ChatGPT, I’m writing a daily update blog for the 14 people following our expedition up Denali and I need some clever ideas about how to structure it so that it isn’t just a bland update about what we did that day. Can you help me generate some ideas?

C(hatGPT): Sure, happy to help. Before I get started, can you give me an idea about what you did today so that I can start to

D: Yep. Today we woke up to a delightful brunch of breakfast burritos and hot drinks, our guides then confirmed that the following day (Tuesday) we would be heading up to 17 camp from where we would then make a summit push on Wednesday or Thursday (obligatory “whether permitting” disclaimer, of course). We went over a lot of details about what to bring to 17, expectations and what to wear on the summit push - basically, it is going to be cold so bring every layer you have and the guides will give final instructions on the day of the summit push based on conditions. After brunch we brought our ice axes into the cook tent and we taped them up with foam and duct tape to further insulate our hands from the cold metal. Once we were done with that we  and brought our overboots and crampons into the tent so we could cut slits into the over boots so that our crampons fit. Ray did mine. It was like showing a horse. He was very gentle. Would recommend.  After that, we all broke up and anxiously went through our gear, making sure that we knew where everything was so that we could get an early start tomorrow. That’s pretty much it.

C: Ok, that is a great blow by blow of what happened during the day. Did anything else noteworthy, funny, or unusual happen? Do you want this update to only factual, or do you want to throw in some made up or funny things.

D: Ummm, Peter led the building of an arch with snow blocks to stay active. We listened to Alonzo’s pump up song “Into the Danger Zone”. We learned that Jackson and Ray used to neighbors and that they had opposite schedules - one getting up early while the other stays up late. Matt taught a few of us Farkle (a dice game), and Ricky gave a lecture on dark matter, dark energy, the difference between special and general relativity, and other mind bending astrophysics topics. You know, just random conversations. 

C: Ok, that is helpful. Since you are on an expedition have you thought about putting this into a cabin fever theme?

D: Yeah. I thought about that. Something like “Day 2 of sitting in the tent waiting for the storm to pass. No one is here except Peter, and his pug tattoos to keep me company. Peter doesn’t say much anymore but one of his pugs, the grumpy one, told me that I smelled today, which I thought was pretty rich coming from a dog” Anyway, I didn’t think that would go very far as it is so far from our actual experience.

C: Ok, I think I have everything that I need. Here is a clever blog post for your expedition “Today we got ready to head up to the next camp and then to the summit. Everyone is in good spirits and anxious to get going.”

D: Wait, that’s it? 

C: Yep. What did you expect. I’m not even connected to the internet.

D: Fair point. I guess I’ll go with that and close with the answers from yesterday’s secrets post. Here they are!

1. Dave

2. Ricky

3. Pattie

4. Matt

5. Alonso

6. Lacie

7. Ray

8. Peter

9. Lizzie

10. Jackson

RMI Climber Dave

Sun 6/7/2026 6:45 PM PST

With all the prerequisite caching, acclimatization, and skills prep compete, we now hunker down at camp 14k to await a weather window. Things look optimistic for Tuesday, so between now and then we snack, rest, snack some more, get beaten by Matt at backgammon (sorry Dad, I’m in deep after losing a 64-point game), nap, chat, read while snacking, snack while reading, stretch the  legs, and repeat until dinner time. Pad Thai, let’s go! Make sure to leave room for dessert though.

We did take a break from snacking to learn how to do efficient running belays, which will become critical during our summit day. When temperatures are as low as negative 25, and wind chill potentially doubling that lower, every minute counts.

With conditions potentially deteriorating tonight, we also learned the fine art of digging a snow block quarry and constructing 4 foot high walls to block the wind from flapping our tents all night long. Good to know that if my career in proprietary trading ever stalls I can pivot to high altitiude masonry.

Ray lead construction of a magnificent new bathroom, complete with soaring white marble walls, ergonomically designed toilet platform, gender neutral urinal, and unobstructed views of the summit. If he could just rig up a heated bucket seat I might not poop anywhere else ever again.

After spending the last 11 days and nights together, chatting, laughing and snuggling in our tents (looking at you Alonso) you might think we know everything there is to know about each other. But as I’ve learned today, we all still have secrets.

What follow are blind secrets, one for each member of our team (including the guides). Only I know who wrote each one. After dinner, we will try to match each secret to its owner. For the 12 hundred readers of this blog, wager your own guesses in the comments! Answers will be provided in tomorrow’s post.

1. During college I worked in a sorority kitchen washing dishes in exchange for free food.

2. I once panicked inside a busy IKEA when I couldn’t find my way out and had to go home and sleep for three hours.

3. I once angrily told someone to shut up during a musical only to find out during the intermission that it was a disabled person and her guide, who was explaining the plot to her.

4. I have an MBA, two bachelors degrees and two associates degrees.

5. I listen to “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins before every major life task/event to get myself amped up and in the zone. It has worked time and time again.

6. I learned an instrument in 12 months, which lead to joining and training with the states symphony orchestra for young adults, and played one concert with the LA opera.

7. I used to ride bucking horses at the Friday night rodeo.

8. One of my favorite things to watch before bed is live ‘speed running’, events, which is essentially watching people watching people beat video games really fast.

9. I can touch my elbows behind my back.

10. My ancestors were the only family in the Donnor party to survive without losing a single family member.

- RMI Climber Peter

Sun 6/7/2026 11:40 AM

Dear reader, pardon the lateness of now-yesterday’s dispatch, but after our ascent to 14k camp, we awoke covered in frost yesterday, only to have our rest day cruelly ripped away from us. Please, sir, but a small helping of hot water for Lizzie’s single-origin Kenyan pour-over coffee? No. Instead, an unspecified group update.

Much to our dismay, our guide’s (*sigh*) relentlessly unimpeachable decision-making meant that in the face of oncoming weather, we would expedite a run to 16k feet to acclimatize and cache food for a later summit bid.

We therefore enjoyed a hasty but quite respectable breakfast of rehydrated eggs and hash browns. (What would it take for *you* to ingest a liter of uncooked egg slurry? Comment below!) As the sun rose from behind the mountain and conditions transitioned in the span of two minutes from bitter cold to oppressive heat, we roped up and set to work.

Everyone climbed admirably. With good communication and low-moderate lingering resentment, we ascended the fixed lines smoothly, cached our food, and enjoyed sweeping views of Mount Hunter (somehow now below us!) and Mount Foraker (watch out, you’re next).

In light of this progress, we now face one of the most strenuous and imposing segments of the climb: three to four rest days while the weather passes with no internet and long since exhausted even-passably-from-a-distance-clean-ish clothes.

But like ice to so many mountains, we cling to optimism. As long as we don’t lose essential gear to our guides in games of chess, and as long as Pattie has enough puzzles and Matt continues to summon answers like two six-letter countries that start with “r” and end with “a,” prospects for the next segment—like the subarctic sunlight at 2 AM—are bright.

To all 13,000 readers of this blog, we send our love and best wishes and eagerly await seeing you on the other side of the mountain.

��������������️������
- Climber Ricky

Friday, June 5th - 8PM PST

Welcome to Serenity Ridge! This is a rare opportunity to purchase a premiere piece of Alaskan wilderness. Nestled on a wide ridge at 14,200’, this new subdivision offers sweeping views of the Alaska Range, including Mt. Foraker, and easy access to the Autobahn, the local chess club, and the beloved eatery “The Soup God,” where you might catch a glimpse of Chef Ray in his apron. Stop by The Alonso Drafthouse for a film screening or take a walk to the National Park Service outpost. Grab a snack at The Cache! Property includes access to private helipad. Adjoining easement with Denali National Park ensures no new development. This is truly the end of the world!

This off-the-grid home was lovingly built by hand and features a cathedral ceiling, built-ins with ample storage, solar power, and two enclosed porches. Sit with your coffee in the morning and watch the clouds roll in over the tundra below! Recently remodelled with reclaimed materials in June 2026. You’ll love the rustic feel. Improvements include a reinforced foundation and a detached kitchen and bathroom, the latter of which has been well loved. With no running water, power or heat, monthly costs are low — and there’s no lawn to mow!

Don’t miss this opportunity! This is all about location, location, location! Two remaining homes for sale — two and three-person occupancies, measuring between 32 and 40 square feet. The mansion on the block — a four-person dwelling currently occupied by two — has already sold. Neighbors are quiet. (Minus the snoring.)

This is communal living at its finest!

For information on the open house, please comment below.

Listed for: One fresh package of cookie dough, two Sherpas and access to a hot shower.
Listing agent: Jackson Breen

Walkability: 20
Public transportation: 0
School system: 0
Municipal services: 0
Hospital access: 0
Nightlife: 0 (Shocker!!) 
 

Thursday, June 4th @ 8:20PM PST

“No jump tonight! The channel coast is socked in with rain and fog.” Just like the airborne drop just prior to the Normandy invasion in WW2 was postponed in Band of Brothers, our move up to the 14,000 foot camp was also postponed. One of our teammates woke up under the weather so the team, led by Jackson’s sound thought process, decided to stay here at 11,000 feet. As much as we wanted to hear Jackson mimicking Mr. Miagi in the Karate Kid when he says “packs on, packs off,” to signal the start and end of our rest breaks while in the trail, we are all grateful that individual wellness is valued and prioritized. Today, for all 13 readers of the blog, (we went up in readership or at least that’s what I’m telling myself) you will get a glimpse in what we do on a rest day. 

Each member of the team has been giving it their all, their daily 100% for the team. Earlier in the week we all carried team gear and personal items to higher in the mountain for our teams success. Today’s 100% was spent resting so our teammates can stay strong on the upper mountain. We had some folks engaging in “light” reading of quantum mechanics and discussions about the concepts, many cinephiles, some naps, and language study. So many snacks were eaten, shared, and personal snack preferences turned into lively and spirited debates about which Oreo is the best (it’s double stuff by the way). Some tent teams place all their snacks in the middle of the tent, like a small family of squirrels in their burrow, while they read, watch movies, and listen to audio books.

Others played backgammon and trivia while counting the number of times Peter walked in front of the tent to get his step count in. We’ve decided that we all make an incredible and formidable bar trivia team.

Our team has also developed some enjoyable routines. Each morning we talk about the dreams we had while we all huddle over our hot drinks in the kitchen tent. Each evening we have intriguing and often intellectually challenging conversations. One of those was how do you connect John Travolta to Tom Cruise, similar to the game degrees of Kevin Bacon. We’ve also argued over our favorite conspiracy theories. We are really a cohesive group. If someone could leave a comment to help us explain who Kevin Bacon is we’d greatly appreciate it.

RMI Climber Matt
 

Wednesday, June 3, 2026 - 7:57 pm PT

UGH, IT’S SO DAMN HOT
MILK WAS A BAD CHOICE THIS MORNING

I believe this variation of an Anchorman quote captures our cache carry to 14k Camp today perfectly after our granola breakfast with condensed milk before we started our day in the Denali heat. The morning started off cold as we ditched our snowshoes and toboggans and donned crampons as we marched onward and upward, inching closer to our ultimate objective of the summit. The snow and ice creaked and groaned under the stabs of our technical gear, and the ice glistened with a beautiful blue hue as colorful as the sky above us.

Little by little, we attacked this section meticulously making it up Motorcycle Hill, Squirrel Hill, across the Polo Fields, and finally around the bend at Windy Corner. The views were spectacular, breathtaking, with a horizon that stretched for hundreds of miles. The team still had some fuel in the tank and we pushed upward towards 14k Camp electing to cache higher vs lower. This stretch proved the most challenging for many as the midday heat baked and redlined our bodies. Arriving at camp was a godsend for many as we cached our gear and returned back down to 11k camp.  

I’m so damn proud and happy to be part of a cohesive and high performing team with knowledgeable, expert guides. As the demands on the mountain continue to increase, the team and guides increasingly continue to gel together- teammates lending a helping hand to one another with self care provisions, dinner banter continuing well past the meal is finished, and collective respect being earned as we witness each other’s grit and determination on the mountain to achieve our ultimate goal. We have Ricky- the ultra athlete who continues to impress me with his cool as a cucumber attitude, Matt- the gruff Utah SAR mountain man, Dave and Peter- the team’s muscle men Mr Universe personas (Schwarzenegger would be proud), Pattie- the IronWoman athlete, and Lizzie- the award winning author and qualified wilderness fire fighter. Our guides- Jackson, Lacie, and Ray who are consummate professionals, funny and lighthearted- push the team in all the right ways to make us better climbers and help us achieve our prized goal of a successful, safe summit of Denali. 

To our 12 readers of the RMI blog post, we’re safe and sound back at 11k camp, ready to treat ourselves to clean base layers as we transition phases on the mountain. Hormel meat snack marketing- if you’re reading this, Ray says to call him. A wet wipe bath beckons my name now and the Brolonso hair flow is in full effect after a day of wetting my hair with wet snow to cool my head.

HEY, EVERYONE, COME SEE HOW GOOD I LOOK.

RMI Climber / Aviator Alonso