Entries By nikki champion
May 19, 2023
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 9,600'
-640x480.jpg)
Thursday, May 18, 2023 10:36pm PDT
After a late night and long day yesterday, we woke up around the time the sun hit our tents. After a quick breakfast of frosted mini wheats, we put together the group loads to cache and begin our climb up ski hill. After 4.5 long hours we pulled into our cache site, dug a hole, and tossed our group food, and personal caches in. After attaching the sleds to our packs, we began the descent back to camp. A bit earlier this evening than last, we made some reindeer sausage jambalaya and prepped for our big move to 11 camp tomorrow.
The weather looks good, hopefully we'll touch base from 11k tomorrow!
RMI Guides Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom, and Lauren Macklin
May 18, 2023
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
Wednesday, May 17, 2023 - 11:46 pm PT
We woke up to an early call from K2 that said chances looked good to fly, so after a quick cup of coffee we rushed over to the hangar. After a few hours of hurry up and waiting, we were able to get out on a flight and land on the Kahiltna glacier in beautiful conditions. We unloaded all the group gear, organized everything for moving, and made our way to our first camp for the night. After six long hours, we finally pulled into the base of Ski Hill. Set up camp, and made a quick dinner of Mac and cheese under the clear skies. We are set up to carry tomorrow, but might sleep in a little bit first.
Check in tomorrow,
Get it done Dawny!!! Watching you!!!
Posted by: Tiff on 5/19/2023 at 9:47 am
You got this Dawn! We are all thinking about you down here and cheering you on!!
Posted by: Kendyl and James on 5/19/2023 at 5:18 am
May 16, 2023
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 348'
Monday, May 15, 2023 - 8:02 pm PT
The May 14th Denali has officially begun!
After a long day of travel yesterday, the entire team made their way to Talkeetna and spent the day packing, organizing, weighing, repacking, and finally getting all the gear weighed, set up and ready to fly.
While the weather doesn’t look promising, the entire team is primed and ready to go as soon as a weather window opens. We will wake up tomorrow morning with the goal of flying and see what the skies bring.
Until we fly, we will continue to eat warm food, drink cold beer, and enjoy all the amenities we will soon miss.
Dramatic pics with lots of smiles. Best of luck to all.
Posted by: Marcia Mikolaj on 5/18/2023 at 7:31 am
Hi, I wish You good luck, perfect wether, a safe tour. Return healthy! Enjoy each moment.
Elisabeth
Posted by: Elisabeth on 5/18/2023 at 5:00 am
September 3, 2022
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Alan Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Nikki Champion and Alan Davis walked to Ingraham Flats and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise. The weather on the mountain is warm and calm. Due to hazardous route conditions the team was unable to climb higher on the route. The team has started their descent and will be back at Paradise in the early afternoon.
Congratulations Team!
Hey good jobs to teams up there giving it a shot. I keep seeing teams getting turned around for “hazardous route conditions” on the last few posts. Can anyone let me know the key hazards turning teams around (heading up this week) Please lemme know good job up there!
Posted by: Tyler on 9/3/2022 at 5:32 pm
August 20, 2022
Posted by: Mike Walter, Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom, Ellison Boord, Sam Hoffman, Roland Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb August 17 - 20 led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Nikki Champion reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Mike reported moderate winds and a busy route. Camp Muir sandwiched between two layers of clouds, dense clouds above Camp Muir and a light marine layer above Paradise currently. The climbers will take a short break at Camp Muir to repack and re-hydrate before starting down to Paradise. Once at Paradise the shuttle will return the climbers to Rainier BaseCamp where they will conclude their program with a short ceremony.
Nice work today everyone!
Yay! Well done Team! So happy for you all!
Posted by: Alice Schenk on 8/21/2022 at 5:01 am
Great news!
Posted by: Linda Ramge on 8/20/2022 at 9:03 am
August 14, 2022
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
After several days of training on Mt. Erie and in the lower alpine of Mt. Baker, our Mt. Baker seminar teams have successfully summited Mt. Baker. They were on top this morning around 8:45 am. Completion of this program is one step on many mountaineers' journey to accomplishing other peaks like climbing Denali or Aconcagua.
The team will take the rest of the day today to rest and continue their training before walking out to the trailhead tomorrow.
Congrats team!
August 1, 2022
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Steve Gately, Emma Lyddan, Nicole De Petris, Roland Scott, Cal Seeley
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14, 410'
The Five-Day Climb led by Nikki Champion and Steve Gately reached the summit at 6 am this morning. After a warm walk uphill to Camp Muir on Saturday, teams enjoyed a good night's rest and a beautiful day of training before their ascent this morning.
The teams are currently on their descent and will return to Basecamp this afternoon for a celebration of their accomplishments! Congratulations team!
Way to go team!!!!! I’m Riley’s Mom and I’m so happy he accomplished this challenging
climb on his 3rd try. Congratulations to all of you!! Have a safe climb down.
Posted by: Crista Boyle on 8/1/2022 at 12:45 pm
July 25, 2022
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Joe Hoch, Augi Fleer, Brian Walters, Trevor Katz, Sam Hoffman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb July 21 - 25 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by RMI Guides Nikki Champion & Joe Hoch. The teams reached the summit early this morning and were well on their descent around 7 am. RMI Guide Trevor Katz provided the photos from the teams descent from the crater rim. Once back at Camp Muir everyone will repack and continue another 4.5 miles to Paradise. They will then transfer to Rainier BaseCamp for a celebration and conclusion of their program.
Nice work everyone!
July 19, 2022
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Michael Murray, Bo Torrey
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb July 16 - 19 led by RMI Guides Nikki Champion, Michael Murray and Bo Torrey reached the crater rim around 7 am today. They took six hours to climb from Camp Muir to the summit and reported calm winds and clear skies. As of 8 am they were on their descent returning to Camp Muir and then continuing the remaining 4,500' to Paradise. They will conclude their program this afternoon with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Congratulations climbers! Way to go Christopher!
Posted by: Jane Green on 7/19/2022 at 3:44 pm
July 14, 2022
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Nikki Champion
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The American Lung Association Climb for Clean Air team led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Nikki Champion reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team climbed the Disappointment Cleaver Route and had a beautiful day of climbing.
The climbers on these teams raise funds for the American Lung Association’s Climb for Clean Air Campaign. As of today the teams have raised $335,690.06!!
Congratulations Teams!
Congratulations Ana and Rathan!.
Posted by: Sowmya on 7/17/2022 at 7:17 am
Wishes
Posted by: Leo on 7/15/2022 at 5:36 pm
KC is cheering you on Scott! So proud of you!
Posted by: Deb Eldridge on 5/20/2023 at 9:31 pm
Bravo to all!
Gonna Fly now…
Feeling strong now…
(Rocky)
Posted by: ERIC PETERSON on 5/20/2023 at 5:28 pm
View All Comments