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Posts from 01/2012

Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Sight Seeing in Quito

Posted by: Jake Beren | January 12, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

Our Ecuador’s Volcanoes team has arrived here in Quito after a fair bit of travel, but healthy and with all of our gear!  Always a good start to a trip.

Today we took to the streets, touring Quito’s revitalized Old Town and taking in the sights from La Panela, the hilltop site of the Virgin of Quito where we could clearly see the city snaking to the North and South, the ancient churches and plazas quite visible from our vantage point. Then it was off to lunch and a stop at the “Mitada del Mundo,” the “center of the earth.” Here the equator is marked by more than just a line and we were able to double check it’s accuracy with a few tests, putting to rest the long debate about which way the toilet flushes in which hemisphere (can you remember without testing?).

All in all a great first day and the afternoon thunderstorms even held off for us!

RMI Guides Jake Beren & Zeb Blais

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Aconcagua Expedition: Resting at Base Camp

Posted by: Gabriel Barral | January 11, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 14,000'

Hello,
Our team arrived yesterday to Aconcagua Base Camp at 14,000’ after three nice days on the trail.
 
We spent today resting and acclimating for the upper mountain. After a delicious breakfast we checked in with the Basecamp Medical Staff and received a clean bill of health all the way around (everybody looks like rock stars).

During the afternoon we worked on sorting the gear that we are going to carry to Camp 1 tomorrow.  The weather was marvelous until 4 pm and since then it has been cloudy with a little bit of snow.

The team wants to wish a very Happy Birthday to Chad Johnson!

Cheers,
RMI Aconcagua Team

On The Map

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Aconcagua Expedition: Team arrives at Pampa de Lenas

Posted by: Gabriel Barral | January 11, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 9,000'

Hi everybody,
This is the Aconcagua team checking in from Pampa de Leñas camp.
After a few days in Mendoza and Penitentes doing the hardest part of climbing a big mountain (getting the climbing permits, trying to get all the duffel bags that didn’t make it to the airport with us, packing a ton of food and gear for the mules, etc), today we started the trek to Base Camp. The mountain welcomed us with a perfect blue sky day. We hiked for five and half hours today and got to our first camp on the Vacas Valley.
Everybody did a great job and we are all feeling good. We are getting ready to sit down to dinner. Pete and Gilbert have cooked a gorgeous veggie pasta, almost as good as the amazing Argentinian steaks that we were eating since we arrived in Mendoza.
That is all for today, cheers!

RMI Guide Gabriel Barral and Team Aconcagua.

On The Map

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RMI Guides Learn Valuable Instruction in the AIARE Level 1 Instructor Course

Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Lindsay Mann | January 09, 2012
Categories: *Guide News

RMI Guides Lindsay Mann and Pete Van Deventer recently met up in Frisco, Colorado, for the AIARE Level I Avalanche Instructor Training Course.  AIARE (American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education) is the main course provider for avalanche courses and training in the United States. For three days Lindsay and Pete along with 16 other future instructors discussed current avalanche knowledge, curriculum material, and teaching techniques. Classroom time was balanced by field sessions, ski touring the very accessible terrain around Vail Pass. While the snowpack so far this year is relatively uninteresting from an avalanche perspective, the opportunity to trade ideas with 16 other peers and watch each other in the field was a great experience for both Lindsay and Pete. Many thanks to First Ascent and RMI for providing a Guide Grant to aid Lindsay and Pete in moving into an avalanche education instructor role. Look for Pete and Lindsay ski touring around the Aspen, Colorado, area when they are not guiding trips on Rainier, Alaska, and beyond for RMI.

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Aconcagua Expedition: Team Arrives in Mendoza

Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Gabriel Barral, Anne Gilbert Chase | January 09, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua

The entire team arrived safely in Mendoza with all our gear (almost).  One delayed bag should be arriving tomorrow in Mendoza. 
It is after midnight here and we just returned to the hotel after our first team dinner. We had a great meal enjoying the local flavors of Malbec and of course some Argentinian beef.  We were busy all day with everyone’s arrival and our first team meeting.  We are now just finishing the day.

Everyone is excited to start the trip and is looking forward to get closer to the big mountain.
Cheers
Gabi, Pete and Gilbert

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Lou Whittaker Interview

Posted by: | January 03, 2012
Categories: *Guide News

RMI Founder Lou Whittaker was interviewed last month by the Magic Valley Newspaper in Twin Falls, ID. Lou took some time off from skiing in Sun Valley to sit down and talk about his lifetime of climbing. Check out the article: Famous Mountain Climber Lou Whittaker Talks about His Highest Climbs.

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Special Tribute to Nawang Gombu Sherpa

Posted by: | January 01, 2012
Categories: *Guide News

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