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Posts from 03/2012

Everest Base Camp Trek: Site Seeing in Kathmandu

Posted by: Linden Mallory | March 15, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 4,383'

We had a busy day here in Kathmandu preparing for Everest Base Camp Trek and Island Peak adventures. We spent the better part of the morning discussing the plan, logistics, and gear needed for the trip, making the final preparations and sort of our gear before loading it all into our duffel bags in anticipation of tomorrow morning’s departure. After weeks spent collecting all of the gear we need and thousands of miles of travel to get it here, it is exciting to have everything packed and ready to go.

After lunch we plunged into Kathmandu to visit several of the city’s renowned UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Stopping first at the Pashputinath Temple, we walked between the small shrines and many temples dotting the banks of the Baghmati River observing the activities of Nepal’s most holy Hindu cremation site. Deep in the heart of this city of 4 million, the temple grounds were bustling with families and ceremonies.

Moving across town a little ways, we then spent some time exploring the Boudhanath Stupa, the largest Buddhist Stupa (temple) in Nepal and the starting point for any pilgrimage the Nepalese Buddhist undertake.
Spanning an area the size of a football field, the sprawling stupa’s white washed walls are constantly circled by streams of visitors and worshipers.

We then climbed the long set of stairways to Sawayambunath Stupa.
Nicknamed the Monkey Temple by Kathmandu’s hippie visitors in the ‘60s, the temple grounds sit atop a hill overlooking the city and true to its name, is home to a large number of monkeys that swing from the strings of prayer flags and scramble across the golden roofs of the shrines, all the while waiting patiently for the misattention of a visitor to grab their snacks or drinks.

After the tour we headed into Thamel, the throbbing center of Kathmandu to get dinner. Navigating the narrow streets packed full of shops selling knock-off outdoor gear, taxis, visitors, and street vendors hawking local jewelry, we ate at one of my favorite restaurants in Kathmandu before turning in for the evening. We have an early ride to the airport tomorrow morning for our flight into the mountains to the village of Lukla.

We will check in tomorrow from the Khumbu!

RMI Guide Linden Mallory

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Team Arrives in Kathmandu

Posted by: Linden Mallory | March 14, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 4,383'

The team convened in Kathmandu today to kick off our Everest Base Camp Trek and climb of Island Peak. A heavy rain blew through Kathmandu last night, clearing the skies this morning for gorgeous views of the surrounding hills and the peaks of the Himalaya looming in the distance. Everyone arrived as scheduled today, easily retrieving bags and passing through customs. We loaded all of the gear into the back of the van and plunged into the busy streets of Kathmandu, navigating between the taxis, buses, rickshaws, street vendors, and pedestrians on our way to the hotel. Life in Kathmandu happens on the streets, from buying daily groceries to sipping tea and we slowly made our way through it all, taking in everything as we navigated the streets.

We will do the final round of packing our gear for the mountains tomorrow before heading out to visit the streets and landmarks of Kathmandu. After months of preparation and days of travel we are excited to be here with the trip finally underway.

RMI Guide Linden Mallory

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RMI Guide Linden Mallory Blogs for Leave No Trace

Posted by: Linden Mallory | March 13, 2012
Categories: *Guide News *Aconcagua *Everest

With RMI’s very successful Aconcagua season wrapped up and our Everest Expedition just a few days from being underway, RMI Guide Linden Mallory discusses how our dedication to Responsible Climbing and the fundamentals of Leave No Trace influence our climbs as a guest writer on the Leave No Trace Community Blog.

From the planning and packing of our climbs to the daily activities around camp, Linden outlines how we approach our climb and offers some good advice for planning of your own adventures.

Check out his blog post here.

Read more about RMI’s dedication to Responsible Climbing here.

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Mexico’s Volcanoes: Trip Comes to An End

Posted by: Dan Windham, Jake Beren | March 11, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mexico

After an excellent climb with perfect conditions our team descended to Tlachichuca. It was hard to believe that all in the same day we could have climbed again by moonlight, this time looking at Popo and Ixta hit by the morning sun. It was a warm day and our team did a fantastic job handling the high altitude and moving securely in the rarified air. Again, our timing was ideal, just as we pulled into the hut to pack, the clouds rolled in and obscured the mountain. These were some of the best climbing conditions I have seen down here and the entire team appreciated the chance to stand on top in warm, windless weather.

Now we bid our farewells and look forward to the next time we all get to try our hand at climbing these sleeping giants. Though this trip will be tough to top, til then!

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mexico’s Volcanoes: Summit on Orizaba!

Posted by: Dan Windham, Jake Beren | March 10, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mexico
Elevation: 18,701'

Greetings from the top of Orizaba!

We had a beautiful day climbing up today.  A beautiful moon to climb with, amazing shadows from Popo and Ixta and the team did super well.
So, we are psyched.  We are happy we are up here.  Pretty soon we’ll start walking down. We will give a shout from Tlachichuca when we get down this afternoon.

It has been a great climb and we are going to keep it rolling.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mexico’s Volcanoes: Team Ready to Climb Orizaba

Posted by: Jake Beren | March 09, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mexico
Elevation: 14,000'

Hello this is Jake checking in from Mexico.

We are at Piedra Grande, the hut on Pico de Orizaba.  After a day of rest in Puebla, we took off for Tlachichuca early this morning.  After meeting with Dr. Reyes at his family’s climber hostile we took four wheel drive vehicles up to the hut.  We are turning in early to prepare for our climb tonight.  It is a little cloudy right now but other than that conditions are pretty good.  The peak comes out now and again and we are hoping things clear out for our climb tomorrow.

Wish us luck!  We will call in tomorrow.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mexico’s Volcanoes: Team Checks in after Ixta Climb

Posted by: Jake Beren | March 07, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mexico

Well it’s been quite a day. This morning (technically speaking) we arose to a pretty full moon and gave climbing Ixta a shot. The past few mornings have had Popo’s (Ixta’s neighboring volcano and protector) smoky plume ascending straight into the sky. These “no wind” mornings are a treat to climb in and this morning was certainly a treat. Our team cruised the perfect conditions left by last month’s storms and stood on top early this morning. We were able to see Orizaba in first light looming over Puebla where we now rest. Popo’s aforementioned plume actually glowed red with the magma exposed in it’s crater!  I’ve never seen it do that before. On our descent Ixta’s shadow stretched for miles and we pulled into camp seemingly just as a cold front made it’s way to the mountain. Quite a day.

Now for a little R&R here in Puebla before heading to Orizaba.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mexico’s Volcanoes: Ixtaccihuatl Summit!

Posted by: Jake Beren, Dan Windham | March 07, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mexico
Elevation: 17,340'

Good morning from the top of Ixtaccihuatl!

We are standing on the summit with the RMI Mexico’s Volcanoes team.  We had a fantastic climb this morning, a huge moon and unbelievable cramponing conditions.  The climb was smooth and we are up in great time.  So we are just checking out the views of Puebla, Amecameca and Mexico City with the lights down below.  Everyone did great.

We want to wish Fernando a very Happy Birthday and thank him for spending his birthday with us on the summit. 

We’ll be checking in when we get down low.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mexico’s Volcanoes: Team Checks in from Ixta High Camp

Posted by: Jake Beren | March 06, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mexico
Elevation: 14,750'

Hello, this is Jake with the RMI Mexico team. Everybody made up to high camp today doing well and climbing in good style. We have now set up camp, hung out, relaxed for a little bit and we’re doing a little snow school review with Dan and Fernando before dinner. So all is well up here and we will be checking in tomorrow. Wish us luck. If this weather holds, then we’re gonna go for the top tonight so we’ll be checking in hopefully from up there. Alright. Bye.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mexico’s Volcanoes: Team Begins Climb of Ixtaccihuatl

Posted by: Jake Beren | March 05, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mexico
Elevation: 12,000'

Greetings everybody!
We are at the Altzimoni Hut at the base of Ixtaccihuatl, where we will be heading out to climb tomorrow.  All is well here. We’ve had clearing afternoon a little bit of cloud cover over Ixta right now but looks to be breaking up somewhat.  So, with fingers crossed we’ll go to bed (hoping for clear skies in the morning) and head up to our high camp tomorrow. The team is doing great.  We had a nice stop in Amecameca to pick up some last minute items, cruise around town and sort of check out what was going on and see some sites we may not otherwise have visited in Central Mexico.  We will call in from our high camp tomorrow.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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