Hello again everyone!
All is well here on Kilimanjaro after a good nights rest. Today the team woke at 7 am to coffee and tea being served at our tent doors by our gracious staff. We had breakfast with healthy serving of fresh fruits, bread, assorted meats and cheeses, and fried eggs. After filling our bellies we hit the trail shortly after 8 am and slowly made our way along the ever winding trail towards the Shira Plateau. Our team did great on the rocky trail as we ascended higher up the mountain, stopping to take breaks and let the never end line of porters pass us.
It took about 5 hours to reach our new camp, which our staff had already set up before our arrival. Clearly we are not roughing it too much!
Everyone is doing well and seems to be enjoying the climb thus far. We'll spend the next few hours resting in our tents and taking in the splendid view we have from just over 12,000'.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Here we are! Today Team Russia left town for the ski village of Azau where we jumped on a couple of trams and rode them up to Garabashi Hut at 12,000 feet.
Masha is our Sous Chef at Garabashi Hut and she made a great lunch for us before we strapped on our mountaineering boots and went uphill for a little stroll RMI style! Nice and easy! The team is doing great! We made it to 13,200 feet but we didn't enjoy the sights. It was a rather cloudy and windy day on ol'Elbrus but our spirits are high back at camp.
Stay tuned for more exciting action!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On the Disappointment Cleaver route of Mt. Rainier, RMI Guides Seth and Solveig Waterfall led their Four Day Summit Climb Teams to the summit this morning. Meanwhile on the Emmons Glacier route of Mt. Rainier, RMI Guide Mike Haugen led the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons to the summit this morning. All teams reported light winds and warm temperatures while on the summit. The Four Day Summit Climb teams will descend back to Camp Muir before returning to Paradise this afternoon and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons will descend to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain.
Congratulations Climbers!
Congrats to Team Healey, Hoge, Laird & Samac! Can’t wait to hear all about! Let the summer begin!
Posted by: Sheri Healey on 7/15/2015 at 11:07 am
Congratulations Climbers—especially to Mike Healey who has finally crossed this off his personal “bucket list”. He summits on the 4th attempt! Way to go team Healey, Hoge, Laird & Samac!!
Greetings from Huaraz... Alpamayo expedition is kicking off!!!
Everyone arrived yesterday in Lima on schedule, and we made it to Huaraz less than 24 hours later. After checking into the Hotel Andino, early to bed was almost mandatory. Today we woke up to the clearest skies ever, and soon after a copious breakfast, we jumped in the van that took us to the Quebrada LLupa, where we'd venture on a morning stroll. What a better way to start acclimatizing than an active hike? Huaraz sits at 3,000m of elevation. Two hours after the van stopped, we found ourselves at the beautiful Churup Lake, "just" 100m above the summit of our beloved Mount Rainier. Lunch by the water with a casual talk and laughter to exercise the lungs without effort at such elevation, and back down to allow the body to rest and start adapting.
We packed our gear, took a nap, went for dinner and got excited about what's ahead... tomorrow we'll leave early towards Cahsapampa, to start the hike in towards Alpamayo BC. Our next post will be from the satellite phone. Stay toned and cheer for the team!!!
Best,
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and the RMI Alpamayo team
As I write, the band is cranking here at the Dik Dik. We had a great departure from the mountain this morning with perfect weather.....again.
What a packed week we had up on the Roof of Africa?! To be a guest in a foreign county is something special and this group shined at embracing the local staff as friends, not just someone for hire. The local staff were all so much a part of our success; it was tough to say goodbye. The time you spend on these big mountains is extreme in many ways and you always learn something about yourself and others. It's a special and hard to describe experience.
Tomorrow we will continue to cut a swath through Tanzania as we head over to Lake Manyara National Park for our first day on safari. We're pumped!
Don't forget to kiss the Blarney before you're next adventure!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Congratulations to the invincible group of 10! We have been reading about your progress with great interest and are glad to know all went well with the climb (not that there was any doubt!). Can’t wait to see all of your photos and hear first hand from you about all of your African adventures. Cheers! Courtney and Carl
Posted by: Courtney Bergeron on 7/15/2015 at 11:00 am
Team!!! What a great group you have been to all who have helped this climb be so successful. It speaks volumes for who you all are as human beings. How wonderful these folks from different cultures helped you all to achieve a goal of a lifetime. So thankful for them and all of ya’ll. Prayers for continued safety as you continue to experience a different beauty of Africa!! Hugs, Edi and Tim
Hello! Today our team had a great day acclimatizing on Peak Cheget. We had gorgeous views of Mt. Elbrus the whole way up and we are excited to head on up to the mountain tomorrow. Here is a video of our day. Enjoy!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in from the Kilimanjaro Climb. Just wanted to let you know that everyone's doing great today. Today was our big move. Today we left the Dik Dik Lodge and actually headed to Kilimanjaro itself. We drove for about an hour and a half to get to the park entrance where we spent a little bit of time getting our gear sorted and getting all our porters together and getting signed in. After all that was taking care of, we had a nice, leisurely hike, where we gained about 4,000 ft today as we hiked up to Machame Camp. So the entrance is at about 6,000 feet and we hiked up to just a touch under 10,000 ft and everyone's feeling great and doing really well.
The weather today was incredibly nice. We had mostly and overcast day which is really, really enjoyable for hiking as it kept the temperatures down. Just as we were pulling in the camp, we did get a small break and we got see a little bit of the upper mountain and some of the glaciers up high on Kilimanjaro. That was a pleasant surprise for everybody.
We just wrapped up our dinner and everyone is crawling into our tents. And by the sounds of it, I'm guessing we're gonna have quite a few folks sleeping well tonight. I think everyone worked hard and looking forward to [transmission lost].
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom checks in after a successful first day on Kilimanjaro.
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Walter Hails and the Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Zeb Blais reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams enjoyed warm, sunny skies on the summit before beginning their descent around 7:30 am. We look forward to seeing the teams back in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
Our team reached the summit of Kilimanjaro this morning in good style and we have now arrived at Mweka Camp at 10,000 ft for our last night here on Kilimanjaro. This group I have had the pleasure to climb with excelled in all phases while on the mountain. I have a high level of confidence they will be able to handle phase two, our game viewing safari. But for now we will enjoy a well deserved night's rest and tomorrow make our way down the to the trail head.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Congratulations to all of you - what a great family outing - much bigger than the usual picnic. Thanks to your dad for making this experience and these memories possible and for bringing all of you along in the great mountaineering tradition he loves. Have a safe trip down. Love, Meg
Hello everyone and welcome to RMI's second Kilimanjaro's trip of the season.
The team arrived late last night after our very long and tiring flights from the U.S. We were greeted by the wonderful staff from the Dik Dik Lodge with warm smiles and a little champagne to toast our arrival.
After a short and quiet ride to our lodge we had a quick dinner then headed off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep.
The team met this morning at breakfast with fresh fruits, homemade bread and jam, and plenty of good Tanzanian coffee.
We then got together for a formal round of introductions and an overview of the upcoming adventure. We discussed our plan for the climb and made sure everyone has all the necessary gear to keep us safe and warm on Kilimanjaro.
After a short break some team members took a short stroll on the beautiful grounds hoping to catch sight of some of the monkeys that often visit and some even managed to spot Kilimanjaro in a break in the clouds. The rest of us did a little packing and caught up on a little more sleep to help get adjusted to the big time difference.
We have just wrapped up an amazing five-course meal with great conversations, and everyone is squared away and looking forward to hitting the trail tomorrow as well as stretching the legs a bit.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Congrats to Team Healey, Hoge, Laird & Samac! Can’t wait to hear all about! Let the summer begin!
Posted by: Sheri Healey on 7/15/2015 at 11:07 am
Congratulations Climbers—especially to Mike Healey who has finally crossed this off his personal “bucket list”. He summits on the 4th attempt! Way to go team Healey, Hoge, Laird & Samac!!
Posted by: Krista Hoge on 7/15/2015 at 10:58 am
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