Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Hello RMI blog groupies! Guess what?! Team 4 is resting at Camp Two at 18,000 feet on
Aconcagua! Exciting huh! After a casual morning the team talked about preparations for summit day on the 19th. We talked about what color long johns were in fashion for 2015...lime green and how to use the buff headwear in various ways...Steve's favorite...tube top!
Jenny on our team took on Adam in a new game created called Rockcci ball...don't ask, simple things confuse me. We went for a casual walk to stretch the legs and get the blood flowing. We are ready to move to high camp and the team is ready!
Let's Get it On!!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
We are thrilled to report that today's challenging climb of
Cotopaxi, elevation 19,348 feet, was a complete success! Things started off a bit shifty when more than twenty climbers and guides all prepared to begin climbing the glacier at the same time. The opening three hours of this climb are extremely steep and without any relief. Our team's strong and steady pace uphill proved their readiness both with skill and acclimatization. Despite some lessening of the slope angle, I would say this mountain takes the cake for difficulty. After an hour or so the crowds spread out and all we had to do was climb. The weather changed two or three times from steady snow fall to cold and windy to picture perfect. We could not have asked for a better day! This was truly ending on a good note.
We then packed up at Tambopaxi, ate a great lunch at an amazing road side pizza place and are now rushing for the showers at the Ancient and haunted Hosteria of La Cienega. We need to get some sleep because there is a big day of football ahead when we head back to Quito.
GO PACKERS!
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
On The Map
Resting today... We are all enjoying a pleasant afternoon up here at
Plaza Argentina. Our two principal goals for today are letting our bodies rest up from the work we've done over the past three days and continue that acclimatization process, and to prep and pack our gear, food, and fuel for tomorrow's planned carry up to Camp 1. The team is again in good spirits and enjoying the day. We'll check in again tomorrow and let you know how our first true push up the mountain went...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
It has been another great day on
Kilimanjaro. The weather has been fantastic and the crew has been getting stronger as we have climbed higher. I've been telling the team that this mountain can be cold but I don't think they believe me any more.
We are at high camp now which gives us about 12 hours to rest and fuel up for the summit push. Our crew has selected a great camp site with nice tent sites and that will really help us relax before the climb.
I will check in again from the summit if all goes well!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Greetings from the beautiful Eco Lodge of Tambopaxi, located inside of
Cotopaxi National Park. We are all resting nicely despite our elevation being well above 12,000 feet. In the ten days we have been in Ecuador, eight of them have been spent living or climbing above 14,000 feet so despite this lodge being higher than any staffed tourist joint in the US, we are all feeling dandy. It is amazing how after three days away from civilization the internet can trump even a shower. But now that we all got our fix, 19,400-foot
Cotopaxi is taking center stage in our heads and out the window.
It is quite a quick transition from mountain to mountain but the team's successful summit of Antisana, the first by any
RMI team, is proving a strong motivator to push our tired legs upward one more time. Our legs won't be the only tired things because with the famous Cotopaxi hut closed for the time being, Tambopaxi sits a short 45 minutes away from the trail head, which in turn sits a short 45-minute hike from the mountain's normal starting point so our wake up call will casually be at 9:30pm. We expect a long night and day so resting now is crucial. We will be taking dinner in an hour then getting ready for our final mountain climb. We will report tomorrow with the outcome.
Wishing all of our families and friends the best. We miss you all and look forward to coming home soon.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
We've made it to Basecamp! After three long days on the trail our team rolled on in to
Plaza Argentina this afternoon in good style and in good spirits. And while we are all feeling the altitude a little bit we are no worse for the wear. We enjoyed some refreshments upon arrival from the great Grajales staff and proceeded to set up camp and get settled in after a little breather. We just finished a great meal of of soup, homemade lasagna (!!!), and flan for dessert and are getting ready to tuck ourselves in for the evening. Up at nearly 14K, it's a fair bit colder here than it was on our trek in, especially at night so we're finally putting some of our warm clothes to good use. Typically, the first night at a higher elevation can be a little uncomfortable so we'll see how everybody fares tonight. I'm sure there may be a few headaches in the group, but that's totally normal... Anyway, we're all still having fun and looking forward to a good rest day tomorrow.
All for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Occupation Camp Two is in full effect ladies and gents. Our
Aconcagua team is thriving and jiving at 18,000 feet. It's the same old same old...eating, drinking soup, drinking mate, eating chocolate peanut butter cups and listening to opera. Yes! We have some class!
Our plan is to rest up here tomorrow before we move to high camp and the hope is to summit on the 19th. Keep your fingers crossed for continued good weather.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
Hello from
Kilimanjaro! Today was just one of those nice and pleasant days in the mountains. We started out with our normal morning routine of breakfast and packing. But instead of getting right on the trail we hung back and watched the whole camp get packed up. Our big objective of the day was to climb the
Barranco Wall and if we set right out for it, we would be in a big traffic jam on the steep rocky wall. By letting literally everyone get out of camp before us we were able to climb the route by ourselves. It was great.
After topping out on the 900-foot wall we had another two hours on the trail before camp. We arrived here at 1:30 and have had a nice relaxing afternoon. Soon it will be time for dinner and off to bed. Tomorrow we are headed to high camp!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Journey to Casa de Piedra.
Our crew made great time today on our march from Pampa de Leñas to our second trekking camp at Casa de Piedra. We had significantly cooler temps today and some welcome cloud cover (albeit with a few sprinkles) which made for a much more pleasant walk than yesterday. The crew is starting to find the rhythm of the mountain and also finding a good synergy among the teammates. We are all having fun and even enjoying some interesting people.
Good times! Headed for
Aconcagua Basecamp tomorrow...
Talk soon.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
January 14, 2015
Hola de Pampa de Leñas! Today our team made our first moves in the mountains in great style by ticking off the first stretch on our three day journey to
Plaza Argentina, our basecamp. The trail was hot and dusty but we enjoyed a nice breeze from time to time and incredible views that made the heat bearable. After setting up our camp we had the good fortune to greet another RMI expedition as they arrived in camp returning from a successful summit bid a few days ago. Big congrats to Zeb and his crew! We all got to share an asado last night complete with grilled beef tenderloin and vino which was quite a treat. The herrieros (mule drivers) cooked for us over an open fire... Pretty classy backcountry living. We're thankfully not on the ramen noodle program yet, it was nice to hold that off another day. Anyway, all is well and tomorrow calls for another day of walking up the Vacas Valley... We'll check in and let you know how it goes.
All for now,
RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Katrina Bloemsma, and Billy Haas
On The Map
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Hi Glenn, Frank and I are keeping posted on your climb….stay well! Looking forward to hearing all about adventure.
Posted by: Margie Grillo on 1/18/2015 at 8:12 pm
Safe and happy travels tomorrow and always!
Posted by: Dan Griswold on 1/18/2015 at 8:07 am
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