Mark Tucker here in Nepal kicking off the RMI 2013 Mount Everest programs.
Our first wave of climbers are all here with bags intact. After a nice city tour and final preparations yesterday we have made our way to the Domestic airport. Right now we are at the boarding area and on standby due to a weather delay in Lukla, which is our flight destination. Not unusual for such a delay, so we will wait till weather conditions improve. A cup of tea and a book will hold us over for a while. No hurry. Looking forward to keeping you all up to date as best I can over the next couple of weeks / months / years.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Hey there, this is Adam Knoff and JJ Justman- Team Mexico. We're happy to say that we had a successful climb of Pico de Orizaba today with beautiful weather. But we did it the old-fashioned way, we earned it. It was not an easy climb. Seven hours just climbing up the mountain and four hours coming down so eleven hours round trip of constant movement. We're all very relieved to be back at Senor Reyes' compound where we will be having dinner and relaxing for the evening before flying out tomorrow. All is well and we're happy to be coming home to our loved ones. This is Adam and JJ signing off. Adios.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
RMI Guide Adam Knoff checks in after the team's Orizaba summit.
Hello everyone, this is JJ and Adam with the Mexico Volcanoes team. We had a great day of rest yesterday in Puebla, but we're back to business. We are currently sitting in Tlachichuca at Dr. Reyes' facility. We're busy organizing gear and getting ready for our 4-wheel drive adventure up to the hut on Orizaba. We had a good day getting in here, everyone's rested up and feeling good. The weather is absolutely beautiful and we believe that is going to continue. So knock on wood and cross your fingers, wish the team good luck, but hopefully by tomorrow, we will be on our way down from the summit of Orizaba. Take care everyone and we will touch base tomorrow hopefully from the summit.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman checks in while the team prepares for Orizaba summit.
We began our summit day on the "princess" mountain of Ixtaccihuatl with an early alpine start. We left the climbers' hut at 2 am with our headlamps on and darkness all around us. We soon realized this mountain wasn't going to be a " warm up" for the taller Orizaba to come. After a strenuous climb covering a huge linear distance, we reached the top six hours after starting out from high camp. I was really impressed with everyone's efforts. This climb was a great confidence builder for the group, especially those who broke personal altitude records. During the hike down everyone seemed to be congratulated by the forming of nice foot blisters but all pain was forgotten in Puebla after a few cervezas and a great meal.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Hi David Odell - we hope you are having a great time on this Mexican adventure. We are thinking about you and praying for a safe time. Blessings and love, Pat, Chrissy, Melissa and Leo
Posted by: Chrissy Odell DiNovo on 3/9/2013 at 9:13 am
Congrats to all! Nicely done Bill and Kevin. I’m having a wee dram of the Laphroig 18 year old right now in your honor.
Hey everyone, this is JJ Justman with the Mexico Volcanoes climbing team. We are looking up at Ixta right now and the reason why is we are safely down from of successful summit of Ixta. The team did great today. Definitely a little tired but we had a beautiful day climbing to the top of Ixta. So wanted to give a shout out to all our family and friends. We're loading up the van and we're gonna have a little bit of R&R in Puebla for the next day and a half. Well deserved. But again, the team did absolutely outstanding. We'll touch base when we are in Puebla but everyone is safe and sound. Having some cokes and gonna get some fresh quesadillas on the way. But hope everyone's doing well back at home and we will talk with all of you very soon. Ciao from Mexico.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman after successful Ixta summit.
Hello everyone, this is Team Mexico. JJ Justman and Adam Knoff as guides. We are at high camp on the mountain of Ixtaccihuatl. This is our first real mountaineering challenge of the trip and we are sitting comfortably at 14,500 feet. We are taking a different route than the normal route that other teams generally take because the mountain this year is so dry. We have a great view of the upper mountain from where we are sitting and have a new route picked out that keeps us on ridge lines to keep us safe from rockfalls. We're very excited for tomorrow's summit bid and will keep you posted on how that all unfolds. Stay tuned for more action tomorrow. Hasta manana.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
RMI Guide Adam Knoff checks in from Ixta's High Camp.
This is Kevin’s wife… Your March 4 breakfast and dinner sounds fabulous. Kevin said he would be roughing it, but now I think he’s really on a spa vacation with Bill.
Breakfast came early this morning at the BW Majestic Hotel, located in the heart of the world's second largest city. By 7 am the group was assembled on the Majestic's top floor where the restaurant is located and to our surprise, we could clearly make out the glaciated peak of Ixta far out to the south. This was indeed confirmation that Mexico really does possess snow and ice. A fact most North Americans are unaware of. With our excitement clearly building we loaded the waiting van and headed straight to- oh ya! Wal Mart. Yup, glaciers and Wal Mart, these go hand in hand on successful mountain climbing trips. After we saved a bunch of pesos on today's everyday low price, we gunned it to La Malinche where we moved promptly into our dorm style cabanas and motivated for our first acclimating hike up the flanks of La Malinche itself. With the summit laying a hop skip and jump out of our reach, the team took its final rest break at 13,700 feet and quickly descended. Nothing better to toughen one up! We are now off to dinner and preparations for tomorrow's move to Ixta. Team Orizaba out.
RMI Guides JJ Justman & Adam Knoff
Today we visited Tarangire National Park, home to more elephants per square mile than any place on earth. No luck with the leopard or cheetah today, but we did see plenty of lions and elephants. We even managed to rescue another party who got their 4x4 stuck in the river. We'll finish the trip off with one last night here in Africa listening to the sounds of nature in a tented camp that sits along the Tarangire River. The last three days have been a great way to relax after all the effort to climb Kili and everyone has had a great time. Tomorrow we'll head back to Arusha and catch our long flights home.
Thanks for following!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
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To All, especially Pete and Gerry… We’re pulling for you!!!
Posted by: mick on 3/25/2013 at 3:50 am
Mark, Many thanks for the wonderful photos and updates-we are there with you! Love to Liesl and Pete from their Durango family.
Posted by: Claudia and Jim on 3/23/2013 at 6:47 pm
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