Hi from Kilimanjaro! Everyone is up at our second camp, Shira Plateau. We were on the move just after 8:00 this morning and spent about five hours on the trail. We gained over 2,300' from our last camp so that puts us over 12,000' above sea level. The altitude hasn't effected anyone's appetite just yet, we all wolfed down lunch here at camp. Our plan from the afternoon is to rest and hydrate up for tomorrow's big push to the Lava Tower at 15,000'.
That's all I have for now.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Rest day at the beautiful Chilcabamba Eco Lodge! Our team enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in and relax, and prepare for Cotopaxi, our next objective for this trip.
After a delightful breakfast, we were able to catch a few glimpses of the mountain in the distance and talked about the route. Based on the team's performance on Cayambe, we'll have no problem with this next climb!
We spent the day reading books and sharing stories, and wrapped the evening up with a technical skills session. We learned a variety of knots, talked about climbing anchors, and finished with a full-blown crevasse rescue scenario in the lawn.
Spirits are high and we are ready to go! Tomorrow we move on to the Tambopaxi Lodge in preparation for our summit bid on Cotopaxi.
Until then,
RMI Guide Nick Hunt and the Ecuador team
Today we moved to Camp 1 under perfect weather. The team made great time moving to Camp 1 and are handling the altitude well. Shortly after arriving we exchanged high-fives with Billy Nugent's team. They made the summit of Aconcagua the day prior. We're all settled into camp now and enjoying hot drinks. Having left the comforts of base camp, we've had some lively discussions about the toilet situation, etc. Tomorrow we will carry to Camp 2, as we continue to take advantage of this good weather and push higher.
RMI Guide Alex Barber
Hello, we have reached Machame Camp at 10,000ft on Kilimanjaro. We left the hotel just after 7:00 am this morning. The drive to the trailhead was about two hours. That's a little bit longer than normal but the mountain was so clear this morning that we had to stop and take a few photos. The check-in process was smooth and we were on the trail just after ten. The trail is in great shape and after about six hours of hiking we made it to camp. The cooks are preparing dinner as I type this while the team is out taking photos. Our next stop is the Shira Plateau. I'll be checking in again from there.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Jambo from the Dik Dik Hotel. The team for this Kilimanjaro trek is all here, packed and ready to go. We've got folks from all over the US and even a couple of Canadians.
Everyone seems to have made the long trip from North America without any problem. Although we did have a couple of missing bags, those did arrive so no real worries there.
The food and tents are packed, the crew is ready and the weather forecast is looking good. It is pretty much all systems go. I'll check in again from the mountain.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
With our departure from Aconcagua Basecamp imminent, the group took full advantage of the amenities today, ordering pizzas for lunch, taking showers, and sipping coca colas. Cards came out and heated games ensued. A few folks headed back down the trail to take photos and stretch their legs, but ironically, the blue sky turned dark gray and a short but intense hail storm chased everyone back to cover. We enjoyed our last base camp dinner for a little while, with several people heading back for seconds on lasagna. As dinner wrapped up, we stepped outside to another gorgeous pink sunset, but today the shadow of Aconcagua imprinted itself on the sky as well. We're heading to bed ready and excited for the move to Camp 1 and the continuation towards our goal that it signals.
We'll be in touch,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Alex Barber, Juan, and team
Best of luck and fair skies to everyone on the team, with a shout out to my good friend Kevin Stitely. Tag one for the Slingers Kevin. We are following your progress from here where all is well. Have fun and be safe. We leave for Mexico on Friday. 83 in Puerto Vallarta. Just sayin….....Big D
Posted by: Dick Greenbaum on 1/27/2015 at 5:22 pm
Let the adventure continue! Hope the climb to Camp 1 went well and you are all safe and sound. The kids are enjoying the daily blog updates and taking them into their 5th grade classes at Nativity Elementary in Fargo ND- so you have 50+ 11 year olds cheering you all on every day! All my love to Lee - so proud of you each and every day!
12:45 pm PT
Billy called the RMI Office from Camp Cholera: Everyone is safe and sound. We will stay here tonight and descend to Plaza Argentina tomorrow afternoon.
Thank you for all the blog comments and congratulations!
8:48 am PT
Hey there, it's Billy Nugent of the team El equipo de dos Guillermos, checking in from the summit of Aconcagua. I'm up here right now with six climbers and three guides, 22,800-something feet. So what do you guys think? [Team cheers!] As you can tell a happy but tired bunch. Everyone is doing extremely well. We are definitely winded up here at extremely high altitude. We'll give you guys a jingle when we are headed back into our high camp at Plaza Cholera.
Other shout-outs. [Brief loss of transmission]
Carter, Walker, and mom I love you guys so much. Thank you for everything.
Erica, Thurston, Bella, Brent, Ally, Christian, everyone. We made it! Hurrah!
Hey guys, it's Lindsay, I made it. Thank you so much for the support and love. Love you guys. See you when I get back.
Tanya, Benjamin, and Abby- love you and I'll see you all soon.
Kathy, Kelsey, Eric, Ailie- I love you. I'm on the top of Aconcagua- woohoo! Jerry and Rhonda, John and Kathy- thanks for the support. I'll be seeing you soon.
Babs and Phil- much love from Katrina.
That's all I got unless Haas has something. I love you mom and dad [from Billy Haas].
Sorry mom and dad, love you guys too. Signing out. We'll call you from high camp.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent and team call in from the Aconcagua summit!
RMI Guide Casey Grom sent us some photos of their Cayambe summit. 100% of the team reached the top!!! The team is currently on their descent and will celebrate at the Chilcabamba Eco Lodge this evening. Stay tuned to hear from Casey as he recounts their summit day.
Today we took the place of the mules and shouldered our first heavy packs of the trip. Our goal was to get as much of our food, fuel, and equipment uphill as possible, so that when we move to Aconcagua's Camp 1, our loads are reasonable. We succeeded at that goal in fine form, and now everything is ready for us to make the next step uphill to 16,000' the day after tomorrow.
We woke up to the helicopter over our heads, shuttling propane tanks, building materials, and the full toilet cans in and out of camp. A pretty expensive alarm clock! We ate breakfast, and then quickly got ready to depart so that we could minimize the amount of time that we were in the true heat of the day. The group moved really well today, even on the final 600-foot scree slope, where the uphill track disappeared and every step sent you sliding backwards. We left our gear at camp and then turned to descend. The same slope that was so heinous on the way up, had people hooting and yelling as we skied back down. We were back in time for an afternoon siesta, and to feel safe from the rain clouds that had started to build and were threatening. Though we heard some rumbles of thunder this afternoon, the clouds stayed away and we stayed dry. On the schedule for tomorrow is another rest day, one last chance to enjoy the comforts of base camp before we head up to higher elevations.
Thanks for reading,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Alex Barber, Juampi, and team
Hola from Ecuador!
All is well here on the equator. Saturday we spent a few hour at the massive Otavalo outdoor market where the team practiced their bartering skills with the locals. Buy the number of bags people had in their arms, they must have done a good job.
We then headed up to the hut on Cayambe to drop off our gear and add a little to our acclimatization. Normally we like to spend the night at the hut, but due to a hut remodel and new park management, we opted on staying in the town of Cayambe at a wonderful Hacienda call San Luis. Everyone enjoyed the day and the warmth of the fires that were awaiting us in our rooms.
Today the team headed back up to the hut and went on a short hike, then returned to the hut for a little training. We have had our dinner and discussed the climb here on Cayambe and everything seems in order. Hopefully the weather will hold and we'll have a good climb tomorrow.
That's all for now. We'll check in tomorrow post-climb
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
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Way to go Patty! Hope you have a safe trip home…can’t wait for all the details! xoxo Sandi
Posted by: Sandi on 2/2/2015 at 3:58 am
Hi Lourdes my love. I hope you are having a blast. Can’t wait to see you!!!!! I’m waiting for the new updates of your trip. Love you. Luis!!!
Posted by: Luis Baez on 1/31/2015 at 8:59 am
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