Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000'
Should we stay or should we go now? Today we started our rest day by waking up to a winter wonderland. The red rocks of camp now had a dusting of snow covering them, making it feel a lot like Christmas. The morning was leisurely with multiple cups of coffee and Avery's specialty, high altitude pancakes. Afterward came an afternoon of many naps and the struggle to not go crazy from boredom. Self entertainment is an important part of expedition life, especially when its snowing outside and you find yourself tent bound. As the day continued, we got the updated forecast and after much consideration, we are going to take another rest day at Camp 2. Given the forecasted winds, it is looking like Tuesday instead of Monday is our better bet for summiting. This just means we will get more practice at tent life.
Good night,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
On The Map
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 19,600'
The sun rose and crawled across the camp warming the tents as it hit them. Once the sun's rays fell onto ours, we woke to begin our day. Today we carried to Camp 3, our high camp. The morning started clear and sunny, but soon clouds started to build to the east. The clouds were dark and ready to release some precipitation. Mother nature taunted us with some flurries but luckily kept the clouds at bay and allowed us to make our journey to Camp 3 in the sun. At 19,600' the air is thin and everything is exhausting, but the team handled it like pros. Their performance today gives confidence for a good summit push in a few days. But before we go for the summit we are gonna rest tomorrow at Camp 2. Tomorrow will be our last relaxing day for when we leave here it will be go go go.
Keep on keeping on,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Hello everyone.
We spent yesterday touring Tarangire National Park which is home to many elephants, in fact, it has more per square kilometer than any place on Earth and it didn’t disappoint. There was one point when there was around 150 elephants within just a few hundred feet of us.
There were plenty of other animals as usual, and we got close to a few big giraffes, which was pretty cool.
We ended our day at a remote and off grid camp within the National Park and surrounded by wildlife. The camp has screened in rooms that allow the night sounds and smells of Africa in.
It's been a memorable experience for everyone and great friendships forged. But finally it's time to return home to our families.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew!
Wow, what a great experience and memories made to last a life time!! Thanks again for sharing!
Posted by: Judy Koppinger on 2/1/2019 at 4:30 pm
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000'
With every step we get closer and closer to the tippy top of this mountain and a warm bed and shower. We said goodbye to Camp 1 today and moved up to Camp 2. The air was noticeably chillier as we made our way to 18,000'. Once again we unloaded our packs and began the nesting process of moving into the tents. After some afternoon naps, we gathered for dinner. Among other topics we discussed the phenomenon of HAF, high altitude flatulence...the higher you go the gasier one gets. With full bellies and a crispness to the air our sleeping bags our calling our names. Tomorrow we will carry to Camp 3, our High Camp.
Adios muchachos,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team
On The Map
Well up until yesterday morning the debate was still on: Cotopaxi or the Beach? Despite the obvious draw of bagging climbing for surfing, we decided that the steep moody glaciated peak out our dining room window was a worthy endeavor, so we packed up and headed for the Refugio José Ribas. It was a brief restfull afternoon and dinner (of course with Sopa and Ahi, our two favorite parts of every meal here) before we were off to bed, feeling oddly comfortable at 16,000 feet by now. We awoke around 1 am to find our legendary streak of good weather had not been broken. Launching in calm winds under the stars with only clouds to our north, we climbed the first thousand feet on red volcanic rock before donning spikes and venturing into the glacier with a few inches of consolidated fresh snow to provide traction. The entire crew felt strong, even stronger than on Cayambe after so much time at altitude, and before we knew it we were all on top of Cotopaxi with a clear view and a steaming crater. The route and views were all time, perfect to wrap up our time in a great country. By the time we arrived back at the hut there was another first for the crew of firsts: a hut to summit to hut record was in the bag, not far over 6 hours I believe.
We are now in Quito celebrating our 400% success this trip (100% success on 4 peaks), and will soon depart for home. What a great group we have had! Fun, positive, strong, interesting, and encouraging are all words that come to mind. We’ll call this trip a great one in the books and hope to climb with all these cats again!
Thanks also to our amazing local guides, Jaime, David, Nacho, and Christian. Also a big thanks to our driver - the Ecuadorian GPS - Victor.
RMI Guides Chris Ebeling and Adam Knoff
Congratulations to the entire team and to you! What an amazing experience with amazing people! Thank you so much for leading them to the top of these massive peaks with such style and expertise!
There are truly no better people to climb with in the guides of RMI!
Posted by: Susan Matthews on 1/31/2019 at 2:07 pm
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,200'
Rest is important for the body and mind. It allows both to replenish the energy it has lost from hard work. And today we did just that. The morning began with a casual breakfast with copious amounts of hot water for coffee and tea. From there we enjoyed the warmth of the sun and pleasant conversation as we lounged among the rocks. Of course there was plenty of snacking all day long. As we say in the mountains lunch begins after breakfast and ends at dinner. Now that we are rested and getting a little antsy to start walking uphill again, we are ready to move to Camp 2 tomorrow.
Buenos dias,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo everyone,
Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is known for its abundance of animals that call the crater home.
We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few of the big cats before the heat of the day.
There were many sightings today of hyenas, jackles, ostrich, and countless other birds. We didn’t manage to see too many Lions, but did get to see 3 Leopards while driving in and out of the crater, which was certainly a highlight.
We saw several Black Rhinos which have become very rare do to poaching, however, they were only viewable through binoculars.
We wrapped up the day with a visit to a Maasai village not far from the craters rim. The Maasai people are a semi-nomadic tribe that exist almost entirely off of their cattle. The team spent time asking questions and enjoyed being shown around their small and simple village.
We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Posted by: Adam Knoff, Chris Ebeling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Our team had a great morning relaxing, drinking coffee and socializing with our four new Swiss German friends. Since yesterday we have all shared stories and cervezas speaking English but having a great cultural exchange with folks from another country.
This morning after breakfast we continued that connection by putting ropes on the hacienda climbing routes, getting all our Swiss friends hanging on a rope for the first time!
Now we are all packed up and ready to head to Cotopaxi. The weather looks promising and route reports have remained good for the upper mountain.
We will call in tomorrow with results of the climb.
Everyone is excited for our upcoming ascent but looking forward to cleaning up and coming home. As much fun as we’re having we do miss our families.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Best of luck on the last big climb
Posted by: Jane on 1/30/2019 at 6:38 pm
Posted by: Adam Knoff, Chris Ebeling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Yesterday our team earned a big Ecuadorian summit towering 18,990 feet above sea level which also happens to be the only place on the planet where the equator itself is snow covered. These big mountains are not highly technical climbs requiring fixed ropes or advanced ice climbing skills but they are long sustained endeavors taking upwards of 8 to 10 hours to complete and literally pull the energy from your body one step at a time. Within our group we have a number of climbers who are very technology savvy and wear one of those super watches that short of turning you into James Bond, gives you critical info on how your body is performing. After the climb one person reportedly burned over 7,000 calories on the climb alone. Not only did we earn the top, we earned the 3,000 calorie hamburger we ate for lunch when we returned to town.
After lunch our half asleep, food comaed bodies crawled onto the waiting bus and began our 3.5 hour drive back down the “avenue of the volcanoes” toward our country side hacienda located ten miles from the sleeping giant, Cotopaxi.
Standing at 19,385 feet, Cotopaxi is considered the world’s highest active volcano and the most beautiful mountain in Ecuador. We couldn’t see the mountain when we arrived but exited the bus like a group of stiff, smelly walking dead looking only for beer and showers. Definitely a good theme for America’s next horrible zombie film.
Despite our showers being cold, the beer and Bourbon sufficed so after dinner we agin congratulated our climb and then quickly turned from alive to dead, collapsing around 9:30 and not moving until 8am this morning. When we finally did pull ourselves out of bed, we were greeted with stunning views of the mountain and a scene straight out of an Ecuador tourism book. Llamas grazed in the pastures and clouds drifted like dreams in front of the peak which confirms why people are so impressed with its beauty.
Throughout the day rest has been the objective. Shortly after 10 it began to rain so our time has been passed napping, sitting by the fire and prepping gear for tomorrow’s big climb. Not a bad way to recharge.
Stay tuned for the outcome of tomorrow’s attempt.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,200'
Once the sun hit the tents, camp came alive with teams rustling around, getting breakfast going and packing up. It seemed everyone was either carrying to Camp 2 or moving. We were carrying. After breakfast, we packed our bags and hit the trail once again. It was a busy day for the porters. Many of them with loads of 30-40kg cruising up the mountain as we all said, "Hola." With our own loads on our backs, we too made our way up the mountain to our future home Guanacos Camp aka Camp 2. It felt good to go higher and breathe in the thinning air. It just means our summit push is getting closer and closer. Once again as the sun sinks behind the ridge a chill fills the air and we all go back to our tents to get warm. Tomorrow we will be enjoying a rest day before we move up to Camp 2 the following day.
Goodnight,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
On The Map
Sounds like the team is making great progress! Congrats! Keep up the good work and fully enjoy the experience!
Posted by: Dr. J on 1/29/2019 at 10:00 pm
So proud of you Hannah! Have a great climb!
Posted by: Shannon Smith on 1/29/2019 at 5:42 pm
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Dex, good luck to you and your team. I hope you guys summit! See you when you get back!
Posted by: Jr on 2/3/2019 at 3:43 pm
Oh, the joy of tent time….solitude…..Solitude is creativity’s best friend and refreshment for your soul…drink it in deeply before the hustle of life evaporates the illusion of peacefulness. Enjoy your day of rest and the opportunity for journaling your experience! Can’t wait to hear all about it.
Posted by: Dr. J on 2/2/2019 at 8:07 pm
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