RMI Guide Walter Hailes and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz July 30 - 4 August, 2017 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. After several days of training in Ashford and on the mountain the team left their High Camp this morning en route to the summit of Mt. Rainier. The team arrived at Columbia Crest around 5 am and enjoyed the views from the summit before starting their descent. Today is the last day of their program and they will return to the trail head and back to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to the Kautz Seminar team!
Yesterday's visit to Ngorongoro Crater, considered by many to be the eighth wonder of the world, was a memorable experience. The crater is almost exactly 100 square miles and we did fine work of covering a big chunk of it. Today we left our lodge and traveled to Tarangire National Park. A bit of shopping on the way and a stop at a Masaai Village turned out to be a lot of fun. The local village opened their huts up for a visit from the team. These kind and gentle people shared their history and way of life. The rest of the drive took us through the park having to weave around hundreds and hundreds of elephants, zebras, gazelles, cats, and giraffes to name a few. A mild day with some cloud cover made for a pleasant game drive. We are in a luxury tented camp that pretty much knocks your socks off. Life is not to tough out here in the bush and the team is having a blast.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
It takes a bit to navigate the process of Russian airports: checking in, going to a different counter to pay for baggage, back to the first to retrieve boarding passes, and then on to security. That meant an early morning for us in order to catch a 9.40 flight to Mineralnye Vody. Our driver did his best Ricky Bobby impression on the way, which got us there with plenty of time to spare.
The wave of heat that hit as we disembarked was impressive. Kislovodsk is hot, and everyone, including our local guide, is anxious to escape to the relative comfort of the mountain. We got a bit of food shopping done this afternoon, double checked our gear, and are ready for the 4wd trip to base camp tomorrow morning. Our next contact should be from the mountain as we really get this climb underway!
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Mike Uchal
Best expedition ever Pete + crew…Safety and Summit amid fav weather…Waltero…Godspeed…Great book on Amazon “Mount Elbrus and Mount Kosciuszko” by me of course!
Posted by: Walter Glover on 8/4/2017 at 5:54 am
Praying for great weather, safety, and fun! “Tamp it to the max!”
Godspeed-
The Taos Team crushed it today, hitting all the targeted times for being up and packed and ready to roll out of the comfy Arumeru River Lodge. We hit the road at 8:15 and rolled along in our bus under cloudy skies. We never did catch a glimpse of the well-camouflaged Kilimanjaro, but the cruise through corn fields and villages was interesting none-the-less. As the road climbed higher we seemed to be passing thousands of banana trees mixed with coffee shrubs. Finally, at the 5,900 ft park entrance -the end of the road- we were simply in a thick and foggy rain forest. After a bunch of paperwork, at long last we were properly permitted, in place and ready for walking. We began shortly after 11 AM. The gang, accompanied and coached by an all star cast of local guides, gained altitude steadily. In fact, we came up 4000 feet in six miles, taking just five hours. The clouds were with us all day but that seemed to keep things comfortably cool. The trail was a little greasy and muddy from recent rains, but we got through without a slip.
We arrived to find our camp already built by our capable staff. After moving in, we got together in the dining dome tent and had an afternoon tea and then a sumptuous dinner while we chatted and laughed.
Philip, our lead guide, gave a thoughtful talk and laid out plans for tomorrow's journey.
All agreed that day one was a great success. Tyrone, in particular, wanted his pal, Makaela to know he was thinking of her and that the climb was going forward as planned.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guides Brent Okita & Pepper Dee led their Four Day Summit Climb teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The enjoyed blue skies and a great climb. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams.
Hello Mark Tucker checking in from the Ngorongoro Crater event. A little IT problem, but we're going to get that worked on in the morning. Just wanted to let you know that everybody's doing great. Had a wonderful day down in the crater. Saw thousands and thousands of animals up close and in person. It was a wonderful day; everybody had a gas and we're heading to Tarangire in the morning. We'll get you back in the loop on the dispatches. All is well here in Tanzania.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Though we haven’t been in Moscow for long, we did our best to see everything we could today. We matched the fast pace of our tour guide (she looked at us and said “you are supposed to be sportsmen”), and checked out sites that seem hard to believe for anyone who was alive during the Cold War. We wandered through Red Square, silently filed through Lenin’s Tomb, where Russia spends $200,000 a year to keep his body in perfect condition, and crossed through the front gate of the Kremlin to get a tour inside and see several of the cathedrals that exist within. Each had a dedicated purpose and patron, the Cathedral of the Assumption being used for Coronations and things involving the Russian Czars, while Archangel Michael’s Cathedral was used as a burial place for Czars and Czarinnas, including the family of Ivan the Terrible.
Unfortunately, St. Basil’s Cathedral was closed today due to a national holiday commemorating paratroopers in WWII, but we strolled through the GUM, the former Soviet State Department Store, and now a high end shopping mall, stopping to ease the heat with ice cream, before a delicious lunch at a Ukrainian Restaurant around the corner. We had the afternoon free to explore or take naps, before we headed to a nice rooftop restaurant overlooking the Moscow River for dinner. Tomorrow starts early, 5.30 am, as we head back to the airport to fly to the Caucasus and refocus on our climbing objective. Tomorrow will be a travel day, but before we know it, we’ll be at base camp, staring up at the twin summits of Mt. Elbrus and beginning our climb. We’ll check in soon.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Hi Kelly and Josh, hope you’re having a great time! Each day we pray for the safety of you and your team members! Take care and enjoy yourselves!
Darcy and Jon
Posted by: Darcy and Jon Schwanke on 8/6/2017 at 12:01 pm
Wish the team good luck. We pray for good weather and safe return of all team members!
Today was the perfect catch-up day. We had a leisurely breakfast at the Arumeru River Lodge and then got down to business for a little while with a team meeting. We discussed the climb to come and how to prepare for it. Those preparations didn't take very long and equipment checks were easily completed by lunch. The team took walks through the park-like grounds to see the monkeys, tortoises, exotic birds and dik diks that roamed freely about. Low clouds kept things pleasantly cool but prevented us from catching a glimpse of Kilimanjaro. Our gang enjoyed the swimming pool, which made up -somewhat- for the limited views. By evening, with all in order for the adventure to come, we simply ate, drank and relaxed... laughing over shared memories of our previous adventures.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On Sunday, the Five Day Summit Climb team hiked out of Paradise to the training area to learn the necessary skills to summit Mt. Rainier. The following day the team hike to Camp Muir for their first night on the mountain. They spent time yesterday gaining more experience cramponing and working as a rope team then return to Camp Muir to prepare for their summit attempt. All of their training paid off and the team enjoyed the views from the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning, reaching the crater rim around 5:30 am. After celebrating their accomplishment and taking photos, they will descend to Camp Muir to rest and repack before continuing their descent to Paradise. They will end their program with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Five Day Summit Climb Team!
RMI Guide Robby Young led the Four Day Summit Climb July 30 - 2 August to the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team reached the crater rim around 5:30 am and enjoyed the blue skies and warm temperatures before beginning their descent from the crater rim. The teams will descend 9,000 vertical feet today reaching Paradise (5,400') this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Team!
Sara and Dieter, so PSYCHED for y’all! It’s been quite a journey. So proud of both of you. You went to climb the mountain. It gave you its good tidings.
With love from Kim, Daveed and Olive
Posted by: Kim, Daveed and Olive on 8/3/2017 at 7:01 am
So proud of you guys!! You both are truly inspiring. Si se puede!! <3
Best expedition ever Pete + crew…Safety and Summit amid fav weather…Waltero…Godspeed…Great book on Amazon “Mount Elbrus and Mount Kosciuszko” by me of course!
Posted by: Walter Glover on 8/4/2017 at 5:54 am
Praying for great weather, safety, and fun! “Tamp it to the max!”
Godspeed-
Posted by: Chase on 8/3/2017 at 9:45 pm
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