Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Brent Okita, Mike King, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
At 7:10 a.m. RMI Guide Brent Okita radioed from the top of Columbia Crest, the highest point in Washington! There were 30 – 35 mph winds this morning and nice weather. The cloud deck is below Camp Muir. The teams will spend some time on the summit before starting their descent.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and his Expeditions Skills Seminar - Emmons will be traveling back to Rainier Base Camp later today.
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Hello once again everyone
This was a marvelous day as we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, considered by some to be the 8th wonder of the world. We started early with hopes of catching more of the elusive wildlife.
Today we saw more Zebras, Cape buffalo, wildebeest, gazelles than anyone expected, in fact at such close range that we could almost touch them. We also saw plenty of hyenas, ostrich, Impala, hippos and got very close to a few lions, which was a highlight for everyone and even managed to spot a Rhino off in the distance. Needless to say it was a wonderful day of well deserved safari.
We then wrapped up the day with a visit to a working Maasai village. The Maasai are the local nomadic people that have inhabited this area for more than a thousand years and still try to exist with their same way of life.
Finally we returned to the amazing Plantation lodge to relax and enjoy another wonderful meal.
All is well!
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Posted by: Peter Whittaker, Ed Viesturs, Zeb Blais, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
7:05 a.m. PT
Peter Whittaker, Ed Viesturs, and Zeb Blais called in after their successful Mount Rainier summit! The teams ascended the Disappointment Cleaver Route in chilly temperatures, winds about 30 mph, and clear skies. Their ascent took 5 ½ hours.
Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
Update 10:33 a.m. PT
Pete Van Deventer called from the Mount Rainier summit! At 10:20 a.m. the Expedition Skills Seminar team reached the top via the Emmons Glacier Route. They will spend some time taking in the summit views before descending back to Camp Schurman. We look forward to congratulating them in person tomorrow when they descend off the mountain.
Great work, team! Can’t wait to hear more and see some photos.
XO-Vanessa
Posted by: Vanessa Fry on 8/5/2015 at 3:27 pm
Congratulations guys! Sure it was awesome :)
Posted by: Kathy Rubio on 8/5/2015 at 9:00 am
Posted by: JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
I'm actually going to be very honest and open myself up a little here... but I'm actually sad that my adventures in Russia are coming to an end. It was another incredible season on Elbrus and as usual it is the best way to finish the adventure here in St. Petersburg!! Our team spent the day touring this incredible city and yes...We were all on a boat this evening touring the Venice of The North!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Bravo!
Posted by: Wally Young on 8/5/2015 at 4:05 am
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Today was our first day of safari and we headed to Lake Manyara National Park. It took a little over 2 hours to get there as we drove through Arusha and then the vast rural savannah of Tanzania. It's situated at the base of the eastern Great Rift Escarpment, and is home the the famous tree climbing lions, over 450 different birds, huge troops of baboons, hippos, and most of the other African animals.
It's been rather dry this year and unfortunately we didn't see the famous lions, but we did see plenty of other wildlife up close.
After spending a couple of hours of safari we made our way to the wonderful Plantation Lodge where we've been enjoying being spoiled and just finished another fantastic meal.
Everyone is doing great and are excited to see what tomorrow brings as we head to Ngorongoro Crater.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Tyler Reid and the Four Day Summit Climb August 1 - 4, 2015 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Tyler reported light winds from the North and a beautiful day to be on the mountain. The team began their descent from the crater rim at 7:25 am PST. They will return to Camp Muir for a quick break and to repack gear before continuing down to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
Congratulations to the team!
WOW!! Impressive! Congratulations Michael and to all the team.
Posted by: christine on 8/4/2015 at 9:19 pm
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Hello again everyone.
What an amazing two days it has been! Yesterday's climb of Kilimanjaro couldn't have gone better. It was a beautiful and calm night and there was nearly a full moon that illuminated our way, although we had headlamps, we could easily have climbed without them.
Everyone did an outstanding job of supporting each other and taking care of themselves also, which made my job pretty easy.
After a long climb up we spent about 20 minutes on the roof of Africa taking in the view and also getting plenty of photos. We then headed all the way back to camp where we had a quick lunch before descending further down the mountain to our last camp at 10,000', where the air felt thick and warm.
Today we woke early and hiked the remaining way back down to the gate, doing our best to stay on our feet as the clouds rolled in and rain began to fall. It was a little slippery, but the team did just fine as we all knew there was a hot shower awaiting us back at our lodge.
We wrapped up the evening with a huge celebratory meal and some well earned cold drinks of our choice.
Everyone is doing great and we are all very excited about the safari which begins tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Open your heart and you will be forever drawn back to Africa
Posted by: candy briggs on 8/5/2015 at 9:13 am
Posted by: JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Well..., I know...I know...you've heard enough from me! So for today's blog from Russia, I'd like to hand it over to one of my favorite...(sorry guys!) team members from Team 2!... RMI Guide JJ Justman
Greetings from St. Petersburg! Our team left the mountains of Cheget this morning after one last feast of porridge and eggs, and drove up to the airport in Mineralnye Vody early this morning. The changing scenery was quite breathtaking, especially some of the great rock formations just outside of Cheget. After arriving to our new destination in due time, we were greeted by the welcome sight of a Starbucks cafe, where several of us enthusiastically loaded up on caffeine. The streets and architecture we passed on the way to the hotel gave us a great preview of what to expect tomorrow, where we will be touring this 'Venice of the North,' including the Hermitage, the canals, and the Church of the Savior on Spillled Blood.
Until then, the team will be enjoying some well-deserved downtime, and possibly attempting to see Finland from our hotel. Cheers!
Lindsay
Kevin, thank God for Starbucks! Drink up.
Posted by: Lori on 8/4/2015 at 8:17 am
Posted by: Billy Nugent, Leon Davis, Lindsay Mann
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Billy Nugent reached the summit of Mt. Rainier along with climbing teams led by RMI Guides Leon Davis and Lindsay Mann. All teams were descending from the crater rim as of 7:50 am PST this morning. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short time and then continue down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
♠️J♠️ Mt Rainer another of your accomplishment…. See you soon
Posted by: Karmen on 8/8/2015 at 9:31 am
Congratulations to Frank Harris and the entire team on your successful climb today!! All your hard work has paid off!!
Posted by: A. Harris on 8/4/2015 at 8:07 am
This morning we woke up early had breakfast, packed and then waited. We experienced some logistical snafus in communications with our donkey drivers and horse handlers, but only a minor hiccup. We started hiking down valley and in a couple hours came across our animals. While the donkeys continued on to base camp to collect our duffle bags we mounted our horses and began riding down valley. It turns out our team of expert climbers are also amazing rodeo cowboys. We all laughed and hollered riding our horses we named Mr Ed, Alpa- caballo, EFrank, Stumbles, and Chuck.
We arrived to Cashapampa, the trail head, a couple hours before our donkeys and found a beautiful shady porch to rest on and enjoyed a couple cervezas. A three hour van ride had us back to our hotel in Huaraz where we quickly showered and are currently enjoying a delicious dinner.
Thanks for following along on our incredible trip.
We'll see you all soon,
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
Glad to hear that you have your heads back out of the clouds and that you found your “asses”!!!! Enjoy your last hours celebrating your success and good times in Peru , before your journey back to reality!
Thank you Geoff, for another successful climb!!!
I love you John!!!!!
Posted by: Patty Stenderup on 8/2/2015 at 10:24 pm
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Good luck guys!
Posted by: Caleb Marker on 8/6/2015 at 11:44 am
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