The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Zeb Blais were unable to summit Mt. Rainier this morning, poor weather forced the groups to turn around at the bottom of Disappointment Cleaver. The teams tried to wait out the weather and left Camp Muir later than normal but the ran and wet snow still forced them to abort their summit attempt of Mt. Rainier. The teams will begin their descent from Camp Muir around 8:30 am en route to Paradise.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Geoff Schellens was unable to make their summit attempt today due to poor weather conditions.
so thankful to our guides, who got me to Muir safely through a lightning and thunderstorm, to my sisters for their support, and to my fellow climbers, who were inspiring and a pleasure to climb with. Here’s to better weather next time!
Posted by: Linda on 8/15/2014 at 9:19 am
I was one of the climbers and am glad our guides elected to let us go out and “poke our nose in” the inclement weather and actually get a little upper-mountain climbing experience rather than remaining huddled at Muir. Better luck next time… There WILL be a next time :o)
The Mt. Elbrus North Side team reached the summit of Mt. Elbrus at 2 pm local time on August 12th. The team had good weather for their summit attempt. After taking photos and soaking in the views they descended to their high camp, broke down camp and descended to Camp 1. The team will spend their final night on the mountain tonight and make their way to the trail head tomorrow for a ride back to Kislovodsk.
Congratulations to the Mt. Elbrus North Side Team!
Hello from Mweka Camp on Kilimanjaro!
Horizontal in the tent is the place to be. We had a nice 15 hour stroll today and reached the summit of Kilimanjaro. We must be crazy huh? The reward in the end makes it all worth it and then some. We descended to Mweka Camp, 10,000', to our final camp and last night on the mountain. We shared another fine dinner and enjoyed each other's company until folks were starting to fall asleep in their chairs. Other than some sore muscles, the whole team is doing great. The climb went so well that I better warn all of you back home that this crew is ready for more.
In the morning we will take a short 3 hour to the Mweka gate where our ride will be waiting to transfer us back to the Dik Dik resort. It is just starting to rain on the tent right now, but we are tucked in warm and dry until morning.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team
Hope you took some sweet selfies at the top, Connor!!!
Posted by: Laura (from work) on 8/14/2014 at 4:02 am
John, we hope you were able to enjoy all aspects of your journey and it sounds like the weather held out long enough to get a spectacular view. Enjoy the Safari and hopefully you aren’t getting too wet coming down from the mountain. Love, Katie, Liam and Aidan
Posted by: Katie Brown-Steinke on 8/13/2014 at 6:56 am
RMI Teams reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI Guide Brent Okita led the Four Day Summit Climb and Eric Frank led the Five Day Summit Climb team. The teams began their descent from the crater rim at 7 am and reported light winds and a bit of a cloud cap. The teams will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them back at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
You did it!!! I love you and we are all so proud of you! You are awesome!!!
Posted by: Bobbie Jo on 8/12/2014 at 8:06 pm
Daddy! YoU did it! I am so proud of going after a dream and actually living it! You are such a great example. I love you daddy and I cannot wait to hear all about it! Xoxo Mari Jo
Jambo! Jambo! Mark Tucker calling you from the Roof of Africa. With incredible timing we stood on top the moment the sun rose. We had the top pretty much to ourselves. And I've got everybody here with me and couldn't ditch them. We're all standing up here on the summit of Kilimanjaro and everybody is doing great. We are finishing up with the photos. It's a little bit chilly a little bit breezy but we are all nice and comfy based upon our precision like accuracy with our clothing. All is well and I'll check in back at low camp. You can rest easy, everybody is looking strong, everybody is tight and together, a great climbing team. So we're all doing well. I'll check in later.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guide Mark Tucker checks in from the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro
Hello from Camp 2 on Mt. Elbrus,
Our plan for today was to wake up early to get a head start and try to get to Camp 2 before the potential afternoon weather moved in. Well, this morning was not like the last three mornings. It was snowing pretty hard at camp, so we once again had a weather delay. This time though, our delay worked. By 9:30 the snow had stopped and most of the clouds had dissipated and we could actually see the twin summits. We were walking shortly after and made it to camp with beautiful weather. The clouds that did remain worked with the sun to create a perfect solar oven. The walk up was very hot and there was literally no escaping the heat until we reached camp.
We set up camp in the lower Lenz Rocks, 3000' above Camp 1. Fortunately, the weather cooperated while we established a camp that was ready for the windy reputation of Lenz Rocks.
If the weather continues to improve, tomorrow should be our summit day. We are all packed and the team is strong, healthy, and ready for our attempt.
We are now tucked into our tents just as the sun is setting over the western flanks of the mountain. The views just get better and better.
RMI Guides Jeff Martin and Pete Van Deventer and the Northside Team
RMI Guide JJ Justman led the Four Day Summit Climb Team to the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team reported beautiful weather and great route conditions. The team was climbing to raise money for Washington's National Park Fund, what a great way to honor our National Parks.
Congratulations Team!
Thanks RMI team for your leadership, training, and providing a great, safe, adventure.
Posted by: Robert Jones on 8/27/2014 at 9:21 pm
I had an amazing time! Huge thank you and big hugs to JJ, Christina, and Alex for getting us to the top safely and for the training, experience and stories you provided us.
We had a nice relaxed departure from Karanga camp this morning. After just a few short hours on the trail we found our selves at our high camp on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Barafu Camp. We are moving well today and the same steady tight team pulled into camp. We already emptied our packs and adjusted the load to ready for our summit attempt tonight.
We have our food packed for the summit and enjoyed a hot lunch at camp. We are relaxing this afternoon and taking a rest before an early dinner. After dinner we will try to get a few hours of sleep before our midnight wake up call and game on! The weather continues to stay nice, just a few low clouds now and again but no complaints here. The local support staff has yet to miss a beat and we really appreciate the help. Go team Go. Will try and call you from the top.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Hi Mark!
We missed your call—sorry. And it didn’t work when we tried to call you back. This experience sounds wonderful. We’re happy for you and we love you.
Mother & Daddy
Posted by: Maury & Eviemail Address * on 8/11/2014 at 4:20 pm
We are looking forward to seeing your celebration pics from the summit! Stay safe and enjoy!
Greetings once again from Camp 1. We woke up this morning to a bit of a mixed bag, with a large cloud cap spinning up high, but clear, sunny skies over camp. After dragging our feet over breakfast and watching the clouds, it seemed that things were moving in the right direction and dissipating. Once we decided the move was a go, the team did a fantastic job of crashing camp and getting packed for the move. Just as fast if not faster however, was the change in the weather trend. The clouds that had been dissipating rebuilt ever stronger, and we began to rethink our decision. After some more staring at the clouds, scuffing of feet, and sighing, we decided the prudent decision was to reset camp and take a rest day. Prudent that decision turned out to be: not long after the tents were back up, our wintry mix began to fall again, and within an hour or two, a repeat of our thunder and lightning storm from yesterday.
With a lot of tent time today, and weather persisting this evening, we decided to treat ourselves to a delicious pasta dinner cooked by the camp cook, Olga. It was a nice break from the tents to share a meal, stories, and jokes around a table with a roof over our heads. With full bellies, we are retiring, with hopes that we wake up to a better scene tomorrow, and can continue our upward progress.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Jeff Martin, and team
Good luck to you and the team!! Great to read your updates…
Cheers from the heat and 90% humidity of Houston!!
Posted by: Salil on 8/11/2014 at 8:24 am
Senor Senior Guide Pete…Elbrus and from the north side - Look at you !...Dont believe you’ve been there before have you ?...If I’m right - holy moley I lead you in one peak category :)...All the best for a memorable / great climb…Saying the Weather Prayer…Spain and El Camino 19 days and counting…All the best + God bless…Waltero
Come on baby! A couple more nice weather days for us and it can storm all it wants up here in the high country of Tanzania. It all boils down to needing a bit of luck when climbing big peaks like Kilimanjaro; when the mountain says no you need to listen. Even on climbs when you do not get to the top of are filled with events and memories that stick with you. I have great confidence that this entire team will stand on the roof of Africa, with safety leading the way. It is such a unique thing we do up high, to be allowed to stand on the summit is really icing on the cake. We take away an immense feeling of satisfaction on all climbs. The team has checked off all the prerequisite to get this done.
When we leave Karanga Camp tomorrow morning, our summit push begins. We'll take a bit of a break at Barafu, the high camp, then up up and away! Man, this is exciting. All the prep work that has gone into this, the great support by all involved back home, is all making this last bunch of hours a reality. We promise to make you proud of what we do, impressed on how we did it, and thank for this beautiful mountain in supplying us this adventure. All is well at 13,000' on Kilimanjaro. We will check in with you tomorrow!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
so thankful to our guides, who got me to Muir safely through a lightning and thunderstorm, to my sisters for their support, and to my fellow climbers, who were inspiring and a pleasure to climb with. Here’s to better weather next time!
Posted by: Linda on 8/15/2014 at 9:19 am
I was one of the climbers and am glad our guides elected to let us go out and “poke our nose in” the inclement weather and actually get a little upper-mountain climbing experience rather than remaining huddled at Muir. Better luck next time… There WILL be a next time :o)
Posted by: KB on 8/14/2014 at 9:15 pm
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