Entries from Expedition Dispatches

Day one of our long awaited Ecuadorian adventure has officially begun.  All of the grueling training with unthinkably heavy packs, sweat burned eyes and crippling soreness is finally over and world’s finest mountain climbing team is ready.   It’s been a long time coming, a year at least, for this elite team from Chicago, Minneapolis, San Fransico, Philadelphia and other mountain meccas to unite. 

Today in Quito, Ecuador our team took an incredible tour of this ancient city impressing the locals with powerful, athletic bus riding skills, strong gravitational resistance and uncanny focus.  This is no joke.  Our first stop was 20 miles north of downtown Quito at a mysterious place known as… “The Equator”.   This unique place has exhibits which make water spin in opposite directions twenty feet from the painted red line, make a seemingly simple DUI test almost impossible and miraculously provide magic nails that somehow can balance an egg, the long way, on their tiny heads.  Fortunately, I was able to choose who would be climbing on my rope by each person’s performance and strength.  Those who got an egg diploma, didn’t fall sideways to the south and had the strongest upward pull against our guide’s superhuman strength, passed the test.  

After our interactive visit to the center of the world, we flexed our bus muscles once again and proceeded 25 miles back into the heart of Quito.  The entire ride we were blessed with very rare views of Cayambe, Cotopaxi and Anitsana, three of Ecuadors highest peaks, two of which we are going to climb on this trip.  Thankfully I saw no fear in the eyes of my group indicating nerves of steel and complete readiness.   

After two hours of enjoying grand vistas of the bustling city, visiting beautiful churches and walking the old town streets, the team made it back to the hotel, not even winded, ready for a power nap.  I can’t wait to get on a mountain with them! 

For now, all is well, the group is healthy and excited so we will sign off until tomorrow. 

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

Wednesday, January 8, 2020 3:56 AM PT

Hello again everyone

The team had a really nice day here on Kilimanjaro today, waking to mostly clear skies and hiking in just a light cloud layer which help keep us cool.  We started the day waking at 6:30 to start packing up before moving into our dinning tent for a nice breakfast with porridge, fried eggs, toast, avocado and even some fresh fruit, and most importantly plenty of hot coffee.

We hit the trail shortly after 8am and slowly made our way up the rocky trail with good views of Kili above. The trail climbs up a ridge and eventually out of the trees and allows for some truly spectacular views of the valley below. The team hiked for a little more than 4 hours before reaching out next camp that sits on Shira plateau, which is an ancient lava flow.

Everyone is doing very well and we are currently relaxing in our tents.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew

On The Map

Jambo Everyone

Today the team got off to a moderately early start this morning leaving behind our beautiful lodge and have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb. We left around 8am and drove along the rural country side and small villages for 2 hours before reaching the park entrance.

Most of the area surrounding Kilimanjaro has been cultivated and primarily used for coffee production and for a variety of other agriculture needs, but there are still some areas that have been untouched and resemble more of a savannah that Tanzania is known for. The base of Kilimanjaro is more forested and looks more jungle like and is called a cloud forest.

Once we arrived at the park gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our porters and other staff to carry before hitting the trail. Once everything was in order we started our climb slowly making our way up the winding trail that ascends continuously through the thick forest. Thankfully the overhead canopy provided a little cover from the rain that arrive around midday.

The team hiked for a little over 5 1/2 hours and managed to not get too wet before we reached our camp for the night that sits around 10,000ft.

After settling into camp and get situated the team was served a nice warm meal for dinner.

Everyone is doing well and looking forward to a good nights rest.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and Kili crew

On The Map

Evening everyone! Today was a busy day full of the good ole duffle shuffle. We gathered our things and loaded into the Grajales van to make our way to Penitentes. Winter here, Penitentes is a ski resort but for us its the launching pad for Aconcagua. Our main goal today was to separate our gear into two piles: one that rides the mules straight to basecamp and one that rides the mules to each of our camps on the way in. We were rewarded with a delicious dinner after our hard work. Tomorrow is the big day...the day we hit the dusty trail. Before we start our big journey though we have got to rest up. So good night everyone. Talk to you all in the Vacas Valley.

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

Hello everyone!

Our Aconcagua 2020 season is starting off swimmingly. The entire team has made it to Mendoza with all 19 duffles accounted for. After getting settled in at the Hotel Diplomatic, showering off the days travels, and having a team meeting, we headed over to one of our favorite restaurants, Anna Bistro. The meat and wine are as good as all the hype. With bellies full of delicious food and the air full of pleasant conversation, we made one final stop for gelato, because there is always room for dessert. But the jetlag is starting to settle in so its off to catch some Z's and dream of the days to come. Tomorrow we head to Penitentes, our launching pad for the trail. Before we know it we will be saying goodbye to beds, wifi, and luxury items and hello to sleeping bags, a dusty trail, and the brightest stars blanketing the night sky. 

Good night all,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

Casey Grom here checking in with RMI's Kilimanjaro Climb!

All is well here in Tanzania and most of the team arrived late last night after some very long flights. It was a short and uneventful ride to our Lodge that is nestled in between Arusha and Moshi and not so far from the base of Kilimanjaro. The team had a quick dinner and headed for bed as the time change has us all feeling just a little off and pretty tired after all the traveling.

Today we had a leisurely morning with our official meeting at 10, where we did a round of introductions and then discussed the upcoming program for the days ahead. We spent the remainder of the day getting our gear packed up and exploring the grounds of our peaceful lodge.

We wrapped up the evening with another delicious meal and plenty of friendly conversations. Everyone is doing well and excited to hit the trail tomorrow and get a little bit of exercise.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew!

We had sunshine and calm conditions at 7 AM in highcamp today... which was better than the forecast called for.  There was still plenty of cloud about, but we decided to go for the summit.  It took until 9:50 to get fully fueled up and geared up for climbing, and by then a few more clouds had rolled in though we still had a good feeling about the day.  Vinson put up a fight, of course, and a few of the team were feeling effects of the altitude and so not everybody topped out.  Those that did, made it up in about 8 hours, spent nearly an hour on the summit and came down in just a couple more for a respectable round trip under 11 hrs.  The conditions swung between sunny and calm, breezy and cloudy and everything in between... all at temps of about -20 to -25 Fahrenheit, so our rest breaks were short and business like so as to keep fingers and toes flexible.  We enjoyed views of the tall and jagged peaks to Vinson’s north, and when the mountains were obscured, the sculpted cloud formations covering them were spectacular.  On top of Antarctica’s highest mountain, the team lucked out with calm and sunny “gloves off” conditions for photos, fist bumps and flag waving.  By 8:30 PM the gang was all back together at high camp.  We spent a few hours brewing up, eating, drinking and laughing.  A most memorable New Years Day was had by all. 
Best Regards
RMI Guides Dave Hahn

On The Map

We woke to the same thick blanket of cloud concealing the mountaintops and the sun and the blue sky.  The good thing was that blanket held in a little more heat than normal, so getting started wasn’t particularly mean and cold.  We ate breakfast, caught the forecast passed on from the meteorological folks at Union Glacier, and debated what to do about it.  Our decision, since we had no sign or signal that the wind was blowing, was to push up into the cloud and make our move to high camp.  It took until 1:00 PM to bust camp and be packed, but that worked just fine.  There were occasional snowflakes falling, and we were certainly on the lookout for deteriorating weather, but all-in-all, conditions were stable and we pressed on.  We took a short break at yesterday’s high point and then moved higher up the steep snow slope without much at all for views.  It was a little like climbing inside a milk bottle.  Our boldness was rewarded when we topped out the ropes to find calm and easy conditions (although still cloudy) on the plateau.  We pulled into high camp at 6:30, for a respectable five and a half hour push to 12,500 ft.  The gang found it tough going... it worked us in about 12 different and mean ways, but everybody set to building camp with good energy and enthusiasm.  By that point we’d put on all the big and puffy clothing -down coats and down pants- which seemed just right for our cold new home.  We filed into ALE’s good, strong cooking and dining tent and had a deluxe session of hot drinks, dinner, and strategizing for tomorrow.  We hope the calm holds and that we can take a good shot at the top to start 2020 off right.  
All of us want to wish our friends and loved ones the very warmest and best wishes for their own celebrations.  Happy New Year!

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The sun came around the mountain at 10 AM today, which was also about the time we got out of our sleeping bags and unzipped the tents.  There was a faint breeze keeping things cool, but we clambered into the dining tent for a leisurely breakfast/brunch/lunch.  By the time we waddled out and suited up for climbing it was 2 PM.  Yesterday, although we were roped to one another for glacier travel, it was just walking with ski poles.  Today, we had on crampons and carried ice axes.  It only took a few minutes to get to the base of the fixed ropes where we paused briefly to rig up and review techniques for climbing steep snow.  The goal was “lunch ledge” about an hour up the lines.  We were starting to get some pretty good views of our surroundings -including a cloud bank pushing in from the northwest.  By the time we’d descended, the clouds were covering the summits and blocking out the sun.  Luckily there wasn’t any wind to go with this change in our weather.  We were back in camp by 5 PM and set in for an evening of snacking and rehydration.  Dinner was fashionably late at 8:45 PM and we were back in the tents by 10 PM.  The plan is to move to highcamp tomorrow if the weather holds and everybody has stayed healthy.

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Yesterday’s perfect weather became today’s perfect weather.  Strong sunshine, not a cloud in the sky and no sign of wind.  We got good rest last night to make up for all of the travel nights and didn’t roll into breakfast until 9 AM.  Murph took excellent care of us with eggs, bacon, pancakes, fresh fruit and coffee.  Then we dug into our many packing and organizing chores.  It is no small thing to shift from jet-setting in a sleek Gulfstream IV to old fashioned walking on a glacier with a week of supplies on our backs and in our sleds... but we managed just fine.  Five rope teams of three set out at 1:50 PM.  An hour later, at the first rest break, we all agreed that it was too darn hot in Antarctica.  This was partly an illusion.  The air temps were still well below freezing, but without a breeze and with plenty of hard work, we were sweating.  Conditions were perfect for travel though.  We had a well-packed and generally smooth trail in the snow without any open crevasses to negotiate.  We took a second break at the start of a 90 degree turn in the glacier and a third under the 2,000 meter great western escarpment of Vinson.  By then we were getting good looks at the sharp and dramatic summits north of Vinson.  We had great views of Epperly, Gardner and Shinn -the fifth, fourth, and third highest peaks of Antarctica.  We pulled into 9,200 ft Low Camp in 4.5 hours time and set to building tents and moving in.  Lakpa, Pachi, and Namgya hosted a great dinner of chicken curry with rice in their spacious dining tent.  We sat to sip hot drinks and chat for a bit but as we each began to feel the cold, we retired to warm sleeping bags.  The tents are good and comfortable with sun projected to be on them until 3 AM -it then goes behind the mountain and we expect the big chill to take over.  We’ll rest and do a little training and acclimatizing tomorrow. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map