Hello again everyone!
It was another beautiful day here in Africa with clear skies and a gentle breeze that kept the temperature perfect for climbing. We have left Karanga Camp and moved up to our high camp that's called Barafu. This camp sits on a ridge line around 1,000 ft, which eventually leads to the summit of Kilimanjaro. It's a relatively large camp spread up and down the ridge and we are sharing it with all the other climbers using this route, I'd guess that there's around 70 other climbers here with us.
Everyone is doing very well and we are excited to start our climb early in the morning. The team will have a early dinner and If all goes according to plan we hope to have breakfast and be hitting the trail right around midnight. We'll have a nice slow pace that should take us around eight hours to reach the summit. So keep your phones handy as I said one lucky climber will get to call home from the "Roof of Africa". That will be around midnight for those on the east coast.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
I don't mean to brag, and I don't mean to boast. I do like Russian peanut butter and jam on my breakfast toast! But what else I do like is 100%! Every single climber on the summit of Europe's highest mountain, Mount Elbrus. Hey everyone, this is JJ Justman. We are doing the final little stretch here to get to the tippy top of Mount Elbrus. Team, what do you say? [Team hollers!] These guys are doing great, strong as can be. We just had a beautiful day coming up to the summit. We just have a few more steps to go but it's a done deal. We are going to hang out on top and take some photos. We will touch base with you when we get back down. Am I excited? Heck yeah I'm excited! These guys are really strong and they did a great job today. We'll touch base when we get down. This is JJ and the entire summit team on the summit of Mount Elbrus! Bye bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls from the Mount Elbrus summit
...And hello again from "Arwaycoccha" Camp, aka BC, for climbers. We just returned from Moraine Camp, where we went this morning for a carry and acclimatization hike. Covering the 800m of elevation, that rise straight up from camp, was nothing out of the ordinary for the team. Hardware, fuel and some food is already waiting for us when we start the move towards the top. We have been able to ditch the weather the last couple days, and only hope we can continue to do so, unless the Gods of Meteorology do it for us, and we can start to move under clear skies. We're going to start our "chilling" program for the next 40 hours; we'll let you know how that goes.
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team
K—Told ya I would post!!!!....Ok I like BC, much easier to pronounce and remember. What’s up with the weather? Missed your call, but I will have a phone near me at 2 PM ET. Any good pics or is the cloud coverage tough? I know, you need a weatherman to send you a pic!!!! Be safe and have fun!!!! M
Jambo everyone!
Things are going well and the team is doing great here on Kilimanjaro.
Today the team had a leisurely start as we wanted the sun to warm us up before our only semi-technical part of the climb. The trail out of camp starts off relatively mellow and then quickly ramps up as we ascend the great Barranco Wall. It's truthfully not as intimidating as it looks, but when does a thousand-foot cliff ever look easy. Thankfully the route winds its way up the cliff through ramps and small rock steps and eventually on to easier terrain. Everyone did a great job of taking it easy and I actually think they all enjoyed the challenge we had. We took a break on top of the wall to enjoy the views then slowly made our way to the next camp here above the Karanga Valley.
It was a relatively short day for us as this will be our last camp before we move up to our high camp tomorrow.
We are spending the remainder of the day relaxing and enjoying the royal treatment by our gracious staff here on Kili.
As usual we've had a trivia challenge that one lucky winner will receive a satellite phone call from the summit. It won't happen until we reach the summit, but that's not too far away. I'll let everyone know when that might happen on tomorrow's dispatch. So stay tuned!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Team Russia is ready! This morning we spent a good part of the day reviewing various mountaineering skills such as ice axe arrest, cramponing and rope travel. Everyone is doing really well and we are all getting excited for our summit day.
Tomorrow is looking good so we are getting ready for an early departure from camp. Stay tuned and with a little luck our next dispatch will be from the highest mountain in Europe!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
The Mount Rainier Summit Climb, led by Mike Walter, and the Expedition Skills Seminar – Paradise, led by Leon Davis, crested the crater rim at 7:06 a.m. The teams reported a beautiful day with 10 mph winds. After spending over an hour on the summit, they began their descent.
Congratulations to today's teams!
So grateful to have had the chance to meet, climb, sweat, overcome and summit with these characters. Big shout out for my rope team…40/50 is the new 18.
Posted by: Jamie Moon on 7/18/2015 at 6:19 pm
Way to go Gabe! So proud of you and thrilled you were able to experience such an awesome adventure. Your hard work paid off. Thanking God, saints and angels for your safety.
A conservation area and a World Heritage site, Ngorongoro Crater, a large volcanic caldera is recognized by one private organization as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa- the unparalleled beauty of one of the world's most unchanged wildlife sanctuaries.
Teams Top Ten for today-
*Infant elephants in a large group doing their thing
*Hippos in the pool doing their thing
*Our 4th of the Big 5 the infamous black rhino
*Serval cat walking along side us for as long as we liked seeing prey on point
*Zebra cuddling with head on bum of other
*First sighting of ostriches in the wild
*The tiny vibrant colored sunbird in contrast with the Kori Bustard the worlds heaviest flying bird
*Our great local staff of drivers ability to pick game out of the bush
*A warthog that must have been to beauty parlor with beautiful swept back hair and double tusks
*Elephant in a tussle trumpeting as we leave the viewing area hearing them for a while after
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
What adventure! All my life I have dreamed of what you are actually doing. With so little time left, don’t sleep, Allison and I look forward to hearing every detail of your every day on the Dark Continent.
Greetings from BC; the international RMI Alpamayo Team (a German, a Brazilian, 2 Americans, a Peruvian, and the one who writes, the Spaniard) has arrived to what will be our center of operations from now on. Tents are already up and we're currently enjoying a cup of tea while contemplating wonders of geology, such as Artesonraju, Quitaraju, and of course, Alpamayo. Everyone is doing really well, and hiked to this camp quicker than this guide remembers. We'll continue to enjoy today, before a very likely carry to Moraine Camp tomorrow. Stay tuned for more!
RMI Guide ElÃas deAndres Martos and Team.
Best of luck to everyone - especially ze German - thinking of you all and hoping that you are acclimatizing well! xoxoxo, Feli
Posted by: felicitas funke-riehle on 7/17/2015 at 3:12 pm
Happy to hear you have a strong team and are making good progress so enjoy the carry to Moraine camp. Best of luck to everyone (especially the Brazilian).
Posted by: Peter Williamson on 7/17/2015 at 1:00 pm
Hello from Africa everyone
Today the team woke to a beautifully clear sky above the valley clouds, and it was a warm day as we made our way from camp directly into the sun and heading straight at Kilimanjaro. Once again we made good time across the Shira Plateau stopping for breaks and that endless line of porters headed to our next camp.
As we headed uphill everyone was astonished at the beauty of Kilimanjaro and the remnant glaciers still hanging on. Our climb took us up and over a landmark called Lava Tower which sits at just under 15,000ft and lays beneath the massive and steep southern breach wall. As usual we stopped to enjoy the wonderful view and then slowly made our way back down into Barranco Valley. The trail weaves its way between rocky outcrops, giant groundsels and the massive, yet strange Senecio trees that look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.
We are currently relaxing in our camp which has amazing views not only of Kilimanjaro but also of the valley below us. It's indeed my favorite camp of the trip.
Dinner will be ready soon, so that's all for today.
All is well!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Hoping this is the team w/ Scott Faulkenburg & Julie. If so, hope you’re having a blast and enjoying an epic climb! Wish we were there with you. Have a blast, and be safe!
Posted by: Chris & Judy Beaudette on 7/16/2015 at 6:53 pm
RMI Guides Brent Okita and Mike King lead their Four Day Summit Climbs to the top of Mt. Rainier this morning. Brent reported nice conditions with a bit of wind on the summit.
Both teams began their descent from the crater rim a little after 7 am. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams.
Hey JJ and Team-
Great job gang! Have a safe descent.
Posted by: Larry Seaton on 7/18/2015 at 7:41 am
What a beautiful view. Congrats JJ and the team. Have a safe trip back down. Way to go Stephanie!
Posted by: Ivan on 7/18/2015 at 6:22 am
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