Today was a good but tough day for our team on Mt. Elbrus. We enjoyed a great night's rest at camp along with a hearty breakfast this morning. After several cups of coffee we geared up and headed up towards 15,000 feet to acclimatize.
As we neared Pastuhkova Rocks the wind kicked in and the once clear, unobstructed view of Elbrus became shrouded in clouds and heavy wind. Our team gritted their teeth and displayed great strength as we reached the rocks.
We are now back down in camp where things are a little calmer and sunnier. Tomorrow we will review some more mountaineering techniques before we take on a summit attempt.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Good evening from Icchiccocha (small lake), where we're camped for the night, on our way to Alpamayo Basecamp. We did bypass Llamacorral, the standard camp, and continued another couple kilometers up valley... and the reality is that this group is looking really good!!! So continuing on, and secluding ourselves from the different groups who are sharing the trail along this section of the astonishing Santa Cruz trek, wasn't an issue. The cute note of the day, was the two dogs, beautiful but homeless puppies, who followed us all the way to camp, and are currently guarding our donkey pack. That's it for the day, we will be checking in tomorrow from Basecamp.
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team
Today we traveled to Lake Manyara. It was the first day of our four day safari through Tanzania and we had a great day. Here is what the team had to say about our day in the bush.
TOP TEN LIST
One comment about today?
1. The hippos fighting in the pool - Peter
2. The first sighting of a herd of Zebra right next to our vehicle - Chelsea
3. Observing the silver billed horn bird take a dust bath - Bonny
4. Take off and landing of a huge flock of yellow billed storks - Mark
5. Taking in the sights of land and people on the highway while standing up with head out off open roofed Land Rover - Nate
6. Baby Baboon riding on the back of it's mother, with cute ears - Elizabeth
7. Bargaining skills of local guys trying to sell a necklace - Jonathan
8. Vista of the Great Rift Valley from on top of the escarpment - William
9. Diversity of wild life in the field of vision at one moment - Allidah
10. The over easy eggs at breakfast - Madison
Carl and I went on our own safari to Highclere Castle today. Not only is the Castle breathtaking, but the grounds are truly amazing. BUT, I think I would trade in a minute for YOUR safari! Love the comments. Soak up every minute! xo Allison
Posted by: Allison Muller on 7/16/2015 at 12:12 pm
Hello again everyone!
All is well here on Kilimanjaro after a good nights rest. Today the team woke at 7 am to coffee and tea being served at our tent doors by our gracious staff. We had breakfast with healthy serving of fresh fruits, bread, assorted meats and cheeses, and fried eggs. After filling our bellies we hit the trail shortly after 8 am and slowly made our way along the ever winding trail towards the Shira Plateau. Our team did great on the rocky trail as we ascended higher up the mountain, stopping to take breaks and let the never end line of porters pass us.
It took about 5 hours to reach our new camp, which our staff had already set up before our arrival. Clearly we are not roughing it too much!
Everyone is doing well and seems to be enjoying the climb thus far. We'll spend the next few hours resting in our tents and taking in the splendid view we have from just over 12,000'.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Here we are! Today Team Russia left town for the ski village of Azau where we jumped on a couple of trams and rode them up to Garabashi Hut at 12,000 feet.
Masha is our Sous Chef at Garabashi Hut and she made a great lunch for us before we strapped on our mountaineering boots and went uphill for a little stroll RMI style! Nice and easy! The team is doing great! We made it to 13,200 feet but we didn't enjoy the sights. It was a rather cloudy and windy day on ol'Elbrus but our spirits are high back at camp.
Stay tuned for more exciting action!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On the Disappointment Cleaver route of Mt. Rainier, RMI Guides Seth and Solveig Waterfall led their Four Day Summit Climb Teams to the summit this morning. Meanwhile on the Emmons Glacier route of Mt. Rainier, RMI Guide Mike Haugen led the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons to the summit this morning. All teams reported light winds and warm temperatures while on the summit. The Four Day Summit Climb teams will descend back to Camp Muir before returning to Paradise this afternoon and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons will descend to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain.
Congratulations Climbers!
Congrats to Team Healey, Hoge, Laird & Samac! Can’t wait to hear all about! Let the summer begin!
Posted by: Sheri Healey on 7/15/2015 at 11:07 am
Congratulations Climbers—especially to Mike Healey who has finally crossed this off his personal “bucket list”. He summits on the 4th attempt! Way to go team Healey, Hoge, Laird & Samac!!
Greetings from Huaraz... Alpamayo expedition is kicking off!!!
Everyone arrived yesterday in Lima on schedule, and we made it to Huaraz less than 24 hours later. After checking into the Hotel Andino, early to bed was almost mandatory. Today we woke up to the clearest skies ever, and soon after a copious breakfast, we jumped in the van that took us to the Quebrada LLupa, where we'd venture on a morning stroll. What a better way to start acclimatizing than an active hike? Huaraz sits at 3,000m of elevation. Two hours after the van stopped, we found ourselves at the beautiful Churup Lake, "just" 100m above the summit of our beloved Mount Rainier. Lunch by the water with a casual talk and laughter to exercise the lungs without effort at such elevation, and back down to allow the body to rest and start adapting.
We packed our gear, took a nap, went for dinner and got excited about what's ahead... tomorrow we'll leave early towards Cahsapampa, to start the hike in towards Alpamayo BC. Our next post will be from the satellite phone. Stay toned and cheer for the team!!!
Best,
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and the RMI Alpamayo team
As I write, the band is cranking here at the Dik Dik. We had a great departure from the mountain this morning with perfect weather.....again.
What a packed week we had up on the Roof of Africa?! To be a guest in a foreign county is something special and this group shined at embracing the local staff as friends, not just someone for hire. The local staff were all so much a part of our success; it was tough to say goodbye. The time you spend on these big mountains is extreme in many ways and you always learn something about yourself and others. It's a special and hard to describe experience.
Tomorrow we will continue to cut a swath through Tanzania as we head over to Lake Manyara National Park for our first day on safari. We're pumped!
Don't forget to kiss the Blarney before you're next adventure!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Congratulations to the invincible group of 10! We have been reading about your progress with great interest and are glad to know all went well with the climb (not that there was any doubt!). Can’t wait to see all of your photos and hear first hand from you about all of your African adventures. Cheers! Courtney and Carl
Posted by: Courtney Bergeron on 7/15/2015 at 11:00 am
Team!!! What a great group you have been to all who have helped this climb be so successful. It speaks volumes for who you all are as human beings. How wonderful these folks from different cultures helped you all to achieve a goal of a lifetime. So thankful for them and all of ya’ll. Prayers for continued safety as you continue to experience a different beauty of Africa!! Hugs, Edi and Tim
Hello! Today our team had a great day acclimatizing on Peak Cheget. We had gorgeous views of Mt. Elbrus the whole way up and we are excited to head on up to the mountain tomorrow. Here is a video of our day. Enjoy!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in from the Kilimanjaro Climb. Just wanted to let you know that everyone's doing great today. Today was our big move. Today we left the Dik Dik Lodge and actually headed to Kilimanjaro itself. We drove for about an hour and a half to get to the park entrance where we spent a little bit of time getting our gear sorted and getting all our porters together and getting signed in. After all that was taking care of, we had a nice, leisurely hike, where we gained about 4,000 ft today as we hiked up to Machame Camp. So the entrance is at about 6,000 feet and we hiked up to just a touch under 10,000 ft and everyone's feeling great and doing really well.
The weather today was incredibly nice. We had mostly and overcast day which is really, really enjoyable for hiking as it kept the temperatures down. Just as we were pulling in the camp, we did get a small break and we got see a little bit of the upper mountain and some of the glaciers up high on Kilimanjaro. That was a pleasant surprise for everybody.
We just wrapped up our dinner and everyone is crawling into our tents. And by the sounds of it, I'm guessing we're gonna have quite a few folks sleeping well tonight. I think everyone worked hard and looking forward to [transmission lost].
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom checks in after a successful first day on Kilimanjaro.
Hey Dennis…..Climb strong…Love
Posted by: Debbi on 7/16/2015 at 5:33 pm
Hi this is Mia. I just wanted to say hi to Dennis Garcia and let him know I miss him and hope he is having a good time:) come home soon!
Posted by: Mia on 7/16/2015 at 8:01 am
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