Entries from Expedition Dispatches
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Walter Hails and the
Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Zeb Blais reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams enjoyed warm, sunny skies on the summit before beginning their descent around 7:30 am. We look forward to seeing the teams back in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
Our team reached the summit of Kilimanjaro this morning in good style and we have now arrived at Mweka Camp at 10,000 ft for our last night here on Kilimanjaro. This group I have had the pleasure to climb with excelled in all phases while on the mountain. I have a high level of confidence they will be able to handle phase two, our game viewing safari. But for now we will enjoy a well deserved night's rest and tomorrow make our way down the to the trail head.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Hello everyone and welcome to
RMI's second
Kilimanjaro's trip of the season.
The team arrived late last night after our very long and tiring flights from the U.S. We were greeted by the wonderful staff from the Dik Dik Lodge with warm smiles and a little champagne to toast our arrival.
After a short and quiet ride to our lodge we had a quick dinner then headed off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep.
The team met this morning at breakfast with fresh fruits, homemade bread and jam, and plenty of good Tanzanian coffee.
We then got together for a formal round of introductions and an overview of the upcoming adventure. We discussed our plan for the climb and made sure everyone has all the necessary gear to keep us safe and warm on
Kilimanjaro.
After a short break some team members took a short stroll on the beautiful grounds hoping to catch sight of some of the monkeys that often visit and some even managed to spot Kilimanjaro in a break in the clouds. The rest of us did a little packing and caught up on a little more sleep to help get adjusted to the big time difference.
We have just wrapped up an amazing five-course meal with great conversations, and everyone is squared away and looking forward to hitting the trail tomorrow as well as stretching the legs a bit.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Hello RMI Blog followers,
This is Team Russia coming at you live from the little town of Cheget. And as usual it was a fun adventure just to get here. The team was up early to head to the airport in Moscow where we hopped on our jet that flew us to Mineralnye Vody, known for its abundant mineral springs. But we are not on a spa retreat! We're climbing!
We jumped on our private transfer bus that shuttled us to this quaint little ski town. And upon arrival I was greeted with hugs and smiles from all my friends here that have assisted us over all these years. It's a long day of travel so the team just kicked back and took in the mountain views that we've been desperately waiting for. Finally!! We are in the mountains and the incredible mountain,
Mt. Elbrus is a hop, skip and a jump away!
RMI Guide
JJ Justman
On The Map
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide
Jake Beren reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team spent some time on the summit before starting their descent at 9:47am. Jake reported light winds and warm temps at the top of the mountain, with a cloud deck around 11,000'.
Congratulations to today's team!
Sunday July 12th 7:41 pm PT
The team woke at midnight to cloud and light snow at 11,000 ft. We got up and rallied anyway, packing and eating a hot breakfast. We set off into the murk at around 2:30 AM and snowshoed for several hours by Braille in the whiteout. Finally we got a little visibility down at 8000 ft, the base of Ski Hill. The glacier surface didn't freeze up last night and so we had some nervous moments crossing soft and saggy crevasse bridges. One of our team went neck-deep in a complicated hole just below
Mt. Francis - one of the very last crevasses we had to deal with, actually. We plucked him from the ice, but not without a fair bit of grunting and cursing and straining at the ropes. Then it was a simple but strenuous uphill climb to the old site of basecamp (there is nothing there now -which is normal in late season). Quite literally, we'd just put our packs down, at around 11:40 AM, when two beautiful K2 Aviation ski otters landed and took us to Talkeetna. The afternoon was a busy one, drying and sorting everything around the K2 hangar and connecting to the world again. We'll have a victory dinner tonight at the West Rib, perhaps with a toast or two thrown in. And then we look forward to a comfortable night's sleep at the Talkeetna Motel. Tomorrow we'll leave each other and be out on our own for the first time in three weeks.
Thanks very much for keeping track of our climb.
Until Next Time,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
There are many exciting aspects to this adventure in
Russia. And today certainly was one of them. Our team enjoyed a beautiful day exploring the rich history and culture of Moscow. Svetlana was our city tour guide and she whisked us around town explaining so many things it is hard to remember. I do though remember how cool the Kremlin is as well as Red Square. We visited Cathedral after Cathedral where the artistry will take your breath away. It was enough that when it was over I had to pass out and take a siesta! Now, our team is refreshed and we are looking forward to another great evening in town. However, it will be back to business soon as we plan on departing tomorrow for the mountain.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Well... and our trip came to an end! Today the group departed Peru and most of our climbers will be arriving home, with the memories of two weeks in the Andes. Behind are the quebradas (valleys) the cochas (glacial lakes) and of course, the rajus (snow covered mountains) that had been home and playground during our climbing seminar in the
Cordillera Blanca, the CAPITAL of Andean climbing, without a doubt.
We had an incredibly successful trip with motivated-to-learn and dedicated-to-perform climbers. Nevados Urus East, Ishinca and Copa proved a great progression for folks, while implementing expedition skills, culminated a trip that served as learning grounds for alpine climbing in the greatest ranges of the world. We leave you here some pictures while we already look forward to next year's editions of our
RMI Peru program!
Thanks for following along,
RMI Guides
ElÃas deAndres Martos,
Robby Young and team
Another day of nice weather...YEAH! A few hours of hiking and here we are at
Barafu Camp at 15,000 ft. The team got busy upon arrival preparing for the early morning departure from here toward the summit, sorting through the stay and go gear since we will come back thru this camp on our way down from the summit. We all pooled together our favorite treats and made up some tasty looking lunches. We took a short hike up to get familiar with the start of the climb that will confront us with our alpine start from High Camp to the summit of Kilimanjaro.
It's nap time now before our early dinner then we will take another short rest before starting our summit attempt. The team continues to do well, wish us luck!
RMI Guide
Mark Tucker & Team
On The Map
RMI Guides
Pete Van Deventer, Sid Pattison and the Moondance Adventures Team reached the summit of
Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team was walking off the Crater Rim at 8:35 am. Pete & Sid reported light winds and light snow as they moved through the cloud cap at the top of the mountain.
Congratulations to today's team!
Congratulations to all of you - what a great family outing - much bigger than the usual picnic. Thanks to your dad for making this experience and these memories possible and for bringing all of you along in the great mountaineering tradition he loves. Have a safe trip down. Love, Meg
Posted by: Meg Race on 7/14/2015 at 6:37 am
Woot woot! Congrats guys!
Posted by: Amelia Muller on 7/13/2015 at 7:53 pm
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