Today the team moved uphill and we are officially on Mt. Elbrus. We made use of two cable cars and one last chairlift to reach what is called the barrels. The barrels sit at just over 12,000' and look like grain silos laying on their side. They are sparsely furnished and comfortably sleep six climbers each. It's home for the next few days for us and others climbers from all over the world, which is just one of the things that make this South Side trip so special. It feels like an international climbing hub with peaceful climbers sharing stories from all over the world.
Shortly after arriving and getting settled in to camp the team set out on another acclimatization hike and reached an altitude of about 13,500'. We then descended back to camp and are currently enjoying the view and working on international relations.
Everyone is doing great!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
The Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and the Four Day – All Women’s Climb led by Melissa Arnot reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Today’s climb marked Melissa’s 100th summit of Mt. Rainier!
The teams began their descent from the crater rim just before 7 am. Clear skies and beautiful sunshine. They will return to Camp Muir for a short break and then continue to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
Mark Tucker checking in. All is going as planned. Gotta love it. Had a very nice sleep in a bed with a big, cozy down blanket last night. Tough to miss the tent time high up the hill, but, suffer we must. Another great breakfast for the team. Our safari Landcruisers were readied last night so all we needed was a quick gear adjustment. We left most of our stuff back at the Dik Dik where we will stop by en route to our international flights in a few nights. On the way here to the fabulous Lake Manyara National Park, we stopped at a shop for a few snacks and had a fabulous time. We are located at the base of the Eastern Great Rift Escarpment where we saw all sorts of animals: giraffes, baboon, [lost connection] and birds. We are now at the Plantation Lodge for two nights. Tomorrow we travel to the eighth wonder of the world, the Ngorongoro Crater.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guide Mark Tucker calls in from Day 1 of their Safari.
Greetings from the Dik Dik Hotel. Everyone has made it to Tanzania safe and sound. All of our baggage has arrived as well! We've just finished a light supper and tomorrow we kick off our trip with our first full team meeting at breakfast. So far so good.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
It's nice to be back in the mountains!
Today the team awoke to cloudy skies and a little rain here in the Baksan Valley at the base of Mt. Elbrus. We started our day with a nice breakfast with fresh juice, porridge, and fried eggs. We had a bit of a rain delay so we walked over to the local gear shop and picked up a few last minute things for the climb then headed out on our first acclimatization hike. We made use of the ski lifts here to access the better hiking terrain and help us gain a little more altitude. Certainly not the norm elsewhere, but luckily for us it is in Russia. We hiked a little over an hour and reached our high point which was just over 10,000. Everyone did great and enjoyed the views even though they were a bit limited with the cloud cover. After descending back to town we had quick lunch and spent the remainder of the day exploring town, getting packed for tomorrow and a few of us even managed a cat nap too.
The team is in good spirits and excited about moving uphill tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Greg: looking strong and happy :). Have fun, sending you energy n strength. Blah blah, think I’ll have a glass of wine while I read the rmi blog. Do it!!!
Posted by: Barb on 7/24/2013 at 9:03 am
Great to see the team made it to the mountains. Scenery looks pretty and you all look like you’re enjoying the hike! Love to fatima.
Posted by: Peter Williamson on 7/24/2013 at 6:31 am
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6:45am. The team reported nice weather and calm winds, they spent some time on the summit and have started their descent back to Camp Muir.
The Expedition Skills Seminar – Emmons Led by RMI Guide Elias deAndres Martos also reached the summit via the Emmons route early this morning and have stated their descent back to Camp Schurman.
Congratulations to today's teams!
We were up early, slammed a quick breakfast then had a fun gathering of local staff and rewarded all of them with financial bonuses.This crew took great care of us while on the mountain, it felt really good to show our appreciation. A few hour descent to the park gate, a couple hour drive time watching the daily routine out the window of our monster truck and here we are. Back to hot showers and clean clothes. We just finished a dinner of fondue and topped it off with a bunch of summit certificates handed out to a group of well-deserving mountain climbers.
More excitement ahead as we repack for the game viewing safari we start tomorrow. A great trip just keeps getting better.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Hello again everyone.
Today the team left behind the busy streets of Moscow and made our way south to Mt. Elbrus. It was mostly a travel day with a flight over the middle of Russia, which is predominately rural. It's very much like our own Midwest in that its mostly agriculturally-based terrain. We landed in Mineralnye Vody, which translates to mineral water in Russian, and is obviously known for its abundant natural springs.
From there we rode in our local outfitters van for about three and a half hours to Cheget, a small ski town in the winter that sits at the base of this big mountain. Along the way we passed endless sunflower fields and many Mosques. The area around Elbrus is predominately Muslim from its original Turkish roots. We finished the day with a wonderful traditional meal cooked by a few kind older ladies that live here. Everyone is doing great and ready to stretch their legs tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Eric Frank and Lindsay Mann reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 6:30 a.m. The teams spent about an hour on top enjoying what Eric describes as the "best morning all summer:" sunny and warm with light winds. The teams will make their descent back to Camp Muir and will return to Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker checking in from the final camp: down here at the Mweka Camp, 10,000 ft on Kilimanjaro. It’s all tall, giant heather; it’s beautiful. It looks like a fabulous night for a summit climb but that’s exactly what we will not be doing. It’s a done deal.
We will enjoy our last night on this beautiful mountain. Tomorrow we head to the trail head.
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Thinking about you, Casey! We are all in Virginia having margaritas for you!
Posted by: HollyJosefRyanKC on 7/24/2013 at 5:52 pm
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