Summit!
Casey Grom and team reached the Kilimanjaro summit this morning. The team's ascent took 7 1/2 hours and are back safe in camp. They will be headed to thicker air soon.
Congratulations Casey and team on your summit!
Congratulations to Robert and Jayne. What a way to celebrate 70th birthday ! Looks like this part of the trip is a little more upscale. Continue to have fun and safe travels for all.
Posted by: Marilyn Aboussie on 1/31/2017 at 3:06 pm
Congrats Rob and Jayne ... a very successful climb ! Way to Go !!!!
Posted by: Ernie & Victoria on 1/30/2017 at 3:57 pm
Hello again,
This is the Ecuador team checking in from 15,300' on Cayambe. We have successfully made the transition from comfortable city living to our slightly less glamorous base camp, and our excitement continues to grow. Through gaps in the clouds, we are finally able to catch a few glimpses of what lies ahead, with the summit looking as good as ever!
Before heading uphill this morning, we were able to enjoy a little more of a relaxed start. We slept in a bit, partook in some fantastically hot showers, ate a good breakfast, and headed in to the Otavalo market. This market is the largest market of its kind in Ecuador, offering miles (literally) of artisanal souvenirs: paintings, textiles, wood carvings, clothing, you name it. It can almost be a bit of sensory overload when you first step in, with the endless stalls of crafts and cuisine. Our team did an admirable job of filling the extra space in the duffels with goodies!
When its all said and done, though, we were ready to move on and head to the hills. The real work starts tomorrow, so the evening tonight is all about taking it easy. We are just about to head in for a nice hot meal and then prepare for our mountaineering skills refresher course tomorrow.
Until then,
RMI Guides Nick Hunt, Steve Gately, and the rest of the RMI team
Hey, it's Billy checking in from High Camp, Plaza Colera. The whole crew is back down safely, and we are super psyched that we all had the chance to stand on top of Aconcagua today. We're a little beat up, but ultimately no worse for the wear. We'll check in again. We have a long walk down to Base Camp tomorrow, and then the journey continues until we hit the road in Mendoza in several days from now. So a lot of activity coming up, but we'll try to keep you guys posted on our whereabouts.
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Hey, it's Billy. I'm checking in with Hannah and Rollo my two assistant guides here. We are on top of South America, 6962 meters, we are also up here with eight climbers and not a single puff of wind. We are the first crew on top today, and it's all smiles from our climbers. We got some happy but tired folks. So that's all I have to report for now. We'll check in when we're back at camp safe and sound.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent calls in from the Aconcagua summit!
Felicitaciones!!!! un abrazo enorme a ROLO, y a todo el equipo, buen regreso para todos!!!. Esperamos noticias..
Posted by: deby on 1/30/2017 at 6:40 am
Congratulations to Billy, Hannah, Rollo and the rest of the team. I bet that is a great experience to be on top with no wind. Enjoy the rest, when you get the chance.
The equator of our journey has been reached; greetings from Lake Grey. We had an interesting (by all means) hike between "Los Perros camp" and Grey Hut. With the longest of our stages ahead, an early start despite the lingering rain showers, was required. Soon after dawn we were packing up and heading uphill towards Gardner Pass, the highest point of our entire trek, with deteriorating weather. The rain became snow, and the wind gusts plastered it against our gloves, packs and faces reminding us of where we were. But the group didn't give in, and despite a long 3 hours of unpleasant coldness, slippery trails and loaded packs, we reached the saddle that would initiate our descent to the western slope of the Olguin Range.
Winds died down, precipitation vanished and clouds lifted; the Patagonian Gods had now befriended us as a recognition for the perseverance of everyone in the group. As a reward, they laid out a view of the Glacier Grey, one of the terminus of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the third largest continental mass of ice on the planet. Wow.
The day continued uneventful, warm and pleasant, just with long hours of hiking to complete a 13 mile day of rugged terrain that, after five days, brought us to the place where day tourist visit coming by boat from the other side of the lake, completely oblivious of what it takes to make it here unmotorized.
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos
Your last blog entries included “scrapes and scars”, “scrambling through chutes and ladders”, “ice axe mode”, “quick crash course”, “metal spikes crunching”, “clumsy foot from plummeting”, “icy chute”......WTH !?!?!?!
You promised Dad this was piece of cake.Be careful for him. (I know you are having a blast and he’s just a wuss….ignore him, just like usual). He’s checking his weather channel iPhone app all the time to see whats going on, cant wait to hear all about it. Get lots of close-ups of you and your crew. YTG Monster Boy
Posted by: Monster on 1/30/2017 at 3:24 am
Torrey,
Fay and I are following you daily on your journey! We are so proud of you and truly the entire group. It is often the most difficult things we do that end up being the most satisfying.
We've arrived at High Camp! Summit push tonight.
It was a short and uneventful move from Karanga Camp up to Barafu Camp, which is our launching point for the summit. The team did great and we arrived in just over three hours with sprinkles of snow falling most of the way.
We've had our summit talk where we discussed our plan and the teams strategy for tomorrow. Final packing is taking place as I write this and we'll have dinner shortly, then it's off to bed for a little sleep before the climb. Weather permitting, we'll be up at 11 pm, have breakfast, and hopefully hit the trail around midnight. As per usual, I'm expecting the ascent to take around eight hours with breaks to the "Roof of Africa".
Keep your fingers crossed for us, and there's a chance, if time allows, some of you back home might receive a satellite phone call from the summit. So keep your phones handy. My best guess is we'll be on the summit around 8 in the morning, Tanzania time.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Hello again friends and family!
Today was another wonderful day! We officially moved out of the big city of Quito, heading towards our first big objective of the trip: Cayambe. As beautiful as Quito is, it's nice to finally be underway and heading toward the hills.
Our long drive to the city of Otavalo was broken up with our second acclimatization hike of the trip, Cerro Fuya Fuya. Despite the gray skies and light sprinkles when we arrived at the trailhead, we geared up and headed uphill, and boy did it pay off!
Although never quite turning to blue skies, the rain stopped almost immediately and the clouds dipped in and out, giving us alternating views of beautiful vistas and white nothingness. We pushed on, and the entire team was able to celebrate our second minor summit of the trip, at just over 14,000'. This team is looking strong!
Once down from our successful hike, we headed to La Casa Sol for the night. Our plans for this evening include packing up for our move to Cayambe tomorrow, and practicing a variety of climbing knots before dinner.
Spirits are high and we're looking good! We'll check in tomorrow from our 15,000' basecamp on Cayambe.
Until then,
RMI Guides Nick Hunt, Steve Gately and the rest of the team
Hey there. It's Billy. I am checking in from 19,600 feet on Aconcagua. Our crew just rolled in, actually we didn't just roll in, we rolled in a while ago to Plaza Colera, Camp 3, which is going to be our high camp. We're planning on taking a crack at the summit tonight. Everyone moved super well from Camp 2 to Camp 3. We were able to make good work of that leg in under three hours. Right now the team is lounging around, enjoying the calm weather and blue skies, and resting and gearing up for a late or early, depending on how you want to look at it, wake up tonight for our summit attempt. Wish us luck. We'll hopefully check in with you guys again on the top of South America.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent calls in from Aconcagua High Camp.
Jambo from Kilimanjaro
Today the team did a fantastic job climbing the intimidating looking Barranco Wall. It is the technical hurdle of this expedition and everyone did great and almost everyone enjoyed the challenge, of course the porters made it look easy as the climbed the wall with their loads carefully balanced on their heads.
Once above the wall we took a well deserved break to enjoy the views of the valleys below, but unfortunately the upper mountain was obscured by clouds. The team climbed slow and steady as we made our way up and down a few ridges before finally arriving in the Karanga Valley where we'll camp for the night.
We also got to celebrate Rob Junell's 70th birthday here with him! And our gracious staff surprised him with a wonderful cake this evening.
Everyone is in good spirits and are looking forward to heading to our high camp tomorrow where we will start our summit bid from.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Good evening from "Los Perros Camp". Our third day marked a before and after on our trip; the start of the journeys along the less crowded "back side of the park" which is walked by a fraction of a percentage of the visitors, the narrower and more primitive trails, the more frequent but also elusive fauna (indigenous ducks, woodpeckers or owls were seen along the path...) are now our territory. But it also marked a change in the weather, which has confined us to our tents since we arrived to camp. Being in Patagonia, is a synonym for mysticism, and glacial lakes, towering peaks and dense forests wouldn't be the same without its clouds, misty rain and restless winds. With the gradual climb that we started in the morning, we arrived at the highest camp of all where we'll spend a night. Not too wet, and in great spirits, we had dinner under the covered structure that the park service erected here, and we're now headed to bed in anticipation of the big day ahead tomorrow.
More to come from our adventure,
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team
Sounds like y’all are having a lot of fun! I hope it’s not too rainy and that you’re getting some incredible pictures :) I am so jealous of everything y’all have achieved so far! Go Mommy!!! Xoxo
Posted by: Allie on 1/28/2017 at 9:32 am
Lucy - Sounds great, except for the wind and rain and clouds and altitude and the “start of our gradual climb” and being “confined to our tents”, of course. I am sincerely hoping this isn’t guide-speak. I know you are loving this and are truly in your element. We miss you and I anxiously await your return and the rewards of St Barth. Much love, C
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Congratulations to Robert and Jayne. What a way to celebrate 70th birthday ! Looks like this part of the trip is a little more upscale. Continue to have fun and safe travels for all.
Posted by: Marilyn Aboussie on 1/31/2017 at 3:06 pm
Congrats Rob and Jayne ... a very successful climb ! Way to Go !!!!
Posted by: Ernie & Victoria on 1/30/2017 at 3:57 pm
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