What a gorgeous last three days we have had! They have been by far the nicest weather I've seen on my trips to Ecuador. As we left Guachalá, the oldest hacienda in Ecuador, we started our eight-hour drive to Chimborazo. Capitalizing on the beautiful weather, we took lots of great photos of all the mountains that were visible as we drove. Along the way, we stopped for burritos and margaritas before making our way to Estrella de Chimborazo, the lodge at the base of Chimborazo.
Our plan is to begin our ascent tomorrow with a summit bid that night or the next. We'll see what the weather brings. We may be out of contact the next two to three nights as we embark on our next climbing objective. We will check in as soon as we can.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Ben Liken
Today our team enjoyed the long, meditative walk from base camp down the Relinchos Valley, and then down the Vacas Valley to our very first camp here at Las Leñas. Our trekking efforts were rewarded with a delicious asado dinner, and our whole team is stretched out under the stars tonight enjoying a last night out in the mountains. Tomorrow we head down to Penitentes, then Mendoza, and civilization, but for now everyone is savoring a last moment on the trail.
RMI Guides Mark Tucker & Pepper Dee
Hey, everybody. This is Casey Grom checking in from the Kilimanjaro climb. I wanted to let you know that everything's going great. Today we left behind the Arumeru Lodge and made a few hour drive to the base of a Kilimanjaro. We drove up the Machame Valley, which is actually lined with quite a few banana plantations. A number of porters are making their way to the gate entrance to find some work. Once we got to the gate, we got organized, and then got the green light from the park service, we slowly started making our way up hill. The team did great today. We climbed for about six hours up through this incredible lower slopes of Kilimanjaro. It was a nice break from the sun to be tucked into the trees. And again the team did great. We pulled into camp about 6 o'clock or so today and everyone just finished dinner. Everyone's relaxing right now and getting ready for a little bit of sleep. Everybody's in good spirits. We will check in again tomorrow and hopefully be able to get a picture or two out in the next day or so based on our cellphone service up here. Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom calls in from Machame Camp, Africa.
Trying to think of a compelling story but truth be told we are just hanging out here at Aconcagua Camp 1... passing the acclimatization day eating snacks, listening to music or reading books, and telling stories. The weather is clear and sunny today and a teeny bit breezy this afternoon which is actually nice, keeping our tents from getting too hot. No doubt the team will be chomping at the bit tomorrow morning when we plan to make our move up to Camp 2. Slowly but surely we'll continue up!
Not much else to report,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Over the past few days our team has been very busy down here on the equator. On Saturday, we departed the comforts of civilization and made our way to the Cayambe Hut at a little over 15,000'. The road to this mountain lodge is riddled with boulders, pot holes, mud pits, and the occasional farm animal, making it mandatory to use a 4x4 vehicle.
Once we were settled in and spent a night in the thin air we moved further uphill to do some basic training on the toe of the glacier. The team remembered mostly everything from their previous experience and were ready for a summit attempt. So we packed our gear, ate some dinner, and went to bed for a few hours.
At about 11 pm we awoke to clear skies and were able to start uphill by midnight. With perfect climbing conditions and a strong team we found ourselves on top of Cayambe for a 6:30 am sunrise over the equator. After descending the upper steep slopes we cruised back to the hut and packed up. A quick 4x4 ride brought us to our hacienda were we will start to recover from the climb.
Everyone is doing well and excited with the success we had!
RMI Guide Ben Liken
Today was one of those days where you wake up in one world and go to sleep in another. In our team's case, we woke up in the thin air of Camp 3, but after a day's hard walking downhill, are lucky enough to be bedding down among the comforts of Aconcagua Base Camp. Around 18,000 feet, we got a chance to check in with RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Hannah Smith and the rest of their RMI team as they carried to Camp 2. As for our team though, we're focused on resting up in anticipation of our two day trek still ahead to get off of this mountain. Everyone is happy, well, and excited about showers in the not too distant future.
RMI Guides Mark Tucker & Pepper Dee
Absolutely delighted for you all that the summit was successful! Well done! Enjoy a safe descent.
Posted by: carolyn on 1/24/2017 at 12:12 pm
In July 2015, Hannah Smith and Pepper Dee were two of four guides on our team on the Emmons Route on Mount Rainier. They did a great job keeping us safe on the mountain. Wish I could join them on Aconcagua. Congratulations to the teams on Aconcagua now, safe travels.
Greetings from the land of the "big legged ones", (term used by Magellan to refer to the natives of the Australmost part of the American continent during the Spanish expedition of 1519 trying to reach Asia going west) aka Patagonia.
We are currently in Puerto Natales, resting in our hotel right across from the agitated waters of the "Última Esperanza" (last hope) fjord.
Our bodies are tired from 24 hours of international traveling, but after a quick layover in the southern hub that Punta Arenas is for the region, we drove to the gateway of Torres del Paine National Park.
The views of the salt water meeting the towering mountains are astonishing, and the feel of being in our antipodes' "last frontier" is very real.
Sheep farms gave way to wilder land populated by foxes and "ñandúes" (ostrich like birds) and the human shelters are getting smaller and further apart.
Everyone is very excited for the adventure we start tomorrow. We will be posting next from the trails of our circuit... in the mean time, sit back and imagine what being in summer, surrounded by friends, good food and better landscape would be right now; well, we're there!
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos
Looks like a fun group, and posted pictures are beautiful. We hope your phone stays charged so you can take a lot of pictures. Dad is playing w us a lot but weather not good enough for the park yet, hopefully tomorrow. We miss you and I know Dad does too. Can’t wait to get your next text. Make good choices
Posted by: Max + Brooks on 1/26/2017 at 6:52 am
Looks awesome, are ya’ll gonna have to eat one of those little camels to survive?
Posted by: Charlie Munford on 1/25/2017 at 1:27 pm
We are back safely in Camp 1 after a beautiful carry up to Camp 2 at over 18,000ft. This camp in addition to being our "Camp 2" is also called Guanacos Campo 3, or Chopper Camp because there used to be the pieces of a crashed helicopter sprinkled about. Those are all cleaned up these days and virtually no trace of a crashed helicopter is left. We enjoyed sunny skies and calm winds all day today while making great time. We were three-ish hours up and just over an hour down with a nice break up at our cache site in between. The team is back down soaking up some sun and relaxing the afternoon away. We have a rest/acclimatization day on deck that will hopefully set us up well for our climb higher.
All for now...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Our Kilimanjaro trip is underway!
The team arrived late last night after their long flights from the US and after a short drive to our lodge the team had a quick dinner and headed for bed.
Today after a hearty breakfast the team met for RMI's official orientation where we did a round of introductions and discussed the upcoming plan for the next few day and the gear essentials for our climb.
We spent the remainder of the day packing and relaxing here at this tranquil and private lodge that has numerous wild animals roaming the grounds. There are two different types of monkeys here, the Velvet and the Blue. Several Dik Dik that have been rescued, a few Guinea fowl, and we even managed to see a Genet sneaking around tonight.
We are being well taken care of here at the Arumeru River Lodge by their gracious and kind staff.
Everyone is doing well and looking forward to a little uphill exercise tomorrow as we head to Kilimanjaro.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and Kili Team
January 22nd, 4:29 pm PST
So don't sing at 22,000 feet, that is my recommendation. We are all back down here at high camp. The team is all back in their tents, fed and watered. What a heck of a day- about 14 hours. The team did great. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be singing again, and I guess I better write instead of talk. Thanks for following you guys. Take care.
RMI Guide Mark TuckerJanuary 22nd, 10:29 am PST
Hello, everyone. This is RMI Guide, Pepper Dee, from the top of Aconcagua! Mark Tucker has lost his voice, but he has not lost any of his team. He started with ten climbers and ten climbers are on top of South America right now. We had a great day getting up here. Pretty clear with some intermittent snow showers, but we're all just so thrilled to be up here. When the clouds break, we can see views down the valley where we came. [lost transmission]
RMI Guide Pepper Dee
RMI Guide Pepper Dee calls from the Aconcagua summit!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker calls after safe return back to Aconcagua High Camp.
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Great pics. Looks like an amazing trip so far. Have fun. Be safe.
Jeff.
Posted by: Jeff Williams on 1/25/2017 at 4:16 pm
Thanks for your latest post and gorgeous photo. I’m sending Owen and the team all the best possible climbing vibes. Good luck and enjoy the endeavor!
Catherine
Posted by: Catherine Leon on 1/24/2017 at 10:35 pm
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