Entries from Expedition Dispatches
It has been another great day on
Kilimanjaro. The weather has been fantastic and the crew has been getting stronger as we have climbed higher. I've been telling the team that this mountain can be cold but I don't think they believe me any more.
We are at high camp now which gives us about 12 hours to rest and fuel up for the summit push. Our crew has selected a great camp site with nice tent sites and that will really help us relax before the climb.
I will check in again from the summit if all goes well!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Greetings from the beautiful Eco Lodge of Tambopaxi, located inside of
Cotopaxi National Park. We are all resting nicely despite our elevation being well above 12,000 feet. In the ten days we have been in Ecuador, eight of them have been spent living or climbing above 14,000 feet so despite this lodge being higher than any staffed tourist joint in the US, we are all feeling dandy. It is amazing how after three days away from civilization the internet can trump even a shower. But now that we all got our fix, 19,400-foot
Cotopaxi is taking center stage in our heads and out the window.
It is quite a quick transition from mountain to mountain but the team's successful summit of Antisana, the first by any
RMI team, is proving a strong motivator to push our tired legs upward one more time. Our legs won't be the only tired things because with the famous Cotopaxi hut closed for the time being, Tambopaxi sits a short 45 minutes away from the trail head, which in turn sits a short 45-minute hike from the mountain's normal starting point so our wake up call will casually be at 9:30pm. We expect a long night and day so resting now is crucial. We will be taking dinner in an hour then getting ready for our final mountain climb. We will report tomorrow with the outcome.
Wishing all of our families and friends the best. We miss you all and look forward to coming home soon.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
We've made it to Basecamp! After three long days on the trail our team rolled on in to
Plaza Argentina this afternoon in good style and in good spirits. And while we are all feeling the altitude a little bit we are no worse for the wear. We enjoyed some refreshments upon arrival from the great Grajales staff and proceeded to set up camp and get settled in after a little breather. We just finished a great meal of of soup, homemade lasagna (!!!), and flan for dessert and are getting ready to tuck ourselves in for the evening. Up at nearly 14K, it's a fair bit colder here than it was on our trek in, especially at night so we're finally putting some of our warm clothes to good use. Typically, the first night at a higher elevation can be a little uncomfortable so we'll see how everybody fares tonight. I'm sure there may be a few headaches in the group, but that's totally normal... Anyway, we're all still having fun and looking forward to a good rest day tomorrow.
All for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Occupation Camp Two is in full effect ladies and gents. Our
Aconcagua team is thriving and jiving at 18,000 feet. It's the same old same old...eating, drinking soup, drinking mate, eating chocolate peanut butter cups and listening to opera. Yes! We have some class!
Our plan is to rest up here tomorrow before we move to high camp and the hope is to summit on the 19th. Keep your fingers crossed for continued good weather.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
Hello from
Kilimanjaro! Today was just one of those nice and pleasant days in the mountains. We started out with our normal morning routine of breakfast and packing. But instead of getting right on the trail we hung back and watched the whole camp get packed up. Our big objective of the day was to climb the
Barranco Wall and if we set right out for it, we would be in a big traffic jam on the steep rocky wall. By letting literally everyone get out of camp before us we were able to climb the route by ourselves. It was great.
After topping out on the 900-foot wall we had another two hours on the trail before camp. We arrived here at 1:30 and have had a nice relaxing afternoon. Soon it will be time for dinner and off to bed. Tomorrow we are headed to high camp!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Journey to Casa de Piedra.
Our crew made great time today on our march from Pampa de Leñas to our second trekking camp at Casa de Piedra. We had significantly cooler temps today and some welcome cloud cover (albeit with a few sprinkles) which made for a much more pleasant walk than yesterday. The crew is starting to find the rhythm of the mountain and also finding a good synergy among the teammates. We are all having fun and even enjoying some interesting people.
Good times! Headed for
Aconcagua Basecamp tomorrow...
Talk soon.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
January 14, 2015
Hola de Pampa de Leñas! Today our team made our first moves in the mountains in great style by ticking off the first stretch on our three day journey to
Plaza Argentina, our basecamp. The trail was hot and dusty but we enjoyed a nice breeze from time to time and incredible views that made the heat bearable. After setting up our camp we had the good fortune to greet another RMI expedition as they arrived in camp returning from a successful summit bid a few days ago. Big congrats to Zeb and his crew! We all got to share an asado last night complete with grilled beef tenderloin and vino which was quite a treat. The herrieros (mule drivers) cooked for us over an open fire... Pretty classy backcountry living. We're thankfully not on the ramen noodle program yet, it was nice to hold that off another day. Anyway, all is well and tomorrow calls for another day of walking up the Vacas Valley... We'll check in and let you know how it goes.
All for now,
RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Katrina Bloemsma, and Billy Haas
On The Map
The last few days have been a whirlwind. Just three days ago we stood on the top of
Aconcagua, the highest peak outside of Asia.
We pushed hard to get down to the land of thick air, fresh food and running water. Last night we celebrated at our last camp of the expedition with a huge feast of carne asada, fresh tomato salad a little vino tinto and everyone's stories and jokes.
Tonight we're really back in civilization. Freshly showered and dressed up, we're headed to sample some of Mendoza's renowned cuisine.
For now we'll leave you with a shot from the summit. Cheers!
RMI Guide Zeb Blais and team
Summit of
Antisana! Adam Knoff and team called in to let us know they were at Antisana's Basecamp after a successful summit. They had great route conditions clear skies, stars and a beautiful moonrise. The climb was engaging with steep headwalls and crevasse crossings. The team did a fantastic job. At about 17,000ft the winds picked up and temperatures dropped enveloping the summit in a cloud layer. As the team started their descent, they broke out of the clouds. They are breaking down camp and will be taking a short walk back to the bus, which will take them to Chilcabamba Eco Lodge where the team will have well-deserved rest for the night.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
The main weather concern here on
Aconcagua during the Summer is the wind. A typical day almost always produces blue skies. Every couple of weeks a system will roll through and produce some cloud cover and a little precipitation, but it's quite rare to have layered cloud decks and boiling fog out of the valleys.
This morning though we had quite a nice change of scenery! Clouds had moved in overnight bringing along some moisture that glazed our camp in a layer of frost. At about 7:15am when the sun would normally hit our tents, heating them up and forcing us outside, we had cloud layers more typical of our native state of Washington. The layers were weak and broken. The sun beginning to burn them off produced pockets in which the sunlight could make its way through. From
Camp I you have a beautiful view East down the Relinchos Valley where the evaporating cloud layers were putting on a tremendous light show. A nice treat on a mountain that routinely gives you blue skies and high winds!
The team today will rest and prepare themselves for our move to Camp II. Everyone is excited to move up. Getting to Camp II means that, if the weather cooperates, we will have one more rest day and then move to Camp III to attempt the summit. There's finally a light at the end of the tunnel! But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, as with any expedition, you have to live in the now, and now we take care of ourselves. Eating, drinking, resting. Sounds luxurious, yea? Haha almost. Climbers always underestimate just how boring the rest day can be and how it can easily become anything but relaxing. Luckily our team is doing great with just about every aspect of expedition life, so if you were looking for some drama you might want to look at another blog!
Everyone sends their best. All is well. Stay tuned!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
On The Map
I hope your summit day is all that you wish for!! Anxiously anticipating the summit update!!
Posted by: Shirley on 1/18/2015 at 7:54 am
We are sitting in Amsterdam waiting to board our flight to Kilimanjaro - sending best wishes for a successful climb - can’t wait to see you soon! Go SPS!!! Go Daddy!!
Angela, Nicholas and Madison
Posted by: Angela Chapman on 1/18/2015 at 12:37 am
View All Comments