Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Can you say cruise into camp? Why? Well, that's just what the team did. After a clear and cool evening at Shira Camp, we woke up early to hit the trail and crush most of the teams altitude records! We kept a perfect pace (of course) and with impeccable technique by one and all we hardly noticed the thin air. We were able to get in some great views of Kilimanjaro's main peak, dramatic ice fields, and the steep mountain flanks. A long descent into the Barranco Valley brought us to are next camp for the night. Barranco Camp is nestled among the crazy looking giant senecio trees. These trees have some resemblance to the Joshua tree. Looming above us are glaciers and huge ice runnels. Needless to say it is one heck of a beautiful spot. The weather is perfect, the team is great and we all wish you were here.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,400'
Hello from our beautiful camp in the Ishinca Valley. This morning the team packed up our gear, and bussed two valleys to the north of Huaraz to the Pashpa trailhead. There we loaded the equipment onto our trusty little mountain burros and hiked along a turquoise blue stream to the very top of the valley at 14,200ft.
After multiple hours of hiking at altitude to get to camp, the team was ready for a solid dinner and our cocinero (camp cook) didn't disappoint. We were treated to a hearty meal of beef, potatoes and rice, plus desert!
Currently we are tucked into our sleeping bags being lulled to sleep by a nearby glacial river and anticipating a full day of training tomorrow. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank and the Peru Seminar Team
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Day two is behind us! It flew quick, marveled by the wonders of the lower Santa Cruz Valley, which is one of the prime trekking destinations in Peru by itself. We also flew quick, and bypassed the standard camp, gaining an hour for tomorrow's arrival to Base Camp. Everybody is doing fantastic, and we're currently enjoying an outstanding dinner at our dining tent (squash soup, trout and fruit cup is being served). We look forward to a good night of sleep here at Icchi Coccha camp and to tomorrow's move to Base Camp.
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team.
It was a beautiful day here on Elbrus, not a cloud in the sky!
We had a normal start to our day with breakfast in the hotel and then loaded up all our climbing gear and drove to the base of the ski lift where we rode not one, not two, but three gondolas to reach our new home for the next few days and happens to sit at just over 12,000ft. It's rather comfortable up here, as our outfitter has taken a few shipping containers and converted them into simple bunk rooms that sit atop some makeshift skis so they can be moved. Creative to say the least!
Once we got settled into our new home we headed uphill on another acclimatizing hike and reached about 13,500ft before returning to camp where our wonderful cook Dasha had a nice hot lunch waiting for us.
We spent the remaining of the afternoon relaxing, walking around and just enjoying the amazing view of the Caucasus mountain range.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Greetings!
Today was a great day for the first day of our Alpamayo Expedition: stellar landscape on the acclimatization hike, for a stellar crew, on stellar weather. This third year of Alpamayo Expeditions for RMI looks very promising! We hiked up to 14,400' to our traditional destination of Lake Churup, and we had incredible views of the range, the glacial lake and the mountain of the same name. We hiked back to town and had a team lunch before returning to our hotel for some packing and relaxing. We're heading tomorrow to the trailhead. Everyone is doing great and is very excited.
We'll be checking from the trail from now on!
Best,
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
Posted by: Brent Okita, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Climbers on the Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Mike Uchal reached the summit crater of Mt. Rainier at 6:45 a.m. PDT. Brent and Mike reported chilly and breezy conditions on the summit. The teams will spend some time on top before beginning their descent. We look forward to welcoming the climbers back to Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations!
Brent, see you on the hiil!
Posted by: James Spodobalski on 9/26/2016 at 10:54 pm
Awesome and beyond (Brent) &team;, blessed to have run Gates on Gold Hill coin-op,& bringing around with Alan,Wheels,steveie ray vaugh!! Especially when you. Team 911,,let me race gates under chair 4,,&& will never forget wheels/ yelled-(Spud Did It For The Team!! You & Julie invited to have super hot cocoa @ that time Up on Gold Hill! Always thankful met Julie & You Thanks
Posted by: James Spodobalski on 9/26/2016 at 10:40 pm
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 10,000'
Hello!
Greetings from Hotel Andino in the beautiful Huaraz City, Peru. Our expedition prep got off to a stunning start with a picturesque trip up to Puca Ventana (Red Window) at 11,600'. The additional elevation and light exercise will be crucial as we prep to move up the Ishinca Valley at 14,400' tomorrow morning. A casual lunch at the climbing hangout Cafe Andino kept us energized through the afternoon as we began the packing and gear sorting for our upcoming week in the Cordillera. Tonight we enjoy the comforts of civilization at our hotel for one last night. Our next dispatches will be from the high valleys as we move closer to our first climbing goal of Ishinca (18,143'). Stay tuned, friends!
Buenas Noches,
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank, Edwin, and the ESS-Peru Team
Hello again everyone -
It was a beautiful day here in Russia. We had a nice relaxing start to the day with a traditional Russian breakfast of porridge, eggs and bread. Then made our way to the local ski lifts to help give us a jump start on our hike. I didn't hear a single complaint about riding up 1,500' before we started our two hour hike to the top of a local peak called Cheget, which is also the name of the town we are staying in. The hike went well with mostly clear skies and we even caught a few glimpses of Mt. Elbrus between the clouds.
After our hike we made it back to town relatively quickly thanks to the ski lifts, where we had a hot lunch waiting on us. After lunch we dropped off our gear and made a quick stop to pick up a few extra items and even managed to try on a few local hats.
We wrapped up the evening with another nice home cooked meal here provided by our local outfitter and to top it off we celebrated one team members birthday!
Things are good here.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Happy birthday, T! We’re rooting for you and S out here in sunny SoCal! Lotsa love, E, B, & D!
Posted by: Elspeth on 7/12/2016 at 3:58 pm
Jambo from Kilimanjaro-
We are checking in from Camp One, Machame Camp at 9,800' and everyone is doing great.
We woke early this morning and had a nice breakfast at the Dik Dik. We loaded the vehicle and after a quick stop at the open air meat market we reached the Machame Entrance Gate at 6,000'. After some photos and the fun began as we started on the trail. Being a cloud forest it held true for most of the climb but now here at 10,000' the skies are clear and beautiful. We have clear views of the summit and associated glaciers and life is good here in the very comfortable dinning tent.
Have a nice day,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Glad to hear things are going well. I am certain that the views are breathtaking and that the climb is strenuous but exhilarating. My best to all of you!
Odette Hankins
Taylor’s mom in Cleveland, Ohio
Posted by: Odette Hankins on 7/13/2016 at 7:33 am
Posted by: JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Well... This is it. The final blog for the July 1 - 13, 2016 is sadly here. However, as is the case, we had an amazing day in Saint Petersburg! Our local city tour guide Elena, was amazing as we strolled around the entire city. I have been here 13 times now and today was simply put, the coolest tour I have had in St Petes. I am sad as I sit here writing this blog during our last dinner. Our entire team has been absolutely amazing. It is not every climb where complete strangers come together and have such an amazing adventure.
Thank you for following along. The team sends giant hugs and kisses back home to friends and family! Thanks for your support.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Safe travels home to everyone on the team. Can’t wait to see your pictures Ryan!!
Posted by: Shirley Tharp on 7/12/2016 at 4:46 pm
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Glad you survived all three ski lifts Michael:) haha. Hope everyone has a great climb today and the weather continues to hold up for the Summit. We are sweating back here in the US, enjoy the snow!
Be safe.
Jancy
Posted by: Jancy Darling on 7/13/2016 at 8:02 pm
Hi Thad. Hi Sam. Blazing heat every afternoon here now with triple digit heat indices, so to paraphrase WC Fields, all things considered I’d rather be in the Baksan Valley. Lovely scenery! I’ve seen pictures before of brightly painted shipping containers used as dwellings, but hadn’t seen the interiors. Looks cozy, though they might do with a skylight. You guys look pretty happy…
Posted by: Burton Golden on 7/13/2016 at 4:09 pm
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