Entries from Expedition Dispatches
We woke to clear skies and beautiful weather today. We had breakfast in the hotel and then loaded up all our climbing gear and drove to the base of the ski resort where we rode not one, but two gondolas, a single chair lift and then a short snowcat ride to reach our new home on Mt. Elbrus for the next few days. It's rather comfortable up here, as our outfitter has taken a few shipping containers and converted them into simple bunk rooms some for sleeping and some set up as dinning rooms.
Once we got settled into our new home we headed uphill on another acclimatizing hike and reached just over 14,000' before returning to camp where our wonderful cook Dasha had a nice hot lunch waiting for us.
We spent the remaining of the afternoon doing a little training for our climb. The weather forecast has been a little up and down, so are just staying prepared. Everyone is doing great and enjoying the views of the Caucasus mountain range which are pretty amazing since we are camped out at just over 12,000'.
Dasha has once again had filled our bellies full of delicious Russian food and so the team is off to bed now.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
After a full day at Camp Muir adjusting to the altitude, taking in the views of the surrounding glaciers and neighboring mountains The Five Day Summit Climb Team led by RMI Guide Jenny Konway reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Jenny reported great climbing conditions and beautiful weather. The team has started their descent and are headed back to Camp Muir, and will be back at Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's team!
Congratulations Chris and Claire! How very cool! We can’t wait to hear all about it! Love, Mom and Dad
Posted by: Anne/Jim Newman on 7/26/2017 at 4:23 pm
WOOOOHOOOO! I’m assuming, Claire and Chris, that this is YOUR TEAM!!!!! I am SO PROUD of you! And I take some credit for your success because I was up all night, praying for you!!! Love, Momma
Posted by: Ginna Wall on 7/26/2017 at 11:42 am
It has been cloudy all day but that made for a very comfortable hike up to the Shira Plateau, 12,200', and our second camp on Kilimanjaro. The hike out of camp was steep for a couple of hours with a beautiful traverse to top out the day. En route to camp we encountered a short section of rock scramble which had everyone paying attention and will get us ready for our climb up the Barranco Wall in a couple days. Here at over 12,000', we were greeted with a camp fully set up and a hot lunch. We are hopeful the skies will clear and we will be able to enjoy the sunset and get a peak at the upper mountain from tonight's camp. The team is in good shape snacking, exploring and resting and hoping for clear skies tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
The Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide Kel Rossiter reached to summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Kel reported a great day of climbing with beautiful clear skies. The team has started their descent and are en route to Camp Muir
Congratioulations to today's team!
Congrats Jacob. Way to go.
Posted by: Scotty on 7/26/2017 at 7:42 pm
Dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Kyle U. on 7/26/2017 at 5:40 pm
SUMMIT! After a week of training and learning alpine mountaineering skills the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team ascended Mt. Rainier by navigating the Katuz Ice Chute. RMI Guide Mike Haugen reported great climbing conditions with calm and clear skies.
Congratulations to today's team!
Congratulations Kurt; what an accomplishment and check on your bucket list! Can’t wait to celebrate with you when you are HOOOOME!!
Posted by: Megan on 7/26/2017 at 7:39 pm
Awesome and Congratulations to you all! God is always so good. I’m glad to hear it all went well. I’m excited to hear stories and see pictures. Thank-you RMI.
Posted by: Rebecca Joslin on 7/26/2017 at 1:03 pm
Alpamayo team heading down hill.
As we crawled out of our tents this chilly morning we saw clouds whipping around Alpamayo and throughout the range. Very glad we climbed yesterday. We packed up, had coffee and began our descent by mid morning. Three rappels from the col got us back on the glacier and easy walking back to Moraine Camp. The team did great despite being tired form the efforts of yesterday. At Moraine Camp we took a good long break before shouldering our heavy packs again. We picked our way through the rocks and slabs leading back to Base Camp. Ilario, our base camp cook, was waiting and had individual pizzas for us shortly after rolling in. We are all glad to be back in the land of trees and grass, tired but happy. This afternoon we are organizing gear for the donkeys to haul down tomorrow and resting. Tomorrow we will make the walk all the way to Casha Pompa, and catch our shuttle back to Huaraz.
That's all for now,
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and the A Team
All is well here at 10,000ft Machame Camp, Camp 1, on Kilimanjaro.
We left the Arumeru Lodge this morning and enjoyed the views of the local community and lots of farms growing bananas, coffee and corn. The flanks of Kilimanjaro provide very fertile grounds for all of these great crops. After a couple hour drive we arrived at the Kilimanjaro Nation Park gate. We registered our team and paid our entrance fee to the Park Staff and with permit in hand, we loaded our packs and began our climb. We had a steady ascent of 4,000ft and in just less than five hours arrived at our first camp in fine form. Perfect conditions in the cloud forest made for an enjoyable climb. We all settled in to our tents and discussed camp life and our prperations for tomorrow's ascent. Dinner is now complete and we are certain to enjoy many more great meals thanks to our wonderful chef and staff. Everyone is returning to their tents as we are still adjusting to our new time zone and catching up on a bit of jet lag.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Posted by: JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
The team made it to St. Petersburg yesterday. We went out to a nice team dinner, and a few folks left early this morning to get back home. The rest of the group spent the day touring the wonderful city of St. Petersburg. The cathedrals and palaces here are ornate beyond measure. We spent the afternoon cruising through the canals on our own private boat, and finished the evening with an excellent dinner at the historic Astoria Hotel, complete with a celebrity appearance.
Most of the team leaves early tomorrow morning for the U.S. It's been a great trip all around. Thanks to all of the team, and to everybody following along.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
All is well here in the Baksan Valley, at the base of Elbrus where we've settled into our comfortable hotel. We made the most of the local ski lifts, (to save our knees of course) and hiked up the neighboring peak to start our acclimatization. It started off a little cloudy today, but eventually cleared for some decent views of Elbrus. After our ascent we headed back down to town for a nice lunch and headed over to the local climbing shop to pick up a few last minute things. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, getting our bags packed and just wrapped up another enjoyable Russian dinner with some wonderful Georgian soup.
All is well here and we'll check in again tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Amazingly, most of the team actually got some sleep last night before I made my rounds to wake folks up just past 11:00pm. The night sky was amazingly clear and calm, and though the temps at camp were below freezing it felt a lot warmer than I had expected.
Our 7 1/2 hour ascent covered a variety of terrain from scree to rock, and got colder as we gained altitude. In fact, all the Camelback hydration systems people insisted on bringing froze and became useless until low on our descent.
What a big mountain. Our team couldn't believe that our summit bid could go on for so long. But, at about 7:30 we finally reached the summit, Uhuru Peak at 19,340'. What was most impressive was that everyone summitted! The team just put their heads down, pressure breathed and got it done. But a big thanks needs to go out to our local guides: James, Freddy, Peter, Patrick, Naiman and Venance. They worked tirelessly to help the team achieve this dream.
Following our summit, we were greeted with a nice lunch upon arriving back at camp, then there was the five-hour hike to our next camp at about 10,000' Mweka Camp. Sore feet and knees were casualties of the descent, but it sure feels good to be down here now. Especially after another great meal prepared by Tosha, our chef.
The eyelids are growing heavy, so I'll bid you all good night.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
On The Map
Very inspiring! Already buying the tickets to Tanzania :-)
Congratulations for accomplishing the goal together having an heterogenous group
Having fun and self-overcoming is a fantastic mix
Posted by: Matias Levin on 8/4/2017 at 7:42 am
big congrats to Kavine and Rohaan! so impressed with you both! mountain climbing for old and young! ♥️
Posted by: kavi moltz on 7/26/2017 at 12:38 pm
We miss you but love following your latest adventure! Love and Prayers Jill, Rachel, David, Caleb, Kiki, Cora, Emily, Shane, Eli, Silas, Samuel, Shena, Jeff, Anthony and Chloe
Posted by: Jill Crumley on 7/27/2017 at 3:41 am
Awesome pictures! Looks like a great time. Have fun as you both get closer to the summit.
Love
Dad
Posted by: Wayne Kelly Sr. on 7/26/2017 at 1:02 pm
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