Entries from Locations
What an amazing hike we did today. Starting in the dense trees of the national park (which are open in Mexico), we headed up past horses grazing and children laughing to 12,000 feet where we met some really nice people who were excited to joke with us. We kept our slow and constant pace all the way to 13,500 feet where the trail became rockier and the air lighter. After a break of dried fruit and protein bars we headed to the summit of La Malinche at 14,500 feet. We were in a light cloud so no great views but it felt got to be up there and not too winded. Here's a picture of Sue at the high break. Feeling happy and proud, we chitchatted all the way down to hot showers and enchiladas!
RMI Guide Christina Dale
Today we got a casual start in Penitentes, there is a lull in the season where no other groups started the trek to base camp. Our Team enjoyed overcast skies and a generous breeze on our hike to Las Lenas. We admired the bountiful shades of red, orange and brown that make up the rocky terrain. Five hours of hiking brought us to Camp and we enjoyed the warmth and solitude this camp provides. Our mule drivers got the coals started for the famous Las Lenas asado and before long we were eating grilled meats and vegetables, telling stories from past trips and previous lives. It’s always a surprise how ten miles of walking over softball-sized rocks can be forgotten with good company, delicious food and a little red wine. This camp is a spectacular place to sleep under the stars. The Milky Way runs straight down the valley and the Southern Cross is where you would expect it to be. No ambient light for hundreds of miles. When you wake in the middle of the night and look up, you get the sense you're an insignificant animal on a blue marble that’s being shot across the galaxy. Context and perspective is readily challenged in this valley. Tomorrow we continue our trek to Casa de Piedra, the Team is doing great and sends their love back home. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Posted by: JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800'
We woke up this morning at 19,600 feet in the cold, windy environment of high camp. It’s pretty hard to get moving when you have already accomplished your goal, but we rolled out of our cozy sleeping bags and packed up our tents. The warmth and WiFi of basecamp were calling our names. We made great time heading down hill, and arrived at Plaza Argentina around 3 pm. We sat down at our table and waited patiently for four hours until dinner time.
Once the food came out, everyone stopped talking. Once the food stopped coming, we did some quick organizing for our walk out tomorrow. Now we’re all huddled up in a dome tent having a team slumber party. The Russians next door are serenading us with all genres of music. You might think that would hinder our sleep, but we are 6,000 feet lower than we were last night, so I’m betting everybody will sleep just fine.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
Congratulations Team!!! Such an accomplishment for all of you. Glad all is well and heading back.
Jimmy- Can’t wait to hear about it.
All best to the whole team
-Kelly Gaines
Posted by: Kellogg C Gaines on 1/14/2019 at 11:30 am
We started our day bright and early at the Cayambe refugio with a simple breakfast and coffee. Although the first night sleeping at 15,100' can be a little rough, the team rallied from the altitude hangover to the toe of the glacier to review climbing skills. After some time practicing rope travel and self arrest, the guides demonstrated a crevasse rescue scenario and anchor building principles. After a lesson in rope ascension in the hut, we began packing for our summit attempt. The team is feeling good up high and ready for the climb!
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
On The Map
Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in from the Kilimanjaro climb. We are calling to let you know that we're all safely back at High Camp after a very successful summit climb. We were able to get nine of our ten climbers to the summit. It was a little bit of a busy day up on top trying to get photos and let people make satellite phone calls and I wasn't able to get one out to the dispatch until we just got back to camp and it's a good time. We're all safe. Everyone's doing well. We will take a little break here and have some lunch and then we're actually going to pack up and descend a couple more thousand feet to some warmer temperatures and some thicker air. And it'll shorten are descent out of the park tomorrow. So everyone's doing well. Everyone's in great spirits and we'll do our best to get a dispatch out tonight. But if I remember right in the past, I haven't been able to get one out of the trees there. So if you don't get a dispatch tonight then Monday morning as soon as we're making our way out of the park, I'll update and give maybe a little play-by-play of the summit climb. And as well as we'll get some photos to you guys. Obviously, we haven't had cell service or Wi-Fi service up here so that we could really send that much data. I think a few of the team members said they were able to send some texts. But anyway looking forward to getting those to you and kind of fill you in on how everything went. That's all for now and hope you guys have enjoyed following along. Talk to you soon.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
On The Map
Just wanted to tell Chris we are all fascinated with this way of keeping us aware
of your climbs. Keep it up
Dad
Posted by: John Condon on 1/14/2019 at 8:22 am
Yea Catherine! Was such an unexpected blessing to hear your voice from the summit! So glad weather cleared up some the last of the trip so that you had that beautiful view. Eager to hear all about it when you get back.
Posted by: Peggy P on 1/14/2019 at 6:02 am
La Casa Sol means The house of sun in English. This happens to be the name of the beautiful hacienda we were staying at before leaving to go into Otavalo and then transport to the high mountain hut located at 15,000 feet on the southern flanks of Nevado Cayambe, Our first “big” objective and the highest equatorial point on the planet. Luckily the house of sun lived up to its name and for a few brief hours we were blessed with the hot Ecuador rays we had been lacking most of the trip.
With a nice morning shaping up we left Casa Sol and headed into town for our shopping extravaganza. The market in Otavalo is unique in many ways. Cooking stalls, spice merchants, local goods and unlimited crafts make this shopping experience hard to do in 90 minutes. But the team did well not filling the bus so by lunch it was off to meet the 4x4 trucks that would drive us all up the Cayambe road which makes New York potholes seem like cereal bowls.
Of course the sun didn’t last long and by midway through the drive the skies opened up and the rain poured down. So like all mountain weather just wait ten minutes and it will change. Which it did. To snow. And then to clear and then back to snow.
By dinner we had a few great views of the mountain which got us excited to train the next day. For the rest of the evening we will focus on hydration and breathing to keep us feeling healthy at this new head throbbing altitude. Once again the team is doing great and getting along famously. We look forward to another mountain day together.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff & Team Ecuador signing off.
Best of luck on your climbs. Pray that rain holds off. Enjoy
Posted by: Jane Knoff on 1/13/2019 at 6:17 pm
We are perched on the side of La Malinche this evening settling into our nice but chilly cabin. We took a walk this afternoon to see how our bodies feel after being rudely moved to 10 thousand feet and it felt great. Tomorrow we'll head up 4,400 feet to the summit and hopefully get nice views over to Pico de Orizaba, our next objective. Quick shout out to Norm from the mountains of Mexico!
RMI Guide Christina Dale
Glad to hear you’re all settling in. Have fun and be safe. Sue, we’ll talk when you get back.
Posted by: Norm Symonds on 1/14/2019 at 9:01 am
Posted by: JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 22,841'
Update 4:17 pm PT
Everyone is safe and sound back at high camp. It didn’t take long for the team to eat dinner, wrap up in their sleeping bags, and pass out. Tomorrow we’ll move back down to the booming metropolis of basecamp.
Summit Call
Hey this is JM Gorum calling from the top of Aconcagua. We got kind of a late start this morning. We ended up having a beautiful day. We are standing on top right now. We are getting some high clouds and snow a little bit. We are going to start heading down hill. We will check in when we get back to High Camp. Talk to you then.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
RMI Guide JM Gorum checks in from the summit of Aconcagua.
On The Map
Wonderful congrats a day late
Posted by: Alice and Don on 1/13/2019 at 10:30 am
We love you Cory!!! Congrats! Awesome job - can’t wait to hear about your adventures!
Posted by: Karen Prykull on 1/13/2019 at 6:11 am
Hello again everyone
After a good nights rest and a short hike up to 15,000' we’ve finally arrived at our High Camp. Thankfully the weather broke and today was sunny with great views of Kilimanjaro and our intended route for tomorrow’s climb.
The team has just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what what we’ll be wearing, what will be in the pack, as well as the schedule.
Our game plan will be to wake at 11 pm and have a quick breakfast at 11:30, then hopefully hit the trail right at midnight. The team has been doing great thus far and I’m expecting us to reach the summit in 7 to 8 hours if things go according to plan.
Also to note!
There have been several rounds of trivia with the winners getting a chance to make a satellite phone call from the summit. So everyone back home please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer. We are 7 hours ahead of the east coast time zone.
So a 7 am arrival at the summit will mean a midnight phone call and 9 pm for pacific time.
Wish us luck! And thanks for sending the good weather just in time!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the sunshine Kili crew!
On The Map
Catherine, I just heard from Mom, you did it! I am so thankful you have had this experience. Take care of those knees on the way down. I love you and am praying for your safe return.
Posted by: Carol Lyn on 1/13/2019 at 6:53 am
Cat and Kris, I can only imagine the magnificent views you’re seeing! I’m so happy you’re getting to have such an amazing experience. It’s certain to be a taxing endeavor, but it has to be worth it!! Am so proud of you both!
Posted by: Melinda on 1/13/2019 at 1:22 am
The Aconcagua January 10th Team arrived over the last two days with their bags in tow. We had a nice dinner and got acquainted last night. Today we’ll head three hours into the Andes. As we leave Mendoza the road weaves through the vineyards that surround the town. The remainder of the drive to Penitentes is through the arid valleys along the Mendoza River. The Team will spend the day packing and sorting equipment for the mules and enjoy their last night in a bed. Our trek towards Plaza Argentina begins tomorrow morning. Everyone is excited to begin what will hopefully be 2.5 weeks of good weather and fun climbing. Thanks for following along, we’ll send an update each day.
RMI Guides Mike King & Nick Scott
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Great picture, Uie, keep smiling! Enjoy yourself, good climbing, and stay safe, please!!!
Posted by: Pam Zechlinski on 1/19/2019 at 4:16 pm
Sue : Sounds like a spectacular trip, have fun and be safe
Of course very jealous of you in good way
Posted by: Sandra E on 1/16/2019 at 5:16 am
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