RMI Expeditions Blog
Hey, you blog followers and RMI Family, this is Christina, Grayson and Alan with our amazing team on the summit of Ixtaccihuatl. We are all happy, warmer right now that the sun is coming up. All is well here in Mexico.
RMI Guide Christina Dale
RMI Guide Christina Dale calls from the summit of Ixta.
On The Map
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 9,000'
Mother nature turned up the furnace today. After finishing up our final touches on our packing we loaded the van and made our way to the entrance to Aconcagua. The ranger checked our permits and we were off on the hot dusty trail to our first camp at Pampas de las Lenas. It was a scorcher but the team arrived to camp in good style and enjoyed some down time hiding from the sun before dinner. We feasted on a carne asada dinner cooked over a fire by the mule drivers. Vegetables, bread and wine accompanied the mouth watering meat. With full bellies and the meat sweats, we are ready for bed. Tomorrow is another day on the trail as we get closer to basecamp.
adios,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
Posted by: Christina Dale, Grayson Swingle, Alan Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 15,500'
The team is in fine form today as we loaded our heavy packs onto our strong backs and hit the steep trail up from La Joya to Campo Alto Ixta. We all moved under the hot Mexico sun as a tight unit of perfectly timed rest steps. A small dog, we later named Ixta, decided that our group is great company and came with us all the way to 15,500 feet. Now we have our tents up and are treating ourselves to an hour of rest before firing up the stoves and making a hot dinner. We'll be turning in early because we'll be back up in the middle night for a climb to the top!
RMI Guide Christina Dale
On The Map
Thanks for the updates and I am so proud of you guys! Keep up the great work and enjoy the adventure!
Posted by: Stephanie R on 1/23/2019 at 5:33 am
Hello Everyone:
The team got off to a moderately early start this morning leaving behind our beautiful lodge and have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb.
We left around 8am and drove along the rural country side and small villages for two hours to reach the park entrance. Most of the area surrounding Kilimanjaro has been cultivated and primarily used for coffee production and for a variety of other agriculture needs, but there are still some areas that have been untouched and resemble more of a savannah that Tanzania is known for. The base of Kilimanjaro is more forested and looks more jungle like and is called a cloud forest.
Once we arrived at the gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our 48 porters and other staff to carry before hitting the trail. Once everything was in order we started our climb slowly making our way up the winding trail that ascends continuously through the thick forest. The canopy is quite dense thankfully, which provided some cover from the rain that arrive around midday.
The team hiked for a little over five hours and managed to not get too wet before we reached our camp for the night that sits around 10,000ft.
After settling into camp and getting situated, the team was served a nice warm meal for dinner consisting of soup, rice, potatoes and steak.
Everyone is doing well and looking forward to a good night's rest.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and Kili crew
On The Map
Happy climbing…..wishing you good weather and sure steps on this wonderful adventure . Keep us posted. Godspeed !
Posted by: Barbara Sluboski on 1/22/2019 at 8:54 pm
Wishing you a safe and exciting adventure, thanks for the updates!!
Posted by: Judy on 1/22/2019 at 8:36 pm
The Team has really lucked out where the weather is concerned. We don’t have the lightest winds in the forecast but we are hoping they stay manageable. We enjoyed another warm night with a spectacular moon following whatever lunar phenomena happened a few nights ago. We are at 18,000’ and enjoying some more tent time. There comes a point where having slightly longer days would be nice, reading 300 pages of a book in two days is quite easy with how much tent time we get. Now that we are at Camp 2, the wait for a summit window becomes more realistic. The schedule is to carry food and fuel to high camp tomorrow and rest the following day. This will get us three nights at this elevation. Ultimately, the forecasted winds might force our hand to move up a day earlier or burn a weather day in hopes of lighter wind. Until then, we have a crowded camp but with a spectacular view. Thanks for following along.
On The Map
Posted by: Christina Dale, Grayson Swingle, Alan Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 13,000'
This morning we left La Malinche for the Altzomoni Hut at 13,000 feet on Ixta. The team was able to stock up on water and last minute snacks in the town of Amecameca before we begin our two-day attempt on Ixta. We've got all of our equipment sorted for our move up to our high camp at 15,000 feet tomorrow.
RMI Guide Grayson Swingle
On The Map
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
We left the comforts of Mendoza following the windy Mendoza River to Penitentes. The landscape is red, rocky, Martian looking land with bright green trees here and there. Before we arrive we make a mandatory empanada stop so we have the energy to get down to business when we arrive. It's a sea of duffels and gear as we sort through our belongings making a pile that will go straight to basecamp and one that will follow us up the valley on the mules. Excitement is growing bigger as we finish packing. Tomorrow we hit the trail. As for tonight we will enjoy a delicious dinner and our last night sleeping in beds.
Talk to you all next on the trail,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro trip number 2 for 2019 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 then 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 essential 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 mongoose sneaking around today.
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 2
Safe decent, to the team and my nephew Joey Merlone.
Uncle Chris.
Posted by: Chris Williams on 1/27/2019 at 6:05 pm
Be safe and enjoy.
Posted by: Louis Sikora on 1/22/2019 at 10:36 am
Not much to write about today. We had a breakfast burrito brunch after a few rounds of coffee. The weather has continued to be warmer then expected with light winds tugging at the tents. We are all in the tents with sleeping bags clipped to the outside to lower the temperatures. While anxious to move to Camp 2, everyone needs this time to continue acclimating. Tomorrow we move camp to 18,000’ and will be in a better position for the next summit window. Currently there is a large lenticular cloud sitting on the summit, several teams moved to high camp yesterday for a summit attempt today, hopefully they are on their descent.
RMI Guide Mike King
Fingers crossed for cooperating weather! Good luck team!
Posted by: Renee Sherwood on 1/22/2019 at 4:51 pm
Hey team—Keep up the good work. You rock! (pun intended)
Posted by: Randy Salo on 1/22/2019 at 12:18 pm
Posted by: Adam Knoff, Taylor Bickford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Hello from the Chimborazo Lodge located literally at the base of the mountain. From our windows we watch herds of llamas grazing in the pastures, condors buzz the hillsides and the mountain, straight up valley, show us she is certainly not done being angry at something. Which sets the stage for this upcoming tale.
It is no secret that lessons surround us. Whether learned from business, school, love or mountain climbing. If we are aware and observant enough we should be able to find value and see reason through the events of everyday life. Today was one of those days we all learned something.
Our time at high camp began with teaching our seminar crew the correct way to level tent platforms, secure the guy lines and properly tie down your house so the big bad wolf doesn’t come and blow it all away. Once settled in, we were treated to a great meal by our cooks and hit the rack about 6:30 pm. At that point the full moon was rising over the mountain and the wind was calming just a bit. By our wake up time at 11:45 the wind was calm but the clouds had unleashed some freezing rain which coated everything in a smooth sheen of verglass.
By the time we departed camp the wind had picked up a bit and the mountain was sporting a nice cloud cap, beautiful in the full moon light.
The terrain right out of camp was challenging but by the time our climbing team reached an elevation of 18,500 feet, a few had turned around due to fatigue and the unruly steepness of the route. The weather had also begun to deteriorate with gusts reaching upper 30s and a heavy coat of rime ice building on our Gore-Tex shells. By 19,300 feet only two climbers remained headed up. But that upward progress didn’t last much longer. By 19,800 feet the cloud was now fully upon us and the wind and rime became too much to safely continue toward the summit. So at 6:15 our final summit climbers turned around.
The climb down can be as arduous as the climb going up because of tired legs, heavier muscle strain and outright exhaustion. As they have this entire trip, our team performed like seasoned veterans, all arriving back at camp by 8 am. Usually getting back to camp provides a deep sense of relief and comfort, knowing the hard part is over. This morning that was not the case as the winds increased moderately on the upper mountain, they increased dramatically at camp. I almost wanted to start climbing back up the mountain just to avoid the scene. The tents were being held down by rocks and people just to be kept from blowing away, the dining tent was literally beginning to tear itself apart and the noise of flapping nylon could likely be heard ten miles away. But through incredible teamwork we were were able to keep our houses from blowing away and got things packed in relatively good order considering the mountain’s jet engine was on overdrive.
On the descent, some of us had to literally crawl on all fours to keep from blowing over. It was one of the windiest days I’ve ever seen. Thirty minutes after leaving camp we were sheltered enough to take a sigh of relief and walk normally to the bus waiting in the parking lot.
After a brief time to reflect and sit down, we loaded up and headed to Chimborazo Lodge where we are about to take dinner and give a final toast to a mountain that has taught us much more than just climbing skills.
So even though we didn’t reach the summit, we by no means consider this a failure. On the contrary, like our journey as a whole, we consider this a great success! It has been a wonderful two weeks!
Team Ecuador signing off.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Good job to all of you. Will be happy to see you all safely home.
Mom (Chris Condon’s Mom)
Posted by: Mary Accettura on 1/21/2019 at 8:37 pm
Great job! Looks like an amazing climb! Can’t wait to hear all about it!!
Posted by: Kerry on 1/24/2019 at 4:41 pm
Thanks to Christina & Co for the great photo and audio clip. We are SO proud of you and wish you continued success and fun! Special props to Andy & Mychal!
Posted by: Stephanie R on 1/24/2019 at 6:23 am
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