RMI Expeditions Blog
Posted by: Hannah Smith
Categories: Guide News
Evening!
Today we finished our last day of driving. After a three hour drive in a jeep with a muddy finish we arrived in Talkot. After many selfies, mostly taken by the local people and a delicious dinner, we are readying for bed. Tomorrow we start walking!
RMI Guide Hannah Smith
We started our morning with a simple question: coffee or tea? I am a coffee person along with most of the members of the team, so we say coffee, black coffee. Our meanings of black coffee are different. In Nepal it seems all black coffee means sugar water with a hint of coffee...so we take our shot of hot sugar water and prepare for the day (tomorrow morning we will make our own coffee with my MSR windburner stove and Starbucks Via). Today was another day of driving on the windy, one and three quarter lane road. As the bus bumped along the road with horns sounding our presence around the turns, you can't help but zone out. Thoughts of how simple life is here, with minimal distraction from social media and media in general...it seems nice, but then the mind floats to the mountains and what you should climb next. We arrived in the town of Chainpur where we were once again greeted to the town by dance, scarves and flowers. But this greeting was different for this time we got to meet the four Nepali women that will be joining us on our climb. They range from the age of 19 to 25. They have been training for this climb the last four months by trekking into the basecamp and in Kathmandu. They are all very excited and eager to climb and learn some more, just as were are excited to climb, teach and learn ourselves. We took an afternoon stroll to the top of the foothills to stretch our legs before we sat down for a delicious dinner of fried rice. We are definitely eating our weight in rice on this trip. As the evening winds down, we enjoy our last chance on the wifi and get ready for bed. Tomorrow brings our last day of driving and the start of our trekking.
Climb on,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith
Posted by: Hannah Smith
Categories: Guide News
Namaste Everyone!
Today is a day that will never be forgotten. It started early in the morning as we made our way to the airport. We boarded the plane for a 50 minute flight. The views were amazing! The Himalayas are so magnificent...it sparks a desire to climb out there. Upon arrival to Dhangadi we were greeted by the Chaliya dance. A dance blessing the Burga Goddess, to give us all power. We then engaged in three more welcoming celebrations, one by the Minister of Tourism, another by the Prime Minister of the region, and the final one by the town of Khodpe where we are spending the night. With music, dancing, scarves, lays, and red smears on our foreheads it was an experience like no other. After many hours on the windy mountain roads with the drivers laying down their horns to signal we are coming around the blind turn we are ready to get some sleep before another day of driving and celebrating tomorrow.
Goodnight everyone,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith
Congratulations on your progress and who knew it would be so much fun. Onward and upward you go in your amazing adventure.
Posted by: Michelle (Glo's mom) on 10/19/2018 at 10:58 am
Hello everyone from Nepal!
We have been in Kathmandu a handful of days now enjoying the food and culture as we get ready for our climb. The climb we are apart of is called Mission Saipal. Mission Saipal is an international climbing team composed of four different nationalities (Spanish, Italian, Nepalese, and American) coming together to climb in the far west region of Nepal.This area of Nepal is rarely visited by western tourist/climbers. Our mission out there is to join forces with four Nepali women who want to fight for women's rights and emancipation in the Saipal region of Nepal by climbing a peak near their village. These women come from a culture that sees women as inferior, second class to the men. They have little respect and freedom to do what they please. They have yet to gain equal rights. Our purpose of this climb is a social one. We are climbing together to show everyone that women are strong, independent, and equal. They are courageously taking the steps to change the view of women, to a more positive one. We hope to be the catalyst for change to improve the way of life for these women and future women. We are all very excited for this opportunity to climb together. This is a journey we will all remember and hopefully be life changing. Tomorrow we kick of the adventure by taking a plane ride to Dhangadi followed by a four hour drive to Dadheldhura.
Namaste,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith
Gloria and team! so admire your commitment and adventurous spirit. Looking forward to frequent blogs.
Be safe and strong!
Posted by: Mary Ann on 10/18/2018 at 10:08 am
Good luck! Be safe and powerful. The very best to all of you.
Posted by: Nira givon on 10/18/2018 at 8:37 am
Posted by: Tyler Reid
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Chile Ski
Yesterday turned out to be a stormy one on Osorno. With hopes of possible clearing we set off from the hut in weather that felt more like winter in Hokkaido than spring on the volcanoes. After 1200’ of climbing, it became apparent that things would not be improving anytime soon. We skied down, and like clockwork, the skies began to clear. But it was just a Northern Patagonia sucker hole, and soon it was pounding snow once again. We had a nice evening on the lake in the beautiful town of Puerto Varas, a great place to wrap up a very successful trip with a fantastic crew. It’s a beautiful morning as I write this, with Osorno looking proud across the water. A good reason to come back..
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
The storm arrived to the region as predicted yesterday and continues out our window here on the lower flanks of Volcan Osorno. We are sipping coffee by the fire in the comfort of our refugio after a chill day of travel to get here. Hard to say if tomorrow will be a summit day, but it looks pretty promising as a powder day!
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
Greetings from Kathmandu!
We have officially finished our trip. We flew out of the Himalaya this morning, right on time as the skies above Lukla allowed airplanes to do their thing. Everyone is resting in the hotel now, getting ready for our trips back home.
A trip where everyone one finishes together at the start point, with tired muscles but a backpack full of memories, is a successful trip. Now we'll tell the individual stories back home. Thanks for following our progress through this beautiful valley at the foothills of the roof of the earth!
Pheri bhetaula! (Until next time, in Nepali)
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos
Wanting to make the best of our closing weather window, I managed to convince our team to forego our rest day today and go for our third summit in three days, Villarrica. Our alpine start began with a three-hour drive, arriving at a socked-in trailhead. Was this a good idea? It didn’t seem like it until the early afternoon when we popped above the clouds. The mental fatigue of skinning in a whiteout gave way to nice views and general alpine enjoyment, even as the wind increased. We tagged the top, peered into the active crater, and 5,500 feet later were drinking beer in the parking lot. Tomorrow the storm arrives, and we rest.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Gokyo Trek
Good evening from Lukla!
Our trek has come to an end. We descended the last two days from Khumjung to Lukla, under the best weather we could have for the long journey back towards our starting point, after closing the loop in Namche.
While tired, it felt good to see the many trekkers on this section of the trail shared with the main Everest Base Camp route. Why? Because now we appreciate even more the solitude of the Gokyo Trek.
The air became thicker, and the lodges warmer. We celebrated tonight at our tea house in Lukla with a good dinner and our support crew, who really helped us in making our journey not only more pleasant, but actually feasible.
We're hoping to fly to Kathmandu tomorrow, weather permitting, and officially close our program.
Shuva Rattri from the Himalaya!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Today we returned to Lonquimay for redemption! Our team summited in perfect weather with views of eight volcanoes to the north and south. Skiing conditions off the top were perfection. Now we are getting ready for one of the most important events of this trip: Sergio’s famous asado.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
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Might be a good idea to switch to tea…
Posted by: Mary Ann on 10/20/2018 at 9:11 am
So exciting!
Posted by: Mary Ann on 10/20/2018 at 12:37 am
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