RMI Expeditions Blog

RMI Guides Casey Grom and Steve Gately led their Four Day Summit Climb September 7 - 10, 2016 teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  Steve reported clear skies with 20 mph winds and fairly cold temperatures.  The climbing route remains in great shape.  The teams enjoyed some time in the crater before starting their descent.  Both teams will return to Camp Muir for a short rest and to repack their gear before continuing down to Paradise.  We look forward to celebrating with them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.

Congratulations to today’s Summit Climb teams!

We enjoyed another nice evening here on Kilimanjaro and the good weather continued today as we approached Barafu Camp, our High Camp.  The team climbed well as we made the ascent from Karanga Camp to Barafu at 15,000’.  Clouds were rolling in and out this afternoon while we were busy making lunches and double checking our kits for the summit push ahead. After dinner we will climb into our tents and hope to get a few hours of sleep before we are awaken at midnight and start our push to the summit of Kilimanjaro.  Wish us luck! 

RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

We have arrived at the mountain!  Wow! Is all any of us could muster when we rolled into “Driver’s Camp” situated in a beautiful prairie at 16,500 feet.  Shishapangma is rising 10,000 feet straight in front of me like a fortress not meant to be breached. I don’t think any writer in the world could look out his window and see a vista so impressive as he puts his pen down in a stupor of amazement. 
This morning we all had to get our final emails and texts out to our loved ones.  As we drove we were graced with stunning views of Everest and Cho Oyu 60 miles across the moonscape of the Tibetan Plateau.  Fifty miles down the road should lead to nowhere but actually leads to somewhere, some of us still had cell service.  We will learn to unplug soon enough.  This place to all of us is beyond expectations.  No place could be better.

RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

Stars at night climber’s delight. Clear below brought out the city lights of Moshi, the town we will drive through on our way back to the Dik Dik after the climb. Look up and it’s star gazing at its finest. A restful night for the whole team, with a later wake up call to give us the climb of the Barranco Wall without a lot of other climbers. A number of the team had a nice intro to some real rock scrambling. A fine job by one and all, not without a few gasps and grunts prior to topping out on what ended up being a highlight and lots of fun. The support team pulled off some impressive maneuvers, carrying supplies and equipment, on their heads to boot. Our local guides coached and protected on the more difficult sections. A bit more leisurely today compared to yesterday but no less beautiful. We arrived at Karanga Camp by early afternoon, and were quickly greeted by some steamy hot spaghetti to fill our tanks for the climb ahead. Carb load is on!  The team continues doing very well.

RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Hello to everyone following the Mt. Shuksan Seminar. Tonight we are checking in from the North Cascades logging town of Sedro-Woolley, at the foot of Mt. Shuksan. Today was meant to be our summit attempt, but instead we awoke to pelting rain on our tents, similar to the weather we have been struggling with for the last four days. After having a group meeting and considering the options, we decided as a group to forego our summit bid in favor of descending to focus on training tomorrow. The weather forecast called for improving skies, but that has been the case each day and yet it continued to rain. We opted to find a dry place down here to ensure that we we able to finish all the training, rather then take the gamble on climbing and sit in a tent for another day. A hard decision to make, but one that we feel was right.
Thanks for following along this week.

Best,
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Solveig Waterfall, Jenny Konway and the RMI Shuksan Seminar crew

Good evening from Tingri.

We had a long day of driving on the road through the Tibetan Plateau… but it all was done in great spirits, as the grassy plains started to become rolling hills, and finally, snow capped mountains. We left Shigatse in the morning with rain, and the day became sunnier as we were devouring the kilometers that were also bringing us high. Entering the Chomolougma National Park (Everest) or reaching 17,000ft were only some of the exciting occurrences, alongside spotting the Turquoise Goddess (Cho Oyu) sneak from the clouds. A hike around the town of Tingri, where we’re spending the night at an elevation similar to the one of Mt. Rainier, culminated the day. Tomorrow we’ll be covering the last three-car hours of our Shishapangma approach, and we’ll be at driver’s camp, reuniting with our Sherpa team and cooks. Game is on!!!

RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team

You remember the feast of yesterday, add some sweet watermelon and that was the start of yet another clear sunny day. A bit breezy as we headed along a ridge for a good part of the day so the shorts people had to succumb to pants. The typical fantastic views all day as we climbed to well over 14,500ft before the descent into Barranco Camp. Camp is at about 13,000ft. The spectacular of tomorrow’s goal, the great Barranco Wall, looms over head. We are all settled in doing well. Aware of the challenges ahead, but as we say in Swahili, “Hakuna matata” (no problem) for this team.

RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

September 7, 2016
This morning we woke up in Lhasa, the spiritual and political capital of Tibet.  This city sits over 12,000 feet so it is fair to say there were a couple restless nights and throbbing heads as we adjusted to our new altitude and instant coffee downgrade.  After breakfast we took an incredible tour of the Potala Palace.  This is without question the most famous landmark in all of Tibet.  Built in 1645 as a winter home for the Dali Lama, the sheer size, engineering and magnificence of this palace inspires anyone lucky enough just to lay eyes on it.  So we felt privileged to have a three hour tour arranged for us beginning right after breakfast. 
Once on the streets of Lhasa, this preconceived idea of a beautiful, traditional Buddhist city got zapped straight out of our brains with blaring horns, massive buildings and what one person called the Times Square of Tibet directly in front of the palace’s gate.  Neon lights, swanky fashion shops, fancy cars, Lhasa has it all. 

After our brief culture shock we found ourselves deep in the heart of the Potala Palace, sanctuary to over a dozen Dali Lamas in the past 375 years.  It is difficult to describe how spectacular this place is.  From Dali Lama tombs to prayer rooms to sculptures cast in gold.  This place is truly remarkable.   
After the Palace tour our next excursion began.  The 180 mile drive from Lhasa to Shigatse.  With both cities holding populations greater than a half million, we simply could not believe the infrastructure projects connecting these two metropolises.  Paved highways, massive tunnels through giant mountains, apartment buildings ready to house thousands more Chinese coming to this high mountain desert. 
Beyond all of the cultural collisions, we made it to Shigatse in just over 7 hours.  If you do the math that is an average speed of 26 miles per hour.  We drove so slow at times the team thought we would get rear ended by a cow pulling a cart.  Ounce finally settled we had a fantastic dinner and can hardly contain our excitement for tomorrow’s repeat of snail crawling our way closer to Shishapangma.  We are all in great spirits and will touch base tomorrow.

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

Hello, this is RMI Guide Jenny Konway calling in from the low camp on Mount Shuksan here with the Shuksan Seminar. We had a great morning of training today out in the fog. It cleared up a little bit, and we saw some blue sky. This afternoon we attempted to go out and have some additional training, but got some heavy rain so we all retreated to our tents and had a good dinner. We are tucked in for the evening, hoping that the clouds we’ll part in the morning and have a shot at the summit. So we’re keeping our fingers crossed for nice weather. That’s it for now. Thanks for following along. Have a good night.

RMI Guide Jenny Konway

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir September 4 - 9, 2016 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning shortly before 9 am.  RMI Guides Brent Okita and Mike King reported favorable conditions with 20 mph winds - increasing as they neared the crater rim, some blowing snow, and clear skies. Mike said they can see clear to Mt. Jefferson.
After enjoying the summit today the teams will return to Camp Muir for two additional days of training.  We look forward to greeting the team when they return to Rainier BaseCamp on Friday. 

Congratulations to today’s climbers!