RMI Expeditions Blog
After a spending a rest and acclimation day at Camp Muir, the Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team had clear skies all the way to the summit.
Congratulations to today's team!
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Tyler Reid reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Tyler and team climbed above the clouds today and had clear and sunny skies.
Congratulations to today's team!
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 15,925
Hello, this is the Artesonraju team calling from Moraine Camp, (high camp). Unfortunately we cannot celebrate a summit, but we were short of it today. We had to bail 150 meters prior to the summit, that's roughly 450 feet, given the bad snow and ice conditions that we had on the head wall, but we did put up a fight on a challenging climb. Everybody's doing great here. Looking forward to getting down to basecamp and eventually to Vaqueria tomorrow. So stay tuned for our full report on the trip in a couple days. Hopefully all are doing well at home. Thanks for following. Bye.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos calls from Moraine Camp.
Posted by: Zeb Blais, Chase Nelson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,400'
Ahh how nice it is to finally be settled into a camp in the mountains. The lowlands have treated us well but this is what we came here for! This morning we boarded a bus and said goodbye to Huaraz and began our hike into the Ishinca Valley. Mule assistance kept our packs light and views of the Cordillera Blanca inspired our trek all the way to basecamp.
We built camp in a grassy meadow at 14,300 ft. flanked by our climbing objectives for the coming days. We're enjoying a bit of relaxation and adjusting to our new altitude at camp, before the real training starts tomorrow!
RMI Guides Zeb Blais and Chase Nelson
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 12,300'
Our first clue that things had changed was that it was COLD this morning. Still cozied in our sleeping bags, we peeked out of the tent, and couldn't find a cloud in the sky anywhere. Psyched to have a break from the rain, we layered up and headed out to fire up breakfast and get our train rolling uphill.
The climbing above Camp 1 follows a broad glacial shoulder almost straight up to Lenz Rocks above us. As fast as we can tell, most Russian climbers don't believe in switchbacks. There is a wide trail punched into the snow, but it goes straight up. We made some switchbacks of our own, cruising up to our next camp in style, where we deposited a load of food and a bit of fuel, before returning. The downhill trail couldn't be any better for making good time, and quickly we were back at our tents at 12,300'. The rain even stayed away for us to have a nice dinner outside together, and take some night shots of the moon rising over Elbrus' twin summits.
If all goes well, we'll pack up camp tomorrow to move to Lenz for the night and start our summit bid. The next couple of days should be busy!
Best from way up here,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, JM Gorum and team
On The Map
After a night of distant thunder and periodic power outages, it was a bit of a surprise to wake to relatively calm weather and clearing skies. The team was ready for a 6:30 breakfast and had no trouble making our planned 7:30 departure from the Dik Dik. But more than one person was heard saying how comfortable the place was and what a shame that we actually had to leave such comfort. These thoughts faded quickly as we loaded into the big green Mercedes Benz expedition truck/bus and started heading East toward our mountain. The skies kept clearing as we moved down the highway, giving us some great views of Kilimanjaro. Two hours got us to the Machame Gate of the national park... the end of the road. We got out and got our permitting chores finished as our local guides figured out staffing and Porter loads. Then we got to the good part. We set out walking. We pushed upward from about 60,00 ft through jungle and tall forest. We'd found cloud cover again, but that just protected us from the sun and we didn't mind a little mist and murk. Six hours of slow, steady work took us from the zone of big trees to the land of giant heather. At almost 10,000 ft we walked into a perfectly built camp -our staff had carried more than us, walked faster, and had enough time left over to get camp all ready for our arrival. We were humbled but happy to crawl into tents. Just in time, as it turned out, since the rain began the moment we did so. Still, it was comfortable sipping tea before dinner in our dry dining tent. We had a fine meal and retired to our tents, pleasantly tired and happy to finally be on our mountain.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Can’t imagine what you are able to see! What an experience! Thinking of you Jason and Jasna! Love you both
Posted by: Pam Bethea on 8/10/2016 at 4:30 am
Hey Rick and carol good luck on your expedition. Liv and I are following along! Will see you guys when you get back.
Keith
Posted by: Keith Staley on 8/9/2016 at 8:30 pm
We got up this morning, had a nice breakfast, and departed from Cheget to begin our climb. A quick ten or so minute drive brought us up to Azau, which apparently means something along the lines of "end of the road," where we schlepped all of our gear onto the tram system which eventually brought us up to our home for the next few days. Our camp up here at "The Barrels" is cozy but nice and we've been enjoying the great food from our two Russian cooks Masha and Dasha. Even in the midst of today's shuffle we were able to sneak in a nice hike for a couple hours that brought us up to nearly 14,000'. The weather is looking promising and we're looking forward to another acclimatization tomorrow that should take us even higher on the mountain.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Way to go, Brian (Parky) and the whole team. Looking happy and strong.
Judi
Posted by: Judi Sarafin on 8/9/2016 at 2:50 pm
Hi James,
It has been great to follow daily and see photos of you and team looking good.
Good-luck and safe climbing to the summit! Love, mom & dad
Posted by: Soonja Choo on 8/9/2016 at 12:31 pm
Posted by: Geoff Schellens
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Geoff Schellens did not have the weather window they hoped for last night and were unable to make a summit attempt. Geoff reported that there was about 6 inches of fresh snow on the route. The team will be finishing out their week training on many alpine mountaineering skills before heading back to Rainier Basecamp tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations to the Emmons Team!
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Brent Okita reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Brent and team were above the clouds with clear skies. The started their descent at 7:45 am and are on their way back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team!
Posted by: Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Rain, early bus ride and some sore legs were the deciding factors to hangout this morning in Aquas Calientes instead of heading up to hike Machu Picchu mountain.
The team will pack up and take a 3:30 train back to Cusco. This will be our final dispatch of what has been an incredible trek through beautiful mountains, culminating in a nice day at Machu Picchu!
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
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Welcome down, safe & sound!! Kim, you (and the team) are amazing adventurers! I try to imagine that amount of effort for that many days in that frigid cold and wind, and needless to say, it’s impossible. Great job on all fronts and congratulations on this tough climb!!! XXX Trish
Posted by: Trish on 8/12/2016 at 4:01 pm
Hi Kim , We are very proud of you & the entire team!!! It must have been a very exciting climb! We look forward to hearing all about this expedition & of course seeing the amazing photos!! Travel safe & stay well!! Love, Dad
Posted by: SHEL on 8/10/2016 at 7:47 am
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