RMI Expeditions Blog
Posted by: Christina Dale, Katrina Bloemsma, Joe Hoch
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Christina Dale reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Christina reported cold temperatures and windy conditions on the summit. The team began their descent to Camp Muir shortly after 8:00 a.m. PDT. The Five Day Summit Climb team will spend one more night at Camp Muir before returning to Ashford tomorrow afternoon.
Way to climb!
Posted by: JJ Justman, Megan Budge, Blake Votilla
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guide JJ Justman and the Four Day Summit Climb team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier under cold and gusty conditions. The team began their descent shortly after 8:00 a.m. PDT. On their descent, the team will stop at Camp Muir to rest and repack before continuing their descent to Paradise. They will return to Ashford and Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations!
We descended into the cloud forest today in route to our camp, Chaquicocha (9,900 ft). The temperature has increased and the vegetation is abundant after hiking over 2 passes. With the passes consisting of 1,800+ Incan steps on the descent the Team is enjoying having their boots off and a refreshing bowl of water to cool off and clean up.
Our weather has been great, a little cold for some the first two days, no rain and we got some clouds and cool air today to make for great pictures and respite from the sun.
We had the trail to ourselves except when porters would run by which allowed the Team to explore two Incan sites without fellow trekkers present. The meals continue to impress and we are excited to get into Machu Picchu for sunrise in two days time. Until then, we have more stairs to climb, card games to play and spectacular mountain vistas to absorb.
RMI Guide Mike King
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 18,500'
Hello - This is Elias and Eric. We are on the summit of Paria North at 5,500 meters roughly 18,500' and it's a beautiful day up here. We can see a lot of the cool summits of the Cordillera Blanca. We just wanted to let you know that we are are starting our descent. We will let you know what happens in the next few days on the blog. That is all for now everybody's good and we are enjoying ourselves.
Take care,
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos call from the summit of Paria North.
Posted by: Billy Nugent
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Greetings from Moscow!
Today was our first full day as a team and we spent it touring some of the famous spots in Moscow. The day kicked off with a viewing of Lenin in his tomb. It's not everyday you get to see a revolutionary embalmed and behind glass... We also visited many churches and buildings in and around Red Square including the Kremlin and the iconic St. Basil's Cathedral (of Tetris fame). After a while the heat and crowds were getting to us so we made a run for lunch and enjoyed a nice meal at a French bistro. Some of us walked back to the hotel while others Ãœbered but we all got a few hours off before reconvening for a team dinner. Tomorrow it's off to Mineralnye Vody early in the morning and by evening we should make it to the Caucasus.
Прощай (goodbye), for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Posted by: Mike Walter, Pepper Dee, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb Teams for August 3 - 6, 2016 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI Guide Pepper Dee reported from the crater that they enjoyed clear skies with a slight breeze and great climbing conditions. The teams began their descent from the crater rim shortly before 8 am. Climbers will continue down to Paradise later this afternoon and return to Rainier BaseCamp in Ashford to celebrate their success.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 16,404'
Hello from Paria high camp at 5000 meter.This is a satellite peak of Artesonraju we've decided to climb to acclimatize. So far it's a Mars like landscape. All is good, stay tuned for our summit dispatch.
RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos & Eric Frank
Today we are checking in from our camp, Llulluchapampa at 12,303 ft. We had a warm day walking out the Kusichaka river valley through more small villages and got to spend some time in at an Incan site. The series of terraces and walls are believed to have been a trading post for agricultural goods arriving from the jungle and high mountains to be dispersed throughout the Incan empire.
After another delicious lunch we joined the traditional Inca trail at Wayllabamba where our mule drivers departed and our porters arrived to shoulder our camp. The 16 porters are from the same village in the Andes and work as a crew. During the high season they work four to five 4 day trips, carrying 55 lbs each day. The Team is grateful and amazed with how they bound up the trail above 10,000 ft with relative ease.
So far we have not seen another group of hikers the entire trek, that will changed tomorrow evening as we approach the final 2 camps before Machu Picchu. We will get an early start so we can enjoy a quite day. Everyone is feeling great and taking in the amazing vistas of the Andes.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
Posted by: Billy Nugent
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Greetings!
Our whole team has officially arrived in Russia without a hitch... even all of our bags made it! Most of the the crew was pretty travel weary so we grabbed a quick dinner here in Moscow and headed back to the hotel to crash early. Jet lag is always a bit of a hurdle at the beginning of these trips but we'll hit our stride soon enough. Excited for a city your tomorrow of Red Square and the Kremlin!
Talk tomorrow,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 8,300'
The mountain was calling and we answered. We spent the last two days making our way towards Elbrus. Our apologies for the lack of a dispatch yesterday, but the small city of Kislovodsk that is our jumping off point is not a hotbed of wifi access. Some smooth flights got us that far yesterday, and we spent the afternoon shopping for food and putting the final touches on our expedition preparations. We were overjoyed when the bags for three of our team members finally arrived in Moscow, and they were able to grab them and rejoin us late last night. The woes of travel.
This morning we boarded a new off-road sprinter van type machine that our driver Alexei referred to as his "Russian hammer," and started the winding drive through the steppes of the Caucasus. After an hour and a bit we left the pavement and set out along the four wheel road - which at times had our hearts creeping towards our mouths with the precipitous slopes that drop from the side of the road - that takes us to base camp at 8,300'. We arrived, said goodbye to Alexei, whose jolly laugh had kept the mood light, and set up our compound. An afternoon hike into the surrounding hills let us stretch our legs and find an incredible waterfall that cuts straight through a large rock ridge, reemerging on the other side. An afternoon siesta led to dinner, and just as we were ready to serve it up, the rain started with a few flashes of lightning. We retreated to our tents with our meals, and are now getting ready to hit the hay as we listen to rain drops beat a percussion on our tents, happy to be dry.
All the best from here,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, JM Gorum, and team
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Cheers to Roland from his fans in Atlanta!
Posted by: Meg Schlachter on 8/9/2016 at 6:43 pm
Wonderful! Sounds like everything is on schedule! Played trivia last week - one of the questions was “what sport uses an ice pick?” Yea! we knew! Love, momma
Posted by: Jane Lubow on 8/8/2016 at 8:08 am
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