RMI Expeditions Blog
Everyone slept well last night; the effects of international travel are rapidly disappearing. We woke up this morning at Machame camp to fine weather. We left camp early this morning and experienced great route conditions on our 4.5 hour climb to
Shira Camp. A hot lunch greeted us once we arrived at camp, delicious! Now the team is resting and exploring our camp on the
Shira Plateau. At 12,000 plus feet on Kilimanjaro, there isn't too much in the way of plant life but there are incredible views of the Great Rift Valley and the summit of Kilimanjaro.
The team is in good shape and high spirits. We will keep you posted as we continue to progress up the mountain.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
A new day has dawned! The December 28th
Aconcagua team has come together in Mendoza! Yesterday evening the team enjoyed a great Argentine dinner...yum. This morning it's business, business, business as we secure our permits, pay our climbing fee, and do some last minute shopping. The team is ready and set to go. Next stop...Penitentes!!
RMI Guides
JJ Justman and
Pepper Dee
Call it Camp 2 while your on the mountain and you will get a curious look from the locals, but call it
Chopper Camp or Guanaco 3 and they will smile. The team woke this morning and carried food and equipment to Guanaco 3 (our Camp 2). Some of our legs felt a bit heavy from the move yesterday but we made it.
As we turned the corner at Ameghino Col the winds increased and we took in stellar views of La Mano, Mercedario and other 6000 m. peaks in the San Juan Province.
We are back in Camp 1 looking forward to a rest day on Wednesday. Weather and high winds are rolling in, good night from our cozy tents at 16,400 ft.
RMI Guide Mike King and team
On The Map
The search for the missing bag ended late last night. The bag finally caught a flight from the Netherlands to Tanzania and was returned to its proper owner.
This morning after a delicious breakfast, the team and all of our gear made the drive from the DikDik Hotel to the Machame Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park at 5,900 ft. After registering with the Park, we spent five hours on the trail enjoying great weather and trail conditions. Thanks to our local staff a fine camp was in place when we arrived at 9,890 ft
Machame Camp, our first camp on the mountain. Our team did a nice job by the team getting to our first camp in good time and with fine technique. Everyone is doing well. It is time for
dinner. We will check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
After two days and 9,000 miles of travel the team is assembled in Tanzania. We are still waiting for a bag to arrive. The bag missed its connection in the Netherlands due to poor weather but we are hopeful it will arrive tonight. Thankfully the weather is great in here and the team is excited to start climbing
Kilimanjaro tomorrow!
We will keep you posted as we continue our adventure.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
This is RMI Guide
Mike King and the Team checking in from
Camp 1, 16,400 ft! We had slightly lighter packs then our carry day but still hot temperatures radiating off the snow fields. After 4 nights at 14,000 the team cruised up to Camp in good form.
The climbers are enjoying some rest time in the warm tents and organizing their gear for our carry to Chopper Camp tomorrow.
These climbers bring a lot of different mountaineering and climbing experience to the team and watching them pitch camp today makes a guide team proud.
Thanks for following along.
On The Map
Not a whole lot to report during our rest day at
Plaza Argentina, which is indicative of a successful and relaxing day after yesterday's carry to Camp 1.
After a good breakfast the Team took advantage of washing clothes for the trek out and really enjoyable showers offered by one of the logistic companies here.
We could continue to delay our ascent with all the amenities of base camp, but will pack up our gear and move up to Camp 1 at 16,400ft.
That's all from Plaza Argentina
RMI Guide Mike King
This is Mike and Team checking in after our return from
Camp 1 @ 16,400ft. The Mountain got a lot of snow this winter compared to the past 10 seasons. This made for difficult climbing through snow features called 'penitentes' that form from dust, wind and sunlight. Today they were six feet tall in some places.
Combine the narrow snow features with heat and glare reflecting off the white snow and the Team had it's work cutout for them. We stocked our camp with food and supplies to both lighten our load on the 28th and to help acclimate.
Tomorrow is a rest day and everyone is looking forward to sleeping in.
Thanks for following the expedition.
RMI Guide Mike King
This is
Mike and the team checking in from
Aconcagua Base Camp on our first rest day. The team woke this morning with smiles on their faces and all reporting a good night's sleep despite the locals celebrating Christmas Eve until 4:30am.
The Guide Elves had some stockings for the team to open and we are currently resting and preparing our gear for the carry to Camp 1 on Saturday.
Nice calm, warm and relaxing day at Plaza Argentina.
Merry Christmas!
Messages from the team:
Hey mom Katie and Kevin, and Marni! Merry Christmas. Miss and love you guys! Mike
Staying positive, wish me luck. Carmen and Adnan, miss and love you! Hinan.
Merry Christmas, Mom! Only 9,000' to the summit. Dave
Merry Christmas Ben and Blake and all. All is well here. Love you and will see you soon.
Merry Christmas Poppy, friends, SFFG & SH! We are in good shape at base camp and having a great Christmas Day. Love to all, Meredith
Merry Christmas Ma, Pa, CM, Bro, Nolan, Sis, Alyssa, CB, Kyle, Stevo, Jester, and all of our friends back in Canada! A very fun white Christmas up here at 13,800. Love, Jeff
John here hanging tough. 30 miles and 5800 feet of altitude gain over 3 days left me fighting some altitude effects. Decided to take some of my own advice- ride out the storm and eat the elephant one bite at a time. Feeling 100% better now on Christmas Day! Love to all!!
On The Map
Hi everyone,
We woke early to catch a mule ride across the Vacas River. A few chose to walk across the icy water, which felt good on sore feet from the two previous days of walking.
We enjoyed spectacular views of
Aconcagua with snow wisps off the top of the Polish Glacier near the summit.
The team is resting after gaining 3,000+ feet and adjusting to the air at base camp. We will rest tomorrow and prepare for our first round of moving food and gear to Camp 1 on Saturday.
Look for a message from the entire team tomorrow as it will be Christmas.
RMI Guide Mike King
Hey Mountain Mike, we are watching you with interest. Be strong. Rest up for the next phase is the exciting one. Hope the increased snow makes your summit easier.
Posted by: Mark & Pat on 1/4/2016 at 7:42 am
Brian and Brad Beginning of a great adventure. Gather your stories, we want to hear them all. What a way to start the new year. Have fun, be safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Posted by: Mom and Dad, (Ben and Sharon) on 12/31/2015 at 1:03 pm
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