RMI Expeditions Blog
Resting today... We are all enjoying a pleasant afternoon up here at
Plaza Argentina. Our two principal goals for today are letting our bodies rest up from the work we've done over the past three days and continue that acclimatization process, and to prep and pack our gear, food, and fuel for tomorrow's planned carry up to Camp 1. The team is again in good spirits and enjoying the day. We'll check in again tomorrow and let you know how our first true push up the mountain went...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
It has been another great day on
Kilimanjaro. The weather has been fantastic and the crew has been getting stronger as we have climbed higher. I've been telling the team that this mountain can be cold but I don't think they believe me any more.
We are at high camp now which gives us about 12 hours to rest and fuel up for the summit push. Our crew has selected a great camp site with nice tent sites and that will really help us relax before the climb.
I will check in again from the summit if all goes well!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Greetings from the beautiful Eco Lodge of Tambopaxi, located inside of
Cotopaxi National Park. We are all resting nicely despite our elevation being well above 12,000 feet. In the ten days we have been in Ecuador, eight of them have been spent living or climbing above 14,000 feet so despite this lodge being higher than any staffed tourist joint in the US, we are all feeling dandy. It is amazing how after three days away from civilization the internet can trump even a shower. But now that we all got our fix, 19,400-foot
Cotopaxi is taking center stage in our heads and out the window.
It is quite a quick transition from mountain to mountain but the team's successful summit of Antisana, the first by any
RMI team, is proving a strong motivator to push our tired legs upward one more time. Our legs won't be the only tired things because with the famous Cotopaxi hut closed for the time being, Tambopaxi sits a short 45 minutes away from the trail head, which in turn sits a short 45-minute hike from the mountain's normal starting point so our wake up call will casually be at 9:30pm. We expect a long night and day so resting now is crucial. We will be taking dinner in an hour then getting ready for our final mountain climb. We will report tomorrow with the outcome.
Wishing all of our families and friends the best. We miss you all and look forward to coming home soon.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
We've made it to Basecamp! After three long days on the trail our team rolled on in to
Plaza Argentina this afternoon in good style and in good spirits. And while we are all feeling the altitude a little bit we are no worse for the wear. We enjoyed some refreshments upon arrival from the great Grajales staff and proceeded to set up camp and get settled in after a little breather. We just finished a great meal of of soup, homemade lasagna (!!!), and flan for dessert and are getting ready to tuck ourselves in for the evening. Up at nearly 14K, it's a fair bit colder here than it was on our trek in, especially at night so we're finally putting some of our warm clothes to good use. Typically, the first night at a higher elevation can be a little uncomfortable so we'll see how everybody fares tonight. I'm sure there may be a few headaches in the group, but that's totally normal... Anyway, we're all still having fun and looking forward to a good rest day tomorrow.
All for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Occupation Camp Two is in full effect ladies and gents. Our
Aconcagua team is thriving and jiving at 18,000 feet. It's the same old same old...eating, drinking soup, drinking mate, eating chocolate peanut butter cups and listening to opera. Yes! We have some class!
Our plan is to rest up here tomorrow before we move to high camp and the hope is to summit on the 19th. Keep your fingers crossed for continued good weather.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
Yoga studios have popped up nearly everywhere it seems and are as common as gyms in many places. Combine that with all sorts of free online classes and
podcasts, and yoga is an activity that is readily available to nearly everyone. There are numerous different styles which focus more heavily on different aspects of the practice, such as
stretching, building core strength, or mental training. The combination of strength, stretching, and focus that yoga builds can hold a lot of benefits for athletes, but many do not include it in their training routines. Yoga has a place in your training routine as you prepare for your next climb.
It builds strength: Training for climbing often focuses on a handful of major muscle groups in the legs and core. We do squats for our quads, carry weight up stairs to build our quad and hamstring strength, and do sit-ups and other core exercises for balance and to help stabilize a pack. All of this training does a great job building the major muscle groups we need, but often leaves the surrounding smaller muscles underdeveloped and leads to imbalances that can ultimately lead to injury. Frequent and consistent yoga practice helps to develop those smaller muscle groups that are often left out, helping to balance out the body.
Many yoga poses have a strong focus on balance: Consistent yoga practice helps to develop increased
balance and coordination. In climbing, good balance and coordination translate directly to more efficient movement, and ultimately to being able to climb for longer, at a more comfortable rate.
Yoga involves a lot of stretching and is a great way to increase your flexibility: Yoga improves joint and muscular flexibility, translating to greater range of motion, which in turn, yields an increase in performance. Increased range of motion also allows greater strength conditioning since the force can be exerted over a greater period. The increases in strength and performance ultimately lead to greater muscular efficiency, benefits which will certainly be felt on your next long summit day!
The Shavasana portion that usually concludes each class help you to develop mental control: Stretching and strength poses were originally included in the practice of yoga to prepare the mind and body for the meditation and mental training that follows. Developing the ability to calm your mind, quell your doubts, and focus on the task at hand makes climbing a much more enjoyable experience and will improve your success in the mountains.
The number and different types of yoga classes can be intimidating for someone exploring the practice of yoga. Shop around until you find a studio that you like, and explore the different classes they offer. Don’t be frustrated if you can’t do the poses at first; stick with it for a few weeks and you’ll make huge improvements in your practice and will see the benefits creep into the rest of your training.
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RMI Blog!
Hello from
Kilimanjaro! Today was just one of those nice and pleasant days in the mountains. We started out with our normal morning routine of breakfast and packing. But instead of getting right on the trail we hung back and watched the whole camp get packed up. Our big objective of the day was to climb the
Barranco Wall and if we set right out for it, we would be in a big traffic jam on the steep rocky wall. By letting literally everyone get out of camp before us we were able to climb the route by ourselves. It was great.
After topping out on the 900-foot wall we had another two hours on the trail before camp. We arrived here at 1:30 and have had a nice relaxing afternoon. Soon it will be time for dinner and off to bed. Tomorrow we are headed to high camp!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Journey to Casa de Piedra.
Our crew made great time today on our march from Pampa de Leñas to our second trekking camp at Casa de Piedra. We had significantly cooler temps today and some welcome cloud cover (albeit with a few sprinkles) which made for a much more pleasant walk than yesterday. The crew is starting to find the rhythm of the mountain and also finding a good synergy among the teammates. We are all having fun and even enjoying some interesting people.
Good times! Headed for
Aconcagua Basecamp tomorrow...
Talk soon.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
January 14, 2015
Hola de Pampa de Leñas! Today our team made our first moves in the mountains in great style by ticking off the first stretch on our three day journey to
Plaza Argentina, our basecamp. The trail was hot and dusty but we enjoyed a nice breeze from time to time and incredible views that made the heat bearable. After setting up our camp we had the good fortune to greet another RMI expedition as they arrived in camp returning from a successful summit bid a few days ago. Big congrats to Zeb and his crew! We all got to share an asado last night complete with grilled beef tenderloin and vino which was quite a treat. The herrieros (mule drivers) cooked for us over an open fire... Pretty classy backcountry living. We're thankfully not on the ramen noodle program yet, it was nice to hold that off another day. Anyway, all is well and tomorrow calls for another day of walking up the Vacas Valley... We'll check in and let you know how it goes.
All for now,
RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Katrina Bloemsma, and Billy Haas
On The Map
The last few days have been a whirlwind. Just three days ago we stood on the top of
Aconcagua, the highest peak outside of Asia.
We pushed hard to get down to the land of thick air, fresh food and running water. Last night we celebrated at our last camp of the expedition with a huge feast of carne asada, fresh tomato salad a little vino tinto and everyone's stories and jokes.
Tonight we're really back in civilization. Freshly showered and dressed up, we're headed to sample some of Mendoza's renowned cuisine.
For now we'll leave you with a shot from the summit. Cheers!
RMI Guide Zeb Blais and team
Lucy - Great going. Enjoy your day off. We hope you have great weather for the rest of the climb. We miss you. Love, Carter, Walker and Christopher
Posted by: Carter on 1/18/2015 at 9:17 am
Glen, we are with you - in thought anyway. It is good to see photos, so we can see, too. Now, your training is paying off!
Posted by: Jerry y Rhonda on 1/18/2015 at 8:11 am
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