RMI Expeditions Blog

It was another beautiful day here on Mt. Elbrus! We woke to clear skies, calm winds and a amazing view of the enormous Caucasus range. We had our standard breakfast of porridge, boiled eggs, assorted meats, cheeses and coffee. Today was our planned acclimatization day and the team set shortly after 8:30 and hiked for about 3 hours uphill and reached about 15,000', which was a new record for some! Along the way we ran into former RMI guide Craig Van Hoy. It was nice seeing an old friend and chatting with other Americans. We enjoyed the views took a few photos and then headed back down to camp for another amazing hot lunch cooked up by Russia's finest, Albina! The remainder of the afternoon has been spent relaxing in camp, listening to the thunder outside and taking naps. All is well and the team is looking forward to doing a little technical training and resting tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

RMI Guide Lindsay Mann recently sat down with the crew at MTNmeister, a five day-a-week podcast that that explores the training, stamina, strength, and psychology of outdoor mountain athletes. Below is an excerpt from Lindsay’s interview where she discusses some perspectives on training for Mt. Rainier: MTNmeister: Talk a little bit about the types of preparation you should be doing with types of mountains like Mt. Rainier…obviously it can just get scaled up from there, there are a lot of people who do larger Himalayan peaks actually train on Mt. Rainier so that would be a good place to start. Where would that training start? Lindsay Mann: I definitely recognize as [a] guide that my lifestyle revolves around being in the mountains and that’s not the reality for all of the people that we climb with. Though, I think it’s important for people that do have a more typical lifestyle is getting in some endurance training. Obviously running is great, [really] any type of endurance [training]. Also, training with a pack. I climbed with my dad and he had to be in New York City a couple of weeks before coming out to Rainier so he climbed as many stairs as he could carrying a 40 pound pack. He just filled a bunch of water jugs and put them in his pack. I think that is an important part of that too, if that’s how you do end up training (doing some sort of stairs) is [remembering] to train for the way downhill. So, mentally think about getting to the top, but people forget that they also have to get off of the mountain. I think that for us as guides, the number one thing is getting back home safely. Remembering that training downhill, both mentally and physically, is an important part of the training. I think that switching it up too, endurance stuff, having a strong core, being creative about your training is very important. MM: The downhill part that you mentioned, how are you normally descending the mountains? LM: We go down the same route typically that we go and I think it’s just [remembering to use] a lot of the efficiency techniques that we teach on the way up, like the rest step which I’m sure many people have heard of… MM: Would you explain the rest step? LM: The rest step is a stance where you have your lower leg straight and your upper leg is bent so all of your body weight is resting on your skeletal system instead of on your muscles. And then just a quick step to that next rest stance so that once again all of your weight is on that lower leg resting more on your skeletal system. It’s a nice small step so that you are saving as much energy as you can on the way up and getting a little bit of a rest with each step. MM: So you are putting more pressure on your skeletal system and saving your muscles for the endurance basically? LM: Yeah, essentially saving your muscles for the way down. On the way down you don’t want to lock out your leg - you just can’t do it. It’s a lot harder just to walk down. MM: You mentioned that your father was training by climbing up and down stairs and he had his backpack full of water, how do climbers know that the training is going to be appropriate for the type of trip they are going to do because they probably have never been to that location, unless it’s you as a guide who has gone there fifty times so you know exactly what it’s like. Do you recommend a person that is going to go up a mountain like Rainier to work with a guiding company like you on the training aspect too? Or is it just looking on the internet, following some other sorts of guidelines? LM: We actually have a specific training and fitness page and there, there are a lot of good training tips. There are a variety of training tips, for people that have a more “regular” lifestyle, like a nine-to-five job. Also, interspersed in there is some of the training that we guides do. That’s one of the best tools that our climbers can use. My dad actually, after he was training, wrote a blog piece on there about the training that he did. He spent a lot of time training in New Hampshire, so he [describes] some hikes that he did that he felt prepared him adequately for Mt. Rainier in his progression. Listen to the entire podcast and see more of MTNMeister’s episodes at mtnmeister.com. ______ Lindsay Mann is a lead guide with RMI Expeditions and has guided and climbed around the world, including a recent all women's ski mountaineering trip to Alaska's Wrangell St. Elias. Learn more about the trip by listening to the full interview. Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!

The Four Day Summit Climbs led by RMI Guides Garrett Stevens and Win Whittaker reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The teams reported cool temperatures, winds 20 mph and clear skies. They began their descent from the summit at 7 am en route to Camp Muir. They will take a short break there before continuing down to Paradise. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Geoff Schellens also made their summit push today. Geoff and team were also beginning their descent from the crater rim around 7 am. They will return to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain. Congratulations to today's climbers!

Greetings again from Cuzco, We had a great first day of official activities, with a morning packed of visits to the main monuments of the city. From the amazing, earthquake proof Inca walls of Koricancha, to the 16th Century Cathedral, we did also, without noticing, start our acclimatization process by stretching our legs across this ancient city. Gear check and hike briefing with our local outfitter filled the afternoon. We look forward to yet another day of discovery, along the Sacred Valley Of The Incas tomorrow. Best regards, RMI Guide Elías and team

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Billy Nugent and the Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Zeb Blais reached the summit of Mt. Rainier earlier this morning. The team has descended safely to Camp Muir where they will pack up before continuing their descent to Paradise. We look forward to greeting the teams when they arrive in Ashford later this afternoon. Congratulations to today's climbers!

We are getting ready for dinner here just outside of Arusha in the lowlands of Tanzania. Everybody is healthy and happy. It’s crazy to think where we were just yesterday--what a great climb. We moved up the hill like clockwork. I was very impressed by the strength, both mental and physical, by one and all during such an arduous task. This morning we had a nice walk in the cloud forest, and yes we were in the clouds. It was so lush and pretty. After reaching the Mweka Gate and having lunch, we said farewell to our local staff and a “thank you so much” to the staff of the Dik Dik Hotel—one of the best outfitters for Kilimanjaro. They offer great support and I will defiantly use them again. How about next week? Is that soon enough? But first I will spend a few days on safari game viewing with the team. We’ve made some great memories already and more are yet to come. I will do my best to keep you in the loop on phase two of the “A Team” in East Africa. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

The rains came in the wee hours at Machame Camp this morning. We were all snug in our sleeping bags and dry in our tents, but each of the team heard the showers and wondered how things might be if it all didn't quit by morning. Well, it didn't quit, but things weren't too bad, as it turned out. We geared up in waterproof clothing and got out into light showers and persistent mist. We'd breakfasted and busted out of camp by eight AM, climbing a steep and slippery trail with big lava-block steps. We climbed for several hours in the cloud, wondering just which grand views we were missing. It never got unbearably wet and we were spared from the possibility of overheating from too much sun. Most of our altitude for the day had been gained and we were beginning the leftward traverse which would bring us to the Shira Plateau when we climbed out of the clouds. It seemed we were in a great garden of wildflowers as we proceeded around the corner to Shira. And then we could see - for the first time - the upper slopes and glaciers of Kilimanjaro. It was an exciting moment, made better by the realization that we only had some easy downhill walking left to go in order to reach camp at 12,570 ft above sea level. We were looking out over an endless sea of cloud and enjoying the sunshine for a time...the clouds washed back over camp in the mid-afternoon. By then though, we were well-fed and well-sheltered in our new and higher home. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

We started our day at a reasonable hour with breakfast at 8:00 am; we had porridge, fried eggs, and of course plenty of the Starbucks coffee we brought along. After breakfast, we finished the remainder of our packing and headed over to the gondola and hitched a ride further up the mountain to our new base camp. Two gondola rides and one super long single chair lift delivered us to our new home just over 12,000'. Our new home is basically a retrofitted shipping container, and to be honest it's reasonably comfortable. We had a nice lunch prepared by our wonderful cook, Albina. She's a great cook, but I think is a little over worked as she's been up here since my last trip. With our gondola and chair lift rides this morning, we needed some post-lunch exercise so we headed out to stretch our legs and continue our acclimatization process by hiking for a little over an hour and gaining well over a thousand feet of elevation. Everyone did great and we are now back at camp watching the evening clouds roll in and getting ready for dinner. RMI Guide Casey Grom

On The Map

In the North Cascades, Washington, RMI Guide Lindsay Fixmer and team reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan. The team climbed via the Sulphide Glacier and reported beautiful weather throughout the climb. Congratulations Climbers!

Buenas tardes from Cusco, The 2014 Machu Picchu trek has started! All members have arrived to the former capital of the Inca Empire...really excited to launch the first edition of this trek, where we will travel a combination of the Salkantay and Inca trails into the citadel of Machu Picchu. We have just held our initial meeting and are now ready to hit the restaurant for dinner. We're doing so on the early side to allow for an early bed time, well deserved after the many hours of international travel. Tomorrow, we'll have a morning tour to discover the sights of this incredible city. While exploring Cusco, we will also start acclimatizing since we're about 10,000 ft above sea level. Best regards from Peru, and stay tuned for tomorrow's post! RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos