RMI Expeditions Blog

In February 2013, I spent several weeks in West Papua with the express intention of connecting with villagers who live along the trek followed by our Carstensz Pyramid climbing programs. I traveled with two translators - one a long-time friend who grew up in West Papua and the other a member of the Moni tribe, a man who truly has a good heart for his people. I visited about ten villages and had numerous trailside chats. I spent many hours chatting (as well as eating, and playing soccer & table tennis!) and had opportunities to share our vision with various folks: government officials, village elders, tribal chiefs, pastors and school teachers. The constant thread throughout the conversations involved villagers expressing frustration with tourists who came to “take photographs” and “take summits” but who did not (as it was described to me) “give relationship.” It is understandable that folks were upset when they weren’t paid as promised by unscrupulous outfitters or when they felt unsafe being asked to porter into the high country (the tribal peoples have not traditionally traveled above the jungles, see story below), but it truly resonated with me that when they felt most disrespected was when they were treated as if they were nothing more than pack animals. Quite frankly, they explained, why should they leave their tribal community and upset their daily lives only to be mistreated or underpaid?

The Moni name for Carstensz is Mbai Ngela. It means "Forbidden Egg." The story is that in years gone by when the mountain was snow covered, it resembled an egg, and the fore-fathers forbade their people from going there because it was the hunting grounds of evil spirits and those spirits always killed those who ventured there. Even today, villagers have a very difficult time understanding the science of hypothermia and often will point to and tell of places along the way where the spirits have killed a poor wayfarer!

I knew that in order to eat this elephant, I would need to take it one bite at a time, so I started with small bites of “giving relationship.” I found that when I played soccer (which I am convinced is the lingua franca of relationship) with the local men and boys on village airstrips, that we had laughs to share (mostly at me tripping on the uneven surface!); when I offered to show folks photos of my family, they showed me their village (!); and for all my “otherness” (some folks, I was told, had never seen white-skinned people), I was never denied the hospitality of a meal or a hut as respite from the rain. Another small bite was the creation of the protocols (below) to be posted in a church along our route. The pastor in this village of twenty people, a good man named Atan, had initially wanted to run me off. I agreed to keep walking, but in deepening the conversation as to why, I learned that an earlier group of tourists had – in his word – “desecrated” the church by leaving garbage there. I whole-heartedly agreed that such practices were unacceptable, and offered to create protocols to instruct tourists how to behave. Through my translators I was able to build a simple list of what it would take for his village to feel respected. They fully wanted tourists to stop for the night but they also needed tourists to respect that privilege. As I look forward to my next trip, I hope to take a few more bites of the elephant! THE SUGAPA ROUTE VISITOR PROTOCOLS This church serves an important role in the community. Guests are welcomed to find refuge here and are asked respect the following requests. This will help ensure use of the building for future travelers. • Please stay off of the raised area which surrounds the altar. This area is for local religious personnel only and it is considered offensive if others trespass there. • Please keep hot water, stoves & cookware out of the building. This helps keep the area clean. • Please hang a trash bag just outside the building to collect your garbage. Villagers will burn your trash for you. • Because of the importance of Sunday worship, travelers should not expect access to the building on Saturday evenings or Sundays. • Please do not use the church grounds or property for toilet needs. Ask the Pastor of the church where it is appropriate to wash and use the bathroom. • Please offer a donation for your use of the church. This is an appropriate and considerate way of expressing thanks. Download a multi-lingual copy of the Sugapa Route Visitor Protocols here.

Two inches of sparkling white snow fell on Deboche last night. By morning whatever clouds had deposited the snow were long gone and blue skies prevailed. We ate breakfast while staring out the windows at massive plumes ripping off the summits of Everest and Lhotse. The team hit the trail by a few minutes after 8 AM and made easy progress through the snow coated rhododendron forest. In a short time, we crossed the river to the sunny side of the valley and made our way up to Pangboche and the home of Lama Geishi. He'd graciously consented to bestowing a blessing on the team. Revered by all in the Khumbu region, 80 year old Lama Geishi greets one and all with a smile and a special head butt while tying a sacred knotted string around each visitor's neck. He let us know that he was asking Chomolungma -the mother goddess of the earth- also known as Mt. Everest, to allow our climb to her summit. We thanked Lama Geishi and resumed our hike, stopping in Shomare for a lunch while gazing up at Ama Dablam's impossibly steep flanks. Then it was just a short and quiet thousand vertical feet of climbing and we were walking into Pheriche and our tea house for the next two nights. The lodge is packed to capacity tonight with about six or seven teams of trekkers and climbers. In the evening we were happy to meet up with Mark Tucker bringing his team down valley. After he goes for Island Peak we will eagerly await his arrival in Basecamp as our teammate on the Everest Climb. Tuck will once again be basecamp manager and Khumbu Glacier mayor. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Lulled to sleep by rock and icefall, what a night at Everest Base Camp. A few comments that it was the best dinner since arriving in country. Short lived this time, we are already back in Pheriche gearing up for Island Peak. Should be deep sleep tonight here in the thick air of 14,000 ft. We'll bid farewell to the Trek team in the morning. As usual a whirlwind tour for the group. Lots of firsts for all. Once again the mountains provided fantastic views with perfect weather. Times like these are what bring you back to challenge the physical and mental. In time the photos will overshadow the tough conditions you are subjected to on trips like these. Maybe Hawaii next time, but I bet down the road another adventure of this type just can't be avoided. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Fit to Climb: Week 9 Schedule

DAY	WORKOUT	TOTAL TIME	DIFFICULTY
1	Rainier Dozen / Easy Hiking ( 30 min)	42 min.	Medium
2	Rainier Dozen / High Intensity Stair Interval Training (60 min)	72 min.	Very Hard
3	Rainier Dozen / Rest	12 min.	Recovery
4	Strength Circuit Training x 4	54 min.	Hard
5	Rainier Dozen / Rest	12 min.	Recovery
6	Rainier Dozen / Cross Training	60 min.	Medium
7	Hike (5 hrs, 15lbs of pack weight)	300 min.	Medium
	Total	9 hrs 12 mins

BRIEFING This is a big week! This week’s hike will be the longest yet and will mark the end of the foundation phase of your training. After last week's fitness test, Day 6 reverts back to cross training this week. DESCRIPTIONS OF WORKOUTS Day 1: Rainier Dozen + Easy Hiking (30 Minutes) Today’s hike is a recovery workout and you can always substitute it with a different activity, such as running, biking or swimming. The important thing is to move at a moderate pace for 30 to 45 minutes. The pace can be conversational, and you do not need to be dripping with sweat at the end of the workout. Day 2: Rainier Dozen + Stair Interval Training (60 Minutes) After the Rainier Dozen, warm up for about 10 minutes, and then climb up and down a set of stairs, at a consistent pace, for about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool down with some stretching. You don’t need to carry a pack on your stair interval training, the focus in this workout is on speed and intensity. Day 3: Rainier Dozen / Rest Begin your day with the Rainier Dozen. Feel free to take another 30 to 60 minutes of light exercise if you feel like it (a brisk walk is a great option). If you feel tired, today is a good opportunity be good to take a complete rest day instead. Listen to your body. Day 4: Strength Circuit Training x 4 Repeat the strength circuit training workout introduced in Week 3. After warming up, perform four sets of the following exercises: • Steam Engine • Push Up • Three Quarter Squat • Russian Twists • Lunge • Steam Engine Laying down • Mountain Climber • 8 Point Bodybuilder Spend 40 seconds performing the exercises, and take 20 seconds between exercises to rest and rotate. Take a full minute of rest between each set. Take a full minute of rest between each set. Take ten minutes to cool down by stretching after you’re done. Day 5: Rainier Dozen / Rest Begin your day with the Rainier Dozen. Feel free to take another 30 to 60 minutes of light exercise if you feel like it (a brisk walk is a great option). If you feel tired, today is a good opportunity be good to take a complete rest day instead. Listen to your body. Day 6: Rainier Dozen / Cross Training (1 Hour) Warm up with the Rainier Dozen and then spend an hour in some moderately vigorous activity as cross training (find out more about cross training here). Listen to your body, and have fun with it. Day 7: 5 Hour Hike Find a location to hike that is about 9 to 10 miles in distance and takes about 5 hours. Maintain the same weight for your pack as last week. If the weight of your pack has to increase a little bit to account for the additional time you’ll be on the trail, that’s ok too. SUMMARY How do you feel at this point of the program? Compare where you are now to week one; in what ways do you feel different as a result of the endurance, strength and skills that you’ve earned? You are on-track to being a strong member of your rope team. Individual focus, skill, coordination and a multitude of factors make up the basis of split-second judgements in the mountains but physical fitness is the foundation for your climb, and you’ve got it. With the foundation you’ve built over the past nine weeks, and with the seven weeks remaining, you’ll have what it takes to be a strong member of your climbing team. - John Colver Have a question? See the Fit To Climb FAQ for explanations of specific exercises and general pointers to help you through the Fit To Climb Program. John Colver is a longtime climber, former mountain guide, and certified personal trainer with the American Council of Exercise. Colver introduced outdoor fitness classes to athletic clubs throughout the greater Puget Sound region before creating his adventX brand. Currently, adventX leads training programs in Seattle and Colver presents clinics on outdoor fitness at companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, the American Lung Association, and REI. Colver lives in Seattle, and is working on his second book, Fit to Climb - a 16 week Mount Rainier Fitness Program.

Mark Tucker from Everest Base Camp. We hiked most of the day under fabulous conditions and arrived for lunch by our favorite cook, Kumar. Lots to see here at Base Camp, we did some exploring. Dinner went well, Kumar cooked us a cake. He can bake us a cake because he actually has a small oven up here. Very comfortable, I'm so spoiled. Pretty white on the ground at this point. Hopefully it's just an evening flurry and we'll wake up to some blue skies. We have a good hike tomorrow. We're going to head back down to Pheriche. That is our target for our hike. All is well up here at Base Camp. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Vacation in Namche was great, today it was back to business. We were out of the comfortable Camp de Base by a little after 8 AM and walking up the steep hills out of town under perfectly clear skies. A couple of turns of the trail brought the dependably spectacular view of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. We seemed to be out ahead of most other trekking/climbing groups and so we enjoyed a relatively quiet walk on the trail. Much of the day was spent walking in the shade of pine forests. By midday we'd reached our lunch stop at Phunkytanga (funkytown, as we all call it) and so we sat for an hour or so before beginning the big hill up to Thyangboche Monastery. We took just an hour to switchback our way up 1,600 ft of vertical. The work was made a little easier by the cloud cover that had moved in and some gentle breezes which kept us cool. We enjoyed the view of the great castle-like Monastery on top of the hill, but we didn't stay up there long with weather obviously moving in. We hopped five hundred feet down the other side of the hill through thick Rhododendron forests to Deboche and our teahouse for the night. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Hello again everyone. Just one more day to go before we reach our goal of Basecamp! Today we arrived in Gorak Shep, the original Base camp that early expeditions used. Being that this is the last stop before the normal BC it is rather small, only about 4 tea houses here. Originally we were planning on climbing Kala Patar this evening, but due to reoccurring stomach issues and clouds rolling in we have opted for a morning ascent. The standard weather is clear in the morning and clouds in the afternoons, so hopefully it will continue to be the same. Just so everyone back home knows, I have spoken to a few doctors about the issues (just mainly upset stomachs) and they have informed us that there have been many trekkers with similar symptoms this season. Everyone is still smiling, just not all day long. We are looking forward to Base Camp! RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

What a day! Easy climb up to Gorak Shep where lunch and rooms were waiting for us. Took a nice break then it was Kala Patar. Perfect conditions up the 1,400 ft climb to the summit. We timed it to be on top at sunset and just a bit of descent in the dark with headlamps, what an adventure. A good physical challenge for the team but perfect technique and perseverance paid off. Can't tell you how many times I have done this climb, it never gets old, and is always a thrill. The view of Mount Everest does not get any better than from that vantage point, no wind and clear cannot be beat. For me to look up at the summit and think of all the time and effort I have spent over the years on that beast, brings me so much emotion it is hard to convey. The connection you make after you summit Mount Everest is a bond forever. I take pride in sharing what I have learned through my 15 expeditions over here with every team. I felt the mountain helping me, while also keeping tabs. Base Camp tomorrow. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Just ahead of the crack of dawn, we gathered for a pot of coffee and a walk up to the top of the town. From a hill above Namche we knew we'd have a chance at a million dollar view. Since the hills that form Namche are pretty much mountains by anybody else's measure, we were breathing good and hard when we reached our destination. It was all worth it though as Mount Everest was standing out big and beautiful at the head of the valley. A giant, violent and ragged plume of cloud was streaming from the summit. This was our first glimpse of our far off goal. We stood taking pictures in every direction as the mountains around us lit up with fiery first light. Finally, hunger and the need for more coffee got the best of us and we retreated to the Camp De Base dining room for breakfast. This was our full-on rest day... Meant to prepare us for a couple of days of travel to greater heights, and so the gang got to choose their own individual programs for how to spend the time. Most combined forays into town for shopping with naps and reading and a few games between meals. Tomorrow we'll move up to Deboche. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Hello everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in from the second RMI Everest Base Camp Trek and Island Peak climb. Just wanna let you know that everyone's doing well today, getting better and feeling better seems like every step, with whatever little tummy issues we were having. Today we left Pheriche in perfect weather and hiked beneath Taboche and Cholatse, two famous and iconic climbs here in the Khumbu. We hiked about four hours today at get up to Lobuche, so we made a big turn and we are paralleling the Khumbu Glacier, which is only about 300 yards from where we are camped. We are currently relaxing at the Eco Lodge, which is probably the nicest tea house, it seems like, up valley here. Everyone's doing well and we are just now sitting down for dinner and looking forward to moving up closer to Base Camp tomorrow. Alright. That's it for today. We'll look forward to checking in tomorrow with everybody. Take care, bye bye. RMI Guide Casey Grom

On The Map