RMI Expeditions Blog
Hello from Mweka Camp,
We did it! We had an absolutely perfect summit day today on Kilimanjaro. Leaving camp at 12:45 am, we made it to Stella Point (the crater rim) by 6:30 am, just in time to watch a very colorful sunrise. At 7:30 am, the entire team was standing on top of Uhuru Peak, the Roof of Africa. The group did an excellent job of climbing the 4,000' from Barafu Camp to the summit.
The weather continued to cooperate today and we had clear skies all day long. It is always nice to be rewarded with a grand view from the top. We all congratulated each other for this big accomplishment, and took our summit photos. We descended back to Barafu Camp in time for a late breakfast and to pack our gear up for the hike down to Mweka Camp.
It is nice to be down at 10,000' again. We are camped amongst the Giant Heather and the air is thick again.
Our last dinner on the mountain started with a champagne toast to the summit of Kilimanjaro, and was followed by a wonderful meal. We walk out the last six miles and end our trek at the Mweka Gate tomorrow. We will be back at the Dik Dik by early afternoon and everybody is looking forward to a hot shower and clean clothes.
The Kili Team
The Four Day Summit Climb July 30 - 2 August led by Mike Walter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning! The team reported light winds and a beautiful day of climbing. They began their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 a.m. en route to Camp Muir. They will return to Paradise and Ashford BaseCamp later this afternoon.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons July 29 - 3 August led by Dan Windham was standing on the summit at 3:00 p.m. with 15 mph winds. They will descend to Camp Schurman for the night, pack up camp in the morning and be back in Ashford tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Teams!
Hello RMI,
This is the RMI Kilimanjaro team reporting from the “Roof of Africa”. We had a beautiful summit day and are happy to report that 100% of our team was standing on top of Uhuru Peak about ½ an hour ago. We have already began our descent and are looking forward to being in High Camp in about two hours and then our final camp of the day, Mweka Camp.
We’ll give you a dispatch when we get to camp. It’s a good day here on Kilimanjaro.
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
RMI Guide Jeff Martin checks in from the summit of Kilimanjaro.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
What a wonderful adventure we have had here in Ecuador.
We woke last night to a beautifully clear and warm night. With all of the weather we have been having we were quite surprised to see a sky full of stars. We had our standard morning breakfast of not so delicious oatmeal and washed it down with some nice coffee. We left the hut with many other teams trying to take advantage of the exceptional weather.
The route from the Refugio (climbers hut) was full of surprises nearly the whole way to the summit. With crevasse crossings, steep slopes, and even a snow/ice tunnel to negotiate, the most exciting part for the team was climbing down into and then back out of a crevasse in order to continue on the route. Even with all of these obstacles, the route took us just over 6 hours and we stood on top of Cotopaxi around 7:15am with barely a breath of wind. It was so clear we could see all 10 of the 15,000' mountains in Ecuador. Having no wind and warm temperatures allowed us to linger on top for nearly an hour without getting chilled. Then it was back down to the hut to pack up and leave before the daily hail/thunderstorm moved in. We arrived back in Quito and have just finished up our last supper and have said goodbye to our team mates.
Thanks for following and we'll see you next time.
Team Ecuador
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We have finished the final trek from Kilimanjaro's Mweka Camp down to the Mweka Gate with a three hour descent where we met our drivers from the Dik Dik Hotel. Team “Simba”, as we are calling ourselves, did a great job and we had a fantastic climb of Kilimanjaro. After signing out and having lunch at the gate, it was off to the Dik Dik for showers and celebration dinner.
We just finished a briefing about the safari that will start tomorrow. We are looking forward to exploring more of Tanzania with visits to Lake Manyara, Tarangire and Ngorongoro Crater National Parks.
We will check in again soon and let you know about all of the beautiful African animals we are seeing.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Casey called this morning from the hut after a successful summit of Cotopaxi! The team is packing their gear and will be back in Quito today.
Congratulations to the team after successful summits of Cayambe and Cotopaxi!
The Four Day Summit Climb July 29 - 1 August, 2011 has reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team was led by Leon Davis who reported sunny skies, light wind and cold temperatures on the mountain today. The team was beginning their descent from the crater rim at 7:00 a.m. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise this afternoon.
Jambo from Barafu Camp,
Our fifth day on Kilimanjaro and we again have a bluebird day. There are clouds in the valleys and plains below us and nothing but blue skies above.
We did not rush out of camp this morning as it was a relatively short day for our climb to Barafu Camp. We have been walking really well all week long, and today was no exception. The team is feeling strong and is ready for the summit.
There is a lot of activity in camp this afternoon as the descending climbers are busy packing up to head down to Mweka Camp and the ascending climbers are organizing their gear for the climb tomorrow. We will have an early dinner tonight and try and be in the tents by 6:00 pm in anticipation of our 11:45 pm wake up time. The hope is to be walking by 12:30 am and standing on the Roof of Africa by 7:30 am. We will try to get a satellite phone call out when we are on the summit.
Thanks to those who have made blog comments. We appreciate the encouragement.
RMI Guide Jeff Martin & The Kili Team
Oh, you’re so close to the Uruhu peak. So cool! Just read that Kilimanjaro “...is an inactive stratovolcano”. Sounds nasty. Be careful, Natasha. I love you.
PS
Can’t find washing machine manual. Where is it?
Posted by: Anatoly, Moscow on 8/2/2011 at 3:59 am
As I post this you will all have made it to the roof of Africa.I was very busy and could not post you all today, but you were all in my thoughts.I “bragged to complete strangers how my friends were nearing the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro with Jeff Martin.Why the hell not! you are all amazing for achieving this amazing feat. I really hope everybody’s in good shape and safe.I’m looking forward to the images and stories.
God Bless you all. Cant wait for the Sara arms in the air picture. Go Sara! woooo hooooo Rusty!
Gummi Worm Man (at sea level)
Posted by: gummi Worm Man on 8/1/2011 at 11:22 pm
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Hola from Ecuador,
We woke up to a beautiful morning with beautiful views of Cotopaxi. We hung out at the Hacienda Chilcabamba, enjoying the breakfast and the sun. We began the drive up to the parking lot, running in to a crazy hailstorm, thunder and lightning, and TONS of people. The National Park is only an hour from Quito and is a popular weekend getaway for the locals. Our driver, Victor, worked his magic with the bus and got us all the way up to the parking lot in the snow. We then had dinner and hung out in the hut this afternoon.
Everyone is settling in to go to bed now. The team is psyched to get up and climb in the morning and is psyched to have guide Jaime Avila come climb with as well. We will be climbing tonight and hope to be checking in from the summit tomorrow!
RMI Guide Maile Wade
Hello,
This is Mark Tucker checking in from Kilimanjaro. A group of happy climbers are crawling into their tents as I write this dispatch. It has been a long day, we have ascended more than 4,000', descended over 9,000' and stood as a team of nine climbers on the "Roof of Africa". Just another day in the office!
We left our High Camp, Barranco Camp, at 12:15 a.m. and were standing on top of Kilimanjaro, Uhuru Peak, 7:05 a.m. It was a great team effort and everyone did a good job.
Conditions on the mountain were perfect: light wind, clear skies and a team hungry for the top. All of the months of training and the good techniques learned over our many days of climbing were put to good use.
I am very proud of this team and am looking forward to more adventures with them.
For now, all we can think about is three more hours downhill tomorrow to reach the Mweka Gate and the drive to our hotel to a hot shower.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Happy to hear that it was a successful climb!
Posted by: Jan Fletcher on 8/1/2011 at 5:12 am
WOW! Amazing!! Can’t wait to hear all about it from my cousin, John Fletcher!!! Love you CUZ!!! Cindy
Posted by: Cindy Whitham on 7/31/2011 at 2:33 pm
WOW, So happy to hear this morning -100%. I’m so happy for your summit victory!! you did it! My god my eyes are welling up, but that could be because I haven’t had a vacation in three years, LOL. Seriously, Jeff, did you think that old coot Rusty was gonna make it? lol, I did, he’s an amazing friend. He’s a friggin’ mountain goat.I will toast to you all tonight. Congratulations Jeff,Rusty,Sara and the rest of your team on an amazing journey and accomplishment. Jeff, a huge thank you for the posts, that kept us up to date and made your trip seem so close to us at home.I’ve really looked forward to them and will continue to follow you guys.
Gummi worm Man
Posted by: gummi worm man on 8/2/2011 at 1:13 pm
Congratulations, what a feat!!! Great respect for your accomplishments! We can’t wait to see the photos of you at the summit!
Posted by: L & Bailey on 8/2/2011 at 12:56 pm
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