RMI Expeditions Blog

Wednesday, October 11, 2023 - 6:10 pm PT

Well, that was a thorough soaking. On night one of Ixta we camped at the trailhead. It rained all night without a break. In the morning it was still raining, but showing signs of clearing so we packed up and headed towards high camp. About an hour in to our hike, the sun came out, revealing our surroundings. We were treated to views of Ixta proper and Popo with a dusting of snow. However, around 5pm the clouds rolled back in and it rained hard again.

It rained throughout the night, a very cold rain. When I woke up to check the weather on a few occasions I was pelted by sideways sleet. Oh right, it was quite windy as well. Sustained moderate winds and precipitation throughout the night thwarted any chance of making a summit attempt. But we can chalk the whole experience up to more acclimatization and for some members of the team, 15400' was a new altitude record or sleeping altitude record.

This morning we descended from high camp, following the direction of a new dog friend. If not already soaked from the night prior, this hike ensured everyone was completely wet. Needless to say, we are all looking forward to some good meals and rest in Puebla tonight and tomorrow. We are keeping our optimism alive for Orizaba and are honestly feeling prepared. Hopefully this weather pattern clears out before Saturday.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Our big day began at about 5:45 AM… which was when the sun started hitting the high peaks.  There was a little more cloud -again- for the start of the day but it didn’t really seem like it would affect us.  We got walking at 7 AM in the cool shadows.  The trail turned uphill immediately and we got busy gaining altitude.  We enjoyed pretty much having it all to ourselves.  We took short breaks every hour or so.  There was great variety to the climb.  We reached an area of high alpine lakes and ultimately a grand stone staircase to the Renjo La -the pass at 17,800 ft.  We reached it at 12:30 after 4.5 hrs.  Everest was visible in the distance but there were lots of clouds about, meaning we just got some quick glimpses of Lhotse and Makalu and Cho Oyu.  It was a thrilling spot to be in and so we spent nearly a half hour enjoying it.  We made good progress down the other side, reaching Gokyo in just two more hours… at three PM.  Gokyo Lake was mesmerizing.  Quite large and quite turquoise in color.  It was wonderful to walk along the shore as a finish to the day.  And then we were in a comfortable tea house, sipping tea again. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 3:17pm

This is Dustin and Team checking in from high camp on Ixta. It rained constantly last night and we almost pulled the plug on climbing Ixta. However, we started uphill into the rain this morning and eventually ended up in the sun. We're now at high camp and the weather still looks iffy in the distance, but if we can thread the needle again we at least have some chance!

Wish us luck! 

Our easiest day, by far. We still got up with the sun and enjoyed our coffee…but then we tapered off.  Actually, we went for a fine stroll after breakfast.  North, toward Tibet and the Nangpa La -the ancient trade route. But we only went 90 minutes in that direction. Just enough to stretch our legs, enhance our acclimatization and count the yaks. The clouds came in early today and so we picked up the pace a bit for the walk back to our tea house. 

As planned, the rest of the day was just kicking back. We snacked, we read, we rehydrated, we knitted and we napped. Tomorrow is a big day, up and over the Renjo La. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Yesterday we hiked almost all the way up La Malinche. At 14,440 feet, just a few minutes from the top, the park security emerged from the cloud to inform us that the mountain was closed due to the threat of lightning. My own assessment of the lightning risk was lower than his, but this guy didn’t seem in the mood to discuss and I wasn’t going to bring my rudimentary Spanish skills and a trekking pole to a gun fight. Oh well.

On the way down, we got thoroughly soaked and were happy to hop in the showers at the La Malintzi Resort before eating a hot meal and getting to bed early.

At the moment, we are in route to La Joyita, the trailhead for Ixtaccihuatl. We will spend the night there and head to high camp tomorrow.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Daybreak in Thame was stunning. Since it clouded up yesterday before we came into town, we didn’t get a chance to see our surroundings until today. There was a lot to see, as it turned out. Gigantic rock walls and hanging glaciers and fluted, delicate ridges. We managed to swallow our coffee while watching the light come up and we got walking by 8:00 am as usual. We worked our way up the Bhote Koshi River in a broad but steep sided valley. The walking was pretty easy for the early going but as the hours wore on thing got tougher due to altitude and steadier climbing. We stopped for tea along the way and rested, of course, but it all made for a good workout. Basically five hours of tracking up through rock walled yak pastures. We gained 2000 feet of vertical as the clouds did their usual thing, rolling in at midday. It was a relief to get in to Lungdhen (just over 14,300 ft) before the thick and cool fog took over. We’ll spend two nights here at the Kongde View Lodge for acclimatization.  

Best Regards, 
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

As you design a training plan to prepare for your next climb, data about your training and level of fitness is a really useful tool. One of the best ways to get an objective idea of your current level of fitness and to measure your gains is by tracking your heart rate with a heart rate monitor.

There are two main types of heart rate monitors available: watches that use an infrared sensor to your heart rate at your wrist and monitors that use a chest strap with two electrodes to record the electrical pulses from your heart. The infrared sensors on watches measure the change in the size of veins to record your heart beat, and can give a good rough idea of your heart rate trends. Movement of the watch on your wrist can interfere with the accuracy of the sensor however, so the normal movement that comes with training activities can mean that it doesn’t record your workout very effectively. The electrodes on a chest strap pick up the electrical signals from your heart very effectively despite any movement, and therefore and the best way to get a good picture of your workouts, and what we recommend.

Heart rate monitors are effective for a couple of different purposes. First and foremost, a heart rate monitor gives you the ability to track your training more accurately. Heart rate monitors use versions of the 5 training zones that most athletes utilize, so you can begin to build an accurate picture of how much time you spend in each zone and how effective a given period, week, or workout might have been for you.

A heart rate monitor also helps you to hit your target intensity zone for a given workout. This works in both directions; it can help you to tone it down on your long level 2 endurance training if you start to push a little hard, or it can let you know that you need to push even harder to make it to your target L4 zone on a set of intervals. One of the most helpful is setting an upper heart rate threshold alarm during your aerobic building workouts to warn you when you go too hard, which happens to most!

Tracking your heart rate over a period of time can also give you a picture of your overall fitness. As your training pays off, your resting heart rate should drop, and you will find yourself covering more ground and going faster, but at the same intensity. Conversely, a sudden spike in your resting heart rate may indicate that your training load is adding up and that you need to focus a bit more on recovery.

As an added bonus, most of the better heart rate monitors also have the ability to track your workout with GPS, so you can keep track of your training routes. A heart rate monitor won’t make you fitter, but it gives you invaluable information that allows you to create a more informed training plan.

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¡Hola!

Yesterday the entire team arrived for the first RMI trip to the Mexico Volcanoes for this season. We have all bags in tow and are now on our way to La Malinche for some acclimatization. Today is mostly cloudy, so we will see what the mountain gives us, but more importantly we are getting out to move the legs and exercise the lungs. Check back tomorrow for details on how our day went!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

As comfortable as we were in Namche Bazaar, it was time to go higher.  We got our customary 8 AM start climbing up and out of town.  Initially the trail was quite steep, but then it leveled off as we began following the Bhote Koshi River.  We travelled in a thick pine forest with only occasional views of the great peaks surrounding us.  Following the pattern of the past few days, clouds began moving in by mid-morning.  A few hours walking brought us to Thamo, where we stopped for tea.  Another hour got us to a dramatic cable bridge crossing of the violent river. We pulled into 12,500ft Thame, a garden-like village of neat yak pens and potato fields at 1 PM.  It turns out we are lodged in Apa Sherpa’s tea house… and his home (before Utah).  Apa was the Everest record holder for many years, having climbed the mountain 21 times and he is a hero to many of us still.  The clouds closed in after our lunch and made it easy to nap away the afternoon (since staring up at the mountains was no longer an option).  It is a little colder as we gain altitude, but the dining/sitting room is plenty comfortable with a fire. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Technically, today was a rest day…

but we still got up early and went hiking.  It would have been hard not to get out of bed with a stunning sunrise lighting up Kwangde - the giant and jagged peak across the valley to our west.  We hiked up a steep hill (everything out of Namche is steep) to Syangboche and then traversed through yak pastures until we reached a tea house at 12,400 ft for our first views of Ama Dablam and Lhotse.  There were some clouds playing through the area that prevented our seeing Everest.  We sat outside, drank tea, and watched.  At one point we could see Everest’s South Summit, but the true summit never quite cleared for us.  We packed up and headed back down into Namche to rest and browse through the many shops for the afternoon. 

Tomorrow we’ll push a little higher in our move to Thame.

Best Regards

Dave