Entries By chad gaffigan

Hola Amigos! We had an early departure today leaving behind the busy and celebrating city of Quito. The team drove north, passing by the Equator and made our way to another acclimatization hike. Just outside Quito the landscape quickly turned from a giant valley into rolling hills with farms pitched on steep slopes, and small forest of eucalyptus trees as far as the eye could see. We visited a smaller mountain called Fuya Fuya where we got to stretch our legs on the steepest grassy hillside I’ve ever seen. Thankfully the weather was decent which allowed us to see some amazing views of the surrounding landscape that included a beautiful lake in the background. We are just on the outskirts of a town call Otavalo, which is known for its massive market and we are currently relaxing at the wonderful Hacienda called "La Casa Sol Lodge” [url=http://www.lacasasol.com]http://www.lacasasol.com[/url] The team is doing great after hot showers, a wonderful meal, and celebrating an Anniversary of some of our teammates. Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to a nice tranquil night. RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Ecuadorian crew

On The Map

After a fun filled day touring around Quito yesterday, today was our first acclimatization hike. Our target Rucu Pichincha, a 15,696' extinct volcano. With sun breaks and patchy clouds the hike was a success, getting back to the hotel by 3 in the afternoon. There was plenty of time for more exploring and shopping around Quito before the team had a good dinner at a local brewery. RMI Guide Chad Gaffigan

On The Map

Hola from Ecuador! The team arrived late last night after some very long flights. Today we started our day with a team meeting where we did our usual round of introductions to get to know each other and then discussed the game plan for our upcoming 11 day adventure here in Ecuador. After the meeting we headed out on the town to explore this beautiful historical city with our local and very knowledgeable tour guide Angel. We first headed north to visit the Equator from which Ecuador gets its name, stopping by a museum that had a pretty interesting collection as well as some unique test that attempt to prove it’s the actual middle of the world. Then we headed to the southern part of Quito to a big hill called La Panacia that over looks this beautiful city. Normally we get to visit the oldest part of Quito, but today is the Holiday celebrating the founding of Quito and many of the street were closed for the festival. So we opted for a visit to the Basilica, built in gothic style, and managed to climb nearly to the top, via the steepest stairs any of us had ever been on. Pretty cool to say the least! We wrapped up the day with a quick gear check to make sure everyone has all the gear needed for our climbs. Then it was off to dinner at a nice restaurant where we were enjoyed getting to know each other better. RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Ecuador crew

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons July 28 - 2 August, 2017 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 7 am. RMI Guide Andy Bond and the team headed to the White River Camp Ground on Sunday after two days of training at Rainier BaseCamp. They started on the route on Sunday and ascended to Camp Schurman yesterday. They made an alpine start this morning and were pleased to report great weather and route conditions and that 100% of their team reached the summit today. The team will return to camp today for their final night on the mountain. Following some additional training the team will descend to the trail head and return to Rainier BaseCamp tomorrow. Congratulations to the Emmons Seminar Team!

RMI Guide Andy Bond and the Five Day Summit Climb July 20 - 24 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 6:30 am. Andy reported warm temperatures and sunny skies. The teams will return to Camp Muir and continue their descent to Paradise. Congratulations to today's Five Day Summit Climb team!