Entries By elias de andres martos

Namaste from Phakding, We made it in! But... what a day! The weather on the mountains grounded all airplanes, and after a six-hour wait, with the news that there were people backed up from previous days' weather delays, and with the bad forecast ahead, we decided to make a small sacrifice and hire a private helicopter, which can fly below the cloud deck, and safely fly to Lukla. A little bit of a late start brought us to late lunch rather than breakfast at the 2800-meter high Himalayan village that serves as the start point to arguably the most famous trek on Earth. But, hey... we were in the Himalaya! We then enjoyed a short late afternoon hike through the low villages of the Khumbu until our arrival to our lodge in Phakding. The journey is on, and we're heading upwards! RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

Greetings! We officially started our visit with a mandatory tour of the city, and some of the sights that proclaimed Kathmandu a Word Heritage City by the UNESCO. After a full morning of enriching our cultural perspective, we proceeded to another big meal all together, tasting new Nepali dishes over vivid discussions at the table. Like the day before, the jet lag kicked in, and the afternoon was spent relaxing and packing for the mountain flights. Our next dispatch will be from the mountains! Stay tuned for our progress uphill. RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

Namaste from Kathmandu, Everyone arrived on time, bags made it no problem... and jet lag, as expected, kicked in early. We met at our hotel, Yak & Yeti, and headed out for lunch and coffee, as the first activity as a team. It was funny to see how we all were craving bed shortly after, as the massive time difference started to trigger a need for sleep at an awkward local time. With not much else to report, we're scheduled to have a good day tomorrow of touring some of the city's historical landmarks, and of course, getting excited to start our mountainous journey. That's all for now, the adventure begins! RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

What a day! From the full moon that illuminated our wake up, to the radiant sun that shone all day, we had an incredible climb up the Fisher Chimneys Route, to the Curtis Glacier, to the summit pyramid. Few attempt the entire route from Lake Ann, but determined climbers seemed to push this guide up the mountain, and the long feat, was executed with ease. We're now crawling into our sleeping bags, after our camp dinner that tasted heavenly, since all we had all day was chocolates and bars... The smoke from fires seems to be fading, and the ambiance from camp is rather idyllic. We'll hike out tomorrow with hopes of enjoying a hearty brunch in town. Good evening from Lake Ann! RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Elias deAndres Martos and JM Gorum reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Elias reported a beautiful and almost smoke free morning. The teams were spending some time on the summit enjoying the views before starting their descent. Congratulations to today's team!

RMI Guide Elias deAndres Martos and Team reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan via the Fisher Chimney route early this morning. The team started their ascent from Lake Ann, scrambled to the base of the Chimneys and worked their way up the 3rd and 4th class rock, reaching the Sulphide Glacier moving up the steep snow, ice, and rock to reach the Summit Pyramid. The team is on their descent and will spend the night at Lake Ann this evening trekking out in the morning. Congratulations Team!

The Four Day Summit Climb August 8 - 11 left Camp Muir around 2:30 AM hoping the winds would decrease. However, strong winds continued and the teams had to turn around and head back to Camp Muir. The teams are descending early from Camp Muir this morning and we expect them at Paradise around 9:30 AM.

Wednesday, July 4, 2018 - 9:14 AM PT And we came out! We finished our trek and arrived into Cashapampa, where we unloaded donkeys, grabbed a drink and celebrated that once more, the mountains provided adventure, challenge and the unexpected. But more so, that we're safe, back and ready to plan the next adventure. Thanks for following! RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

Greetings from Icchi Coccha. We're on our way out, camped at our same first camp on the way in... Since we were heading out earlier, it took a bit more logistics to organize our "donkey train". But these awesome guys made it happen for us and came with short notice. It's amazing how things work in these places, with no written contract, just a verbal agreement, and a satphone call to a distant neighbor of our cellphone-less mule driver, human sense is the common norm. "Someone needs me, I must assist" they must think. And a two-day journey uphill becomes a sprint so they can bring us back to our commodities. We left midday instead of early morning and decided to keep soaking in the greatness of the Andes, since pushing it all the way out with our late departure, would have us arriving late. So, here we are, enjoying another great meal from our cook Emilio, breathing thicker air, and witnessing the mountains getting bigger above us, as we descend. We look forward to a shower and clean clothes tomorrow, to catch up on emails, to a meal in a restaurant and to a room with clean sheets... but surely, and despite the "no summit" this year, the magnitude and majesty of these peaks will always be greater than any mundane human desire. RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team

Sunday, July 1, 2018 - 6:57 PM PT Greetings from Alpamayo Base Camp. We descended today and arrived to our tents and good meals from our cook. We're bummed we couldn't climb, but it was the right decision. We're headed to bed soon in hopes of hiking out tomorrow. We'll check in when we're in Huaraz. RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos