How was your 4th of July? We had a great light show last night. Lots and lots of lightning, raining hard all night but no issues. We stayed warm and dry in the wonderful lodge.
Our day started off with another four-course breakfast. The best news of the day was the lost bag from Poland has arrived. With all our bags accounted for, a quick transfer to a different set of lift systems put us at the base of Elbrus. Three gondola lift sections had us here at our basecamp nestled at 12,500ft in some rustic but comfortable huts. A very nice local cook is taking great care of us and life is good. We did a couple hours of training and climbing after lunch, then more food, more resting, and our team meeting on mountain life and information about plans for tomorrow. Clouds in and out showed the Elbrus summit every so often; its a great life up here on the big hill.
The team is doing great and we are having a blast.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
July 4, 2017
Happy Independence Day to all of our readers back home in the USA! We couldn't find any fireworks, so we celebrated with a nice walk around the hills of Cheget instead. Beautiful weather and warm temperatures allowed for a leisurely tone today. We spent around an hour above 10,000 feet, snacking, trading factoids, and testing out some thinner air. Passerby might have called it lounging, but we're going to call it hard work. Whatever you want to call it, today was a success.
We headed back down toward tree line for lunch in Cheget. The team considered purchasing matching headwear as a sign of solidarity and unity. Ultimately, the potential headpieces proved to be far too itchy. A good idea nonetheless. Now, gear has been sorted, packing has begun, and we are just about ready to move up to the mountain tomorrow morning.
RMI Guides JM Gorum and Mark Tucker, and the Elbrus Crew
July 3, 2017
Dobryy vecher!!! That's good evening, to all of you at home. We are writing from the wonderful hamlet of Cheget after another full travel day. We left our hotel this morning at 5:40, packed our 24 duffels and 12 bodies into a van, shuffled through airport security, and departed for Mineralnye Vody. We all made it, and so did our bags. Excellent news!
The sun and heat of our more southerly locale had people changing into shorts and flip flops as soon as possible. After checking in to the hotel, the team enjoyed a walk around town, some locale cuisine, wonderful views of Elbrus, and maybe even a nap or two. More relaxing is on the schedule before our first acclimatization hike tomorrow. We will check in again tomorrow.
Thanks for following along-
RMI Guides Mark Tucker and JM Gorum, and the Elbrus Crew.
We’ve had a great day in Moscow. The weather was perfect for the whole tour day around Red Square and the Kremlin. It is amazing to see these wonders of mankind in person. We finished the evening at one of the nicest restaurants in Moscow, if you like borsch we know the place! We have a 5 am wake up call for the next part of the journey off to the mountains. A couple hour flight and a few hour drive and we will be staring up at the big hills of the Caucasus range. The mountains are our playground for the next several days, we have a lot to look forward to.
Stay tuned,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team
Down and clear as we say in the ski patrol world when everybody is off the mountain. We are now showered and rested. What a climb it was. It is such an amazing experience in so many ways. Climbing Kilimanjaro is a great challenge both physically and mentally. The skills you learn, the people you meet along the way, the one word that comes to mind is enrichment. A big thanks to Barking Zebra and its mountain staff, a job well done men - you all are top of the heap. We start our journey back home tomorrow but the team's flight isn't till the evening so our team is going to visit the local game park at the base of Mount Meru. It takes 19,000' to slow these guys down. They have the right attitude ....Get Out While You Can!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Mark thanks for taking such good care of our wonderful guys. know they will be talking about climb and you for a long time.and we will all be listening attentively for every detail.
June 18, 2017
Thick air and mild temps surround the team at this moment. A different story just a few hours ago when we were standing on the summit of Kilimanjaro. We are all settled in here at the 10,000' Mweka camp the last stop before we leave Kilimanjaro National Park tomorrow. We started the climb around midnight under clear skies and a mild breeze . It was pretty cold the last couple of stretches and a few of the team climbed with their down parkas on which we usually put on at our breaks and take off when climbing. Seven hours later we were on the summit of Kilimanjaro, the Roof of Africa, with beautiful weather and a very elated team. It's a big climb and a long descend. We didn't arrive to this camp till after 3 pm with a tired team. Everyone did great and the stories are already starting to fly. I am going to roust the napping guys soon so we can all enjoy another great meal which is currently getting set up in the dining tent. All is well on the hill.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Please listen to the audio link below from the team calling from the summit of Kilimanjaro.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker and team call from the summit of Kilimanjaro with Father's day greetings.
The clouds disappeared last night and stars were out in full force. We left the Karanga Camp a bit after 9 and landed here at high camp right at noon. Lunch went well at 15,000ft and we have been busy preparing for the summit push tonight. Preparations, which seem to be a long time ago back in the states, are paying off here with the team in fine shape along with a great attitude. Some down time in the tents for now before an early dinner then a good nap right into early wake up call around midnight. Weather is nice- fingers crossed. I will try and give a call from the summit tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
We are experiencing a bit of wet weather, a cloud mist almost rain here at Karanga camp 13,000' on Kilimanjaro. We did not let the weather spoil the climb today for it held off until we arrived at camp. The infamous Barranco Wall would not have been as much fun this morning had it been wet but with perfect conditions and a strong team we cruised up the wall in about 30 minutes first thing this morning. After a couple more stretches on the trail, we arrived to a great lunch as usual with camp all set upon arrival. What a nice way to rough it! The team is resting now in our tents until the next meal. All is well here on Kilimanjaro.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
We enjoyed yet another perfect day of climbing. After a nice four course breakfast at the Shira Camp the team shoulder their packs and ascended to over 14,500', a high point for all team members. After a nice break and taking in some great views above and below we then had to descend into our new camp, Barranco. Situated in an amazing valley at just under 13,000' we are here enjoying more fantastic vistas. As usual our fabulous local outfitter had camp and snacks all set upon arrival. We have had a few intermittent showers of a mixture of snow and rain but overall it's not too bad. Everyone is doing well and we are enjoying our time on the mountain.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
A great day in the mountains . We had a nice breakfast then a two-hour ride to the Kilimanjaro Park entrance. The check in process went smooth as can be and off we went to start uphill. Clouds but no rain made for perfect conditions. The team crushed it and here we are at 10,000ft in our very comfortable dining tent. A big shout out to all the moms out there. Your boys are a-ok.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Jambo!
Our team has gathered in Tanzania and everyone is looking good and is ready for our adventure. We took it easy today but we did spend time organizing and packing our gear for our climb of Kilimanjaro. We may have also enjoyed a nice afternoon nap to help recover from our international flights.
It has been a pleasant first day for our crew, the sunshine has peeked through the clouds a bit and we did have a little rain, but that's to be expected. We are being well taken care of here at the very nice Arumeru River Lodge. It is tranquility at the foot of Kilimanjaro but we are looking forward to getting onto the mountain tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
look out each day to see how you all are doing. so fun to receive Mark’s posts. hang in there, stay well, have fun :) so proud of you all!
Love you,
Mom ( Mimi )
Dad sends his thoughts and prayer too.
Posted by: Mimi on 6/14/2017 at 12:06 pm
Hey 3 Toms and a Meyer!
I am looking forward to following you up the hill…in spirit! In the wise words of Cele S., with whom I climbed my first mountain, just put one foot in front of the other and you will be at the top before you know it!
Thanks for the updates Mark and JM!
Go Dori Go!
Good luck to everyone on the way up… hope the wind blows away that Cardinals hat though :)
Posted by: Rhina on 7/5/2017 at 9:27 am
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