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Today we rested once again. Our plan had been to move to high camp today, but once again our plans were changed due to the longest stretch of windy weather seen on this mountain in the month of January. Fortunately, the winds are forecasted to drop significantly over the next few days which is lucky for us since we only have the next two days to pull off a summit. Everyone is doing well and adjusting to the altitude perfectly. By the time we pull the trigger on a summit attempt I expect we will be so well acclimatized that we will all sprint to the top of this mountain. All of you at home send us some good vibes and cross your fingers that the winds give the window we need to stand on the top of South America!

RMI Guide Nick Scott

Success! The gang went to bed with another deceptively improving weather trend only to wake up (for the third time this trip) in the middle of the night to more stormy weather. We decided that since this was our last chance we'd give a hail Mary attempt. After a quick breakfast and some tinkering with gear and backpacks the time came for us to push out. Surprisingly, the winds had started calming down, which heartened the guides at least a little bit. As it turned out, that abatement was indeed only temporary... We climbed to the edge of the glacier and roped/cramponed up, and after only an hour or two in the elements we were starting to ice up. Somehow everybody kept it together and we continued upwards into worsening winds, winding our way through a jumble of a glacier and then skirting around the massive rock face of Yanasacha. Weather was bad most of the day but after reaching the upper slopes of the mountain we were fully exposed. When we reached the summit (half of us crawling) we were elated but couldn't stay long because of the blastingly continuous 50 mph wind and the fact that were covered with over and inch (yes an inch!) of ice from being in a freezing lenticular cloud all day. The guys were a little beat but pulled it together to descend like champs all the way back down to the refugio. All in all we were out in the storm for a little over 10 hours, managing to bag the summit and safely descend. We were greeted back at the refugio by Victor, our driver, who had hiked up from the parking lot to hang out. Knowing our ride was waiting down the hill, we celebrated with a quick beer and crammed all of our crap into our packs. A short walk down a scree field brought us to the van which brought us back to civilization in Quito! The team showered up and hit the town for a fabulous multi-course meal complete with wine and pisco to celebrate properly. Hopefully folks weren't too ragged making their early a.m. flights. I'd like to thank a great group of guys for making this such a fun and memorable trip (pako's ipa, triple cheeseburgers, two left crampons, pansies, sock boiling, knee taking, etc.) and thank Jaime and Diego for being awesome guides and a pleasure to work with. Thanks again everybody! Signing off, for now... RMI Guide Billy Nugent

Held hostage by the fickle nature of the weather for ten (or is it eleven now?) days at 17,200' my brain is in hardly any shape to draw all the parallels to that epic saga and our own story here. But some stand out: Ours has become a very long story of the challenges we face when not all elements in our world are in our control. And in our struggle to deal with these challenges, we face a bit of an emotional roller coaster as optimism fades when a new reality asserts itself. This morning the hope of a nice summit day came crashing down as we received heavy snow and high winds starting in the wee hours of the morning. Tyler Jones at 14,200' camp reported over two feet of new snow and 50 mph winds. So, once again we dug out camp with face protection, heavy gloves or mittens, and ski goggles on before breakfast. It was here that, given what we've been through up here, and the reality of just how long a human being can actually live at this altitude and harsh environment, we chose Thursday as our 'up or down' day. But, this still gives us a chance to summit. Tomorrow might not be perfect, but, Thursday has been forecasted to offer 'light and variable' winds. I'm generally an optimist, but at this point even I can succumb to a heaviness in my outlook after having so many of my summit plans thwarted. But, as we discover in Tolstoy's classic, sometimes what matters most is not some obvious achievement, but rather a deeper sense of accomplishment or understanding that comes with living life well, and to the fullest. Let's hope tomorrow our dispatch will be a bit more succinct. Like just one word. Love, kisses and heavy thoughts from your team at 17,200'. RMI Guide Brent Okita

On The Map

Another day drifting in the Vinson Basecamp milk bottle, surrounded by whiteness. Except it was fun. The RMI team competed in a snow sculpture contest with the New Zealand team and the German Team today. TA built a Canadian living room replica, complete with couch, fireplace, TV and maple leaf. Then she joined Mindy and I in constructing a team of sled dogs pulling a sled and a towering and imposing Amundson, arriving at the Pole. We'll concede that he was so massive that his dog team appeared to be composed of puppies, rabbits and squirrels. The German guide, Reigner, built an impressive titanic replica. Vlado made snow angels inside his tent. After dinner the ALE staff judged the artwork and found each and every climber to be deserving of a cold beverage. Twenty of us, from 11 countries, sat in the basecamp headquarters tent for that beverage and a fine custard desert and received the good news that the ALE Twin Otters had just departed South Pole bound for Union Glacier. If our weather shapes up by morning, things could start happening fast. Or not. We shall see. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Another day of storm, as predicted and expected. But it seemed as though things were improving gradually and so we thought we might sneak up into position at Low Camp so as to be ready for the good weather. This plan worked well, at first. We packed up and got rolling from basecamp at 1:30 PM. At the big right-angle turn of the Branscomb Glacier we picked up our cache from yesterday and marched on. Travel was actually easier than it had been for the first Vinson team since much of the soft snow blew away. With a good path and calm and even occasionally sunny conditions, the miles flew by. We hit low camp at 9,300 ft right on five hours, at 6:30. That also happened to be the moment that the first big cold and random wave of wind played through. Sure enough, the storm had a sting in its tail. We got hammered by gusts as we carefully built our tents and lit stoves. It all certainly lent drama to our situation, but the team remained in good humor and coped well. Meals were served up in the sleeping tents instead of in the POSH, but that worked out just fine. By 10 PM the wind was behaving much better and it pretty much quit by midnight (although it can still be heard howling through high camp, 3,500 ft directly above us). Obviously we want our share of good and stable weather to begin tomorrow, but if necessary, we can wait right here for whenever the fine stuff shows up. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We did not have so far to go today, so we took it easy getting started at Karanga Camp.  We got walking at 9 AM in the perfect morning weather we’ve become accustomed to.  The team practiced the “rest step” and some “pressure breathing” on the gradual but steady ascent to 15,200 ft.  We took two rest breaks along the way and made the move in less than three hours.  Our amazing support team had camp well established at Barafu and that made it quite easy for us to just roll in and rest up.  We sat down for lunch together and then lingered for a comprehensive talk about our summit bid.  Things had clouded up a little, as we’ve found to be normal in midday, but less sun just made it a little easier to lounge in the tents for the afternoon.  Early dinner was in order, because we’ve got big plans for the night.  Just when the team thought the day was done, our fabulous chefs and waiters surprised Rob with a birthday cake (brought specially and secretly by runner from Arusha yesterday) and a round of singing and dancing.  The entire team will remember Rob’s high altitude birthday for a long time.  It is 7:30 PM now and all are in bed.  We’ll wake at 11 PM and walk at midnight.  We’ve got mountains to climb. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The team awoke bright and early today to eat a quick breakfast and start heading to La Malinche, our first objective of the trip. We were treated with sprawling views of the Mexican countryside as well as our first main objective, Ixtaccihuatl. We were thankful to stretch our leg and lungs as we hiked through the forest of Malinche, a welcome change from the urban jungle of Mexico City. Unfortunately, that’s where our hike ended, just below 13,000 ft, due to incoming weather. Though we didn’t reach our objective, we did get to our highest elevation of the trip so far, hiked with stray dogs that we named Beavus, Butthead, and Hank and ate a delicious carne asada for dinner. Now we rest and get ready to head to Ixta basecamp tomorrow.

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

Monday, July 4, 2022 - 9:46 pm PT

We woke to a calm but cloudy morning at 17,200'.  There was light snow falling -some of the first snowflakes we’ve had on this trip.  It wasn’t too hard to be out in it for packing though.  We got it all done and got walking at noon.  Many careful steps were taken along the crest of the West Buttress in the clouds.  We got a little surprise when we started down the fixed lines at 16,200. There was an actual squall with snow blowing in our faces as we delicately stepped down and across crevasses.  Things eased as we got to 14,000' at 3 PM and re-established camp.  We then had a quiet afternoon and evening of resting, relaxing and eating, with everybody making mention of how much easier life at 14,000' was compared to 17,000'. 

Tomorrow we’ll hope the clouds go elsewhere as we get down to 11,000' and get set for the big walk out the lower glacier. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We took advantage of a beautiful morning for a day of tough competition around the horseshoe pit. After some close games, lots of fun and prizes for all, we awarded our winners. Congratulations to Dave & Pranav - our 2013 RMI Expeditions Horseshoe Tournament Winners! We also played an inter camp Sherpa Tourney which was won by Jeta. Thanks to all the participants for a fun day of friendly competition. There were a few more teams that reached the summit of Mt. Everest today. The weather is still a bit unpredictable but a few strong and smart teams have reached the top. There are many teams leaving from Base Camp today and heading to higher camps. This will put them in position for their summit bids later this week. We are sitting tight at Base Camp for a bit longer as the weather forecasts are showing some heavy snow arriving soon. We are continuing to watch the weather patterns and predictions and will move up hill when the timing looks good for us. As the afternoon clouds rolled in the snow began to fall at Base Camp. We will keep you posted. Cheers, RMI Guide & Everest Base Camp Manager Mark Tucker

On The Map

RMI Guide Billy Nugent led the Four Day Summit Climb August 3 - 6 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams reached the summit crater around 7:20 a.m. and reported light winds and good conditions. The Five Day Summit Climb August 2 - 6 led by Gabriel Barral was also on top. Both teams began their descent just after 8 a.m. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons will be moving to their high camp (Camp Schurman 9,440') today. They will continue their training this afternoon and ready for their summit attempt tomorrow morning. Congratulations to today's summit climb teams!