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Sunday, June 30, 2019 - 8:44 PM PT We woke up to a sunny and relatively calm high camp. When we stuck our heads out to see what it looked like above, it was apparent that Denali wasn't a happy mountain. As guides, it is sometimes nice when the mountain makes the decisions for us and doesn't lead us on thinking we might climb. We spent the day eating and resting up for when the mountain decides that it is our time. The forecast is trending for better winds up high, so right now we will do some high altitude camping. We are so glad to have such a strong team of climbers with great attitudes. Let's hope Denali appreciates it as well! RMI Guide Mike Haugen and Team Siete

On The Map

Greetings from Kyajo Ri Camp 1. What a day we had!!! We departed with headlamps and returned with headlamps... Having to forego our move to Camp 2 yesterday due to the high winds, delivered not only a beautiful day today, but a marathon one. Regardless, we wanted to reach the elevation of Kyajo's summit to better prepare for Ama Dablam. So we did! Now everyone is very tired, and we look forward to some rest coming up. Regards, RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos

Greetings all,

With a body exhausted from little sleep and climbing a volcano the team enjoyed a great nights sleep. Sleep apps showed we all slept so well we were basically comatose. As we all rose from our slumber we casually allowed our bodies to wake while sipping coffee and basking in a beautiful morning. 

Today is a rest day as we transfer to Tambopoxi and run through some skills. A three hour drive through more beautiful scenery brought us to the park entrance. Once again you can feel the excitement as we get ready for Cotopaxi. The mountain is being shy tonight, so no views of this beauty yet. Maybe in the morning she will reveal herself. 

Before dinner the team gathered around a playground set where we pretended the monkey bars were the edge of a crevasse. In this scenario the team learned how to self rescue if they had fallen into a crevasse. Using the previous skills of learning about friction hitches, we all ascended the rope pretending we were climbing out of crevasse. Cookies and a glass of wine/beer wrapped up our skill session. 

Many times on climbing trips you lose some weight, but on this trip we are all eating so well that who knows maybe we gain a pound. Dinner once again was delcious followed by a beautiful looking dessert. We are not sure exactly what it was but we can all agree it was delightful.

With heavy eyes, we all leave the table for bed. Showers and phone calls to loved ones wrappwd up our rest day. Tomorrow we go through some more skills before heading up to the hut on Cotopaxi. Round two here we come!

RMI Guides Adam, Hannah, and team

Hello Everyone and welcome to RMI's Ecuador Expedition 2011. The entire team safely arrived last night and headed straight to our nice hotel, Hotel Mercure Alameda, to get a little rest after the long flights. We started today with a huge Ecuadorian buffet breakfast full of delicious breads, pastries, fruit, juices and washed it all down with plenty of coffee. After filling our stomachs we sat down for a round of meet and greet that included an orientation and overview of the program ahead. Just after 10 a.m. we headed out the door on our city tour of Quito, starting off with a visit to the colonial old town. We were lead by our local guide Jorge though the narrow roads with stops at the Basilica, church of La Campania (built in 1605), the monastery of San Francisco (built in 1535) and a visit to Independence Square to see the President's Place. Next up was a quick stop atop the Panacilla which is a small hill overlooking Quito with a 200' statue of the Virgin of Quito. The views where wonderful of this 2 million-plus city. We finished the tour by heading a little to the north to stop and visit both hemispheres at the Equator from where Ecuador gets its name. It was fascinating to see the Coriolis effect in both hemispheres with different results in just a few feet. It made believers out of most, but I hear there are still a few skeptics among us. We headed back to our hotel for a quick gear review and a little shopping before dinner and have now returned to catch a little shut eye before tomorrow's adventure. All is well and everyone is excited to be here. RMI Guide Casey Grom

We reached the small village of Azau last night as daylight shrank from the mountains, their presence only hinted at by the dark forms obscuring the stars around us. Thankful to put an end to the traveling for a bit we dumped our bags in our rooms, grabbed a quick bite to eat in the restaurant, and collapsed into our beds. Upon waking this morning we immediately caught glimpses of the mountains, the craggy summits of the Caucasus visible through the skylights of our rooms. With the morning sun quickly burning away the cool mountain morning we set off on a day hike, walking down the valley to the village of Cheget. The rural areas of Russia are a contrast in times, old homes of concrete slabs and rusting corrugated roofs sit along the road, gardens sprouting in the front while livestock grazes on the hillsides behind, while a store next door advertises rentals for the latest ski gear from Western companies. This was even more pointed yesterday as we drove past old Soviet factories used to build tractors and parts for their space program, long since abandoned and now occupied by grazing cows that walk the roads, causing the Mercedes and vans of climbers coming from the airport to weave between the wandering bovine. Yet overlooking the continually changing landscape stand the stunning summits of the Caucasus. Upon reaching Cheget, we hopped on an old single seat chairlift, each chair painted in bright colors to hide the age, and quickly emerged from treeline. To the south lay the jagged heart of the Caucasus, the knife edge ridgelines cutting through the sky and delineating the Russian/Georgian border, to the north loomed the glacier capped twin summits of Mt. Elbrus, the mountain we traveled so far to climb. At 10,000' the air was thin and we walked slowly along narrow trails weaving through slopes, exposing our bodies to the new altitudes, which will benefit us tonight when we return to 7,000' to sleep. With that exposure to higher elevations our bodies will work harder to prepare for the increased effort needed at high altitudes. Returning to Cheget for lunch we dined on "Shashlik" - chicken kabobs roasted on the open fire burning on the patio, before returning to our lodgings in Azau to sort our gear for tomorrow and get some rest. Tomorrow we leave the valley and ascend to the toe of the glacier on the south side of Elbrus. We plan on spending some time in the afternoon to climb a portion of the glacier before returning to our hut for the evening. The team is doing well and pleased to be here in the mountains. We are looking forward to pulling out our climbing gear and heading onto Elbrus.

A climb to the top of Mount Rainier led be RMI Expeditions in 2008

RMI Guide Mark Tucker reported from Everest Base Camp that RMI Guide Melissa Arnot and her climbing partner Dave Morton have safely returned to Base Camp. Unfortunately, they were unable to summit Mt. Everest on this expedition but we are all glad that they are back safe and sound. The season on Mt. Everest is complete and the tent city at 17,575' which came alive in mid March with expedition members, trekkers, Sherpa and Base Camp staff is now bare of tents and people. Congratulations again to RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Linden Mallory on their successful summit climb. Thank you to Mark Tucker and all the staff at High Altitude Dreams for another safe and successful season on Mt. Everest.

After a long day of travel yesterday, we were re-energized this morning when we stepped outside the hotel to deep blue skies, brilliant equatorial sun, and temps in the mid 70s all at over 9,000’ here in Quito. We made our way high and low through the city excited to experience the colorful culture, friendly locals, and empanadas! We then ventured to the outskirts of Quito where we visited the site that gave the country its name - the equator! And since there’s never a bad time to snack, we hunted down a produce stand and stuffed ourselves with oritos, delicious sweet baby bananas widely grown here in Ecuador, and was soon followed by a delicious team dinner at an Ecuadorian restaurant. No, no one’s ordered guinea pig...yet. What a great way to acclimatize for a 19,000 foot volcano! RMI Guides Peter Whittaker, Jess Matthews and Team

Today the team enjoyed a well deserved rest day in the beautiful city of Puebla. After enjoying breakfast together at the hotel, we all went our separate ways and wandered the city streets, taking in the views and enjoying everything from fresh squeezed juices to fried grasshoppers. At 7pm, we met up at one of our favorite restaurants for a team dinner, where we tasted some of Mexico's finest moles, a sauce unique to this area. We followed this up with a quick trip to the ice cream stand, just down the street, then headed to our hotel's rooftop patio to take in the evening views. We're headed off bright and early tomorrow morning to start our move to basecamp for our Orizaba climb. Everyone is excited and ready for the next leg of the trip. 

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

Today was a well-timed rest day. Following our recent daily pattern, it was sunny and calm in the morning and snowing and socked in by noon. The team took the chance to wash up and get clean during the sunny hours, and then hunkered down within the tents for the afternoon. The much talked about Everest Basecamp WiFi hotspots and 3G cell coverage have both been dysfunctional in the extreme of late, bringing the teams back virtually to the 1990's in terms of connectivity... roughing it. Yesterday was a very popular day for Puja ceremonies and so the drab moraine rubble we call home was transformed by a vast spiderweb of interconnected colorful prayer flags streaming from the numerous chortens. Tomorrow, our Sherpa team is geared up for a carry to Camp II while the climbers have a conditioning hike to Kalapathar in mind. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn