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Hi everybody, This is the Aconcagua team checking in from Pampa de Leñas camp. After a few days in Mendoza and Penitentes doing the hardest part of climbing a big mountain (getting the climbing permits, trying to get all the duffel bags that didn't make it to the airport with us, packing a ton of food and gear for the mules, etc), today we started the trek to Base Camp. The mountain welcomed us with a perfect blue sky day. We hiked for five and half hours today and got to our first camp on the Vacas Valley. Everybody did a great job and we are all feeling good. We are getting ready to sit down to dinner. Pete and Gilbert have cooked a gorgeous veggie pasta, almost as good as the amazing Argentinian steaks that we were eating since we arrived in Mendoza. That is all for today, cheers! RMI Guide Gabriel Barral and Team Aconcagua.

On The Map

Mark Tucker checking in from High Camp, Kilimanjaro. It is very breezy but hopefully that will change. We are in clear skies. We have a sea of clouds below us. The route looks like it's in pretty good shape. May need a little bit of luck with the weather. The team is all together up here. And you know, we're doing okay. There is the typical this, that and the other thing, but so far so good. So we got our fingers crossed and we have a great group of support team with our local staffing and an early, early dinner. The sun is just setting or we're gonna crawl into the tents for a 5-hour nap and then we're gonna hop on up and get goin'. Hopefully the next call will be from the summit, if I get the chance. So we will be checking in sooner than later. Thanks for checking in with us as well. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

The clouds around Vinson basecamp lifted some today, but didn't go away. In particular they were stuck over the Nimitz Glacier and the approaches for an airplane trying to get into the Branscomb. There was some optimism this morning, what with blue sky over camp and Vinson's summit visible again, but it never quite got good enough to tempt the Twin Otters in from Union. Eventually they gave up on us and flew back to the South Pole to pick up more centenerary celebrants. That being a long round trip, our next window of opportunity to fly from Vinson would be tomorrow afternoon. We passed the day easily and quietly. TA, Vlado, Mindy and I went for a glacier walk in the afternoon to stretch legs. In the evening the ALE crew generously hosted a dinner for the three climbing teams. The food was superb... And we were all just plain happy to sit in real chairs for a time. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Four Day Summit Climb Led by RMI Guides Win Whittaker and Hannah McGowan reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Win reported cooler temperatures and winds of 20 - 25 mph. This team spends all year training together and raising funds for the American Lung Association's Climb for Clean Air. Funds raised by participants supports the American Lung Association’s mission of saving lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. Congratulations to today's Climb for Clean Air Team!

Hey RMI, this is Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall and Dan Johnson. We're up at Camp 1, and we came up this morning through the Ice Fall in about five hours time. Good moving and great conditions today, just a beautiful morning. And coming into Camp 1, it seemed like we were on a different planet than when we were last here and it was snowing so hard and so cloudy and cold. So today we just had a nice calm, sunny day at Camp 1. Rested and relaxed, drank a bunch of water. And we're a little bit excited because we're moving up to Camp 2 tomorrow. Our Sherpa team established Camp 2 yesterday and built it up. Yubaraj and Lam Babu spent the night up there. It's about dinner time now. The clouds were starting to creep in. Late afternoon clouds, not bad weather. Later this evening we expect them to roll right back out again. So everything is going well on our second rotation. We're hoping to be up here for about a week this time. A little bit longer. But we've been in touch with Mark Tucker down at Basecamp and everything seems to be going well. All for now, bye. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

We left the hotel well before sunrise this morning, driving through the nearly deserted streets of Kathmandu to the domestic airport. We hauled all of our gear through the narrow entryway and into the terminal, found our flight to Lukla, and as the sun rose just before 7am we were already taking our seats in the plane. Yesterday afternoon's clouds and light rain dissipated overnight and the morning sun shone through clear skies - perfect flying weather. We buckled our seat belts tight, took the cotton balls offered by the flight attendant and crammed them into our ears, and then took off from Kathmandu. True to their name, the STOL (Short Take Off Landing) airplanes we fly in get airborne in a matter of a few hundred meters and we were soon flying above the outskirts of Kathmandu and over the hills of the Terai - the middle section of Nepal and the foothills of the Himalaya. Flying east we had incredible views of the Himalayas out of the side of the plane and we spent the entire flight staring through the windows at the countryside below and the mountains hanging in the distance. The flight was amazingly smooth, hardly a spot of turbulence - uncommon for flights around mountains of this size, and we soon banked a hard turn to the north and descended into the Khumbu Valley. The airport at Lukla is a short strip of tarmac noticeably slanted and the landings there are always...exciting. The approach takes the flight directly at the hillside until the entire mountain fills the view through the cockpit window and then in the span of several football fields the planes go from airborne to stopped. The pilots pulled off the smoothest landing I have ever had in Lukla and within minutes we were stepping off of the plane and onto the footpaths of Lukla. Needing a little bit of time to get all of our gear from the flights we sat down in a tea-house near the airport and had breakfast, tea and coffee before hitting the trail. Lukla sits several days walk from the nearest road head and only footpaths connect all of the villages up here - there isn't an automobile for dozens of miles in any direction. All transportation takes place on the stone lined trails, carried by animals or on your back. It is a far cry from the chaotic traffic jams of Kathmandu and a welcome relief to hear no horns or engines. Leaving Lukla, which sits about 1500' above the valley floor, we made a long, gradual traverse down to the Dudh Kosi river. The trail passes through fields of recently planted crops of cabbage, carrots, potatoes, wheat, and other vegetables and between the stone walls of small villages dotted along the way. Every so often the trail splits around giant boulders carved with Buddhist prayers or wraps around the stupas and prayer wheels. For fear of falling into romanticism too easily, I'll simply say that it is a beautiful walk with sights and sounds to be seen in every direction. Hanging above it all are the giant snow covered peaks of the Himalaya. At 15,000 - 20,000' they are minor mountains compared to their neighbors to the north, but seen from the valley floor far below they are impressive. We walked for several hours through the fields and villages, crossing occasional suspension bridges across side rivers. By mid-afternoon we reached the village of Phakding and settled into our tea-house. Sitting right along the edge of the Dudh Kosi River - which means Milk River due to its milky blue color from the glacial sediment it carries - our tea-house is tucked away in a quiet spot with views up and down the valley. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the sun in the grassy terraces in front of our rooms before the mountain's shadows brought the evening chill. We sat down in the dining room around the wood burning stove and had an excellent first meal in the Khumbu, enjoying some delicious momos - the local dumplings. Tomorrow we head further up the valley to Namche Bazaar, the cultural and economic center of the region. The team is in great spirits. Everyone is feeling healthy and well and we are all very excited to at last be on the trail. RMI Guide Linden Mallory

On The Map

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Well there’s been a blog takeover, a special thanks to RMI Guide Andy Bond allowing us to take turns writing it for the team. First a huge shout out to our guides Andy, Grayson and Ben who have already proven themselves to be super human.

We have settled into camp at the base of Ski Hill after a long day of hauling heavy things uphill. Tomorrow we are hoping to cache at 11,000’. We are learning all new kinds of new skills like how not to face plant on snowshoes and fall into crevasses, which we avoided due to stellar guidesmanship. Also, how to keep a tidy camp and perhaps most importantly, how to keep Ben telling awful guide jokes when he isn’t Macgyvering a fix for a snowshoe.

Also here at camp, we have been graced by the presence of RMI Guide Jack Delaney, the illustrious writer, and will do a group dinner with Avery Parrinello’s team here at camp as they are on their way down. Fun fact: it has been three days since a clean mountain can (CMC) disaster, which means there has been no CMC disasters. Another fun fact: we are having quesadillas for dinner! We leave you with a trivia question: which team member authored this blog post?

-- A mystery member of the Denali Expedition led by RMI Guides Andy Bond, Grayson Swingle, and Ben Luedtke

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier and the Kautz seminar team called 11,000’ their high point. This morning, Dustin reported that high avalanche conditions would keep them from climbing. Despite the route conditions, the teams enjoyed beautiful weather on their ascent, great views of Mt. Rainier, and were able to use their time to train and learn glacier travel techniques, anchors, and more to prepare them for their next big adventure!

The team will conclude their program tomorrow with a celebration at Rainier Basecamp.

Wanting to make the best of our closing weather window, I managed to convince our team to forego our rest day today and go for our third summit in three days, Villarrica. Our alpine start began with a three-hour drive, arriving at a socked-in trailhead. Was this a good idea? It didn’t seem like it until the early afternoon when we popped above the clouds. The mental fatigue of skinning in a whiteout gave way to nice views and general alpine enjoyment, even as the wind increased. We tagged the top, peered into the active crater, and 5,500 feet later were drinking beer in the parking lot. Tomorrow the storm arrives, and we rest. RMI Guide Tyler Reid

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Steve Gately and Josh McDowell reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning! The teams were stepped inside Mt. Rainier's summit crater around 7:00 AM. Steve reported nice weather with light winds and a cloud deck at 9,000'. We look forward to seeing the teams in Ashford later today. Congratulations climbers!