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Illness is the enemy of every climber.  You have trained countless hours and are in the best shape of your life, but if you start a climb already sick, the climb you were prepared for can become infinitely harder.  Health on an expedition starts before the climb, before the team meets, and before the marathon of travel to get to your destination.  Start your trip healthy by making sure you are thinking about your health and your immune system several weeks before your trip even starts!    Remember to "taper" your training before the climb. Ease back on the hours and intensity of your workouts during the last week or two before your trip and make sure that you are rested, recovered, and ready to go.  It’s always tempting to push the last few workouts, but doing so can lead to arriving tired and predisposed to getting sick before the climb begins.   Most climbing trips begin with an airline flight, whether across the U.S., or across the globe to South America, Nepal, and beyond.  An airplane full of people from all over the world is a big test for your immune system, and it will need all the help you can give it. To keep your immune system strong, don’t forget to start hydrating a day or two before your flight as well.  Airline cabins are often pressurized to higher altitudes than we are used to, and consequently, humidity in the cabin is also much lower than our normal environment.  Good hydration before your flight will help get you through the flight in better shape.  Lastly, don’t forget to get up and move around.  A few hours of sitting in your airplane seat can leave your legs feeling stiff, sore, and perhaps swollen; not an ideal start to a climb!   Once you are back on the ground, try to adjust to your new environment.  Often, the hardest part is adjusting to a new time zone.  Do your best to adjust your routine to the local time right off: eat your meals at standard times and try to stay awake until a normal hour.  Besides a time zone change, you may also be dealing with new and different foods.  Right before your expedition isn’t the best time to be adventurous with your food.  Be mindful of what you eat, especially when traveling abroad. Make sure that food, especially meat, is thoroughly cooked.  Beware of fruits and vegetables that are unwashed, or have been washed with tap water.  Soil and tap water in other areas can carry bacteria and viruses that our systems aren’t accustomed to dealing with.  Along the same vein, be careful with drinks.  Drink bottled water if in doubt, and ask for drinks to be made without ice (which is usually made from local tap water).  Use bottled water to brush your teeth as well.  If you are dying to spice it up and try the local delicacy, the time to do it is after the climb.     If you arrive feeling a bit off, don’t stress.  Take the time to rest, recover from your travels, and refuel.  This will make all the difference if you are balancing the line between getting sick and staying healthy.  Vitamin-C supplements, Zinc, Echinacea, and innumerable other immune supplements are available.  Bring your favorite, and use them prophylactically during your travels.  Traveling can be the most stressful part of your climb.  Once you are in the mountains, routine takes over and all of your training pays off!  Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!

The Four Day Climb August 6 - 9 led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Joe Hoch were unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today.  The lenticular cloud over the mountain brought snow and winds and the teams reached 13,400' before deteriorating weather encouraged them to turn around. The climbers will return to Camp Muir for a quick stop before continuing to Paradise this afternoon.

100% Summit Success!

RMI Guide Peter Whittaker and his entire team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Peter reported light winds, a beautiful sunrise, and a stellar route thanks to the hard work from RMI Route Workers.

Congratulations team!

We had some nice cloud cover that kept our walk to camp nice and cool. Once we arrived the clouds cleared to reveal awesome views of the North Cascades and of our Mt. Shuksan climbing route up the Sulphide Glacier. We are training to prepare for our summit attempt tomorrow. RMI Guide Ben Ammon

This morning we woke up to clear skies and beautiful views. Unfortunately, as we sipped on our morning coffee the clouds began to grow and the wind picked up. Today was not our summit day, instead we got the team moving around and doing more home improvements. I can positively say that RMI Okita has the best looking camp at 17. Today's renovations included lowering the floor of the posh ( or cook tent) and revamping the kitchen scene. After these improvements were made everyone enjoyed some reading and napping before a delicious dinner of tortellini served with a cream garlic sauce and sun dried tomatoes. The conversation was flowing over dinner, with stories of bike racing, pets, hunting and books. Again we are optimistic about tomorrow's weather, which is calling for a high pressure system to move in. Wishing the wind away, RMI Guides Lindsay, Leon, Brent and team

On The Map

The RMI Summit Climb team, led by Tyler Reid, is currently on the top of Mt. Rainier. A beautiful day with hardly any wind on the highest point of Washington. The team will spend some time on top before they begin their descent. Congratulations to today's summit climb team!

The team is doing well after a good nights rest and waking up to nice weather this morning. Then we had a nice big breakfast in the hotel, and loaded up all our climbing gear and drove to the base of Mt. Elbrus. Once there we took advantage of the 3 gondolas, and a short snowcat ride to reach our new home for the next few days. It's rather comfortable up here, as our outfitter has taken a few shipping containers and converted them into simple bunk rooms some for sleeping and some set up as dinning rooms. Once we got settled into our new home we headed uphill on another acclimatizing hike and reached just over 14'000 before returning to camp where our wonderful cook Dasha had a nice hot lunch waiting for us. We spent the remaining of the afternoon relaxing around camp and enjoying the views of the Caucasus mountain range which are pretty amazing since we are camped out at just over 12'500ft. Dasha has cooked up a delicious Russian meal with plenty of borscht and potatoes that filled us up. Everyone is doing well and ready for a little sleep. RMI Guide Casey Grom and team

On The Map

A forest fire burning lower in the valley gave the skies a light haze this morning over Namche and we could catch glimpses of the smoke rising from the valley sides further down as we left our teahouse. It was warm as we walked out of Namche and descended the hill to the valley floor but by the time we reached the bottom, clouds crept up the valley to block out the sun. As we crossed the suspension bridge above the river the first few droplets of rain began to fall. Soon the rain was falling in force and thunder echoed in the mountains above, and the smoke from the fire began to dissipate. We walked through the villages below Namche, crossing back and forth across the river on suspension bridges, while the rain came and went. Before long thunder was rolling through with hardly a pause between claps and we sought refuge in the nearest shelter we could find, piling into a tiny shack on the side of the trail already full of porters also seeking refuge. Sitting crammed in the one room building, we sipped some tea heated up on a fire nearby as the thunder and lightning passed over us and faded away higher up the valley. Once all we could hear was a light rain pattering on the roof we set out on the trail again, picking our way down the trail as we skirted the small streams and puddles forming in our path. We made steady progress back down the valley, finally pausing in the village of Phakding for lunch. The rain kept coming down and we sat around the stove in the teahouse doing our best to dry out as we ate lunch. When we set out and the rain was letting up; with every step we made closer to Lukla the clouds seemed to rise equally as well. Soon we could see the fresh snow covering the base of the peaks above and all of the fields around shone a brilliant green with the arrival of spring in the lower Khumbu Valley. The cherry trees, rhododendron, and piries janponica trees were all in full bloom - pink, red, and white flowers dotted the trees bordering the fields and we kept pausing to take it all in. By late afternoon we climbed the final rocky steps of the trail and walked into Lukla. We found our teahouse and shed our packs and damp gear, finally reaching the end of the trail. We are happy to be warm and dry again after the many hours of walking in the rain today and if the weather cooperates and the clouds continue to lift we hope to catch an early morning flight back to Kathmandu tomorrow. It is a bit strange not to have more trail to cover tomorrow but we are excited to get back to Kathmandu and keeping our fingers crossed for clear skies so we can fly out! RMI Guide Linden Mallory

On The Map

Hello again everyone! Today the team started the day a little earlier with a nice breakfast prepared by Dasha, then set out on our last acclimatizing hike just after 8:00 to make use of the better (firmer) snow conditions and beat the forecasted afternoon storms. The team did a great job hiking as we made our way up to about 15,000ft in just over three hours, setting a new record for some. We stopped along the way to take a few breaks and enjoy the intermittent views as the weather flipped between sun breaks and small snow squalls. After reaching our high point we made our way back to camp just in time for another enjoyable lunch. The afternoon was spent around camp just relaxing in our little huts after our big day. RMI Guide Casey Grom and team

Hey there, this is Adam Knoff and JJ Justman- Team Mexico. We're happy to say that we had a successful climb of Pico de Orizaba today with beautiful weather. But we did it the old-fashioned way, we earned it. It was not an easy climb. Seven hours just climbing up the mountain and four hours coming down so eleven hours round trip of constant movement. We're all very relieved to be back at Senor Reyes' compound where we will be having dinner and relaxing for the evening before flying out tomorrow. All is well and we're happy to be coming home to our loved ones. This is Adam and JJ signing off. Adios. RMI Guide Adam Knoff

On The Map