Most Popular Entries

Hello again everyone,

The team had a good night’s rest last night and today was just a short 3hr hike up to 15’000 ft to our high camp. It started out sunny, but then quickly clouded up thankfully for great hiking temperatures. The Equatorial sun at this elevation is quite intense, a little break was needed.

The team has just wrapped up lunch and discussed in detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what we will be wearing, what will be in the pack, as well as the schedule.
Our game plan will be to wake at 11pm and have a quick breakfast at 11:30, then hopefully hit the trail right at midnight. The team has been doing great thus far and I’m expecting us to reach the summit in 7 to 8hrs if things go according to plan.

As per usual on a Casey climb, one lucky trivia winner will get a phone call from the summit. 
So, everyone back home please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer. We are 8+hrs ahead of the east coast time zone.

Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Summit Bound Crew

RMI Guide Alex Van Steen recently presented at Sustainable Summits: The International Mountain Conference on Environmental Practices, hosted by the American Alpine Club in Golden, CO. Alex was invited to discuss RMI’s partner-building efforts on our Carstensz Pyramid Expedition. Carstensz Pyramid, a steep limestone peak located on the island of New Guinea and one of the world’s Seven Summits, is one of the least accessible peaks of the Seven Summits and presents a mix of environmental, cultural, and outfitting challenges. On major expeditions the success and overall experience of the adventure depends largely on the close ties of the team, including with local partners. RMI is very active in creating close-knit relationships with our local partners. To that end, Carstensz also best exemplifies RMI’s efforts in creating long-term and sustainable partnerships in leading our adventures and in our dedication to Responsible Climbing. At the Sustainable Summits Conference, Alex introduced the concept of “Giving Relationship” in developing partnerships to the gathering of land managers, climbers, planners and scientists representing the world’s mountainous regions. “The model that we propose is the model that RMI uses all over the world. The difference here is that Papua is so challenging on so many fronts and the culture is so significantly different than anything we’ve experienced anywhere else in the world. Our model is a social ethic, a little bit like “Leave no trace,” the environmental ethic, or “Do no harm,” the medical ethic, but focused in a positive manner: “Giving Relationship” is our social ethic,” explained Alex. To best explain the concept of “Giving Relationship,” Alex shared several stories from his time in Papua: “The essential question when I was speaking with [local Papuans] was, “If you want a partnership, what does partnership look like for you? What do you want?” “Moses Sondagau works with the local regency government. He and I walked together from one village, Sugapa, to another, Hitadipa, which was about four hours, and we had a significant time to chat. What I learned was that Moses had worked with tour operators for the past decade or so as a porter, and the abuses that he saw toward the porters spurred him to work for the government on behalf of his people. “Moses now ensures that commercial operators treat their porters well and pay their porters as promised. What he told me was only 75% of the porters had been paid as promised. His task is not an easy one because he is effectively policing both foreign operators as well as the Indonesian operators. That said, he was shocked because I spent so much time chit-chatting with him on the way to Hitadipa. I asked him about his family, I showed him pictures of my own family, and I engaged in what I consider just standard kindnesses that you would show to anybody who you were walking a few hours with, but he told me that no foreigner had ever expressed so much interest in him as a person as I did that day. This really rather shocked me. I told him, “Moses, you are an ‘usua me,’ you are a good man, you’re working on behalf of your people and you’re doing a hard job.” He sincerely appreciated that. “In this arena of going into schools and sports clinics and churches, I was invited and took the opportunity to speak at two church services, I assisted with an inter-faith Muslim/Christian soccer camp, and I spoke in two high school classrooms at an international school. One of my most intense experiences came in this arena. “We’d been hiking through the jungle all day and the rain was just incessantly pouring on us. We were coming into a village called Gamagae and all of a sudden I hear all these men yelling. As I am walking into town I see all these people running toward me and one of them was highly agitated, really waving his arms and yelling loudly. This is how I was introduced to Atan Topani. “I know a bit about Moni culture - I know that they speak loudly; I know that their language is clipped; I know that they don’t smile the same way that we smile, at least not right off the bat – so I was aware of that – but I also didn’t see any or didn’t hear any of the standard language that let me know that they were welcoming me. They were yelling but I wasn’t hearing ‘amakanea,’ ‘amakanenga,’ some of the welcoming phrases that I normally hear. “Atan was really upset because the last tourist group to come through had come into his church and made a mess. They cooked in his church and left garbage in his church and then left the village. Understandably, he was upset. He wants tourists. He really wants tourists. But he needs tourists to behave considerately. Atan and I spent about two hours doing what’s called “muna muna” - “men’s talk.” Together we developed the “Sugapa Route Visitor Protocols” for travelers: what to do or what not to do when you visit these villages. “Here again, the essential question was, ‘Atan, if you want a partnership, what does a partnership look like?’ And Atan says, ‘I want visitors, and they are welcome to use our church as shelter, but I want them to be considerate of my community.’ When I came home, I translated this document into Bahasa Indonesian, Dutch, German, Spanish, Japanese and Russian, and now they are ready to be posted in different villages along the Sugapa route.” Part of a “Giving Relationship” entails sitting down on equal terms and discussing the desires and needs of both parties. A simple concept, yet not always followed in many outfitting practices. “In my most recent trip, I spent just under a month and visited about ten communities, going village-to-village and connecting with random individuals. “One of the other cultural differences that really was striking to me was that even if you enjoy conversation or you consider yourself a patient person, you have nothing on the Moni. The Moni absolutely love to converse and converse. I found that I had to sit for hours and hours and converse, which was really challenging for me. When I would converse with the people, when I would sit in their huts and at their tables and tell them that I was traveling through the land - rather than helicoptering - to meet the people whose lands I wanted to travel with my customers, they were all incredibly receptive. As a matter of fact, one gentleman – said, ‘This is good talk. This is good talk.’ I won’t ever forget that because it means so much for the Moni to say that.” A "Giving Relationship" goes beyond being empathetic and actively listening. It also means contributing the skills and experiences we have to our partners in order to prepare them for future collaborations. During his recent visit to Papua, Alex led a training seminar for local porters to teach the practices and progressions of a climbing expedition. “I had arranged with our Moni partner for various Moni villages to come together – or the men in those villages to come together – in one place and participate in a seminar where we could teach them how to work with tourists. The training seminar was a raging success. We discussed what was working well in other areas where we operate, like our Peru and our Nepal treks, what wasn’t working well, such as porters being mistreated, which we hear a lot about, and what we might need to change, for example, there is no plan at all for human waste in Papua. We discussed how to keep the porters healthy and safe along the trek and in the mountains, we practiced setting up tents, and we concluded by awarding certificates of accomplishment to the porters who participated in the training so that they could show evidence of learning to whatever tour operator might want to hire them; not just our guides, not just us. “It is difficult to know if this is accurate or not, to be quite honest, but I was told that this was the very first time that a foreigner ever hosted a seminar for indigenous Papuan people; this is the very first time that an indigenous Papuan man was the tour operator rather than an Indonesian or a foreigner. Thirty-five men from varying villages, some were Moni, some were of the Dani tribe, received certificates.” “Giving Relationship” is far more than a simple catch phrase, it’s a long and complicated process but one that we feel is the only legitimate way to pursue a sustainable partnership. “As a biased-toward-action American, I wanted to do more. We all do; we want to do it all. But the truth is that relationship building is an incredibly slow and incredibly lengthy process…I don’t immediately even expect others to replicate the couple of years and all the trips of relationship building that I’ve done there, especially not if you’re only going there for a one or two week adventure and maybe once in your life. But in visiting anywhere even once, we can know so much more about this place than simply, ‘I need rubber boots because there’s a lot of mud!’ We can know a lot more than that. “We believe that this social ethic of “Giving Relationship” does equal access in Papua, not just for the sake of access, but also for the sake of the people and the land there,” explains Alex. In simple terms, this type of relationship building and long term approach to our partnerships and our climbing objectives is the right thing to do. See the full presentation here… _____ Alex Van Steen is a Supervisor at RMI with over 240 ascents of Mt. Rainier by way of more than 20 routes. Since 2012, Alex has led RMI’s effort to create a sustainable tourism industry and developed RMI’s position as the only western commercial guide service to partner with an indigenous Papuan outfitter. He has taken his training and education to Papua and spent time with local community leaders building relationships as well as training and educating porters to work with expeditions. Additionally, Alex has spent more than a decade involving himself in community outreach and education. Locally, he works extensively with at-risk youth as a mentor, pastor, and guardian.

RMI Guide Win Whittaker and his team of climbers with the Climb for Clean Air in support of the American Lung Association of the Mountain Pacific reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The Four Day Summit Climb July 15 - 18 led by Elias de Andres Martos reached the summit also. The skies are clear above with warm temperatures. The teams enjoyed some time on the summit before starting their descent. The teams will stop at Camp Muir then continue their descent to Paradise this afternoon. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise has enjoyed several days training on the mountain. Yesterday, the team practice their crevasse rescue techniques (see photo below). Today they will ascend to Camp Muir for some additional training. They will make their summit attempt early tomorrow morning. Congratulations to today's summit climbers!

June 21, 2014 - 2:56 am PT Well, you probably heard our summit phone call from earlier today, so this is just the follow-up to that. We had a heck of a day here in the high altitudes of North America, rising from the tents early this morning to cold temperatures, light winds, and high clouds. We decided that it was going to be a day for an attempt, and once we had basked in the sun for a bit we headed over to the shade of the Autobahn. Two hours later we had passed the difficulties of the pickets and the exposure below, and we stepped out around Denali Pass. The weather was still a bit in and out, but the No Troubles crew was moving well so we kept at it. Up steep rolls, over undulating terrain, and higher and higher we climbed. We passed familiar landmarks as the day went on, like Zebra Rocks, Archdeacon's Tower, the Football Field, and finally crested onto the summit ridge in cold wind and clear blue skies. Late this afternoon, we reached the highest point on this continent, and emotions ran high as we hugged, high-fived, and snapped photos. Jake's team came up onto the top just as we were getting ready to head down, and we were thrilled to share that special moment with them. This team has had a full value experience, especially with all the uncertainty and waiting that we've endured. Now it's time for one last hot drink and then into the bag for a much-deserved rest. Down tomorrow, hopefully the weather holds for a flight soon! Cheers, RMI Guides Tyler, Geoff, Garrett and the No Troubles team

On The Map

Wednesday, June 26th, 2013 We woke up around 7:30 with clear skies and no winds. We set off towards the summit with all of the crew feeling great. We experienced a little bit of wind and clouds at Denali Pass, but that is pretty normal. The climb was going smoothly and the weather was about as perfect as you can get. We were about 150 feet below the summit ridge when the clouds came in and blocked out our sun. All of a sudden we heard a crack of thunder and all of the metal around us began to buzz. We hightailed it down to a depression in a feature called the football field where things seemed to be calm. By calm, I mean a whiteout snowstorm came out of nowhere! We hunkered down and waited to see if things would settle down. When we were certain they would not, we worked our way down the mountain with GPS and some wands that mark the trail. After a fourteen hour climbing day, our whole team is back in camp happy, healthy, and fed having come a few hundred feet short of the summit but without a permanent stutter from electrocution! Our plan is to rest tomorrow and perhaps give the summit another go in the next few days. We will see. Goodnight! RMI McKinley Summit Team 6

On The Map

June 15, 2017 Hello from 17 Camp, this is Jake Beren calling in for RMI's Denali team. We woke this morning to high winds up high and quite cold temps again. So we decided to pump the brakes and cross our fingers for tomorrow. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but we are hoping to give her a go tomorrow. So that's it from 17 Camp, a little bit more of the same, but we're all happy, healthy and hanging tough up here. So we'll give her a shot tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Bye. RMI Guide Jake Beren

On The Map

Thunder, lightning and white-out conditions kept the Four Day Summit Climb from reaching the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team was able to reach an elevation of 12,700’ before making a decision to turn around and head for better conditions lower on the mountain. RMI Guide Eric Frank and the Five Day Summit Climb Team will spend the day at Camp Muir acclimatizing before making their summit attempt tonight.

Tent life continues. Zippers make my doors, frost wakes me in the morning as it rains down when I move about in my little constricted space. No complaints here, just a bit of longing for those creature comforts I appreciate for at least a week when I return home, till I once again settle in on expecting those niceties to be at my beck and call. We have been getting some snow showers, so don't forget to shake the toilet tent before entering or there is a good chance of getting a pile and I mean pile of snow down the back of your coat prior to entry. Definitely avoid this scenario, take my word that those three or so minutes of melt freeze down the back is no fun. Thank goodness for all the miracle fabrics from First Ascent, rest assured warmth is just around the corner.We have the cush life here at base camp compared to trips like Denali or what is soon to come for the team on the upper mountain here at Everest. The team went for a nice hike to Kala Patar today. A nearby ridge hike with beautiful views of the upper part of Everest. We are too near the base to see the upper mountain form here. Lam Babu and Pasang made a trip up to Camp 2 to check in on how things are holding up. Last thing you want is a big surprise when you arrive at an upper camp on a move day. He reports everything is in good shape. Sounds like there will be a push toward Camp 4 and the South Col tomorrow. A strong team will put the needed ropes in place to allow for safe travels to the final camp before the summit push. We will have a meeting with Lam Babu tomorrow and will go over the whats and whens to keep this expedition moving forward. Not yet the summit push but we are getting closer everyday. These rest days and upper mountain tactics have proven effective in the past. As the route gets better and the weather continues to improve so do our attitudes.The excitement of the summit is helping carry the minds and bodies of this terrific group of climbers onward and upward. All's well at Everest Base Camp, RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Hello everyone,

We spent today touring Tarangire National Park which is home to more elephants per square kilometer than any place on earth, plus and a huge diversity of other animals too.

We saw elephants, giraffes, warthogs, impala, mongoose, baboons, ostrich, and a lot of other animals, and 37 different birds with the highlight being the Pearl-Spotted Owlet!

We ended our day at a remote and off grid camp within the National Park and surrounded by wildlife. The camp has screened in rooms that allow the night sounds of Africa in. Hopefully everyone sleeps well tonight!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew!

That storm finally eased, now for the next one. Actually, we hope the next one is a long way off. We enjoyed a fine and quiet rest day at Low Camp. Long meals, long naps, lots of drinking water, some books, some music... an altogether great day in the mountains of Antarctica. We had good strong sunshine for much of the day, but as we ate our dinner (at around 9 PM) things began to cloud up again. There isn't any wind forecast to go along with the clouds so our fingers are crossed for a good moving up day tomorrow. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map