Most Popular Entries

Spring came very early in Aspen, CO this year, with the last two weeks bringing 75 degree temps almost daily. Monday, Aspen based guides Lindsay Mann and Pete Van Deventer decided to take a break from spring skiing conditions to start getting into rock climbing shape for the summer. Independence Pass, just outside of Aspen, was warm, dry, and provides an ideal training ground, with a plethora of trad and sport cragging routes. Despite a relatively small snow year in Aspen, both Lindsay and Pete have had a lot of days of skiing and ski touring that have prepped them well for upcoming May Denali climbs. Monday was a great day to take a break from skiing, catch some sun, and get comfortable on rocks again!

Last night some of our team arrived in Mexico City and were welcomed by the beautiful, lit up statues in the city center. 

Today, folks had the opportunity to explore and rest for the rest of the trip ahead. Some enjoyed a walk through Chapultepec park, where tree lined sidewalks provide a nice reprieve from the bustling city. Others explored the city streets and food while also taking the day to rest. 

This evening our team finally gathered to meet and discuss our adventure ahead. 

Welcome to our Mexico's Volcanoes blog!

RMI Guide Abby Westling and Team

It was another wonderful day here in Tibet. We woke to a light drizzle so we put the hike on a rain delay. Just a few miles from here is the Shegar monastery, so we decided to pay a visit and are we glad we did. It is an amazing sight to behold. It was built in the 12th centry on a steep mountain side, and it looks like something out of the "Lord of the Rings". We spent a few minutes exploring the grounds and even got a quick view of Mt. Everest. After our exploring we headed to the main temple of the monastery for a quick look. To our surprise we found that the monks were still in their morning prayer session and were chanting, playing horns, and beating on drums. It was a very special moment for everyone to say the least. A few team members said it was the highlight of the trip so far. After our adventure we headed back to the hotel for lunch then went out on a hike. There is a nice hill right behind where we are staying and the team made good time getting to the top. It only took about an hour to reach the summit that was just over 15,000'. Along the way we saw several mountain goats and a bunch of strange yet beautiful rocks. I even found a small stone with some crystals on it. All in all it was a great day. We will get an early start tomorrow as we have one last drive to reach Cho Oyu base camp.

Its been a busy last few days here in Tibet, and we have logged some serious car time. Yesterday we left Lhasa around 9am and drove until 8pm to reach Xigatse (sha-got-see). It was an exhausting, but beautiful drive across the Tibetan Plateau. There were hundreds of small villages scattered across the countryside. Most of the homes are handmade from stone and are inhabited by Tibetans that live very simple lives. Most of the Tibetans are farmers and raise livestock in this stark environment. The terraced valleys are evidence of the centuries of farming. We visited several monasteries along the way and drove over a few paved passes that reached as high as 17,000'. Today was more of the same and we have finally reached our last town before we head into the mountains. We are currently in Shegar or also known as New Tingri in a hotel with other climbers and trekkers from around the world. We will spend two nights here to continue acclimatizing. Shegar sits at just over 14,000', nearly as high as Mt. Rainier. We are thankfully going on a hike tomorrow and everyone is excited especially after so much sitting in the car. All is well and we'll check in again soon.

Brrrrrr! You know what they say “clear skies, cold nights” and boy howdy was that true last night. Thankfully the team has the equivalent of at least two gooses worth of down to stay warm. Sun didn’t hit camp until 9:30 so breakfast was a puffy pants and big parka affair. Thankfully the solar radiation at this altitude works quickly and it was hotter than the center of a hot pocket before we knew it. In order to beat the peak of the days heat we quickly geared up and headed down hill to grab our cache at 13k. We loaded up and trudged back to camp with day dreams of eating the snacks we had cached.  The rest of afternoon was spent lounging and devouring meats, cheeses and cookie dough. Tomorrow is a full rest day where excessive snacking is encouraged!

See ya later alligators!

Avery, Jack, Liam and The Team.

Hey Everybody Billy calling in with another dispatch this time for the 4th of July. Happy Independence Day everyone back home! Hope you guys are celebrating properly with barbecues and blowing things up as it typical custom. Not so much of that here in Ecuador. We actually left the Chilcabamba Eco Lodge this morning and headed up to the Jose Ribas Refugio. The team is getting settled in we had a great dinner and we are looking forward to that first rough night at a new elevation. Hopefully the team will do well and make it through the night. Tomorrow we plan to head out and do a little training as we continue to acclimatize and get prepped for our big summit push. We will call and check in tomorrow after our training day and let you know you how we did. Again, Happy Independence Day to everyone back home. RMI Guide Billy Nugent and Team.

On The Map

At noon yesterday the West Ridge - Forbidden Peak team reached the summit.  We started early to beat the heat (and other parties) and were rewarded with shade for much of the ascent. The climb went smoothly, the team was strong and all optional crux pitches were sent!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Monday, June 17, 2013 Hello, this is Jake with RMI #5 standing on top of Denali with an awesome crew on an absolutely beautiful day. We'll give a shout when we get down but it doesn't get too much better than this. Thanks everybody for the support, and will be checking in from down low. Over and out. RMI Guide Jake Beren

On The Map

As planned we were up early and started climbing just before 1 a.m. The weather was clear, calm and not too chilly. Surprisingly we were one of the last groups out of camp this morning and thankfully had little traffic issues on the ascent. The weather stayed nice all morning and it was just a little breezy on top. After a long 8 hours of climbing uphill we had the entire group on the summit of Kilimanjaro. We only spent about 20 minutes on top before heading back to high camp. Where we spent about an hour eating, drinking, and getting things packed up and have all safely descended down to our last camp of the climb. Tomorrow is hot showers and clean clothes, then we're off to safari! RMI Guide Casey Grom

On The Map

RMI Guide Mike Bennett and the entire Glacier Peak Team Reached the 10,541' summit yesterday afternoon. After the summit they returned to high camp, packed up and moved their camp down to White Pass and plan to descend to the trailhead today.

Congratulations Team!