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Swinging into full climbing mode, our team made a giant foray onto the upper slopes of Mount Elbrus. Hey everyone, this is JJ Justman with RMI and the first Elbrus team of the season. Of course proper acclimatization is key and everyone is doing very, very well. 15,200 feet was our max altitude that we reached today. Donning sharp crampons on our boots allowed us some good practice for our summit day. Now back at camp here feels a little thicker and once again, our cooks are pampering us with some of the best authentic Russian cuisine. After all I have a good saying that a well-fed climber is a strong climber and I do believe the one reason why Russian climbers are so strong, is a secret ingredient they put in the borscht, which is Russian homemade soup here. It's really delicious, our cooks are doing a great job. We're loving life up here on Mount Elbrus. But it is relax time to fully recover. As I mentioned, our team is doing really, really well. We are going to do a rest day tomorrow in preparation for our summit day, which as of right now, is looking like it is going to be Monday, so stay tuned. RMI Guide JJ Justman

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

With 80 mph winds and a blinding snowstorm at Camp Muir, it is a perfect day to conduct training inside. Our bunkhouse serves a cozy atmosphere in the storm allowing us to learn essential expedition skills. If we were in tents all we would be doing is hanging on! Our team is in great spirits and we are waiting out the storm until we venture outside. In the meantime, we're going to continue to sip coffee, lecture and do some rope work. Stay tuned! RMI Guide JJ Justman

Jambo from Kikoti Camp, We packed up this morning, left the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge and headed to Tarangire National Park. It is about a 2 hour drive from the crater rim, and by late morning we were already seeing the first of the many animals to come. Tarangire is the fifth largest park in Tanzania and it boasts over 3,000 resident elephants. It lived up to its reputation today and would guess that we saw at least 300 today. Since there is only one main river running through the park, most of the animals are concentrated along this water source, especially in the dry season (June - September). Lots more of zebras, wildebeast, impala, and gazelle were seen, as well as a few lions. The safari drivers always talk to each other about what animals they have seen. Unfortunately, it has been at least two days since the last leopard has been seen. Maybe it will happen tomorrow.... We will spend a few hours game viewing in the morning before heading back to the Dik Dik Hotel and getting ready for our flights home. This has been a really fun trip and we are sorry that it has to come to an end. Thanks to the entire team for making this a great adventure, and congratulations to all of you for reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro. Cheers to all and safe travels home. RMI Guide Jeff Martin

The Five Day Climb June 16 - 20 enjoyed a beautiful morning on the mountain and view from Muir Peak.  Route conditions prevented the teams from going above Camp Muir today.  The teams began their descent from Camp Muir around 9 am in the sunshine with a cloud deck below them around 7,000'.  All climbers will return to Rainier BaseCamp early this afternoon.

Sunday, January 9, 2022 - 5:05 am PT

Hola de Mendoza! The adventure has begun. All climbers and guides have, miraculously and with only a few delays, made it to Mendoza, Argentina, the starting point for our expedition to the summit of Aconcagua. Despite the jet lag and sleep deprivation, everyone managed to pull it together for a traditional Argentine group dinner of wine and steak followed by Mendoza’s famous gelato! Despite the late hour, it was nothing but smiles by the time everyone finished their ice cream. The food in Mendoza never ceases to delight and ice cream always helps calm the nerves. After, we all retired to our rooms for some well deserved rest before a busy day filled with more travel and packing for the trek to Basecamp. Tomorrow we head to Uspallata. Only one more night before we entire the park and start the long uphill march to the top!

RMI Guide Nick Scott

This is Adam calling in from 17,000’ on Denali. We woke this morning to continued snow and wind, with a major low pressure system forecast to dominate the region over the next several days. We have endured this weather at high camp since Monday and have decided to descend back to 14K camp. Even the approach route, between 14,000’ and basecamp, can be a bear to navigate in foul weather, and we need to stay strong and focused. We’ll begin our descent of the West Buttress and the infamous fixed lines to reach Advanced Base at 14,200’ where Dave Hahn’s RMI party is encamped. We’ll check in tomorrow and advise everyone of our plans and progress. RMI Guide Adam Knoff

On The Map

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier and team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Emmons! All team members were able to look out on the beautiful skies this morning from 14,000 ft. Nice work team!

They will get up early tomorrow morning, spend sometime practice crevasse rescue before starting their descent and return back to Rainier Basecamp in the afternoon for their celebratory lunch.

We all thought it was a little colder than predictions called for last night. It might have been as low as 10 below zero Fahrenheit, but that is just a guess. But that would have been because the sky finally cleared. It was clear through much of the morning and early afternoon, but nobody went climbing. There are perhaps eight or ten groups here at 14,200 ft, between guided and smaller non-guided teams, but all of us shared a great respect for the new fallen snow and its need to settle. Neither the teams that are throwing in the towel and looking to go down, nor those of us that are looking to go up, want to get impatient and get avalanched. So we took it easy today and hoped that the sun would shine hard enough to heat up the snow and settle the hazard. We watched the last National Park Service Ranger Patrol of the season work with their B3 helicopter for a good chunk of the day to sling load all of their equipment and personnel out of camp and off the hill. My gang practiced the techniques we plan to employ for getting up the "fixed ropes" on the steep terrain between 15,000 and 16,200 ft. We also built a new walled latrine with all of the modern conveniences. And we waited. Patiently. We received a bunch more great messages from the blog (they were relayed to us as we don't actually surf the web up here) and those produced plenty of smiles and laughter. Thank You. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

100% to the Top…JJ Justman and his entire Four Day Summit Climb team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The skies are crystal blue and the team is making their way down to Camp Muir. Congratulations to all the team members!