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An easy and slightly surreal day for the team, after so much walking and dealing with discomfort... to be thoroughly inactive, waited upon and flat out comfortable in the luxurious dining tent at Union Glacier. The team wasn't visibly anxious to be missing out on exercise, nor did anyone seem worried over whether the Ilyushin airplane would fly on time. We sat, we ate, we concurred. Life is good. There was a persistent and slight breeze blowing all day long at the Union Glacier camp, but the air temperature is so warm (compared to anywhere on Vinson) that we routinely walked from tent to tent without gloves or jackets, crunching along on well-packed snow. If all goes well, the plane will fly from Punta Arenas tomorrow and the RMI Vinson team will head back to South America and a victory feast with Seth Waterfall. I'll stay in to greet the next RMI Vinson team and get started on a new adventure. Many thanks to those who have followed our trip for the past two weeks. Your comments were passed on to us (we don't surf the web, but we exchange email with RMI headquarters) and produced many smiles on twelve sunburned faces. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The American Lung Association's Climb for Clean Air team had a beautiful day in the snow above Paradise. They learned some important skills to help them reach their goal of reaching the Mt. Rainier summit and also had a lot of fun.

After nearly 6,000 feet of walking downhill, our tired but happy team pulled into Plaza Argentina. It was sunny and calm and perfect for setting up a relaxed camp before a big steak dinner. Everyone descended in style, putting a proud finish to a great climb. Tomorrow we will walk to Pampa de Llenas, a short hop from the road to Mendoza. Talk to you all in a few days. RMI Guide Jake Beren

On The Map

RMI Guide Caleb Ladue led his team to the Mt. Rainier summit with beautiful weather and light winds. The team spent some time on top before starting their descent at 7:15 a.m. We look forward to congratulating them this afternoon at Rainier Basecamp.

Monday, June 3, 2013 Our first encounter with snow and wind came after we hit the sack last night. Comfortably tucked away in our well anchored tents, and snug in our mounds of down that encapsulate us each night, we knew we weren't in any danger, and by Denali standards our visit with foul weather was fairly mild. But the winds still kept many of us up more than we would have liked. So, when I checked the weather at 7:30 and didn't like what I saw, I don't think there was a one of us that missed hearing my wake up call for a summit bid. An hour later the winds calmed and things did look better, but not perfect, so I let the team sleep in. At breakfast we all confided that we were happy that the day did not turn out good for the summit. Even some of our studs of the trip admitted to feeling the altitude and having some fatigue left over from yesterday's efforts. Our morning was spent building up walls to protect us from the annoying wind, then by lunch we were back in the tents enjoying the incredible warmth that the suns rays produce at this elevation. Even though outside it was chilly, inside our watch thermometer got as high as 113 degrees. OK, it was measured at the ceiling and we had all the doors closed, but though a little excessive, the heat felt wonderful soaking through our bodies. Right now the weather looks good. The ominous cloud cap that had settled on the mountain for most of the day has disappeared and I am more optimistic than I have been. The forecast remains the same, for whatever that's worth. I think we're all thinking that it might just happen tomorrow, but who knows. All I really know is that we're all ready if the day dawns fair. Which means that I too should probably get some sleep. Goodnight from 17,200' camp. RMI Guides Brent, Logan and Leah

On The Map

Adam Knoff called in at 3:50 p.m. PT from the base of Washburn's Thumb. The team is on their move to 17K Camp to get into position for their summit bid. All is well and the weather is good.

On The Map

A weak low pressure system over the mountain has brought an increase in clouds today, but it's still pretty pleasant at Camp 4. More significant than the clouds, is a high pressure system to our east that has increased the winds up high. Today it looks like it is blowing in the 35 mph range at high camp, and winds are forecasted to increase to 70 mph in the next few days. So for now, we're still on standby, hoping the winds dissipate quickly so we can move up high soon. The team is in good spirits and eager to climb. Camp 4 is a good place to be waiting, as we have a very comfortable camp and we're acclimating and getting stronger each day we spend here at 14,200'. We'll keep you updated with our status and the weather outlook. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

We went to bed with rain and clouds and were hopeful when the stars and upper mountain were out at 11pm when we woke up. After a quick bite to eat and coffee we finished packing our gear and headed up the rocky trail to access the glacier. Our first hour was warm and there was some lighting in the distance. With clear skies above we continued towards the Hermosa glacier and slowly were overtaken by clouds, the lighting was now flashing in all directions. The electrical storm was not the violent ground strikes accompanied by thunder that most people would associate with but rather lighting that was spread throughout the clouds. The visibility decreased and we made the decision to descend back to the hut rather then see if the system would move out. After we returned to the hut wet snow began falling and the upper mountain didn’t not give us another window to climb higher.

We are currently down safe and headed for Chilcabamba for the next 2 nights. While we all would have liked to climb Cayambe, the weather window didn’t cooperate. We are all eager for a different outcome on Cotopaxi in 3 nights. 

RMI Guide Mike King & Team

Mark Tucker checking in from Mt. Kilimanjaro 12,826’ at Karanga Camp. We had an ascent of the Barranco Wall today. More fun than fear. We have some great photos, that I can’t wait to see. The Karanga Camp is situation a bit on a hillside so we had to get creative with our extra clothing to buffer up some of the slope. Hopefully, it is not going to take away from a good night’s rest. Everybody is pretty fired up for, really the start of the ascent, tomorrow morning. We will move up to our high camp, spend a few hours of rest and then begin our climb tomorrow evening, early, early morning. We experienced intermittent clouds and a high of about 65 degrees today, cool, but not bad, reasonable weather. We have a good view of the upper mountain from our camp here right now. At times in the clouds, but a bright half moon above us and the team is doing well. Wishing you were all here. Maybe next time. We’ll check in tomorrow. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

After summiting Denali on the 1st of July, our team has not stopped working. We descended from high camp yesterday morning, and continued to Camp 3 at 11,000' for dinner and some shut-eye. The former was in full effect in the form of bacon-chicken quesadillas, and the latter was in short-order, as we woke up at midnight to start our descent to Basecamp. After taking advantage of the early morning frozen snow conditions on the lower Kahiltna glacier, we arrived at Basecamp at 8:30 am. Now it's just a matter of waiting for better weather to allow planes to fly and take us back to Talkeetna. We are all napping in our tents while we anticipate sunny skies. RMI Guide Mike Walter and Team

On The Map