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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

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The Four Day Climb August 11 - 14 led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Jess Wedel reached the summit of Mt. Rainier just before 5 am today.  Andy reported a beautiful morning climbing in base layers with no winds and meteors filling the sky as they climbed toward the summit. 

Congratulations to the team!

 

The Four Day Summit Climbs led by RMI Guides Peter Whittaker & Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 5:00 a.m. Peter reported a beautiful and windless day. The teams began their descent to Camp Muir. They will take a break there before continuing to Paradise this afternoon. Congratulations to today's summit climbers!

Hi, this is Mike Walter checking in from 14,000’. We have descended the West Buttress and are back at the 14,000’ camp. Everyone is doing swell. Our plan is to continue the descent to 11,000’ and hunker down for a few hours. There we’ll ‘brew up’ hot drinks, grab something to eat and nap for a few hours. We’ll traverse the lower Kahiltna Glacier in the wee hours (when it’s coldest) headed for Base Camp. We hope to arrive at BC tomorrow morning, unless the Weather Gods have other plans in store. That’s all for now from our tired and happy crew.

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From 14k camp on Denali's West Buttress, it is only a short walk to one of the best views in the entire range. The perch is called "The Edge of the World". The plateau on which camp sits falls away dramatically. Nearly 5,000 vertical feet below lies the infamous Valley of Death. This afternoon our team walked to the edge of the world and took turns getting belayed out to the edge to take in the view. This afternoon the valley floor was obstructed by clouds which would sporadically rise to engulf us, but several times we were able to glimpse parts of the wall thousands of feet below us. The weather in camp has continued to be squirrelly. Last night we were buffeted by winds up to 50mph from various directions. Thankfully, we had already built a few snow walls to protect the tents, but the incessant flapping on nylon all night has convinced us to build more. The snow is falling fast now as we settle in for the night when we rise we will just see what the day brings. RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Eric Frank and Logan Randolph

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Hello from the Dik Dik Hotel, We had an early wake up call at Mweka camp this morning and were on the trail by 8:00 am. It was blue skies leaving camp then we descended into the cloud forest and had the first rain of the trip. Even though we had a long summit day yesterday, the team was very motivated and made great time walking down to the park gate. We said our goodbyes to all the support staff that helped us climb Kilimanjaro and then loaded up the bus to head back to the Dik Dik. After being greeted by a glass of champagne, we headed immediately for a well deserved hot shower. We just finished our celebration dinner and will re-pack our bags once again, but this time, it is for a new adventure - our safari that starts tomorrow. First stop is Lake Manyara, most well known for it's tree climbing lions. We will let you know if we are lucky enough to see one. Cheers, The Kili Team

Saturday, June 26, 2021 - 3:45 pm PT

When we got in our tents last night it was clear and calm, but the clouds, wind, and snow returned overnight, although with much less vengeance than before. We fired up the stoves early with hopeful anticipation that the cloud deck would drop below us and winds would abate, but that was not the case. We decided to stick around 11k another day, with an improving weather forecast ahead of us.

The hope is that tomorrow is our day to bump camp up to 14k. We're rested, acclimatizing, and our team has already tackled the climb to 14k on our carry day; while it will still be strenuous, the team is well prepared for the move to 14k. And we're looking forward to it.

I'll check in again tomorrow, hopefully from a higher vantage point.

RMI Guide Mike Walter

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

Saturday, June 1, 2013 Just knowing that today we had absolutely nothing to get accomplished gave us all that sense of ease and happiness often felt on the first day of a great vacation. Breakfast (yes, smoked salmon, bacon, fried bagels and cream cheese) didn't even start until the sun had warmed up camp, and lingered almost to lunch. We relaxed outside in the sun and inside away from its strong rays. Some got horizontal and read or napped, while others of us hung out in the Posh talking about everything from music and movies to food, wine and other delicacies. Those of us with FM radios gave a brief news summary, and like many discussions of any depth, eventually the tide of our conversation turned to politics. But with such a nice group of folks who are fast becoming good friends, the talk was of a healthy sort and not the ugly type seen all too often elsewhere. I don't know if it was the Indian cuisine we had for dinner or what, but dessert was accompanied by song, poetry, comedy and a lot of good natured ribbing. The day has ended all to quickly, we all agree. We ended our day by listening to the evening weather forecast, which has been calling for an end to the incredible high pressure we have been enjoying and calling for clouds and some snow, but all with fairly light winds. I've certainly heard of worse forecasts, so we'll just wake up in the morning and see what we see. If the skies are anything like they have been, we'll break camp and retrace our tracks back up the fixed lines and West Buttress, having the added confidence that comes with having climbed it once before. But we'll need good weather to tackle that climb again. Otherwise, another day or two here will only make us stronger for the summit later. Wish us luck! RMI Guides Brent, Logan and Leah

On The Map

Holiday greetings to all our friends around the world! Down/up here on Aconcagua it has been a Christmas to remember. We went on an acclimatization hike towards C1, enjoyed a favorite mountain holiday tradition of quesadillas a la Leon, and generally enjoyed each other's company. Tomorrow we will ride the (hopefully) improving trend of decreasing winds and try to carry up to Camp 1. Our time spent at BC prepares us for strength on the upper mountain and we look forward to making the most of it. Here are a few shout outs from the team: "Feeling great! Love you all. MUAT baby." "Merry Christmas family and friends. Love from 14,000 feet." "Love you family! #2, wish you were here! Love you, #1" "Jeanne, Love you." "Merry Christmas Fam!" "Adi, having a great time. See you soon. Do your homework-love, Dad" "Vien, all I want for X-mad is you." A few of us might have been napping, but rest assure we all miss our people and can't wait to share this adventure when we return. RMI Guide Jake Beren

On The Map