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Mark Tucker calling from Lobuche. I'm leaning up against the window to try and get some reception. Can you believe it? We have no wifi, I so apologize. The team is doing well, we're bunking down. We're going to push up to Gorak Shep tomorrow. Had a great hike from Pheriche today. Boy we have really starting to feel like we are up, up, up. So, thin, thin air and getting thinner. Tomorrow marks the 65K endurance race coming from Gorak Shep. And so we are going to root some of these folks on that we've been parallel over the course of our trip. We'll be glad to see them, but I am not too jealous of them running from Gorak Shep to Lukla in a matter of hours. I kinda like what we are doing, so we'll check in again later. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Thursday, June 5, 2025 - 10:31 pm PT

Another successful day! We slept in a little bit, and had a filling breakfast of smoked salmon, cream cheese and bagels and then rigged our empty sleds and duffles to make our way downhill to our cache. After about 30 minutes of walking downhill in light snowfall, we made it upon our cache site. We made quick work of digging up all of our group and personal food, restocked our sleds and packs and turned around to make our way back uphill. After about two hours of hard work, we made our way back into camp. The rest of the afternoon was spent swapping anchors, and prepping to carry to 13,500' tomorrow. The day was wrapped up with another crowd favorite, burritos and beats by Hannah. Hoping for good weather for our long carry day tomorrow!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

It's been a whirlwind of a last couple of days for us,

Once we arrived at basecamp of Illimani and saw the conditions up close, we realized how icy, firm and steep conditions were on the route.  Our local IFMGA guide Javier who has been guiding in Bolivia since 1982 said it was the worst conditions he's ever seen.  Climbing Illimani is a serious undertaking that has taken the lives of numerous climbers over the years.  With the conditions we were faced with, it was clear then that the risks associated with making a summit attempt were simply too high, and that Illimani would have to wait.

 

We decided as a group to not attempt the climb but take the next day to all climb to high camp at 17,800' (called the Condor's Nest). On our hike up the rocky ridge, we were graced by a rare sighting of an Andean Condor overhead. We enjoyed another beautiful night in basecamp next a peaceful creek, where llamas grazed in the fields around our tents.  

The next day we made the long trip back on the windy dirt roads to La Paz where we enjoyed some really good pizza and not so good beer (unless you like sours).  With the program drawing to a close a day early, it gave people an extra day to explore everything Bolivia had to offer.  Most of our time here had been spent in the high mountains and the highlands that are typically over 14,500'.  Yesterday we made the long descent some 3500m down into the rainforest and jungle on the eastern side of Bolivia, where we wound up at a wildlife refuge. Breathing the thick heavy air at 4000' and lush green jungle and coca farms it felt like we had entered a different country.  

 

Although we weren't able to summit our last peak, the group was able to climb Pequeno Alpamayo and Huayna Potosi, which are two impressive peaks in one of the most underrated parts of the Andes. Bolivia is home to some of the most amazing mountains and friendliest most welcoming people.  It was great to be back here after 5 years and to share it with such a great group of people.  We're looking forward to returning to Bolivia in 2025!

RMI Guides Henry and Andy

Monday, May 22, 2023 - 10:11 pm PT

It was an incredibly pleasant day at 14,000'. It snowed lightly all night but when we woke up it was bluebird and calm. We took our time over breakfast (again) and started to wrap our heads around the schedule and logistics above here. We did an afternoon training session to prepare for the fixed lines and running belays of the West Buttress above, then retired for a warm and sunny siesta. The rest was part of the plan as we intend to head up the fixed lines and along the West Buttress tomorrow to put in a small cache and get familiar with the terrain. With that complete, the puzzle pieces that we have control over will be in place for our summit push.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Our Denali escapade has commenced! Everyone arrived in Anchorage without incident and enjoyed a surprisingly smooth drive to Talkeetna. We spent yesterday crawling through all our gear, packing, repacking, wondering if we should bring more, less, or had forgotten something entirely and tearing it all apart to start again. Once we were sure, we weighed it all in for the planes and got sorted for the two Otters that would ferry us to base camp. We enjoyed a last dinner in Talkeetna, and some took two, three, or four showers to make up for the coming weeks and be sure to fly on smelling like roses.

We woke up this morning ready and hopeful to launch immediately, but it wasn't to be. Base camp reported that they were in a snow globe with 12 new inches overnight. We commenced the chill, sipped coffee, visited the myriad shops, ate lunch, and became somewhat convinced that we would HAVE to spend another night in a bed, have to take another shower, and have to eat a meal. Then, suddenly the RMI1 team got told to ready 5 and launched. Our hopes changed - but also Came with the realization that we would be landing quite late, and cooking dinner would be even later. So, we compromised. We would sleep on the ground and forego a shower if we could have one more mountain high pizza meal. We grabbed pizzas, trapped the stack together, and flew in with them in our lap. Our flight was stunning, with the long light of evening lighting the thousands of peaks in the Alaska range. We landed, set up our shelter, ate our pizza, and are settling in for our first night on the glacier.

We will be in touch tomorrow with more news. Stay tuned!

RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Henry Coppolillo, Tatum Whatford, and Team

Hello from the Plantation Lodge, We had a great day today at Lake Manyara National Park. Located about two hours from Arusha, it is the first stop on our safari circuit. This is a hidden gem of a park as most people only drive right by it on the way to the bigger named parks. It is the perfect introduction to how to safari, getting us oriented to many of the different animal species and habitats, as well as figuring out how to get some really good pictures. We had some excitement during our "bush" lunch when a troop of 60 baboons passed right by us, and three of the males caused quite a ruckus when they began fighting over one of the female baboons. There were lots of elephants today, giraffes, monkeys, hippos, dik diks, warthogs, wildebeests, and ostriches. The list goes on and it was a very successful day. We are now at the Plantation Lodge, a wonderful small lodge that sits on the highlands above the Great Rift Valley. It's absolutely beautiful here and they have thought of every detail in making this one of the best lodges in the area. Tomorrow we are off to Ngorongoro Crater, where we will see what most consider as the eighth wonder of the world. Best regards, RMI Guide Jeff Martin

The evenings clouds lifted over night and morning broke with clear skies above Namche. The Kongde massif, sitting directly across the valley shimmered with freshly fallen snow. As we emerged from our sleeping bags the sounds of the waking village seeped in through the thin teahouse walls. Chickens, dogs, and the bells of yaks and dzopkyos combined with the cries of children preparing for school and the faint tinking of stone masons beginning their day's work laboriously carving the stone into finely crafted blocks for the growing number of lodges being built in Namche. Built in a horse shoe shaped bowl tucked into the hillside above the confluence of the Bhote Valley and the main Khumbu Valley, Namche is the largest village in the Khumbu and a cultural and trade center for the region. Vegetables and fresh goods are brought up from further down the valley while every summer Tibetan traders bring goods on yak over the passes further up to trade here. The town is built into a steep hillside and the tiny streets that criss-cross throughout are built of stone and plied by locals, trekkers, traders, yaks, and dogs alike. It is a bust, vibrant, and exciting place. This morning was Namche weekly market when locals from the nearby village come to purchase goods and after breakfast we wandered among the blankets of goods laid out on a series of terraces on the edges of town. Everything from fresh grapes and tangerines to chickens, peanuts, batteries, and cases of Red Bull were for sale there, offering a fascinating and often amusing scene. After exploring the market we climbed to a shallow saddle to the east of Namche where the National Park headquarters, army post, and museum of the Park are located. From the knoll where they sit we caught our first view of the Everest panorama further up the valley. Already starting to hide among the clouds by midmorning, we caught occasional views of the recognizable summit pyramid, flying it's trademark plume of snow as the jet winds whipped across its summit. Lhotse, Nuptse, and Ama Dablam were also visible, standing tall above the valley floor further up. Visiting a few more museums in the area, we passed the rest of the morning looking at collections of Sherpa mountaineering history, photographs, and visiting a traditional Sherpa home. The rest of the day was spent relaxing in Namche, exploring the towns narrow streets of hand laid stone, browsing the stalls of shops selling traditional jewelry and shawls along with knock off brand name down coats and climbing gear both new and old. Tomorrow we will take a day hike above Namche to several villages nearby, stretching our legs and hopefully catching more views of the mountains up the valley. RMI Guide Linden Mallory

After a great rest day in scenic Puebla, our team traveled to Tlachichuca to get ready for our attempt of Pico de Orizaba. We exploded our gear in the 200-year old courtyard of our host and outfitter, Dr. Reyes. Once a soap factory, now climber's hostel, his lovely compound is now the launching pad for most climbers trying Orizaba. After repacking our climbing gear, we sat down to a great lunch, then boarded our truck with full bellies and drove to Piedra Grande. At Piedra Grande, we set up camp and had another big meal before turning in to catch a few zzz's. We'll wake up in a few hours and give this "mountain of stars" a shot under a full moon. If all goes well, we'll send a shout from the top. Buenas noches and cross your fingers for us! RMI Guide Jake Beren

Sunday, July 21, 2024 - 6:15 pm pT

Alpine start had us leaving camp at 0100 in the cold, clear of night. Thankful the winds died down, we walked by the bright moonlight hardly needing headlamps. We reached the toe of the glacier an hour before dawn and began working our way up the icy slopes, hearing nothing but our footsteps and the occasional cracking and popping of the ancient ice shift beneath our feet. We were greeted with a spectacular sunrise that seemed to last for hours and enjoyed the summit of Ischinca mostly to ourselves, save one party of three. After an hour on the top, we made our way down back to basecamp and rested. We feasted on the finest Lomo Saltado in the Ishinca valley provided by Peter’s father Emilio, a retired guide whom is one of the best camp cooks around. With full bellies and gratitude we enjoyed another beautiful alpine sunset and promptly got into our sleeping bags for some good earned rest. Photos to come!

RMI Guide Alan Davis

Yesterday was a whirlwind marathon of packing and prepping in the chaos of Kathmandu. This morning was the staccato hurry up and wait of getting up and out to the airport and hanging to see if the weather would permit flying. Flying conditions weren't perfect when we got through security at the domestic terminal in Kathmandu. We ended up waiting several hours -swilling coffee, listening to music and people watching- until the pilots felt good about taking off for Lukla. Once up and out of the smog layers of the Kathmandu Valley, we were treated to stupendous views of the Himalaya. Those with port-side window seats could pick out Mt. Everest as the flight progressed. But we were only up about 45 minutes before the pilots put the Twin Otter into a dive. They had Lukla's crazy-angled airstrip in their sites and it was clear from the steep mountain walls all around that this was our one shot at parking the plane. Heart rates shot up, cameras were clicked on and the wheels touched down perfectly. A few minutes later, we were out of the plane and sitting in a quiet Tea House in the lower Khumbu Valley. We ate a leisurely lunch and got walking up valley. It only took a bit more than three hours to reach Phakding And Joe's Garden... Our lodge for the night. By that point, things had clouded over, but our luck held and the rain didn't fall. The team ate dinner and bedded down to the soothing sounds of the nearby river churning through endless rapids. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map