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A bright, sunny, warm day lulled everyone to the cook tent for books, card games, and group crossword puzzles on our rest day. We slowly worked to organize gear that will stay in Basecamp, and that which will move up with us tomorrow to Camp 1. Everyone is excited to leave the unmistakable scent of mules behind and to begin the ascent of the upper mountain. We'll be up early tomorrow to break camp, eat breakfast, and work our way to Camp 1, most likely next to the Norwegian and French teams that we've climbed next to thus far. We'll have more to report tomorrow! Cheers, RMI Guide Gabriel Barral

RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Zeb Blais reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today with their Four Day Summit Climb Teams. The team had clear skies, light winds and climbed above the clouds that lingered around 8,000'. The spent some time enjoying the views on top and making their way back to Camp Muir. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons team led by JJ Justman also reached the summit via the Emmons Route this morning. The team will make their way back to Camp Schurmann and finish out their the week training in various mountaineering techniques with hopes of reaching the summits of many more mountains. Congratulations to today's teams!

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

On The Map

Hello from Moscow! It is official, our Elbrus expedition has officially started. Well...not quite. However, everyone has arrived gear and all minus one late comer who will meet us tomorrow for dinner. We spent the evening discussing our itinerary but more importantly we just kicked back and got to know one another. Some of the team have climbed together while others are meeting for the first time. Tomorrow we will spend the day touring the city of Moscow and arguing about which fantastic restaurant we will have dinner. Tonight's choice was Italian and it did not disappoint. It's a rough life getting started on Mount Elbrus but we are somehow managing. Dessert cappuccinos are in their way...gotta go! Please check back tomorrow for an in depth look at some of the magnificent sites we explore... RMI Guide JJ Justman

It's Casey and Billy checking in from down south! We've been hanging out in Quito for the last couple of days and the whole crew is already having a blast, and being situated at over 9,000 ft, we've already begun our acclimatization for our climbs. The first day around town was excellent. After a great breakfast at "Spicy" aka the hotel restaurant, we hit the town on a city tour to get a dose of history and colonial architecture. We had the chance to visit the Basilica, Presidential Palace, among other incredible buildings dating back from Spanish colonial times. This place is OLD, compared to American cities. Quito was founded in 1532! After the city tour, the group split. Half of the team headed to the Plaza de Toros and the other half went to a cool museum along the equator. The crew at the plaza had the fortune to witness a series of bullfights. Definitely barbaric but also a unique cultural experience unique to countries with Spanish influence. The other team enjoyed the interesting exhibits and experiments at the equatorial museum. The evening brought a lively night out for the team. After reuniting back at the hotel everyone went out for an amazing dinner. Local music and dancing was a great addition to the dining experience. Filet Mignon, Malbec? Who knew that you could acclimatize in such style! Day 2 has thus far been a blast as well. The entire team headed up to the volcano Pichincha for a little exercise to help with the acclimation process. After a 40 minute gondola ride we were deposited high on the slopes of the volcano and were greeted by sweeping views of Cayambe and the city below. The high point for our hike brought us to approximately 14,300 ft.; nearly the summit of Mt. Rainier! The whole team is climbing and acclimating well thus far. Tonight, being Sunday, will hopefully turn out to be a bit quieter than the previous but we still plan to have another nice meal out on the town! Tomorrow we will to leave the city following an early wake-up and head out to the Illinizas for some more training. We hope all is well back home and will check back in as the trip progresses. Viva Quito!

Namaste everyone!

We did it! Everyone successfully made it to Everest Base Camp on our most beautiful day yet! We started this morning once the sun hit the trail and walked for about three hours - taking in the incredible views, the warmth from the sun and stopping for photos every chance we could get. It’s no secret we haven’t had perfect weather this trip but it’s shifting and today it was extraordinary. Sunshine, no clouds, views for days as we looked up at Everest, Nuptse and Pumori. We weaved in and out on the edge of the Khumbu Glacier and eventually arrived at our incredible base camp.

We had a delicious lunch of warm soup followed by a huge plate of food. We settled into our tents after lunch. The tent platforms are chopped into the ice and rock. It’s a pretty amazing sight. We are SO close to the edge of the lower Khumbu icefall we can touch it. This afternoon, we took in the views, felt the intensity of the sun heat up our tents and just took a few hours to enjoy all the effort it took to get here. Our camp is surrounded by mountains and glaciers everywhere you look and it all feels like a dream. We are about to eat a hearty dinner and everyone is looking forward to some sound sleep before we get to spend tomorrow exploring the area around us a little more.

There’s no wifi or service here at base camp so don’t be worried if you don’t hear from loved ones until we make it back down the valley. Everyone is doing well.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and the Everest Base Camp crew

Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - 1:28 am PT

Denali's 17,000' Camp is a necessary evil. It's not particularly pleasant to exist there, even when it's nice out. With our objective secured yesterday, we were all ready to get out of that high and forlorne place. We set out today to get as far from 17,000' Camp as we could. We descended the West Buttress, down the fixed lines to 14,000' Camp. After some socializing with the other teams at 14,000'. We set our goal again with the intention of getting to 11,000ft. It has been snowing quite a bit since we passed these locations. There was a good boot track in, but there was well over 12 inches of new snow blanketing the Polo Field and Windy Corner. We'll wake up early and rally to the airstrip with the hope that we can fly first thing tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Snow camping is fun, especially at altitude, but all anyone can talk about is beer and burgers, and it is time for a shower and feeling warm once again.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Dave Hahn and Andy Bond, reached the summit at 6:30 this morning!  The teams had some wind and clear blue skies on their ascent.  They are currently working their way back to Camp Muir and we look forward to congratulating them at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.

Sunday, May 30, 2021 - 4:34 pm PT

The storm finally blew itself out last night at 14k, and we woke to a light breeze and partly cloudy skies. Winds persisted up high and, after an early breakfast, we decided to pump the breaks on moving camp today. The next few days look good in terms of wind, so we’re gunning to move to High Camp tomorrow and hopefully having a shot at the summit.

Over 100 climbers moved or carried up the fixed lines today, making for a heinous traffic jam that we wanted no part of; this is the first big push of the season, as many teams have stacked up waiting for a weather window. If the weather cooperates we plan to get an early (and cold) start tomorrow, with hopes of getting to 17,200’, building camp, and having enough time to recover for a potential summit bid the next day. The weather and the mountain are in control here, though, and we’ll adjust to whatever is thrown our way. We’ll be in touch tomorrow.

RMI Guide Mike Walter

RMI Guide Walter Hailes checked in the from the summit of Cayambe at 18,997' today.  The entire group reached the summit in what sounds like great conditions. 

Listen to Walter's voicemail below.

Nice work team!  Congratuations!

The team has safely descended and will enjoy a bit of a rest day tomorrow along with some training.