Most Popular Entries

Hello Everyone It's incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and the mountains are grandiose. We've been very comfortable hiking each day in the sunny weather, then bundling up in our warm sleeping bags each night as the temperature drops. Once we've arrived at our new village for the night we check in to our rooms and take a small nap/break. We then often meet around 5pm for a little tea, popcorn, and card playing. Dinner is often around 7 pm and the menu is pretty much the same at every tea house with plenty of soups, simple pasta, potatoes, and typical Nepalese Dal Bat. After dinner we relax and have a brief review of the day ahead and then it's off to bed. A few of us also hiked up Kala Patar to get a better view of Everest. Spirits are high as we push closer to Everest Base Camp and if the weather cooperates, we should arrive tomorrow. That's all for now - RMI Guide Casey Grom

On The Map

Hello from the Plantation Lodge, The Ngorongoro Crater did not disappoint today. In fact, it was a five star day! We started off early so we could spend the whole day down in the Crater. The first sighting was a big bull elephant, followed by seeing 5 black rhinos, a pride of 7 lions, a lone male lion, many hippos including a hippo out if the water and three hippos that were 15' away from us at our lunch spot. Hyenas, baby jackals, and Grant and Thompson Gazelles, plus all the other animals we saw yesterday, but in even greater numbers. The grass in the Crater is really green because of the recent rains, and the animals were everywhere. After we were almost cross-eyed from looking at all the animals, we headed up to the rim of the crater and went to a Maasai Village. The Massai are a tribe of 70 different clans, totaling almost 55,000 people. They inhabit the land around Ngorongoro and to the north into Kenya. They are trying hard to live in their traditional ways but still exist in a modern world. This was our opportunity to see first hand how they are doing it. It was definitely a very full day. Now we are back at the lodge, just finished dinner and making our plans for tomorrow. We'll head south to Tarangire National Park for our final two days of safari. Still on the list of animals to see - a leopard. Best regards, RMI Guide Jeff Martin & Team

Hey everyone, I'm wondering if you could just take a listen to this for second... Do you hear that? I didn't think so because there is zero wind on the summit of Aconcagua right now! That is where Team Seven is at this moment. What do you say guys? [Happy yells from the climbers.] People are excited to be up here. We have a beautiful day climbing. We had a sunny day to begin with; now there's a little bit of clouds and a little bit of snow. People are feeling pretty darn good, tired but good. We had a great day climbing. Can't say enough great things about the summit. And now we are going to head down. This is JJ and the team heading downhill from the highest point in the western hemisphere of the world. RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Thursday, June 6, 2013 If our good luck holds out, this is our last night on Denali. It's just a little bitter sweet. This place has been on our thoughts and in our dreams for so long, and has given us an experience that will forever hold a special place in our hearts. But now our thoughts turn to home, family and loved ones. Oh, and perhaps to a great meal and beer too. To get to where we are now, back at our 11,200' camp, we've just descended 6000' feet of steep terrain with heavy loads. Everyone did well getting down the technical part of the Buttress and fixed ropes, then came time to tether the sleds and load up the stuff we cached at 14,200' camp. And now, finally, we're back at 11,200' camp. A hastily set up camp followed by a quick dinner and we're horizontal. The chores have all been done and even the guides are in bed by 10:00pm. And just as well because we'll be up at 1:30am to get on a night time schedule to travel on snow that's hard and frozen, thereby insuring us safe travels over the crevassed glacier of the lower Kahiltna that warm and melt incredibly fast in the Alaskan summer. But the best part of the trip is yet to come. Walking down the Kahiltna while the sun is just below the horizon has given me some of the most beautiful vistas I've ever witnessed, with the rosy tint of dawn hitting these hugely majestic Alaskan peaks all around us. We're hoping to get to the airstrip by mid morning, so with luck we'll be back in Takkeetna tomorrow. A little closer to you, but a world away from the mountain that has been our focus and challenge for the past couple of weeks. We'll miss her, but will carry with us a treasure of fond memories of our life spent here. Your guides, RMI Guides Brent, Logan and Leah

On The Map

We woke again today to completely clear and beautiful skies, and seemingly perfect weather for our move out of basecamp and up on the mountain. The gang packed up quickly and were ready to march in short order. Anticipation has been building for a long time and everyone was ready to get the show on the road. We moved well and enjoyed a nice breeze that actually helped temper the heat of the sun. After about 4 1/2 hours of climbing we were setting up tents on the upper bench of Camp 1 (16,700') and heading down for a super short back carry to retrieve our cache. As we were getting settled the wind was coming in and out and eventually it started snowing. The whole camp and surrounding cliffs got a beautiful dusting of 2 or 3 inches of snow. The squall eventually died down and I'm hoping for a calm rest of the evening... RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

There was about two feet of new snow last night at Kahiltna Base Camp. It is currently snowing and visibility is low. We are in standby mode and playing cards with our one set of 48 cards. It turns out the little snow storm from yesterday is lasting into today. We are waiting for some clear weather and our flight off the glacier. The thunderous vibrations of avalanches somewhere off into the thick clouds are pretty cool canceling out the wind and the snow battering the tent. Everyone has had a great time, but most are ready for some beers. Signing out from the land of positive vibrations. RMI Guide Jason Thompson

On The Map

We had a great hike up here to Lobuche. Everyone's doing well and we're all excited to be here. Moving up to up to Gorak Shep tomorrow. Hope we will be able to send a dispatch out via iPad. So, sign off for now and wishing everybody the best. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Everyone (and their baggage) arrived on time in Anchorage yesterday, and we headed north to the small town of Talkeetna. We had a relaxing evening, eating dinner as a group at the famous West Rib Pub, talking about the trip, and getting to know each other. This morning we met at the the Talkeetna Roadhouse for a group breakfast to formalize our plans for packing and preparing for our upcoming expedition. Talkeetna is a small and unique town; situated on the south side of Denali National Park, it is the staging point for hundreds of climbers who venture into the Alaska Range. Town is still sleepy this time of year, just coming out of its winter hibernation; the streets are quiet, few airplanes are in the air, and patches of snow are still in the yards. When we return in a few weeks, Talkeetna will be in full swing; tourists and climbers will be walking through the streets, the air will be filled with the buzz of single engine aircraft (and mosquitoes), and all of the trees and lawns will be green. Most of the day today was spent at the hangar of our bush pilots, K2 Aviation, packing our gear and going over all of our equipment. While we all have spent months planning this trip, today was still a very busy day making sure we had the right gear for the trip, inspecting our tents and stoves, and double and triple checking everything. We also met with a National Park Service climbing ranger for a formal orientation to Denali, which included a slide show of our climbing route. We plan to fly into Kahiltna Base Camp tomorrow (weather permitting) to start our adventure. We will be in touch with detailed dispatches throughout the trip. Everyone says hello to our friends and loved ones back home. Here’s to a safe and successful trip! RMI Guide Mike Walter

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

Hi this is Seth Waterfall checking in from the Union Glacier camp in Antarctica! All is well with the team. We had a great day of activity outside of camp. After breakfast this morning we headed out in a 'track van'. This is a 4x4 Ford Econoline van that is fitted with snow tracks instead of regular wheels. It is basically a 4 wheel drive snow mobile that keeps you protected from the elements. We took the van for a five mile ride from our camp to a spot called the Wave. The Wave is a huge wind deposit of ice that has formed a wave-like feature around a mountain called Mt. Charles. It is one of the most interesting and bizarre glacier formations that I have ever seen. There is no glacial erosion from solar effects or air temperatures here so the glacier has formed a curl around Mt. Charles that looks exactly like a barreling ocean wave. The only thing different is that this one is over 200 feet tall and stationary. At the Wave the group split up. Some of us were busy taking photos and video for the First Ascent clothing company while the others in the group got to climb Mt. Charles. The weather was fairly poor today with a cold wind and a bit of snow so we didn't stay out for much more than a couple of hours. The climbing party met up with the filming party just after lunch time, piled back into the track van and headed back to camp. However, Jake Norton and myself decided to stick out the bad weather and go climbing in the area. We were inspired by the free ride out to the other side of the Union Glacier, but the problem for us was that we would have to ski the five miles back to camp after our climb. That said, we were really psyched up to climb some of the local peaks as most of them have never been climbed. The Union Glacier camp is in it's first year of operation and this part of the range has seen little visitation prior to this climbing season. Due to the poor weather we decided on a fairly small but steep peak that had caught our eye from camp. Jake and I unloaded our gear from the van and were soon left alone in the cold and blowing snow. We set off to the base of the mountain and after an hour of skiing we reached the base of the mountain. There was a steep snow ramp on our right that lead directly to the summit and a rock ridge on the left. We decided to split the difference and headed straight up towards a plateau near the summit. The snow was nice and firm, perfect for cramponing, as we started but soon deteriorated to any icy crust over unconsolidated sugar-snow. This made the climbing more difficult so we switched over to the rock ridge. The rock quality was good and we enjoyed excellent climbing to a flat notch just below the summit. From there we had excellent snow conditions to the top. Amazingly we had a lull in the weather for most of our climb and our time on the summit. So we were able to enjoy a few moments of 'top-time' before descending back to our skis. We then had a quick snack and headed off back towards the marked trail leading to camp. After an hour of skiing we reached the trail, this meant that we only had 5 miles to go to camp! Checking our watches we realized that we would have to hustle to make it back for the 7 p.m. dinner call. With over 100 people in camp the food does not last long and neither of us had eaten much since breakfast. The wind had picked up again but it was blowing at our backs and after and hour and a half of flat skiing across the glacier we arrived at camp... with 20 minutes to spare before dinner! The food was excellent. The A.L.E. staff really goes out of their way to treat us well here on the ice. We are all settling into various games or books for the evening's entertainment. We'll check back in tomorrow with the latest from our adventure here in Antarctica!