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Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
JJ, congratulations to you and your team. Perhaps the Cascades Winter is finally loosening her hold on the great one. Safe descent to all.
Posted by: Everett Moran on 6/18/2012 at 8:24 am
Nigel , I hope you had a great time.
Safe trip home.
Posted by: Pete Bowes on 6/18/2012 at 4:35 am
Our day started in the cloud layer we were hoping to escape, but clear weather seemed imminent. An hour later we finally found sunshine. What was really cool today was that Ken was able to rejoin our team at Shira Camp last night after his health improved following a major GI problem.
The Shira Plateau we were ascending was far gentler on our legs and lungs than yesterday's climb. This was nice since we had a long way to go today. Our destination: Barranco Camp. But first we had to get past Lava Tower, 15,200'. The team climbed well on this terrain and by noon we were feasting on the sack lunches prepared by our kitchen staff. The descent into the Barranco Valley proved just as beautiful as I recall. We're hoping this cold mist at camp goes away with the coming evening so we can enjoy this beautiful camp. This might be my favorite.
Goodnight from Barranco Camp. The dinner bell is about to sound.
RMI Guide Brent Okita and Team
Exciting to hear the group’s progress!
The summit is nearing!
Sending good vibes!
Posted by: Vish Subramanian on 8/3/2023 at 9:54 pm
Thank you, Brent, for your updates with pictures!! It is interesting and helpful to learn about the team’s journey!
Wishing everyone the very best for the rest of the hike!
Best wishes,
Suganthi
Posted by: Suganthi Subramanian on 8/3/2023 at 7:17 pm
Posted by: Casey Grom, Roland Scott, Calvin Jiricko
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guide Casey Grom & the Four Day Climb June 19 - 22 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The weather is beautiful with blue skies and a few broken clouds. The team was able to spend about an hour on the summit before starting their descent. The teams left the crater rim around 8:30 am to return to Camp Muir. After a brief stop to repack and refuel they will continue to descend the remaining 4,500' to Paradise. We look forward to their return to Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.
Nice work team!
Way to go, Casey and Team! You must be a good luck charm, buddy!
Posted by: Lee Hoedl on 6/22/2023 at 10:04 am
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 9,350'
Hello friends, families, Farmer Dave and anyone else out there who might be following our blog. We have just kicked off the first Ecuador Expedition of 2023. It started with a rainy travel day and a rainy day for our Quito city tour (although a few of us still managed minor sunburns). Today, we took our first acclimatization hike and were surprised/delighted to wake up to partially sunny skies!
The hike up Rucu Pichincha is really quite scenic. I think it’s my favorite day hike in the world that is more or less in a major metropolitan area. A gondola takes us to 13,000’ where we begin our ascent to the summit of Rucu Pichincha (13,354’). Along the way there are a variety of wildflowers and the final push to the summit is engaging, involving a short section of class 3 scrambling.
I should also mention that the team is in good health, especially thanks to the newly renovated penthouse spa here at the Hotel Mercure. Many of us have used this opportunity to cycle cold plunges and wet sauna or cold plunges and hot tubbing. Henry, the ultimate masochist, prefers cold plunge only, first thing in the morning.
Tomorrow we will depart Quito early to head north. The itinerary of this trip has us working our way from north to south, making attempts on Cayambe, Antisana and Chimborazo. These are the 3rd, 4th and 1st highest mountains in Ecuador, respectively. We also hope to capture a glimpse of Cotopaxi, which is normally on the itinerary but was scratched this time due to recent eruptions and a moratorium on summit bids. Better to witness that from a safe distance.
Two adventurous young women! Wishing them and all of you the best on both continents.
How great to stay in touch and be able to go along on your climb laptop-wise.
Posted by: Coreen on 1/13/2023 at 11:25 pm
It’s got to be Sarah that has a sunburn in the cloudy weather :-D That’s a Hillebrand special! Wishing you all a safe journey and glad for the blog updates!
Posted by: Hannah on 1/13/2023 at 12:32 pm
After so many days of preparation and travel and anticipation, what a thrill it was to finally be walking uphill. We left our comfortable hotel at 8 AM in a bus headed east. We’d reached the Kilimanjaro National Park entrance by 10 AM and after a further hour of getting organized and registered with the park, we were off. It was raining lightly when we left our hotel, but it was merely cloudy and damp when we got walking through the big trees at the start of the Machame route. Moss was thriving and hanging from every branch and tree trunk and the trail was a little greasy under foot. Before long, we were steadily gaining altitude. The bus had taken us to 6000 ft and our goal for the day, Machame Camp, sat at 10,000 ft, so it was always going to be a tough workout. It was certainly tougher for our staff as they raced uphill with far heavier loads than we were carrying. We took short breaks every 90 minutes or so in order to eat and drink and by a little after 4 PM, the trees were getting smaller, the clouds were thinning and magically, our camp appeared… right where we’d hoped to find it. The crew had built us a wonderful home and we simply needed to move in. We sat in our dining tent for an afternoon snack and then, just before dinner, the clouds cleared enough to give our first magical views of Kibo -Kilimanjaro’s central peak- shining in the last rays of the sun nine thousand feet above us. Dinner was excellent and by 8 PM we were crawling into our tents and heading for bed… pleasantly tired and ready for a night with perhaps a little less jet lag.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Following… Sending love and encouragement from Coronado!
Posted by: Monica on 8/3/2022 at 8:18 am
Enjoying the climb back here in Michigan! 840 ft above sea level!
Posted by: Bruce Cumback on 8/3/2022 at 6:31 am
Posted by: Adam Knoff, Alex Halliday
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Adam Knoff and Alex Halliday reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today on the newly established Disappointment Cleaver Route. Guide Adam Knoff reported clear and windy skies. Tempratures were cool in the morining, but starting to warm up, so the team will have a pleasant descent back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to Today's Team!
I am so proud of my son Hridaya Patel.
Posted by: Asootosh Patel on 5/16/2021 at 8:40 am
Did it take long from Base Camp to Summit.Hope you both felt ok at the top.
Excellent few days , very proud of you.
What’s your next challenge.?
Posted by: Peter Thomson on 5/15/2021 at 9:32 am
Cannot say thank you enough to Joe, Camille and Cole for the entire experience. From minute 1, we knew we had a great group of guides, made only more clear the closer we got to the summit. It truly was an incredible experience and I felt in great hands the entire trip. Great group all around and hope our paths cross again on another mountain soon.
Posted by: Parker Knox on 7/28/2019 at 8:28 am
WOOHOO!! Congrats Knox’s Boys!!! Thank you to the wonderful guides who kept our guys safe and lead the way to a once (maybe twice) in a lifetime experience to conquer the great and beautiful peak together! Bode would be so proud!!! We are super excited to celebrate with you guys! Xoxox
Posted by: Kristina, Carolina, & Cyndy on 7/22/2019 at 11:27 pm
Great going guys, beautiful surroundings! Lots to see and take pic’s of!!!! Enjoy the relaxing part of the trip. Carpe Diem!!! ;o)
- Cat
Posted by: Cat on 9/26/2012 at 4:19 am
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