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Hello from Mount Everest Base Camp. We've been up at 17,500 ft for two nights already and it is beginning to feel like home. We had high hopes for continuous communication possibilities this year, since we were hearing so much about the 3G cell service at Base Camp... but the reality is that we are still mostly on a dirt road version of the information super-highway. We didn't have much access to cell or web services when we trekked from Pheriche to Lobuche in new snow under overcast skies. Things were cold in Lobuche, but not unpleasant as we passed the evening hours playing games in the dining room of the Eco Hotel. We stretched our legs some with a hike along the lateral moraine of the Khumbu Glacier and Bill and Sara got good at identifying the dozen or so Himalayan giants piercing the horizon around us. In the afternoon of our Lobuche rest day, we were excited to visit with Linden Mallory and his team of trekkers and climbers. They'd already spent a few nights at Everest Base Camp and were excitedly bound for Island Peak. Bill and Sara have climbed several times in the past with Linden and were naturally happy to see him again. When he completes his Island Peak climb and trek he'll make his way back up to Everest Base to join our team at about the point when we are getting into the Khumbu Icefall. Two days ago, myself, Lam Babu,and Bill and Sara marched out of 16,000 ft Lobuche and took just four easy hours to reach Base Camp at 17,500 ft. It was wonderful then to meet our Sherpa team and to reunite with Jeff Martin, who'd sprinted ahead to help get the camp set up. Camp is indeed set up and we were amazed at the hard work the Sherpa staff had accomplished in chopping out level tent-sites and rolling boulders around to carve out a camp on this rough section of glacier. Now we've made the transition from tea-houses to tents... but it hasn't been that tough a transition. We are eating quite well now since Kumar, our chef of the past several RMI Everest expeditions, is back in the driver's seat and cranking out excellent meals. These first few days are purposely light on activity so that our bodies can catch up to the altitude, but we don't seem to be having a lot of trouble that way. It is nice now for each of us to be in our own tents and to be able to sort our climbing gear and clothing without moving to someplace new each day. New tents are popping up all around us as other teams get close to Base Camp. As expected, we were one of the first climbing teams to make it in for the season. We've already gotten to chat with the doctors of the "Everest ER" the clinic set up by the HRA about two camps away from us. Later today we'll walk a little with our ice axes in hand, just for some light exercise, and tomorrow we are looking forward to our Puja ceremony... asking the blessing of the gods before we put ourselves at risk on this giant mountain. The cell service may not be robust at Base Camp (it seems to be mostly a 9 to 5 kind of thing, due to a reliance on solar power, we suspect) but the glaciers are still functioning pretty efficiently up here. We are getting used to the sound of big ice avalanches on the steep faces around camp. Snow conditions seem much the way I've come to expect them in the past few years... it looks like it has been quite dry again in these high mountains. The Khumbu Glacier in the vicinity of Base Camp has just been melting steadily throughout the year, without much surface replenishment... although it is relatively cold now, there is already some water flowing in the streams. The word is that the Icefall Doctors have already pushed the climbing route close to the Camp I area, which is good news... we can't tell too much about the Icefall from looking up at it... it looks just as mean and ridiculous as ever, but it is nice to know that a path has been found through it once again. Best Regards, Dave Hahn

Hello Hello,
Checking in for our Torres trek. It's been a whirlwind couple of days, but we arrived safely, are somewhat rested, and are packed and headed for our first hike of the circuit. 

Though the trip started with a slight snafu with the penguin tour. We pushed our departure back and were rewarded with dolphins, whales, seals, penguins, you name it. An unbelievable ride across the Magellan strait. A day spent in Puerto Natales, a port town at the edge of fjord, had us rearranging gear, catching up on some much-needed rest, packing our backpacks, and shopping for some souvenirs. Situated in this valley, we get sweeping views of the mountains across the way. 

Now we are at Camp Serón, our first camp and a relatively gentle hike to warm up our legs and take in the view that Torres Del Paine National Park has to offer.  Today was international flat not just what is called “ Patagonia Flat” it was a joy to start walking after the few days of hotels and the cherry on top? Condors and a Puma. Just our luck.

We’re excited for tomorrow and we’re each hoping to not lose in farrow or get skunked in our now daily cribbage tournament. Till tomorrow

Thanks for following along,

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

Well, we have gone off the map. Or at least out of cell phone range, and the internet is not working up here at 14,250 ft in Lungdhen, so we are coming to you via satellite. The team was -once again- surprised to wake in Thame surrounded by beautiful mountains. The normal pattern, clouds in afternoon and an evening with crystal clear mornings will produce that kind of morning surprise. Today the peaks were extra stunning at first light.

We set off at about 8:20 up the broad valley, pointed north toward the Tibetan border. We had left the trees behind, so today there were just low shrubs and grasses, and a big roaring tumbling river (as usual). Without coming to any single big hill, we gained altitude steadily through our 6.5 miles.  We sat for tea a while in Maralung before taking on the final push up to the Kwangde View Lodge in Lungdhen. We did one of our typical eat and rest afternoons as the clouds came around outside. It is a little cooler up here, and we aren't so far from the snow now.

 We will explore a little tomorrow and stay a second night. That should offer our best chance at proper acclimatization before we try to get over the 17,600 ft Renjo La. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

We made our carry to high camp at 19,600' today. The mornings continue to be clear, calm and provide spectacular views of the Central Andes. The afternoon blizzards with scorching heat and thunder snow continue as if set by a Swiss watchmaker.

We will rest tomorrow and see what the winds do. The consensus of longtime local guides is this amount of snow, lack of wind and heat is unique when compared to the last 15-20 years.

RMI Guide Mike King and Team

Hola from 16,000 ft on the northern flanks of Ecuador’s most famous mountain, Cotopaxi. We apologize for not sending a dispatch yesterday because we were so excited to get here, we simply forgot. I assure all of you faithful followers the effects of altitude on memory are minimal, I just forget things naturally.

Once moved in last night we endured a very restless evening because apparently the workers knew we were coming and couldn’t stop painting, pounding, dragging and talking well into the night.  So this morning we drank our coffee, packed our bags and headed to the glacier for some skills training unrelated to our climb. The weather is a vast improvement over the weather on Cayambe and all the teams that climbed last night made it to the top.

Not it is 4:30 pm and the hut is busting with tourists and climbers hoping to attempt tonight as well.  Everyone is in good spirits and excited to climb!  We all feel our chances are good.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s dispatch.

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

Tuesday, July 2, 2013 Still here in base camp in case you were wondering. It is snowing with poor visibility. There were some "sucker holes" in the clouds that gave us some false hope at midday today. We did get out and get some exercise today. Everyone in camp that is waiting to fly got on their skis/snowshoes and stomped down a runway in the snow. We all took it quite seriously since we want the airstrip to be ready when the weather is good enough to fly! Everyone is happy and healthy and ready to be off the mountain. Cross your fingers! RMI Mt. McKinley Summit Team 6 P.S. Lance wants his girls to know he loves them and will be home soon. P.S.S. Steve will call Tania, mom and dad, & Bill and Lisa as soon as he is off the mountain.

On The Map

Hello from Elbrus Northside Basecamp! Our good luck with the weather has continued. Our hike down from Camp 1 was rather pleasant, other than our huge packs. We took our time and now we're relaxing and waiting for our ride back to Kislovodsk. RMI Guides JJ Justman and Seth Waterfall

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Alan Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 7 am today.  Alan reported light winds, clear skies. It took the team just under 6 hours to top out via the current route up Disappointment Cleaver. The team is en route back to Camp Muir.

Congratulations to today's team! 

The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Jenny Konway, were unable to summit this morning. They stayed at Camp Muir due to high winds and rain. The teams will begin their descent to Paradise later this morning.

The sun doesn't set at 11,200' camp until after 9:30 sometime. Then it just passes behind a mountain to cast shadows on this place that we're now calling home. And we're soaking it all up after another nice day of climbing. Today we made it to camp in under four hours, and for the first time had pretty reasonable sized packs. A cool down-glacier breeze offered us a change of pace from the sweat fest of the lower glacier, and I think most of the team welcomed the drop in temperature. Pulling into camp in the early afternoon allowed us to walk into a vacated camp spot and relieved us of the tough work of building walls and excavating tent platforms. Most of us relaxed and enjoyed a well deserved break from our toils. Another first for the trip: we enjoyed a fine meal from the comfort of our Posh House. This is a tent like thing that allows us all to sit, cook and eat, protected from the elements like the wind, cold, snow or even sun. It's cozy and makes it fun to just linger over a couple of hot drinks and enjoy each others company. Tomorrow we'll be doing a back carry to pick up the cache we left there this morning. We're looking forward to a fairly easy day, and hopefully another great day of weather. Before we sign off, Ayla wants to give a big shout out to her sister. Happy Birthday Eva! (By the way, your sister Ayla is a rock star - she's doing great.) Until tomorrow ... RMI Guide Brent Okita

On The Map