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A patchwork of clouds hung over the Caucasus this morning, diffusing the sunlight and hiding the morning sun. The almost sullen atmosphere didn't hold us back and we eagerly broke camp and hit the trail. The clouds kept the temperatures cool and we made great time, reaching our previous day's highpoint where we cached our gear by midday. The final 800' of climbing above the cache took us off of the well worn climber's trail below and into the continually shifting slopes of scree - small, loose rock - that makes up the glacial morraine. It is full attention walking as each step must be chosen with care to avoid slipping back down in the loose rock and we carefully picked our way upwards, soon gaining the plateau where Camp 1 resides. Perched amongst the rocky morraine alongside the Ullmalgender Glacier, Camp 1 sits at the base of the broad sweeping slopes of ice and snow that rise up to form Elbrus' twin summits and offers stunning views of the entire north side of the mountain. Off in the other direction we can gaze out across the rolling green plateaus, occasionally cut by the small dirt road that we drove along to reach the mountain. The sun had been gradually fighting its way back throughout the morning and by the time we reached camp it was another clear afternoon, interrupted every so often by gusts of wind sweeping down off of the mountain. After a solid day of climbing we set up camp and then crawled into the tents to relax for a bit before dinner. The team climbed strongly today, making it to camp in just over six and a half hours. We are tired but happy to be here at the glacier's edge. Tomorrow we will descend back to our cache to retrieve our gear in the morning and then spend some time in the afternoon brushing up on our glacier travel skills.

After a good night's sleep and a hearty Russian breakfast the team headed out for our first acclimatization hike. The weather was beautiful with plenty of sunshine and clear skies. Our hike was on the flanks of a neighboring mountain called Cheget, named for the small town below it. Cheget rises sharply out of town and is a steep ski resort in the winter. It has several chair lifts that came in handy for the ascent and descent. Along the way we were treated to some amazing views of Elbrus and a large portion of the Caucasus mountain range. Everyone was thoroughly impressed! After our hike we returned to town for a traditional Caucasus lunch of borsht, carrot slaw, and a meat roll. The team then headed back to our hotel and started packing for tomorrow's move to our base camp on Elbrus. Everyone is doing great and we are all excited about tomorrow.

We did it! Everyone made it to the top (and safely back down) of Pico de Orizaba  - what a day! We climbed for the third time this trip in perfectly calm, bright conditions and then got to watch a storm build from a single wisp of a cloud.

100% on top for all three very difficult mountains is not normal. I wish I could say it’s good guiding but the reality is it’s the character and determination of this crew.

It’s not been smooth sailing, have I see the biggest blister in my guiding career? Yes. Have we depleted the Imodium reserves? Also yes. Did we have not 1 but two pairs of boots break apart in seemingly unfixable ways? Why yes, yes we did. (shout out to duct tape and voile straps)

But it speaks to the resilience of every person on this team. I see in each of these team members an understanding of what it’s like to go to the depths of pain and suffering and move in it and through it with grace. 

As we talked about at the beginning everyone on this trip has a connection to the American Lung Association - we climbed every step for the loved ones we’ve lost, for the hope of something and some cure someday. And in the midst of it all - pain and suffering - we found hope and a belief in ourselves that we could make it through - just one more step, just to the next break. Moment by moment we live in the mountains and in our lives - keeping hope alive for what’s to come no matter how we feel in the now.

Thank you to each of you at home that donated and supported these 8 team members to believe in something bigger than themselves (a world with clean air, a world where there is a cure for all lung diseases) and to have the chance to do something hard along the way.

And thank you to mis Chivos (I know you all are reading this!!) it’s been a trip of a lifetime getting to know each of you, your incredible stories, your compassion and care for each other (and every animal we came across), your willingness to let loose and laugh on playgrounds and your trust in Josh, Allan and I to push you and challenge you in all ways in the mountains.

With so much gratitude,

RMI Guide Jess Wedel

Friday, May 19, 2023 10:22pm PDT

After a long night’s rest, we woke up to clear skies, and warm temperatures. We had a quick breakfast of pop-tarts and grits as the sun began to shine onto ski hill. After our quick breakfast, we worked to tear down camp and begin our journey towards 11,000’ camp. We strapped into the snowshoes, and made our way up ski hill, through the 9,500’ camps, past our cache and finally up the final hill into our final destination for the night.

After a short break, we found a nice spot to call home for the next few days and spent the next few hours building camp and moving in before a warm dinner of ramen. Looks like a little bit of weather is coming in, but we are hoping to wake up with the sun and go get our cache tomorrow morning. Looking forward to a mellower day tomorrow! Check back in after the back carry.

RMI Guides Nikki, Leif, Lauren & Team

Hi, this is Leon calling from Boston Basin Camp. We had a beautiful day getting here and just enjoying an evening after dinner. All is well. Tomorrow we are having a training day and planning to head up and climb Sharkfin Tower. Tomorrow's weather looks great so we are psyched. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. Bye. RMI Guide Leon Davis

Friday, May 31, 2013 Excitement, trepidation, anxiousness and a whole slew of other emotions ran through the team last night and this morning as we prepared to make our carry up the fixed ropes to 16,200' and beyond. How would we do on terrain steeper than any most of us have yet tackled? How would we do with the altitude? Everyone had similar questions that only time would answer. Our day started in the early morning before the sun hit camp. Temps were probably around 0-5 F. But we knew we wanted to avoid any traffic jams on the fixed ropes if possible. And an early start would help insure a smooth ascent. An hour and a half and 1,200' above camp the sun finally warmed our bodies. It amazes me still how in a five minute period it can go from bitingly cold to almost sweaty hot. With the fixed lines above we were psyched that we would have warm conditions to deal with them. We all progressed well up the lines, so well that everyone wanted to continue further up the West Buttress to make our cache. With climbing conditions on the ridge in great shape our progress was good, and before we knew it we were less than an hour from 17,200' camp. Although a challenge to climb at that altitude, everyone was up to going all the way to camp. Most people find just getting up to 16,200' challenge enough. But around 3:00pm we were there! What made this day so especially memorable was the fact that this was the first time in my twenty three Mt. McKinley expeditions that the entire team had made it all the way to 17,200' camp. We're back at 14,200' camp now and are looking forward to another well deserved rest day. After dinner we enjoyed reading all your blog replies. Thanks so much for all the support! Good night from 14,000' RMI Guides Brent, Logan and Leah

On The Map

Hey All! Checking in one last time here from Mendoza where our intrepid crew has just checked in at our hotel, dusty and stinking from 15 days on the trail. After our rough awakening at Camp Cólera and rallying "lights and sirens" style to save our camp we had a relatively uneventful walk down to Basecamp where we were greeted by the great staff at Grajales. Then there was yesterday's walk from Basecamp to Pampa de Leñas which is normally a bone-crusher, this time it was all gravy after our battle up at Cólera. The herrieros (mule drivers) at Pampa de Leñas treated us to a delicious asado that was mostly beef tenderloin, salted and grilled over wood coals! The crew was very appreciative after so many days of hard work. After sleeping out under the stars last night, today saw another seven miles of easy walking til we hit the road and loaded up for our shuttle to Mendoza. We are certainly tired but, again, very psyched on our accomplishment and intend to spend the next several days enjoying Argentine cuisine and wine. The gang is even going to head out on a group winery tour in a couple days since we're kinda stuck here with our early arrival from the mountain. Lotsa love from way down south, signing off... RMI Guide Billy Nugent

Hello everyone following along back home and welcome to another series of dispatches from this year's summer Cotopaxi Express trip! After a long night of scuttling back and forth from the airport Jaime and myself finally got the crew settled in last night at our hotel here in Quito. Since everyone is usually a bit bushed from long travel times from the states we typically start out our first day of the program on a city tour of some of Quito's colonial sites in addition to a visit to the exact geographical equator. We were fortunate enough to climb the bell tower in the Basilica (a neo-gothic cathedral), walk the streets of the old town (world's first UNESCO World Heritage Site), visit the Church de la Compañia de Jesús (baroque interior guilded w/ 7 tons of gold leaf and one of the oldest churches in South America), and play with funky coriolis phenomena on the exact geographical equator. Despite the lack of physical exertion, the gang was still pretty tired after cruising around town all day at an elevation around 9,000'. We ran some errands, took a little siesta, and then met up for our first team dinner later this evening. The gang is starting to open up a bit and get to know each other better, a good thing considering the challenges ahead! Tomorrow begins the first of our acclimatization hikes... Hasta mañana, RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Tyler Reid and Shaun Sears left Camp Muir with an alpine start this morning but were forced to turn around at 10,600' due to high avalanche danger. The weather at Camp Muir was clear with high clouds above. There was also a cloud deck below at around 6,000'. The teams began their descent from Camp Muir just before 9 a.m. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford this afternoon.

Friday May 28, 2021 - 7:39pm PT 

The winds and snow moved out for us today and we got to enjoy some sun and warmth in camp. We could still see winds moving quickly at times up above us on the west buttress, but it was nice to have pleasant conditions for a bit. We took the opportunity to build some truly monumental walls to protect against an expected wind event tomorrow, then refreshed and practiced our fixed line travel to prep for when the weather and conditions let us go higher.

Tomorrow is almost certainly a tent bound day, but the trend looks good for us going into next week. For now, we're happy to be acclimating and getting strong at 14,000', and to be within striking distance of our objective.

RMI Guides Pete, Matias, Chase, and Team