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Here we are! Base Camp! The team made it Down from high camp in 50 mph winds. It was a tough day packing up but the weather calmed down as we descended. It's a slow gradual zombie descent. However, as soon as people see the tiny little tents of base, people's spirits soar. Now in base camp we are sucking down juice and wearing flip flops. The team has a little bit of packing to do and then we are off down the trail to finish the mountain part of the adventure. Tomorrow we will head to Lenas, which was our first camp on the trek in. I usually tease our climbers by telling them we are going to have chicken ramen for dinner. However, I think another giant steak asado is in order. After all, when in Argentina! Especially after a safe and successful summit of South America's highest peak! RMI Guides JJ Justman and Leah Fisher and Team

The thick rain clouds that have been covering the region for the last several days began to dissipate overnight. Leaving our hotel this morning, the sky above was a patchy mix of clouds and blue sky. We loaded our mountain gear into our van and made the ten minute drive up the valley to the tiny village of Azau. In Azau we hauled our gear from the van and through the base terminal of the tram station. A few minutes later the red cabin dropped down from the station above and we piled our team and gear into the tram. We made two tram rides, going from the green valley floor to the top station, sitting on a rocky morraine along the edges of Elbrus' glaciers. To get our gear the final 700' we took turns loading our duffels, packs, and climbers onto a little single seater chairlift. Despite the slow moving chairs it was still a tricky transfer to put on and pull off the bags from the chairs as they swung by. Nevertheless, it was a smooth process and by midday we were settled into out bunks in the Garabashi Huts, a series of old diesel tanks that have been converted into bunk rooms. Despite the long cylindrical shape, they are quite comfortable inside, especially when the hail and rain starts up outside. After a great lunch of borsch, meats, cheeses, and French toast we set off on an acclimatization hike. The clouds once again settled onto the mountain, although with no moisture in them. We climbed for a couple of hours, ascending the glacier right above the hut and getting used to hiking in climbing boots and traveling on snow. After reaching just over 13,000' we turned around and descended back to the hut. We are resting in the huts now before dinner. Everyone climbed well today, making the transition from low elevation trails to the high altitude snows well. After close to a week of traveling to reach this mountain, we are happy to be here and comfortable in the huts. Tomorrow we are planning on making our final acclimatization hike up to Pastuhkova Rocks at 15,000' before resting on Friday. We will check-in when we return from the hike. RMI Guide Linden Mallory

On The Map

And we flew out! We got in a day early, and flew out a day early too, as to secure our exit off the glacier with the great weather we had: the runway at the Root Canal Glacier is no major airport where to secure a flight under the action of the elements. The trip ran very smoothly, and we're happy to have tackled this ultra classic line, "Ham and Eggs" up the Moose's Tooth, which is without a doubt, a haunting peak in the Alaska Range. Vanessa and Taylor trained the necessary technical skills not only to overcome the difficulties of the route, but to shine for the hours on end that climbing 3,000ft of steep ice, snow and mixed terrain entails in the remoteness of this environment. Now the team has parted ways, and we feel proud and accomplished. Regards from Anchorage! RMI Guide Elías de Andrés Martos

For those of you that know me, you are aware of my love affair with Argentina and Aconcagua. For those of you that don’t know, let me explain. It was 1998 when I first visited Argentina and it didn’t take but a few hours from stepping off of the plane to say to myself, "I love this place!" The first thing you notice while in Mendoza is how beautiful the city and the countryside are. As you walk along the wide city sidewalks that are lined with cafe after cafe, you can’t help but sit down to order a double espresso and watch people. As you sit and watch you notice a different atmosphere that rules Argentina as a whole. That is, people enjoy living! At one table there is a group of businessmen taking a break from work. At another table sit a group of old men in a heated debate over Argentina’s favorite sport, futbol. Of course coffee isn’t the only thing consumed in Mendoza. The region is best known for its wine production, as Argentina is now regarded as one of the largest producers of quality wine in the world. That leads me to another reason I absolutely love Argentina: no, not the wine per se, but the amazing food and restaurants that inhabit the culture. Whether it be the amazing steak that leaves every single person saying the same thing – "that’s the best steak I have ever had!" – or authentic Italian cuisine, if you are a "foodie" like me Argentina is amazing. Sure, Aconcagua is supposed to be all about climbing; however, as an international adventure, an expedition to Argentina could not start or finish any better than in a city like Mendoza. Now, for the climbing part: Aconcagua of course is one of the seven summits and at just under 23,000 feet it is the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. It is the perfect mountain for climbers who want to get a start at expedition style climbing. The climb starts in the rugged, high mountain desert landscape where temperatures can be very warm. Mules carry our climbing gear the three day trek to base camp at Plaza Argentina. That means a couple of things: One, you get to trek into base camp with a light backpack; two, you get to hang out with the cowboys, also known as Arrieros, every night at the campfire; and perhaps most importantly, you get to experience a true Argentinian Asado as the cowboys cook steak and chicken over the campfire under the stars. Once you arrive at base camp, most climbers are pleasantly surprised at how civilized it is. It’s very reminiscent of Everest Base Camp in that there are dining tents, toilets, and even showers. Since acclimatization is very important on such a high mountain, it certainly is nice to have some creature comforts and incredible support from a great base camp staff. The climbing above base camp is physically demanding. When I first climbed "The Stone Sentinel" in 1998 we only made two camps above base camp. Today RMI makes three camps. Camp One sits at 16,200 feet. Camp Two at 18,000 feet and Camp Three at 19,600 feet. With 20 summits of Aconcagua I have seen the success rate go way up due to the more strategic nature of making three camps. This acclimatization schedule helps to make our climbing teams much stronger, but the climb is still a lot of work! I would love to explain to you how amazing the world looks up high on summit day, but it’s like every mountain I climb: you cannot fully explain the beauty of the high alpine world until you see it for yourself. As you stand on her summit and gaze out, you see a world that never ends; mountains beyond mountains as far as the eye can see. While you contemplate, it doesn’t take too long to begin to smile knowing that as soon as you get down, you are returning to the beautiful city of Mendoza to enjoy the hot weather and swimming pools, after an evening of dining once again on the most amazing food you’ll ever have in your life, that is!

It was another beautiful day here in the Khumbu with clear skies and astounding views. Our day started with breakfast at 7:30 with eggs, toast, porridge, jam and plenty of fresh coffee (thanks Tucker). We hit the trail just after 8 and made our way up the valley crossing numerous hanging bridges covered with prayer flags. Tea houses lined the trail almost the entire way making it easy to stop for a rest, eat and snap a few photos. We made good time even while sharing the trail with other Trekkers and the countless yaks carrying loads in both directions. Along the way we were treated to a nice view of the far off Mt Everest (still about 25 miles away). There was one big hill to climb before reaching Namche Bazaare where we'll spend a few nights in order to properly acclimatize. Everyone is doing great and currently are out exploring Namche (population of a few thousand) which is the heart of the Khumbu and Sherpa people. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

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Another great day! Sometimes I am hesitant at writing these blogs. I am lying here in my sleeping bag under the stars watching a meteor shower. And I know some of you are sitting at your desks staring out the window dreaming of adventure. So please live vicariously through us! The team had a great day. We woke up and had croissants, coffee and Argentinian scrambled eggs. You cannot trek for five hours on an empty stomach. The scenery on the second day gets more spectacular in the Vacas Valley. However, our journey in the Vacas is over at 11,000 feet. Tomorrow we turn left and trek up the Relinchos Valley towards Plaza Argentina, our Base Camp at 14,000 feet. The entire team is doing great and we are filled up on grilled chicken, which we had this evening. Tomorrow we will describe the community of Plaza Argentina which will be home for many days as we continue to properly acclimatize. RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb August 24 - 27 led by RMI Guides Shaun Sears and Eric Frank were unable to summit today. High winds kept the teams from leaving Camp Muir as scheduled. The Camp Muir Telemetry shows an average wind speed between 55 - 80 mph. over night. The teams did climb to Ingraham Flats later in the morning. The wind was still blowing approximately 40 mph and they began their descent from this high point just before 8 am. The teams returned to Camp Muir to repack and rest before starting their descent to Paradise shortly after 10 am. RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise checked in this morning from the Paradise Glacier. The team will be breaking camp and moving to Camp Muir. They plan to do some additional training around Muir today and will be making their summit attempt tomorrow morning.

Hey everybody, it's Billy calling in with another dispatch here from the Jose Ribas Hut on Cotopaxi. We went out on the glacier today out and did some training. Got ourselves back up to speed with all the fun stuff in a typical climbing school: cramponing, ice axe arrest and basically getting used to working with our tips. The crew did really well despite the high elevation. We just had a great meal here, courtesy of the caretakers at the hut and we are going to be early. We are getting up in the middle of the night to take a crack at the summit. So right now I'm outside looking at nothing but stars. We are hoping this weather holds for us... We'll see what happens and we'll give you a call tomorrow and let everybody know what came of us. Signing off for now. RMI Guide Billy Nugent

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Thursday, October 10, 2024 - 3:04 am PT

As much as we were enjoying the high life up in Gokyo, it was time to get lower.  We got walking at 8:30 this morning down past the series of magical lakes pinched between giant mountains and a giant glacier.  The end of the glacier brought a dramatic change in the scenery as we were then traversing a steep gorge with a charging and churning river below.  The trail was in great condition, though it was still a challenge to keep from tumbling off as one could get easily distracted staring at the six or eight 20,000 ft mountains surrounding us.  It wasn’t particularly busy on the trail but we were careful to give room to the hard working yaks when they came through loaded up with propane.  The weather followed what we’ve come to think of as the normal pattern: crystal clear to start and clouding up after noon.  We pulled into Dhole at around 1:40 PM after 8.2 miles, so the gang was definitely ready for lunch and a few hours of rest to complete the day.  The rest -way down here at 13,400- ought to be a little more restful than we’ve had in recent days. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

June 15, 2015 4:42 pm PT Hi everybody it’s Tyler and the team. We are on the summit of Mt. McKinley currently. We hope that everyone is doing well at home. We have a lot of hours of work left but we did a really good job getting up here. We can see hundreds of miles. There is a light wind up here and everybody is doing great. We have had a spectacular trip and we are half way now. We will give you a report when we get back to 17 Camp and hope that everyone is well. We will be in touch. Cheers – RMI Guide Tyler Jones

On The Map