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We experienced the normal sadness about leaving trees today but the thrill of life at high altitude is plenty a replacement. We enjoyed good weather all day, just a bit chilly pulling into Pheriche, our home for the next two nights, at about 14,000 ft it was to be expected. The team was fortunate to visit Lama Geshi in Pangboche. A chant and a blessing for each sent the group out the door in high spirits.
Our path was diverted slightly as a bridge had collapsed. How many times I have crossed that span thinking it had another twenty years of life in it? Not so. The detour was a pleasant stroll by the river with yet another great photo opp on the new bridge. Wishing you all the best
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team
Posted by: Solveig Waterfall, Adam Knoff
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb August 13 - 16, 2012, led by RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6:30 a.m. this morning. They reported a beautiful day on the mountain with clear skies, light wind and warm temperatures. The team began their descent from the crater rim at 7:30 a.m.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise completed their six day program with a summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team began their descent from the top shortly after 8:00 a.m. They will return to Camp Muir and spend some time repacking their gear before continuing their descent to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Hey Danielle! Heard you were doing this and thought I’d drop a note! You go girl! You make all of us ex-Cuylerites proud!
Posted by: Donnie Grimes on 8/16/2012 at 10:17 am
Congratulations Dani!! I’m so proud of you, I can’t wait to hear all about it.
Posted by: Kelley on 8/16/2012 at 8:40 am
Another casual morning... We ate some breakfast, checked out of the Mercure (our hotel) around 8 am or so, loaded up the van and Jaime's truck, then hit the road. Heading north on the PanAmerican Highway, we left Quito and passed through the town of Otavalo, famous for it's large open air market. Eventually we turned off the highway and headed up into the countryside on our approach to Cerro Fuya Fuya. After many kilometers of driving on a cobblestone road up into the mountains we reached Laguna Mojanda and the base of Fuya Fuya. The lake is actually a giant caldera filled with water (think Crater Lake in OR) and made for a great backdrop to our second training hike. A couple hours of hiking and scrambling brought us to the summit at well over 14,000'. We enjoyed clear and sweeping views from la cumbre of the two valleys below in addition to the big Laguna. After a quick break on top we beat feet for the cars to try and out pace some menacing clouds. Everyone was feeling great.
After another short trip in the van we arrived at the beautiful Hosteria San Luis. Talk about traveling in style, there are beautiful gardens, stables, classic colonial architecture, a pool, and a pond. The gang is settling in and enjoying the last bit of luxury before heading up to the climber's refugio on Cayambe.
I'll call and check in tomorrow night from the refugio,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Hi from St. Petersburg,
We finished our adventures in Russia by exploring the wonderful city of St. Petersburg. We began the morning by walking along the Mokya Canal, one of the city's many canals, to St. Isaac's Cathedral. Then we climbed the 211 steps to the rotunda where we were afforded fantastic views of the city's skyline, from the spires of the Admiralty and the original churches of the city to the cranes of the busy port city. Afterwards, we ventured across the historic center to the Church of the Savior of Spilled Blood, whose magnificent mosaic frescos are built around the very cobblestones upon which Tsar Alexander II was murdered. We wrapped up our city tour at the Hermitage Museum. Containing over three million pieces of artwork, the museum's size is daunting. But the building's incredible beauty, with its ornately decorated rooms, is enough motivation to explore all of its halls.
After a delicious dinner at a traditional Russian restaurant we ended our day by boarding a canal boat and navigating the city's waterways as the setting sun lit up the sky in a fiery red. It has been a memorable two weeks of adventures in Russia, from the cobblestones of Red Square to the snowy reaches of Elbrus, Europe's highest point, to the canals of St. Petersburg, we have had a trip to remember. Tomorrow we board our flights bound for home and look forward to sharing our stories with you in person.
Cotopaxi summit! 100% of our climbing team reached the top of the beautiful 19,600' active volcano. We awoke at midnight to a clear and starry night, and started climbing at 1:30. A light breeze turned into a strong, cold wind that stayed with us most of the climb, but the skies remained clear and the climbing conditions were excellent. The wind eased on the summit, and we were treated to a beautiful morning with views of the surrounding peaks: the Ilinizas, Chimborazo, Antisana, and Cayambe, our next climbing destination.
We're all safely off the mountain, and enjoying the ammeneties at the Hacienda La Cienega. I'll touch base tomorrow with more, and hopefully some pictures. But right now there's a shower with my name on it.
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
Monday, June 10, 2013
A windy and cold night was greeted by more wind. For our team this is no issue, as we had planned this second consecutive rest day. This will be just the ticket for a more acclimatized and rested body that we will need for summit success.
The menu for this morning was supreme. Round upon round of bagels with cream cheese topped with bacon along with hash browns covered in cheese took us once again well past noon to complete.
The places we travel in the mountains can lead one to believe we are Martians, ready to launch onto to another planet - and that is exactly what we are doing. We push ourselves both mentally and physically, taking our personal learning and discovery to a higher level. When we return from these Martian lands, after having come face to face with deep personal truths and surpassing previously held limitations...we bring a richer and more rounded person home, someone who understands more about the nature of teamwork, sacrifice, and awareness. We thank you all for the support and the opportunity to let us dig deep and take on a new understanding of our passions!
The afternoon has more smelly tent time spent pounding water, fussing over who is the best celeb of all time and growing hairier by the day! The forecast is looking to set up nicely over the next few days and we hope to move to our high camp tomorrow. Till then keep the vibe high for our push!
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Garrett Stevens and the crew
On The Map
Great work Justin aka Jason. can’t wait to see your pictures. Clubbie
Posted by: Kathy on 6/11/2013 at 9:29 am
Nice going! And congratulations, Justin—I think the Kensington Fire Department lightweights have nothing on you now.
Posted by: Peter on 6/11/2013 at 8:31 am
We're at high camp!
It was another beautiful morning and the team made good time to our high camp which sits just over 15,000'. We have just finished our summit talk to make sure we are all prepared for tomorrow. Everyone is feeling well and looking forward to tonight's climb. We'll be up early and the goal is to be walking at 1 a.m. If all things go according to plan, then we should reach the summit sometime around 8 in the morning.
We had another trivia challenge that will allow the winner a one minute call from the summit. So, if you live in Texas and your nick name is "ZuZu" keep your phone handy. And remember Texas is 9 hours behind.
That's all for now. We'll try to call from the top.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Congratulations Amazing Climbers! You must have reached the sky at 19400feet. Awesome!
Posted by: Jill on 2/16/2013 at 11:21 am
Greetings from expedition skills seminar, Ecuador!
Day two:
Not all of our mountaineering challenges down here should be considered overly stressful. Granted we aren't exactly roughing it here in hotel Mercure Alemeda, we figured starting the team off gently would ease us into the trip's first acclimating hike.
Quito is flanked on its western edge by the frequently active Pinchincha Rucu volcano who's 15,500 foot summit makes for a perfect first excursion to altitude. Oh ya, back to a gentle start. After another delicious breakfast the team loaded into a sporty looking minivan with a sporty looking driver to match and headed ten minutes up the road to the loading dock of Quito's famous Pinchincha gondola. I don't know much, but I do know riding from 10,000 feet to 13,800 feet is better than walking. Who knew? From the top of the tram, views of Quito 's expansive size and beautiful setting blessed us before our trail was soon overtaken by the rising cloud bank. Despite the apparent fitness of our team, much hard breathing was done welcoming in the lower oxygen levels. Soon we found our rhythm and pushed steadily upward further into the cold clouds until the sign on the summit said we were there. By that time we were all in gloves, hats and warm jackets. We then descended quickly before the rain hit.
The rest of the afternoon will be spent relaxing and exploring the neighborhood around the hotel. We are all psyched to be leaving the city and heading north.
More to come,
RMI Guides Adam Knoff, Casey Grom and Team
Casey and Adam, you very successfully guided our entire expedition team to the summit of Cotopaxi on 16 Dec 2011. Your team will easily discover what great RMI guides they have. Happy New Year from Bill, Scott, and the four Mikes
Posted by: Bill HIll on 1/4/2013 at 8:03 am
Posted by: JJ Justman, Geoff Schellens
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,500'
Coffee and Quesadillas is what rest days are all about! This is team #1 here on Aconcagua at Camp 1 (16,500’). After our carry yesterday the team definitely earned a day to acclimatize, rest, and recover after a good long day’s work. Everyone is doing just fantastic. We’re continually eating up quesadillas, drinking coffee, telling stories, and just having a good time.
The weather is pretty decent a little bit of wind. It looks like there might be a bit of a change, but overall not too bad. So tomorrow our plan is to wake up early, break camp, and then move to Camp 2 at 18,000’.
Everyone wants to say hello to friends and family back home and thanks for following along. We will touch base with you again and let you know how our move to a new altitude at Camp 2 on Aconcagua goes. Take care everyone!
Ciao from Argentina,
RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team
Rest Day at Camp 1
Sounds like the climb is going great & the food fantastic.
Robert, Lillypoo keeps looking out the window for you, You better bring her back a big Argentina steak bone!
Miss you,
Jo
Posted by: Jo on 12/14/2012 at 4:12 pm
A big hello from me to Nancy and Elizabeth! The photos are inspirational. It looks like a great group and I know they are loving getting to know you both! Eliz Christenberry and I talk about you every day. :)
Posted by: Dada Glaser on 3/28/2014 at 8:38 am
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