Most Popular Entries

Our good fortune continues. It must be a residual charm left over from the time spent on the mountain during the super moon. Cold and cloudy to start the day up on the Ngorongoro Crater Rim. That is not unusual, this typically being the coldest time of year. We paid a visit to a Maasai Village. Warmed up in one of their huts, while a nice gentleman told us fascinating facts and rich history of this unique group of people. I think you would be surprised at the insulation R-value of the walls of their thatch, cow dung and ash mixture construction. Since the funding goes to children education and the offerings were nice souvenirs, we were happy to invest in some of the village wares. We made the descent into the crater floor and spent a magical day with the other natives of the land, wild animals. So much fun and more to come. We move to Tarangire National Park tomorrow. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

Sunday, July 14th, 2013 Back at 14K. A couple of long, hard, exhilarating days have come and gone. When we left 14,200' two days ago, we were happy to even have a chance at getting to 17,200'. It wasn't certain that we'd get there with the leftovers from that two-foot snowstorm. And as we moved up, we were aware that teams were coming down from 17,200' because of avalanche conditions between there and the summit. But we had a perfect day for moving up and we weren't used to perfect days on this trip... we took advantage. The going was a little slow, what with trail-breaking, but it was better than we expected to find. We were able to walk on avalanche debris for a good portion of the approach to the fixed ropes. The climb up along the crest of the buttress was spectacular and difficult with our big packs, but all handled it well. It took 8.5 hours to reach camp at 17,200'. When we got there we were overwhelmed at the generosity of the teams who'd been waiting there for days. They gave us water and helped to build our tents... And most importantly, they pointed out that recent winds had virtually eliminated the avalanche hazard on the route to Denali Pass. They were going for the top in the morning and we were invited. It was just a matter of whether we could get camp up, dinner down, and people in sleeping bags fast enough that the team would be rested for a try on the top. The next day dawned cloudless and windless and our teams were all enthusiastic about a chance to climb. We took off at 10:20 AM just behind Rob Galler with AMS and Dennis with AAI. We'd discussed things extensively and were determined that the last guided parties of the season would work together to achieve this unexpected summit. Rob did a lot of the hard work breaking trail on the steep slopes to Denali Pass. We took over a little past the Football Field to make a route up to and along the summit ridge. Throughout the day, it seemed nearly unbelievable that on a storm-plagued trip, we'd get such a perfect opportunity for the top. The wind never blew and we were comfortable the entire day... no freezing hands, faces or feet. We hit the summit at 6:40 PM and stayed there for an hour, taking pictures, shaking hands and marveling at our good fortune. A few thousand careful steps later, we pulled into high camp at 11:30 PM. Everyone worked to get some dinner down before turning in. The guides were up for hours more, melting snow and filling water bottles. It seemed a great gift that the good weather continued into this morning. It is always rough packing up at 17K after a summit day, but it was made immeasurably easier by the calm, sunny morning. We set out at 1:00 PM and climbed ever so carefully down the narrow ridge crest and the steep fixed ropes with our giant packs. It was quite hot by the time we reached 14,200' and it seemed a good idea to set camp rather than chancing rockfall around Windy Corner. Tomorrow will be another big day as we'll try to make it to 8000', putting ourselves in position to go out the lower glacier early the following morning. Probably too much to ask, to get another nice day, but we'll ask anyway. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The team and all luggage are out of the transit area of the Moscow International airport. We will head right back there tomorrow for our flight to the soaring peaks of the range of mountains called the Caucasus. But, today we explored Moscow and Red Square. We will take vivid memories of the Walls of the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral, the Jewels of the Armory Museum just to name a few. A bit of the jet lag still with us but not slowing down this intrepid team of travelers. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

We hiked about five hours to our high camp today while brushing up on some mountaineering skills such as ice axe arrest, cramponing and roped travel. After dinner and our summit chat, it'll be off to bed in anticipation of our summit bid in the morning! The team is doing well, feeling strong and excited for the morning. Wish us luck!

Technically, today was a rest day…

but we still got up early and went hiking.  It would have been hard not to get out of bed with a stunning sunrise lighting up Kwangde - the giant and jagged peak across the valley to our west.  We hiked up a steep hill (everything out of Namche is steep) to Syangboche and then traversed through yak pastures until we reached a tea house at 12,400 ft for our first views of Ama Dablam and Lhotse.  There were some clouds playing through the area that prevented our seeing Everest.  We sat outside, drank tea, and watched.  At one point we could see Everest’s South Summit, but the true summit never quite cleared for us.  We packed up and headed back down into Namche to rest and browse through the many shops for the afternoon. 

Tomorrow we’ll push a little higher in our move to Thame.

Best Regards

Dave

We all agreed that carrying a load of food, fuel and gear 2500 vertical feet up the fixed lines was hard. It was steep (both going up and coming down) it took a long time (7 hours round trip from low camp) and it was sometimes too hot and sometimes too cold. It felt a lot like mountain climbing. Today we had crampons on our feet and axes in our hands, unlike the last couple of sled dragging days on the low angled approach glacier. So all around, it was pretty tough, but we did it. We got those unreal Antarctic views as we got higher, spawning questions like "Is that ice way out there or is it cloud?" (It was both). Our hope, of course, is that by doing such tough work today, by going so high (11,800) and by coming back down to sleep and rest through tomorrow, we'll be stronger, more familiar with the route and better acclimated to the altitude. That may be, but at any rate, it sure was fun climbing today. It was a little cloudy which seemed to hold some heat in the air, making things a bit easier. The two teams above us apparently made the summit today, which is great, we'll see them tomorrow on their descent. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Our team is spending the night at Basecamp tonight, as the weather has been un-flyable all day today. We were fortunate enough to have perfect weather for our summit day, and this little weather glitch is now merely an annoyance. We are all looking forward to some simple amenities like hot showers, cold beer, real beds, running water, and the opportunity to talk with loved ones on the telephone. But we know that these will come shortly and we're already accustomed to being patient with the weather; the important thing to remember is that we had a safe and successful trip on Denali, and the weather worked out for us when we needed it to. This little waiting period in Basecamp is just a reminder that the mountain is still in charge and we need to play by its rules. We're optimistic that we will get to Talkeetna tomorrow and finish our expedition. Until then, we're all safe, comfortable, and happy. Hopefully our next dispatch will be from Talkeetna tomorrow. Cheers, RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

The Kilimanjaro Family Climb began the ascent today, climbing through the rainforest on Kilimanjaro's lower slopes to reach Machame Camp at 9,800'. Check out their video dispatch below. RMI Guides Peter Whittaker & Seth Waterfall

On The Map

Sunday, February 9, 2025 - 2:57 pm PT

We are excited for our first glaciers in Ecuador.

A fun, bumpy 4x4 ride delivered us to the climbers hut where we unpacked and settled into the penthouse suite. That is a nice way to say we had to haul all our gear up a bunch of stairs and everyone was breathing heavy.

After moving in, we refreshed our walking and cramponing techniques on the rocks and dirt just above the hut.
We also met the rest of our guide team, Carmelo, Jorge and Gustavo who joined us for dinner. They are warm and friendly and quickly becoming part of the team.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner of quinoa-potato soup, followed by chicken and rice. We are getting to bed early in preparation for our early start tomorrow.

RMI Guide Walter Hailes

Hey-O,

Another day down. We woke to clear skies and a brisk temperature, after some coffee and breakfast we hit the trail.

At Lenas we made friends with a cute dog, and she has decided to continue along with us. A short way into our day we crossed a bridge over the Vacas River. She began winning and refused to cross, choosing the river instead! The river swept her away until she clung to a rock! One of our brave climbers leapt into action and went to the rock and plucked her out by her scruff. Hopefully that is the most excitement of our trip!!

The team cruised up valley making easy work of the day. Our new four legged friend stayed with us the whole time. The winds picked up towards the end, as per usual, for this camp. When we arrived, we enjoyed some down time waiting for our duffels in an empty dome tent. There we cooked dinner and chatted before bedtime.

Tomorrow, we take a hard left into the Relinchos Valley which will take us to basecamp. We are all excited for the amenities that come with basecamp, including some Wi-Fi to share some photos. It's early to bed for us so we can rest up for tomorrow’s trek.

Talk to tomorrow,

RMI Guides Hannah, Ben, Dan and Team