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After our climb on Cotopaxi we descended down into the comforts of hot showers, soft beds and thick air. Our refuge for the night was the beautiful Hosteria La Cienega. We had a nice dinner and then it was off to bed after such a long day. Today most of the team headed back to Quito for their long flights home, while a few of us continued north with hopes of climbing one more mountain. Several hours of driving delivered us to yet another beautiful plantation called Hacienda Guachala. Guachala lies just below our next climbing objective, Cayambe. Cayambe is the third highest mountain in Ecuador and rises to 18,993'. One more night of rest and we will head to back into the mountains.

Wednesday, June 28, 2023 - 9:41 pm PT

We celebrated Tibor's birthday with a storm day and a no-bake cheesecake.  Familiar weather to us, clouds and snow with winds aloft kept us confined to 14,000ft Camp. We slept, we ate, we dug snow and cut snow blocks. We talked and we read... we passed time.  Looking forward to going climbing again when the storm quits.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Thursday, May 30, 2013 Hey everyone, this is Billy. I'm checking in here with our group. We are at 11,000' part way through our descent. After our big summit day yesterday, we packed up our camp at 17,000' and then moved on down. Brent Okita's crew was kind enough to cook us up some dinner at the 14K Camp, and we continued on down to 11,000', where the crew is all, actually snug as a bug, in their sleeping bags out in the open because it is so warm compared to where we've been living. We plan on getting up in the middle the night tonight and making a run for the airstrip hoping to get a flight off tomorrow sometime before the weather takes a turn for the worst. We'll give a shout when we reach Basecamp. That's all for now. RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

Finally, we headed for the hills! A quick breakfast at San Luis and an easy checkout (not necessarily the norm) made for a smooth start to another busy day cruising around Ecuador. Right off the bat we headed for the Otavalo marketplace, world famous for its street food and local handicrafts. It being Saturday, the market frenzy was at a climax and the gang enjoyed a unique opportunity to experience Ecuadorian and more specially Otavalan culture. Not wanting to risk a potential intestinal disruption, we decided to grab lunch at the Cafe de la Vaca on our way over to Cayambe. After hiking for about an hour we arrived at the Refugio high on Cayambe's flank and settled in. Freshly baked pizzas for dinner were a welcome change to typical mountain food. Everybody is bracing for a rough first night above 15,000'. We'll check in tomorrow and let you know how the first night went. All for now, RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

Hi All, RMI Aconcagua team one here in Base Camp watching the torrent on the upper mountain as we pack and organize gear for the mules. After soup and snacks we moved on to sports and movie trivia with some of our German climbing friends. Although we are all disappointed to be leaving the mountain with out a summit, the foul weather and thoughts of steak and wine are reassuring. We will start our hike out tomorrow and get back to Mendoza on Thursday the 20th. Thank you all for all the support and we look forward to talking to all our friends and family soon. RMI Guides JJ Justman, Geoff Schellens & Team

We spent our first full morning here in Kathmandu in the Yak & Yeti’s gardens, enjoying rare clear skies here in Kathmandu while discussing the final trip details, logistics, and equipment review. By midday our bags were sorted, our climbing gear and trekking gear separated and repacked in preparation for the mountains. After finishing we plunged ourselves into Kathmandu’s maze of streets to visit some of the city’s most famous destinations. First visiting the Boudhanath Stupa, one of the largest Buddhist Temples in Kathmandu and the starting place for any pilgrimage taken by Nepali’s practicing Tibetan Buddhism. The sprawling stupa is alive with devotees circumnavigating its base, softly chanting while spinning the hundreds of prayer wheels lining the stupa walls. We next ventured to the hills to the east of Kathmandu’s center where Sawayambu sits, known as the Monkey Temple for the hundreds of monkeys that call the stupa home. Today the afternoon heat kept the monkeys in the shade, the younger ones choosing to wrestle and swim in the small fountain near the stupa’s base. From the Money Temple the clear skies afforded us amazingly clear views across the city. From above Kathmandu’s complicated web of streets takes on an amazingly orderly look, the faint sound of horns being the only indication of the chaos below. At last we dove into the very heart of Kathmandu’s center, Durbar Square – literally the Palace Square that has been the center of Kathmandu for centuries. There, ancient Hindu temples crowd the streets, each with it’s own story and significance in the city’s heritage. Milling throughout are vendors of fruits and vegetables along with those hawking souvenirs to the tourist. It is a wildly busy and exciting place yet remarkably intimate given it’s cultural and historical prominence for Kathmandu and all of Nepal. After a full day of packing and taking in the sites we returned to the hotel as the sun sank lower in the hills. We head to Kathmandu’s domestic airport tomorrow for an early morning flight out of Kathmandu and into the Khumbu. - RMI Guide Linden Mallory

We wrapped up our seminar on Friday with more training amid the continuing snowfall. What a week – lots of snow, wind, and great training. Avalanche hazard awareness, beacon searches, and the decision-making process of travel in avy terrain dominated much of the week. We also spent quite a bit of time on camp craft and setting up expedition-style camps. Of course, rope and anchor work, fixed line travel, crevasse rescue systems and other Denali-prep skills kept us busy as well. Good luck to the Ski Mountaineering Seminar that starts today. The ski conditions look great! RMI Guide Casey Grom

Our RMI Expedition Skills Seminar- Winter checked in this morning from about 6,000 feet on Mt. Rainier. Six inches of snow yesterday and another foot through the night has kept Casey and Jake and the team busy training. Sturdy winter camp construction, a focus on avalanche awareness and how to travel in winter conditions have been the focus. Today’s plans include scouting the route uphill but waiting until the winds abate before attempting to move higher. Stay tuned!

The winter seminar had one of the most spectacular sunny and wind free days possible on Mount Rainier yesterday! Our entire team successfully made the long walk to Camp Muir just in time to watch the sun set. We had warm drinks, a hot meal, a lot of laughs, and a nice night's sleep in the bunkhouse. Today we woke to a wonderful sunrise with great views of Mt. Adams, Hood, St. Helens, and Jefferson. This morning we worked on ice axe, crampon, and rope travel skills on the flanks of the Cowlitz Glacier. We plan to train in avalanche beacon skills and avalanche terrain assessment for the afternoon as clouds swirl and conditions remain reasonable. We are enjoying the winter beauty up on Mount Rainier! -RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Walter Hailes, Andy Bond and Solveig Garhart

The Four Day Climb June 1 - 4 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning under windy conditions. RMI Guides Mike Haugen and Chase Nelson led their teams to the crater but didn't spend much time due to winds. The teams will descend all the way to Paradise today and we look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's climbers! The photos is of Mike Haugen's team ascending to Camp Muir on Monday, June 4. Photo courtesy: Skylar King