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We enjoyed another sunny day at Base Camp and thus a few more rounds of horseshoes. Our team is getting rested and well fed - two important "to do" items prior to starting our big push for the summit of Mt. Everest. The team has been finalizing their equipment, deciding on the food items they will take, adjusting their boots, etc. etc. There are more teams on the upper mountain getting in position for their summit attempt. We are expecting some teams will make the summit tonight. It is always hard to be an observer but we are banking with the old saying "good things come to those who wait". I guess that goes for you too, since you will have to wait for our next dispatch. .. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

The Four Day Summit Climb July 22 - 25 led by RMI Guides Billy Nugent and Elias de Andres Martos reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team's reported great conditions, beautiful sunshine and light winds on top of Columbia Crest today. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by Tyler Reid also reached the summit this morning. They had a spectacular climb and were spending some time on the summit before starting their descent. The team will spend their final night on the mountain at Camp Schurman and complete their walk out to the trail head tomorrow. RMI Guide Jake Beren and his team reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan in Washington's North Cascades today. The team ascended via the Fisher Chimneys route. Congratulations to today's summit teams!

The Four-Day Climb from May 26–29, led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and James Bealer, was unable to make a summit attempt this morning due to sustained high winds and stronger gusts. The teams remained safely sheltered at Camp Muir and will begin their descent to Paradise later this morning.

Good evening loyal readers,

Today was our rest day. These days can be tough mentally as the day creeps by slowly. A lot of reading, listening to podcasts, and music, watching TV shows, and simply looking at our surroundings to pass the time. The winds stayed calm for most of the day making for a toasty sit in the tents. Tomorrow the winds are supposed to ramp up which could make our move to Camp 2 a little sporty. Everyone is excited for the move because it gets us 1600' closer to the top. We are all tucked into our sleeping Bags ready for some sleep so we can walk uphill.

Buenos noches,

RMI Guides Hannah, Ben, Dan, and Team

Hello RMI fans! It's JJ and Leah reporting in from Los Penitentes in Argentina! Team 2 is in full effect and we are ready to go. With all the storms in the U.S. it has been an adventure just to get here. However, we are all excited and raring to go. We spent the day traveling to the trailhead and organizing and packing gear. The first part of this trip has the support of mules so we packed barrels and duffels full of food, gear. And personal equipment. Follow along as we hit the dusty trail...Argentina Cowboy style! RMI Guides JJ Justman & Leah Fisher

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

Hey RMI this is Linden Mallory calling from the Everest Base Camp Trek and Island Peak Team. I am calling from Gorak Shep up here at about 17,000’ along the edges of the Khumbu Glacier. This is the last town before we reach Basecamp tomorrow. It’s an absolutely gorgeous night here in the Himalaya. We had a wonderful day today we left Lobuche early this morning and walked up the valley crossing over the Tonkhu Glacier which is a little tributary glacier from the main Khumbu Glacier. We arrived into Gorak Shep about mid morning. Our main objective for the day was a climb of Kala Patar. It’s across the valley from Everest about 18,500’. After arriving in Gorak Shep we grabbed some tea, filled our water bottles and set off. The team climbed phenomenally well. It was really quite impressive. All the time we spent acclimatizing certainly paid off in spades. We got up to Kala Patar by mid day and we just had incredible views across the valley of Everest. We could see the summit, Hillary Step, the south summit, all the way down to the South Col. Looking down on the upper portion of the Lhotse face. We could also see over to Lolok Pass over to Xingatzi which is sitting in Tibet. It was pretty neat to be able to see over the boarder. We could also see down the valley toward Ama Dablam and the peaks that we walked by the first few days of our trek. So after hanging out up there for a little bit we motored back down to our tea house here in Gorak Shep and spent the afternoon just hanging out and resting and adjusting to the altitude. 17,000’ is definitely pretty high and we are all feeling it. Again the team is doing really well and we are all having a great time. The plan tomorrow is to leave Gorak Shep and walk the final couple of miles into Basecamp and set up shop there for the next couple of nights. We will try to push out some photos. The connection this high up the valley is spotty at best but I’ll do my best to get some photos and more write ups out to you guys. If not we’ll check in tomorrow from Basecamp. Take care.

On The Map

We made it back to Kathmandu!

After descending to Lukla yesterday, we had a final team dinner with our Sherpa guide team and all the porters that helped make our trip possible.

We ended the night with a boom box and dancing — each song switching between USA pop songs and Nepali music. There was so much laughter and it was such a lovely evening celebrating a wonderful trip.

This morning we woke up early and made it on helicopters back to a hazy Kathmandu. People spent the afternoon resting and shopping on the bustling streets of Thamel.

One final team dinner tonight where we reminisced on an amazing experience - full of challenges, growth and pushing ourselves. One thing we all agree on is the smiles and open hearts of the Nepali people is something we’ll keep with us for a long time.

Until next time,

Jess and the Lobuche team

Tuesday, June 8, 2021 - 2:52 pm PT

The weather front that was forecasted finally arrived in camp last night. While the winds and snow were light the weather above 14,000' Camp looked foreboding. We are planning on a move to 17,000' camp on Thursday unless the weather breaks in the morning. With the last push up in sight the team is busy playing cards, engaged in spirited debates on various issues and enjoying walking around camp meeting other climbers.

Mike Fortier would like to wish his wife a happy birthday!

RMI Guide Mike King

A great day at 14,000 ft and above. In the pattern we've come to expect, it was all blue sky and sunshine to start the day and then cloudy and even a bit snowy to end the day. But we made excellent use of the sunny and calm morning to go for a hike about 1,200 ft up on the hills behind Pheriche. Right off the bat, we enjoyed views of the sixth, fifth and fourth highest mountains in the world. Everest is now hidden from our view by Nuptse, and that will continue until we are above our final tea house in Lobuche, but Cho Oyu, Makalu and Lhotse were trying their utmost to make us forget our central goal of the trip. They had to fight it out with closer giants like Ama Dablam, Towoche, and Cholatse. Giant eagle/vultures cruised overhead as we climbed, hoping we'd leave one or two climbers behind, but everybody kept up just fine and the birds went hungry. We took a bunch of hero shots at our high point and beat feet back down to our luxurious digs in Pheriche. In the afternoon, the team strolled next door to receive an excellent lecture on altitude illness given by one of the docs of the Himalayan Rescue Association. The dining room was not nearly as busy as it had been yesterday and the team enjoyed slightly better internet connectivity through the late afternoon and evening. And that is good, since we don't expect much web surfing in Lobuche for the next couple of nights. We'll try to get our progress out if possible, but of course -no news from us is good news. Mark Tucker, our soon-to-be basecamp manager, brought his basecamp trekking team back down to Pheriche as planned today. Nice to see him and his gang. We'll say goodbye to him in the morning as he continues guiding his folks back down to Lukla before sprinting back up to be with us. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map