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Monday, February 18, 2025, 5:19 PM PT

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen we are starting our final approach into Mendoza. We should be on the ground in about 25 mins. Current weather is light winds out of the east, mostly clear skies and a temperature of 29 Celsius. We thank you for coming along on Aconcagua 2025 and have a good day. Ladies and gentlemen that ding means that we have started our descent into Mendoza. At this time we ask you to bring your seats and tray tables to their upright and locked positions. We will be through the cabin one last time to pick up any unwanted items. We also have a great offer for you today. If you call RMI today with a valid credit card we can set up a trip to most parts of the world. So hopefully you will call and take this great offer. Once again we should be landing in just about 25 mins. Congratulations to Ben, Hannah, Yev and Jim for summiting on Valentine's Day.

RMI Climber Nick Hanson

We had a great first day in Moscow. It started with a short walk to the heart of Russia - Red Square and the Kremlin. First up was Lenin's Tomb. It is sort of an eerie experience seeing an embalmed man who has been dead for so many years, but definitely worth it. The trick is to move just slow enough through the viewing room that you do not get the guards' attention and be told to move ahead. After exiting the tomb, we met up with our tour guide who lead us on a grand tour through Saint Basil's Cathedral, the GUM, Red Square, and finally the Kremlin. The day was certainly a mini history lesson of the czars and rulers of Russia, and of wars and power struggles, and Moscow has been around for almost a 1000 years so it gets a little complicated. After the tour of the Kremlin and feeling like we were close to information overload, we started our walk back to the hotel for a little down time. We are back from dinner now and heading to bed so that we can leave early in the morning for our flight to our next town - Kislovodsk. We'll check in once we get settled there. Best, RMI Guides Jeff Martin and Pete Van Deventer

Hello everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in again from the Mount Everest Base Camp Trek and Island Peak Climb. We are all currently safely back at base camp here on Island Peak after a successful but long, hard day. It was a pretty tough night. We actually had quite a bit of snow overnight, which made the trail difficult but fine and pretty slick so it was hard going for most folks for the first few hours. Luckily the wind died down and we were able to get three of our climbers to the top of Island Peak. The other three- a couple of them climbed, one stayed in camp to be moral support. The other two, I think they realized it was a little too much for them. It was a big day. It took about eight hours for the team to reach the summit after almost going non-stop with just a few breaks. We are all back at camp, everyone's happy and doing well. We just packed up and we're going to drop down to Chukung... (transmission lost) RMI Guide Casey Grom

On The Map

Our time in the Alaska Range finished wrapped up just a couple of days ago. We had an extra 2 bonus days in the mountains. Our fly off date was set, but the weather determines our true fly off date. The snow began to fall the night before our scheduled departure date, it kept snowing for the following 2 days. Veteran climbers stated that this had been one of the biggest snowstorms, at Base Camp, that they could remember in the past 7 years. Over 3 ft of snow fell in a little more than a 36 hr period. We woke up on Saturday morning to crystal clear skies, soon the planes began to fill the skies. Everyone at base camp looking for a flight out spent the previous evening stomping out the run way for the planes. Still, when the planes landed it was obvious how deep the snow was for the planes. I think the pilots were getting faceshots, as the snow was hitting the windshields of the planes. We all arrived back in Talkeetna in the early afternoon, on Saturday. The week consisted of lots of information being uploaded and downloaded to a very enthusiastic group of climbers. Us guides were very impressed with how much information this group of climbers soaked up. Topics covered a wide variety of mountain tactics, how to simply live comfortably in an environment that was cold and snowy, how to set up a camp, crevasse rescue, snow and ice anchors, climber responsibilities, avalanches and rescue, ice climbing and the list continues. Everyone had a great time experiencing the Alaska range. Ideas have already been hatched for future trips to visit Little Switzerland, the Ruth Gorge or other objectives around the base camp area, from members of this group. Climbing around the Kahiltna base camp area offers a great experience for your first time to Alaska. Hopefully we will see you up here soon. Everyone is on their way home now but memories will last a long time of this very special place. Thanks again from Jason, Andres, Anne Gilbert and RMI

Out here, we remember to marvel. It’s so easy to forget how incredible this planet is but when you wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night at 17,500 ft and you are surrounded by a world of stars you can’t help but be in awe. That’s what these last two days have been like. We are amazed at the power of the ice and the glaciers around us, we can’t get enough of the stars at night, and base camp — to see a whole city built of tents in such a harsh and unforgiving place is pretty incredible.

Today we got to walk to the lower Khumbu ice fall and do some ice climbing and training for Lobuche. We learned how to use our ascenders (safety first!), how to rappel and how to climb training for Lobuche. We learned how to use our ascenders (safety first!), how to rappel and how to climb steep ice and snow.

I’m so impressed with everyone on this team and so excited to see what Lobuche has to offer us these next few days.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the climbing team  

Monday, October 7, 2024 - 6:18 am PT

We put in nearly seven miles of walking on our rest day.  But it was restful.  Lungdhen sits on the edge of a big broad valley with steep peaks on either side.  It was another blue sky morning and we set out up valley.  There were just a handful of yak corrals and not many buildings in our valley.  We came across zero trekkers.  The valley is pretty quiet since the nearby Tibet border is closed to any passage.  We went to about 14,900 ft.  A bit farther than intended, but we kept seeing new and beautiful peaks.  Even so, we were back at our tea house by 12:30PM, just in time for lunch, some naps and some packing and preparing for the Renjo La tomorrow.  It will be a big day in terms of distance, altitude, cold and most especially views.  We are planning an early morning start, so the team is already in bed at 7 PM.

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

PC: Dave Hahn

Today is a tough one to put into words. Amazingly bitter sweet is the only honest way I can aptly describe the team's fruit basket of emotions after the outcome of today's Antisana summit attempt. When the alarm again went off at 10:30 pm, this time in a grassy pasture three miles removed from the base of the mountain, I couldn't help but cringe. It was only when I flopped out of the tent that my spirits lifted. It was perfect out! A full moon illuminated Ecuador's most elusive glaciated summit and from what we saw the day before, things looked promising. To lay it out, our climbing team was comprised of four team members and three guides. Two of our team members went back to the states early due to illness and three more decided to forego the climb to focus more on the skills side of this program. Don't forget, we have the highest mountain yet to come. We ate a small breakfast and did our best to make sure those still sleeping were adequately bothered by the climbers heading off with no sleep. A 30-minute jeep ride brought us to the start of the moraine and 60 minutes later we were putting crampons on to begin heading up the glacier. I had to put moon screen on so not to burn my cheeks, it was that bright. Six hours of the most beautiful, engaging and aesthetic mountain climbing I've ever done in Ecuador landed us on a nice flat spot just as the sun was rising. The moon was still full and the alpenglow was incredible. The bitter was about to balance the sweet. Five-hundred feet below what we thought was an inevitable successful summit was a crevasse running the entire width of the glacier. Farit asked if we could jump across and I told him we didn't practice that skill yet. He shrugged and said "ok". Our sweet hopes for a proud summit were instantly dashed. So goes the unpredictable nature of mountain climbing. After returning to camp where the rest of the team was practicing skills, a rapid pack up ensued and it was into the magic bus and off to a beautiful hacienda resting almost on the foothills of Cotopaxi itself. Hot showers, cervesas and clean beds were a welcomed reward to get us psyched for what's to come. Our third and final mountain awaits tomorrow. No matter the outcome, knowing the trip is coming to a close will also be bitter sweet. Shaun and Nichole, we miss you. RMI Guide Adam Knoff

Hey everyone this is JJ Justman with Team Two on Aconcagua. I believe you all heard through my last dispatch that we were on the summit of Aconcagua. I just want to report that everyone is safe and sound. We are here at high camp. Our work is not yet, at least not for the guides. We are busy getting water and snow melting to get everyone rehydrated and refueled. We had a long day, probably had to say that it was one of my toughest climbs in regards to the weather. It was cold and windy and just took a lot out of us. The team did an absolutely fantastic job! I’m really proud of everyone they did a great job climbing and we are really happy to be back at camp. We are going to be heading back to Base Camp tomorrow. That’s a big day of carrying heavy loads. We do have some porters coming up to help out, which is good. We will touch base tomorrow when we get back into Base Camp. We will get into some of those nice luxuries that we have been missing for the past week or so. Thanks for following along everyone, we will touch base tomorrow. Bye Bye!

Thursday, June 20, 2013 We have begun! Talkeetna was warm and sunny this morning, with perfect weather for flying into the Alaska range. We had our last big breakfast at the Talkeetna Roadhouse, putting down heaping portions of eggs, toast, and reindeer sausage. Within an hour of finishing, we had the two Otters loaded up, and were climbing on board for takeoff. The scenery flying in is always stunning, and our excitement built as we watched the lush green swamp land give way to glacial toes, rocks, and finally, the steep and imposing walls of the Range. We had a great view of Denali, before banking sharply and descending to base camp. With record setting warm temps this week, we had to set camp at basecamp and wait to move until tonight to give the glacier time to freeze up. So we had a leisurely day of sorting gear, rigging sleds, and getting our kits dialed. It will be an early morning for us as we try to make it to the base of ski hill at 7,600 feet tomorrow before the sun turns on the heat! We'll be in touch! RMI Guides Pete, Geoff, Robby, and gang

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb Team led by RMI Guide Jason Thompson reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6 a.m. this morning. The team climbed above the clouds and experienced great route conditions. Congratulations to today's Team! Photos by Jason Thompson, see more of Jason's photography here.