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We experienced some thin air on our first acclimatization hike today, as we climbed Rucu Pichincha, a volcano that sits just to the west of Quito. At 15,413', it was certainly a new altitude record for some climbers on our team. Everyone did well on the climb. Tomorrow we will leave Quito and head south for our next acclimatization hike going up to the climbers' hut on the Illiniza mountains. We'll be in touch with our progress... RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Saturday, June 22nd, 2013 Greetings from Pete, Geoff, Robby and Team, Under cool temperatures and partly sunny skies, we moved uphill again this morning from our camp at 7,600' to 9,600'. The slopes of Ski Hill offered up our first significant climb of the expedition given our full loads weighing down our packs and our sleds. After building camp at 9,600', we continued to lighten our loads and fill our bellies by feasting on soups and Tasty Bite delicacies, followed by some hot beverages and storytelling. Our team is feeling strong and weather looks accommodating for a move to 11,000' camp tomorrow morning, where we'll finally post up for some rest and acclimatization. RMI Guides Robby, Pete, and Geoff

On The Map

"Pigs" is the term of endearment climbers use to describe any heavy load on a climb. On Denali our "pigs" are our sleds, and today we took them for their first walk. The team woke to a bluebird day--welcome after the days of gray--learned about packing, strapping, and roping up our sleds, and then took them out on the trail from Basecamp to 7,600'. Day one of "walking the pigs" can often be a porcine rodeo with lots of grappling and twisting going on, but this crew made it look more like walking poodles at the Westchester Dog Show. We're now at the base of Ski Hill, firing the skillet with fajitas, enjoying the stunning scenery up the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna, and getting ready for tomorrow's push into steeper terrain--this crew is ready for it. RMI Guide Kel Rossiter

On The Map

Hello from the village of Mweka! The group is all doing great. We started the day at our last camp, elevation 10,000 feet, with a great breakfast followed by a closing ceremony with our whole team. After that we hit the trail for a 3.5 hour hike down to the park gate. After signing out we had lunch and now we are riding in the truck back to the Dik Dik hotel. Everyone is psyched to hit the showers and start the celebration party. After tonight our trip will shift gears as we start our four days of Safari! That's all for now. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

On The Map

What do you do in Antarctica when you want to kill time? you eat, sleep, read, play games, write in your journal and.... do first ascents. Not a bad program, isn't it? After a great breakfast of french toasts and beautiful lunch, I headed out with Nick, Victor's client, to do one more line on the north face of Mount Russman. It takes about 30mins down the now well travelled ski track to the base of the face. There, we trade skis for crampons and poles for ice aces. Victor followed behind with the Union Glacier camp head chef, Gavin. Today's line was a mix of steep snow and steeper ice with wild mushroom formations stacked on top of each other. The climbing was smooth and we moved quickly through this untouched terrain. As we neared the top, huge cornices were towering overhead and the terrain was steeper than what it had seemed like from the bottom. We topped out 2hours after leaving our skis. We radioed in to camp to notify them of our success on the route and to let them know that we were headed straight back to camp. It's requirement and we need to communicate with camp on a regular basis while out in the field. This was Gavin's first first ascent, just like it had been for Richard Parks a few days ago. So, he got to name the route. He offered a few names, but the one that stuck with "Route du Jour". It was a perfect fit for a chef and also because this is realy what it is like: we wake up in the morning and wonder which route is going to get plummed that day, much like a chef decides on what menu he is going to prepare. We just got news that we are likely not flying tomorrow night. So, there might be more "Route du Jour" to come!

Monday, June 21, 2021 - 6:23 pm PT

This time the weather forecasts were off, but in our favor.  They predicted snow and showers overnight and we didn’t get them.  We were up at 1 AM and although there was a good bit of cloud around, it wasn’t low on the glacier and it wasn’t trapping the heat.  The snow at camp was still mushy, but we had high hopes that things would freeze to make for easier and safer travel conditions.  It takes a bit of work to knock down tents and get packed and moving that first time.  With a little breakfast on board, we were out of camp and walking by 3:40.  Our climb began with a downhill stretch.  We just got used to having snowshoes on and heavy sleds teathered to our packs as we trudged down the SE Fork to the main Kahiltna Glacier.  By then the first sunshine had found Mt Foraker’s northeastern hanging glaciers making for some fabulous color.  Once on the main glacier, the gentle uphill began -although very little of it felt gentle with our heavy loads.  The freeze had taken place, right on schedule, and the walking was as easy as it could be.  We moved around and across a few ugly crevasse bridges in our first hours, taking rest breaks every hour or so.   It was nice to be able to bump fists with JT Schmitt’s successful RMI team as we passed on the glacier. There were great views of Denali and the West Buttress for most of our journey but then the clouds started to roll in for real.  We pulled into our intended camp by about 9 AM and set to building tents, a kitchen/dining area and a latrine.  In other words -we did some digging in the snow.  The first snowflakes fell just as we were putting finishing touches on our new digs.  The real showers didn’t begin until we were well into nap time.  By the time we came out for dinner, the snow had quit but clouds were still obscuring our views.  We sat in our dining tent for a bit, but then turned in early, anticipating another alpine start for tomorrow. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Hello from the base of Mt. Elbrus, We are enjoying our time in Cheget, located at the base of Mt. Elbrus. Today it was nice to stretch the legs. We climbed up Peak Cheget at 11,000 feet. The weather was nice and the views were incredible. We had a fantastic day in the mountains surrounding Elbrus. The team is doing great and having fun! Enjoy the video. RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

The RMI Mt. Elbrus team led by J.J. Justman left the hustle of Moscow and flew to Mineralnye Vody and drove to the Baksan Valley at the base of Mt. Elbrus. Check out their video below.

On The Map

It's been a lazy day here at Plaza Argentina, which was exactly what the doctor ordered after the group's big effort yesterday. We woke late, cooked up a big batch of crêpes stuffed with bacon, fried apples, and dulce de leche for brunch. A few hours later, after books, more jokes, and a card game, we fried up some croque monsieur (sense the French food theme today?), and then went for a nice hour-long stroll up towards Ibañez, a sub peak outside of Basecamp. As hard as it can be to motivate for a hike after a day like yesterday, it really does aid and speed recovery. Our gear that will stay at Basecamp is sorted, and we are very ready for our move to Camp 1 tomorrow! Just one more delicious Argentine meal first... Hasta luego, RMI Guides Pete, Leon, Mike, and the team

This is day 6 at Union Glacier. The weather is stellar, not a cloud in the sky, the first plane out to Punta Arenas flew out last night and we just found out that we won't fly tonight because the Punta Arenas airport is out of....fuel! Hard to believe, but so it goes. People are chomping at the bit to fly out but I really can't complain. My time at and around Union Glacier has been really amazing. I have done three new routes in the past three days on Mount Russman. One was an easy but steep snow couloir to the summit of Mount Russman (1428m). I left camp after breakfast in a full on white out, cold temperatures and snowy weather, but after missing out on climbing a new peak the day before with Seth and Jake, I wanted to climb no matter what. We - Gordon and Simon (two British Army men we had met on Vinson) and I - skied the flat 3kms to the backside of Mount Russman roped up and left our skis at the base of the face. We couldn't see the peak but decide for a couloir and made it to the top. I wish I could have seen camp 3000 feet below but the clouds prevented us from enjoying the view. Yet, it was a beautiful day just for being on the summit of the most obvious and closest peak to camp. Yesterday, we woke up to beautiful blue skies and warmer temperatures. Victor - my friend I did that first ascent with the first day at Union - was going up his 10th first ascent in two weeks and asked me if I would join him and guide Richard Parks, a famous British retired rugbyman who is trying to climb the seven summits and two poles in seven months. From camp, Mount Russman offers a plethora of steep snow and mixed lines and lots of the first ascents have gone down in the past two weeks, but there were still a few lines to plum. We headed for a V shaped line, which offered up to 65-degree snow and ice. It was Richard's first first ascent and I was so excited to guide him up it. He got to pick the route name: Gratitude. A beautiful name which describes perfectly how I also felt about climbing yet another new route in Antarctica and getting to be here all together with a great team and getting to hang out with amazing people. While I was climbing, Jake and Kent were also doing a first ascent on the same face and Seth skied from the summit, putting amazing tracks down the face, visible from camp. It was colder this morning and when Victor, his client Nick and I headed for what could be our last climb here, we weren't sure we should start up the climb in such polar temperatures. As soon as the wind died, it was warm again and we made quick progress up the 300 meters of snow and ice to the start of the route. There, the route switches from rock to ice and back to rock and is the only line angling left across the steep north facing wall (read south facing in the northern hemisphere). The rock was of poor quality but the line was so nice: I only wished I had more of these readily accessible lines in my backyard. We named it Diagon Alley, which coincided with finishing my audiobook, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We headed back down to camp hoping for the news that we would fly out. Hopefully we will fly tomorrow. Otherwise, there are many other lines awaiting first ascents to keep us busy for another few days.