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The Four Day Climbs led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Lael Butler reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning! The teams were on the summit around 7:45 am and enjoying the beautiful weather. We look forward to seeing them back in Ashford later this afternoon.

Congratulations climbers!

RMI Guides Seth Burns and Mike Bennett our leading our last program of the season. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Baker met on Thursday to begin their mountaineering skills training.  On Friday the team made it up to basecamp on a beautiful sunny day. The team has been working on their cramponing, rope travel and ice axe arrest skills.  Today they put them selves to the test and reached the summit of Mt. Baker via the Easton Glacier.  They were in and out of the clouds with moderate winds. The team has a few more days to climb and train in order to complete all of their seminar skills.

Nice work team!

On the road again! We woke this morning to the hustle and bustle of the other teams packing up their camp. The sun creeped into camp warming our tents. This was our alarm to get up. Everyone had a good night and were feeling good this morning, so we continued with our plan to carry gear to Camp 2. Group piles were made while the stoves roared. Toasted bagels with cream cheese and bacon would fuel us to 18,000' and make the rest of camp jealous with its aroma. It was a busy day on the trail with almost all of Camp 1 occupants moving to Camp 2. After a few hours of walking and getting new views of snowy mountains we arrived at Camp 2. A new sea of tents scattered the rocky camp like skittles. We cached our gear, watched the other teams set up their camp, and then we packed up our things to head down hill. We arrived back to a peaceful Camp 1 with only our tents plus one other still standing. The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed the warm sun and fresh popped popcorn for an afternoon snack.
Having the camp to ourselves is nice and will be even nicer tomorrow on our rest day. The quiet will be much appreciated for sleeping in. The air is chilly now, so we are all off to bed to get warm.

Till next time,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

Camp was all up and getting organized at about six this morning. It always amazes me how well the body responds to solid rest. The dramatic difference between last night and this morning was a welcomed one for sure. Everybody showed up smiling to breakfast and enjoyed a delicious imported cake that was carried up the hill in celebration of the 30th wedding anniversary of two of our team. The date was actually yesterday, one heck of away of commemorating, congrats Rhonda and Robin! Before leaving camp we held our goodbye ceremony with our mountain staff. We tipped them, which is merely normal practice when 52 men have worked their tails off to help you accomplish your dreams. Packs were shouldered one last time for the 4,000 ft and three hour descent to the Kilimanjaro National Park gate. After checking out with the park service we left the mountain with the summit in our heart and a certificate in our hands. A couple hour drive brought us back to the lodge where it all started. Cleaned up, fed and repacked for safari tomorrow has us all giddy and excited with what's has happened and what lay ahead. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

BIG is done! Here in Lukla and enjoying the thick air and relatively warm temperatures. Long day from Namche to here, all is well. Good day weather wise and lots to view. Beautiful blooming fruit trees that were not at that stage on the way in. Amazing what new sites you see from the opposite direction. We took our time, tried to take in as much of the region as we could and still get us to our home for the night before dark. It was nice to stop and see the children, out and about having fun and a joy to observe the everyday live of the Sherpa people. They have always been such a friendly folk and it held true on this trip as well. Two of our favorite people of the Khumbu, Karma and Mingma part of our local staff that helped make this such a successful trip, left us after dinner. Safe journey to them and thanks so much. Pemba will stay with us till the early flight tomorrow morning. It's been a blast. Till next time. Get out while you can. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

RMI Guide Mark Tucker checking in from the final camp: down here at the Mweka Camp, 10,000 ft on Kilimanjaro. It’s all tall, giant heather; it’s beautiful. It looks like a fabulous night for a summit climb but that’s exactly what we will not be doing. It’s a done deal. We will enjoy our last night on this beautiful mountain. Tomorrow we head to the trail head.

On The Map

Today’s Four Day Summit Climbs led by Jake Beren and Eric Frank reached the Mt. Rainier summit this morning. The teams are currently descending to Camp Muir and will be in Ashford later this afternoon. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz led by Seth Waterfall is descending to Paradise after their successful summit yesterday. His team took a photo before they left their camp this morning (below). Congratulations to today's summit climbers!

Saturday, June 1, 2013 This morning we got up at 4 am as planned to carry our first load of luggage up towards 11,000'. Breakfast was a quick affair of granola cereal and bars, and by 5:30 the team was underway. Our slow, steady pace helped us gain elevation, while the moderate breeze blowing down the glacier kept anyone from overheating. The peaks of the Alaska range glowed at the tops as the sun crept higher in the east, lighting the summit ridges of Mt. Crosson and Kahiltna Dome. Looking back down the main Kahiltna Glacier at our breaks, we were treated to a morning view few people get to enjoy: snow, ice and rock in every direction, sculpted by nature into a cathedral worthy of reverence. All too soon we arrived at our cache location, but we enjoyed the acclimatization benefits of working a little bit at 10,000'. The crew all worked well and within minutes we had safely buried all our gear and turned back towards our warm tents at 7,800'. The pace was quicker as we dropped back down, and we were soon dropping our packs and crawling back into our tents to avoid the ruthless solar radiation. The team is now focused on rest and rehydration, preparing for our move to camp at 11,000' tomorrow. We'll keep you posted as we continue to climb higher, stay tuned! RMI Guides Tyler, Garrett and the Crew

On The Map

Hello, this is Eric Frank and the Ecuador crew checking in from climber's hut here on Cayambe at 15,300'. The sun's just gone down and we had a pretty restful day. We slept late this morning, had a big breakfast, and then climbed for about an hour and a half to get up to the toe of the glacier. We trained for a couple hours, talked about the climb and then came back to have a big dinner. We're hoping to be in bed in the next thirty minutes. And we'll be getting up in the middle of the night to make our attempt to climb Cayambe. So check back tomorrow, hopefully will be giving a call down sometime in the mid morning to early afternoon to let everyone know how things are going. Have a great night. RMI Guide Eric Frank

Today we set out to cache our upper mountain supplies above Windy Corner. As we finished breakfast and packed gear the wind blew snow around camp. Layered up and ready for the weather, we set out anticipating the gales that would greet us at the corner. Constant wind and snow tried to impede us but the crew dealt with the adverse weather like it was a summer stroll. As we pulled up to the fabled Windy Corner the weather was nicer than what we'd walked through to get there. We buried our gear there and pushed back through the nasty weather to 11 camp. Everyone did great and spirits are high. Tomorrow we rest! RMI Guide Adam Knoff

On The Map