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Habari! This is the Kili team checking in from the top of the Barranco Wall. We've just ascended the steepest part of our trek. We started this morning at 12,600' and have climbed just over 1,000 vertical feet. The views of the Heim Glaciers on the upper mountain were awesome this morning. The clouds have come in now which will give us pleasant hiking conditions the rest of the way. Tomorrow we will ascend to high camp! RMI Guide Seth Waterfall & Team

On The Map

Team members Casey, Seth, Michael and Scott have returned to Basecamp after a night at Camp 2. Dave and Leif spent the night at Camp 4 after the summit climb, they are now at Camp 2 (ABC). Dave and Leif arrived at Basecamp today and reunited with the team. Now that everyone is here we will begin to pack up and then start their trek to Lukla. The Sherpa team has been breaking down the higher camps and will be carrying things down to basecamp today. We will be taking down the Comms tent today and getting ready to depart for Kathmandu. Thanks for following our expedition. Until next time...

Thursday, May 20, 2021 - 11:09 pm PT

Today was a bit of a groundhog day, though if anything, the weather made itself pretty clear as far as its intentions. Intermittently gusty winds and consistent snow made it an easy day to hang in the tents reading, watching movies, playing cards, and sawing logs. We're currently cooking a dinner of a curried rice and miso soup. We'll welcome the sleeping bags for another good night of sleep and see what tomorrow brings.

RMI Guides Pete, Chase, Matias, and team

Greetings from Elbrus Basecamp, We completed our last leg of travel today and reached Basecamp. The day started with a nice breakfast served in our rooms at the hotel, and then we loaded up the vehicles one last time and headed towards the mountain. In recent years, there has been a lot of road improvements so much of the drive is now paved. The last 8 miles though is still the same with huge mud holes, deep ruts, and very steep drop offs. Since it has been raining the last few days, the road was extra slick and this changed what would have been a 15 minute ride into a very entertaining two hours. We ended up walking down while another vehicle carried our gear. As luck would have it, that vehicle broke an axle so we went back to the vehicle to carry it ourselves. After we arrived at the jeep, we learned that another vehicle had been found so we walked back to basecamp. It was raining the whole time and without our gear it is a little difficult to set up a camp. We were finally reunited with our gear and we moved into a nice camp. The driver who helped us out today ended up cooking us dinner. We walked back down the same path for the third time today to his shack. He was waiting for us and motioned us into his home. He had obviously been cooking since we last saw him and we were first offered a local milk drink that tasted like yogurt, drank from a communal cup, then steaming hot bread, and finally a whole pot of lamb and potatoes. It was a delicious meal and an experience we will not soon forget. Now it is off it bed so we are ready for our carry day tomorrow. Best, RMI Guides Jeff, Pete & Team

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Brent Okita & Lindsay Mann were unable to summit this morning due to a lightning storm. The teams headed out of Camp Muir on two separate occasions but both times retreated to Camp Muir because of the weather. They will descend from Camp Muir around 9 a.m. We look forward to seeing the groups at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz led by RMI Guide Mike Haugen reached the summit yesterday morning and returned to their high camp for a final night on the mountain. This morning they are descending to Paradise and will return to Rainier BaseCamp. RMI Guide Garrett Stevens and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise weathered the storm on the mountain last night in tents. They will be drying out today and doing more training near their camp. Tomorrow they will ascend to Camp Muir and get ready for their summit attempt.

Monday, July 8, 2013 One of our better weather days of the trip. That said, it is snowing good and hard now at our 14,200 ft camp, but that isn't so important (yet). It was clear and calm this morning when we were interested in starting our carry up onto the West Buttress of Denali. By far, this was our coldest morning. We were guessing it was -10F or thereabouts. We started climbing at a quarter to 10 this morning in bright sunshine. The route goes uphill in a hurry out of 14 camp and we made steady progress toward the "fixed ropes". This steep and intimidating section of the climb was tough, as expected. Hard ice, 45 degree angles, unrelentingly uphill and airy feeling... but it was also spectacular when one was able to look up from the hard work for a moment to see the lower Kahiltna Glacier or Foraker across the way or the clean granite of Denali all around us. We reached the ridge crest (16,200 ft) at 2 PM and took a welcome break, gazing down at the Peters Glacier and the Northwest Buttress on the "other" side of our perch. Thus we broke Max's altitude record, which was momentous. But his was the only one to fall as our other climbers had previously topped mountains like Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua. All noted that 16,200 on Denali felt a little different than similar heights on other mountains. We cached our supplies and descended in gathering cloud and murk. We'd reached 14 camp by 4:30 and took a few hours to kick back and drink water before dinner. Tomorrow is a rest day, and a welcome one after four hard days of moving and acclimating to uncomfortable new altitudes. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The mountain might as well surrender right now. It has no chance against this intrepid group of climbers. Ok, kind of kidding. But we are summit bound early tomorrow morning. We topped off our preparation for our summit climb of Mt. Elbrus with a bit of training early this morning. Focus was on the use of the mountain climbers best friend, the ice axe, used primarily while ascending steep snow covered slopes. The team practiced with care and enthusiasm ,confidence in this arena will help immensely when confronted with some challenging terrain. And yes, that is what the near future holds for us. Honestly we go at this climb like all climbs, humble and hopeful. If this beautiful hunk of Mother Earth allows us to stand on the summit, we will be grateful and thrilled. Nature is the boss and we will give it the utmost respect. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Thursday, June 20, 2013 The lower glacier was fully covered in fog when we turned in last night and to our surprise it had cleared completely by the time we decided to walk. The early morning light on the surrounding mountains and the waxing moon in the purple sky made an absolutely surreal walk out of the range. The team finished very strong, hitting the runway in style in the morning just as a pair of Otters hit the upper strip. Now in Talkeetna, the team is enjoying the comforts of reentry and in a few hours we are going to enjoy a big meal cooked over something more refined than a camp stove. What a treat! It is hard to believe that we are back in town already. Enjoying nearly perfect weather and a very strong team, we were able to take advantage of the weather windows and climb the route entirely by ourselves in quite reasonable conditions. Additionally if there was ever a team to handle some downtime and extra rest days with quality conversation, this was it. Yet the weather smiled upon us and our training and strength as a team really came together for an efficient ascent with great folks. Thanks again to everyone on the team for really rising to the challenge of Denali and matching themselves perfectly to their environment for a safe, successful climb. It has been a pleasure. RMI Guide Jake Beren

Buenos Dias from Ecuador! The team arrived last night ahead of schedule, with all our gear and we hit the town running today. After a team meeting this morning, we loaded up on coffee and breakfast and took a short drive to the equator to perform a few experiments. After some testing we were able to verify the precise location of the Middle of the World and head to lunch. Post traditional Equadorian food, we returned to the Southern Hemisphere to explore the Old Town of Quito. We were able to get some great views of the city from the ramparts of the Basilica before an afternoon lightning storm encouraged our descent. The Guilded Church, Presidential Palace and Virgin of Quito followed and we returned to the hotel for some rest before a gear check and dinner. Off to a great start down here! RMI Guides Jake Beren & Ben Liken

Greetings from Pampa de Leñas! Our team enjoyed one last night in a bed and awoke this morning to beautiful sunny skies. Seemingly, a great day to begin our long journey. The team thus far has been exceptionally well organized and we were able to enjoy a relatively stress free morning putting the finishing touches on our packing and stashing a bunch of city clothes in the Grajales packing facility. We caught a quick ride over to the trailhead at Punta de Vacas and after checking in with the guardaparques began our journey. Relatively calm winds and scorching temperatures in the nineties caught us all a little off guard and forced us to stop frequently and soak our clothes in the river to cool off! Even after a complete soaking, our shirts were dried off completely in ten minutes! Well, despite the heat we persevered and even made good time into our first camp. More info to come as our expedition develops, RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map