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Good evening all,

Today we said goodbye to Aconcagua High Camp and hello to basecamp. We woke to a breezy, chilly morning as we broke down camp. Cold fingers and toes couldn't slow down our packing with so much incentive to go down, one being more oxygen. We made our way back to our previous camps to pickup gear left behind. With each stop our packs got bigger and heavier. Descending almost 6,000' puts some hurt on the body, especially the toes. But the team moved well and before you knew it we were back at the comforts of basecamp in our camp shoes drinking beer and juice and munching down delicious wraps. After enjoying our drinks and food, we sorted gear for tomorrow and patiently waited for dinner. Everyone's tummies are bottomless pits right now. Instead of setting up tents most of the team has opted for a slumber party in the dome tent where we eat our meals. It's one less chore in the morning before hitting the trail to the Park entrance. Tomorrow is a big day walking down to Lenas but it does conclude with a Carne asada celebration dinner. That is it for tonight. Now it's time to enjoy some much deserved and needed rest.

Goodnight all,

RMI Guides Hannah, Ben, Dan and Team

Hola amigos!

This morning we bid farewell to our fellow RMI team as they headed back down the Relinchos Valley, one day closer to civilization. We on the other hand shouldered our heavy packs and began our move to Camp 1 at 16,000ft. Blue skies and a light breeze accompanied the team up toward camp. We arrived in good style, feeling and looking good, happy to be making our way to the upper mountain. The night ended with our very own high altitude rendition of Pad Thai. The sun dipped below the ridgeline, the wind picked up, and we all took the cue and retreated to our warm sleeping bags. An early night's rest will do wonders for our carry to camp 2 (Guanacos 3) tomorrow!

Cheers!

RMI Guides Hannah, Ben, Dan and the team

Thursday, July 1, 2021 - 10:06 pm PT

Today was a simple one.  We got up at 6 AM, ate breakfast and put on our spikes for a short walk down to the cache at 13,500 ft.  The team loved the views of Mts Foraker and Hunter.  The Tordrillo Mountains were clearly visible to the South.  Ravens hadn’t even attempted to break into our well-buried cache.  We had it out and distributed for carrying in minutes.  Then we walked slowly back uphill with full packs, reaching camp by 10:30 AM.  Rest and rehydration was in order as we got out of the strong sun and into our tents.  A storm was gradually forming, first with winds up high on Denali, then with a steadily lowering cloud cap.  This didn’t prevent us from conducting a brief review of the climbing techniques we mean to employ on the fixed-rope section between 15,000 and 16,000 ft tomorrow when we carry high. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Four Day Summit Climb teams September 13 - 16 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning just after 7 am. RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Solveig Waterfall reported clear skies above with a light wind from the SW. There is a cloud deck lower on the mountain 9,500'. The teams will enjoy some time on the summit before starting their descent to Camp Muir and continuing to Paradise later this afternoon. Congratulations to today Summit Climb teams!

Hello again everyone. Today the team left behind the busy streets of Moscow and made our way south to Mt. Elbrus. It was mostly a travel day with a flight over the middle of Russia, which is predominately rural. It's very much like our own Midwest in that its mostly agriculturally-based terrain. We landed in Mineralnye Vody, which translates to mineral water in Russian, and is obviously known for its abundant natural springs. From there we rode in our local outfitters van for about three and a half hours to Cheget, a small ski town in the winter that sits at the base of this big mountain. Along the way we passed endless sunflower fields and many Mosques. The area around Elbrus is predominately Muslim from its original Turkish roots. We finished the day with a wonderful traditional meal cooked by a few kind older ladies that live here. Everyone is doing great and ready to stretch their legs tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

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

We are cooking with gas now...and fire! Team 3 is at 11000 feet at Casa de Piedra. We had a beautiful day trekking in the warm sun surrounded by the high Andes mountains. Now, the dining table is up, the chickens are on the grill, the homemade pesto is sautéing, and the angel hair pasta is cooking. Everyone is doing fantastic and our motto is "a well fed climber is a strong climber". So we are going to sit down to a nice meal and get ready for our final day of trekking into Aconcagua base camp. RMI Guide JJ Justman

Friday, June 25, 2021 - 12:41 pm PT

The snow and wind from yesterday persisted through the night and into the morning, and now, at midday it continues. The weather is forecast to improve as we move into the weekend, and we are poised to move to 14,000' when that moment arises. In the meantime we're lounging, reading, snoozing, and also digging out our tents. Spirits are high as we continue to weather our first Denali storm. We're all all looking forward to seeing the sun again and getting back to our upward progression. Hard days of climbing and long days waiting out storms are hallmarks of a Denali expedition.

"...snow falls and it passes..."

We'll touch base again tomorrow to let you know the latest.

RMI Guide Mike Walter

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

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