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Today's mission: obtain permits, get the last few items on the shopping list, and head out to Penitentes. We started early, taking advantage of the cooler temps to head over to the payment and permit offices. Like many things here in Argentina, opening times for businesses are relative and quite fluid, so we ended up at the offices just a bit before they were open. Good thing we did, too, as there were about 50 other folks on the same itinerary as our team! We got the payments taken care of, headed over to the Permit office, and settled in for the long haul of stamping, reviewing, signing, and getting back the completed permits. Permits in hand, we headed back to the hotel to pack our bags onto the waiting transport. For those who don't know, it takes a mountain of luggage to climb a mountain like Aconcagua. The team is now packed and ready to go. We are heading out for Penitentes to pack bags, get to bed, and start the trek in to Base Camp tomorrow. The crew looks good as you can see here, so keep sending the good vibes as we start this incredible journey! RMI Guides Garrett, Ben, and Nick

Another perfect weather-less day, a bunch more Antarctic climbing. The sun didn't show until 11:15 AM -as expected, but even knowing it would be cold in the hours before the sun didn't keep us from being a little shocked at the big chill. We put our crampons on and took our ice axes in hand for today's climb, happy that the sled-pulling approach is done and that the real climbing has begun. We took about five hours to carry a load of food and gear from camp to the top of the fixed ropes. The terrain was up continuously steep and firm snow. It was a pretty good workout and perfect from an acclimatization standpoint as we reached 11,800 feet. We descended carefully, working out the kinks in our fixed line technique, and were back in camp by 8:30 PM. We seem to have the mountain all to ourselves now as the other teams turned out to be on schedules that put them well ahead of us. We'll likely take a rest day tomorrow to firm up the aforementioned acclimatization before our final assault on the heights. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The Sahale Mountain - Quien Sabe Glacier climb led by RMI Guide Geoff Schellens was unable to summit yesterday due to a combination of poor route conditions and poor weather. The team spent last night at their camp in Boston Basin and are hiking back to the trailhead this morning. The Mt. Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys team led by Mike Walter was also unable to summit. Mike reported wet, foggy conditions on the Fisher Chimneys route. The team team spent last night at their camp on the White Salmon Glacier and are making the four mile hike back to the trailhead this morning.

Saturday, July 6, 2013 14 K at last! But we had to fight our way up here, it didn't come easy. Back down at 11,000 ft in the early hours of the day, it looked as though we might get decent weather. At least, if one was looking up at the West Buttress, there was good visibility and not much sign of wind, if one turned and looked West, however, there was still a massive flow of cloud, as there had been all week, often overflowing and engulfing camp. We ate breakfast and packed, it seemed especially difficult to get going after having become so deeply dug in for the best part of a week, but we managed. Naturally, as we roped up and and got ready to walk, the clouds swept in and the wind came up. We came full on into strong, steady winds as we topped motorcycle hill and it seemed we found even stronger winds at the crest of squirrel hill. All of this was while inside a big white freezing cloud, so we were getting rimed up and frosty as we leaned straight into the storm to climb higher. On the polo field, we still had wind but we were getting occasional sun breaks. Windy Corner lived up to its name today. Getting past it was the key battle of the day, but we knew if we could pass the corner we could leave the wind and cloud behind. Sure enough, as we reached our cache from yesterday, we'd found a calm and sunny glacier. It took another ninety minutes to get into "Genet Basin" which we reached at 3:30 PM. We were happy to rejoin the teams we'd shared 11 camp with. There were plenty of empty camp sites with good walls, so building our nest at 14,200 ft was made slightly easier. The team was a little weary after pushing through such harsh conditions, but all were excited to be back in the game, to have new and awesome views and to have beat the forecasted "next storm". Yes, that is right, we are in for another one. The western sky was full of wind sculpted wave clouds, as if a fleet of flying saucers were attacking Mount Foraker. By the time we finished dinner, Denali was cloud capped as well and the snow was starting to fall at 14,200. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Friday, June 14, 2013 Greetings from Summit Team 6! We bit off a huge chunk today with our move from Basecamp to Camp 1. We carried all of the food, fuel, equipment, and clothing that we will need for our expedition. Needless to say, we carried heavy! We made the trip up glacier in just under five hours. Once in camp, we made a bombproof tent site sheltered from the wind. It took us around an hour to get camp setup and organized. We took advantage of another beautifully warm and clear afternoon to take some siesta time. This was much needed since we woke up at 2:00 a.m. to pack up this morning. We are just getting ready for a Dinty Moore and mashed potatoes dinner. I would imagine it will be another early evening since we have another early wake up time scheduled. Our plan is to carry gear up a bit higher and make a cache and then return to the same camp tomorrow. RMI Guide Mike Haugen and McKinley Team 6

On The Map

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

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

RMI’s Four Day Climb, Aug 11-14 successfully reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today.

They reported 100% of the team was on top enjoying the calm weather and beautiful views this morning.

They are currently descending and will take a short but much needed break at Camp Muir before heading down to Paradise later this afternoon.

Congratulations to all of them!

Greetings from base camp at Plaza Argentina!

Today we had a much-needed rest and logistics day after yesterday's heavy carry to Camp One. Strategic packing, a scenic acclimatization hike, a medical clearance visit, and a tactical nap were all on the agenda for today. The day closed with an unexpected thunderstorm that soaked base camp but provided much-needed relief from the high altitude glare of the sun.

As we prepare for the higher mountain, there is a palpable sense of excitement. If we make it to the top, Aconcagua will be a personal altitude record for all but one of us. Wish us luck!

P.S. No large language models were harmed during the creation of this post :)

RMI Climber Yev "Freyverissimo" Freyvert

The day started out calm, so we started out climbing. We left high camp at 8:30. The day was slightly warmer than the last few, but there was less sun, so it didn't really feel all that warm. We had most of our clothing on for the 2.5-hour journey to Denali Pass.  It was a little breezier at the pass, so we didn't rest long there. We got into significant wind and clouds in the next hour pushing up the steep rolls to Zebra Rocks. Finally, we had to call it quits at around 18,850 ft.  Storm conditions stayed with us all the way back to high camp. It was a slow descent because of that and some justifiably tired legs.

We were in camp by 6 PM and into the shelter of the tents shortly after.  We gave it a good go but got turned by some tough conditions. That happens. We'll begin our descent tomorrow. Some tough and careful climbing is still to come. 

Best,

RMI Guides Dave Hahn, Sam Marjerison, Sam Hoffman, Nick Sinapius & Team