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Posted by: Ben Liken, Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
On The Map
Posted by: Jess Wedel, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Buen Dia!
We woke up to our final breakfast on the mountain, one more time we put our hiking shoes back on and bid farewell to Jimmy and Daniela - the amazing Grajales team at our last camp.
The wind stayed at our backs as we descended the final 8 miles of the Vacas Valley. Today, the conversation was flowing - more air, full bellies! We saw lots of lizards and butterflies and even a couple mice scurrying across the trail. Signs of life reminding us we are no longer at high altitude.
With ample amounts of dust and dirt embedded in our clothes, we made it to Punta de Vacas. The place we started 2 weeks ago. We took one final group picture and headed to Penitentes to grab our duffel bags.
Before we knew it, we were on the van headed back to Mendoza! But not without a stop for empanadas along the way.
What an end to an amazing trip! We’re all safely back in the comforts of the Diplomatic Hotel - hot showers, pool time, rest and recuperation is on the agenda before we all fly back home.
Thank you for following along!
RMI Guide Jess Wedel
New Post Alerts:
Aconcagua Expedition January 18, 2025
Posted by: Casey Grom, Tatum Whatford, Nicole De Petris, Drew O’Brien, Charlie Harrison, Avery Stolte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,000'
The Four Day Climb May 17 - 20 led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Tatum Whatford reached 12,000ft today before route conditions required that they turn around. The team enjoyed a beautiful sunrise with a cloud deck below. They returned safely to Camp Muir, packed up their gear and continued their descent to Paradise. The team will conclude their adventure this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp.
PC: Tatum Whatford
Early season is tough on Rainier. It’s more miss than hit until July 4th.
Posted by: Constantine on 6/1/2024 at 5:58 pm
We’re scheduled for a 5 day in mid-june… In looking through the blog I don’t see any successful summits this season… is there a summary we can see that provides some insight into how things are going in order to judge our chances (weather permitting) of success ?
Posted by: Doug Thompson on 5/24/2024 at 10:43 am
We had a warm and clear night at high camp that would turn into sustained 20 mph wind along the seemingly endless summit ridge that makes up the main route on Ixta. We summited in the dark but with a near full moon the views of the surrounding area were spectacular. We caught the sunrise and Orizaba on our return.
The team is headed to Puebla for the evening and our day off tomorrow.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Mike King, Henry Coppolillo and Team
Posted by: Brent Okita, Alex Halliday
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,000'
Thinking of you all!
Amie
Posted by: Amie Oberg on 8/10/2019 at 8:27 am
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
On The Map
Vikas
Just wanted to check on you. Reply us back through Casey. Good luck
VILAS & CHAYA
Posted by: Vilas Lonakadi on 7/23/2013 at 10:07 am
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in from 18,000' on Aconcagua
Wow!! Watching your progress is inspiring. I almost wish I could be there too.
Posted by: mary doyle on 2/13/2011 at 4:04 pm
Bulls, Bulls, Bulls, Bears, Bears…
Ditka…
Polish Sausage…
Posted by: Dan on 2/13/2011 at 1:11 am
Michael Brown at South Col
Michael on the choice to stay
Posted by: Casey Grom, Dominic Cifelli, Josh Geiser, Seth Burns, Avery Stolte, Will Ambler
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,300'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Dominic Cifelli reached 12,300' on Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team reached the mid-point of Disappointment Cleaver, but the strong winds of 40 - 50 mph forced the team make the decision to descend safely back to Camp Muir. They will return to Rainier Basecamp in Ashford later this afternoon.
Congratulations Team!
That photo looks like something out of a movie—pretty otherworldly.
Posted by: Some guy from Puyallup on 5/25/2024 at 10:06 pm
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It was a beautiful morning down in the Barranco Valley, but we were excited to get out of there and get on the Great Barranco Wall.
We began walking at 8:00 am in the cool shadow of the wall. The weather pattern of the past few days continued, it was clear up high and cloudy down below and where we were, there was no wind. And thankfully, there were not too many other people trying to get up the wall when we were. This made it a little less stressful to figure out the handholds and footholds when the going got steep. Our team cruised through the tough parts with some fine coaching and spotting from Naiman, Philibit, Freddy and Thomas. We took a short break when we hit the easier going in the sunny midsection of the “wall” and then pressed on. At about 14,000 ft we pulled over one last edge and found ourselves atop the Great Wall. And even better, we found that our camp waiters had beaten us to the top with tea and snacks. We lounged in the sun, took photos and enjoyed the unreal views of Kibo’s imposing south face.
We then cruised through a couple of shallow -- but pretty -- valleys as we moved east. The final challenge of the day was to get down one steep side of the Karanga Valley and up the other steep side to Karanga Camp. The team had no difficulty though and we came into our new camp at 13,200 ft at about 12:30 pm.
We had an excellent lunch -- Tosha’s specialty pork schnitzel -- and some welcome hours of rest. Clouds formed up in the afternoon and we were actually thankful to get a little relief from the high altitude sun cooking the tent walls. We finished with dinner and storytelling and stars (as the clouds dissipated). There is s lot of excitement among our climbers at the prospect of getting to high camp tomorrow.
Best Regards,
Great photos, great smiles! Enjoy the adventure, Cindee (I’ve been looking forward to reading new installment every morning
Posted by: Olga Rotell on 8/25/2023 at 3:22 pm
So exciting to read and view the progress of the climb! Awesome to see what you are all are accomplishing every day! Shout out to Cindee and Amanda!
Posted by: Kasey Oldham on 8/25/2023 at 2:48 pm
Eric,
We have enjoyed reading the updates as your group has climbed. We wish you and all your fellow climbers the best of luck for a safe summit. We know that this has been an awesome experience for you and we look forward to hearing all about it when you get home! Love, Mom and Dad
Posted by: Lori on 5/24/2013 at 5:35 pm
Eric, We have enjoyed reading the updates as your group has climbed. We are wishing you and your fellow climbers the best of luck for a safe summit. We know that this has been an awesome experience for you and we look forward to hearing all about it when you get home. Love, Mom and Dad
Posted by: Lori Agoglia on 5/24/2013 at 5:28 pm
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