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Monday, May 12, 2025 - 9:58 pm PT

We ended the trip exactly like we wanted. Bathed in sunshine. Even though the trip started with some stormy weather and wet days it ended with perfect blue skies. Our final two days were spent exploring crevasses, ice climbing and continuing into the various corners of the Ruth Gorge. Our last day was spent packing up camp in the brisk early morning cold and beginning the trek back to the Ruth Gorge Ampitheater where the Sheldon Chalet oversees the landscape. With the warming of the day and the buzzing of airplanes overhead it wasn't long until we were back to our plane slightly sweaty and sunburnt. The ride that ensued after was probably the most beautiful flight I've seen flying out of the Alaska range. We punctuated the trip with food and drinks in sunny Talkeetna!

Until next time,

RMI Guides Dan May, Joey Manship and the Ruth Glacier Seminar team 

The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Zeb Blais were unable to summit Mt. Rainier this morning, poor weather forced the groups to turn around at the bottom of Disappointment Cleaver. The teams tried to wait out the weather and left Camp Muir later than normal but the ran and wet snow still forced them to abort their summit attempt of Mt. Rainier. The teams will begin their descent from Camp Muir around 8:30 am en route to Paradise. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Geoff Schellens was unable to make their summit attempt today due to poor weather conditions.

Day 2 greeted us with clear skies and beautiful views of the upper mountain. The day starts with "morning tea" delivered to our tents at 6:30 followed by a medium tub of warm washing water. The team did great getting ready and we made it out of camp right at 8 am. Today is one of the shorter legs being just under three miles all total, however we ascended a little over 2,000' getting to camp. We stopped about half way for the nice sit-down lunch that our staff had ran ahead and prepared. Clearly we are being spoiled! But this is vacation after all. It took a little over six hours to get to Camp 2. Its called Shira Camp because it sits atop the massive Shira Plateau at just over 12,200' and overlooks the Great Rift Valley below. Everyone is doing well and are looking forward to a good night's sleep. Hakuna matata! RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

Greetings from expedition skills seminar, Ecuador! Day two: Not all of our mountaineering challenges down here should be considered overly stressful. Granted we aren't exactly roughing it here in hotel Mercure Alemeda, we figured starting the team off gently would ease us into the trip's first acclimating hike. Quito is flanked on its western edge by the frequently active Pinchincha Rucu volcano who's 15,500 foot summit makes for a perfect first excursion to altitude. Oh ya, back to a gentle start. After another delicious breakfast the team loaded into a sporty looking minivan with a sporty looking driver to match and headed ten minutes up the road to the loading dock of Quito's famous Pinchincha gondola. I don't know much, but I do know riding from 10,000 feet to 13,800 feet is better than walking. Who knew? From the top of the tram, views of Quito 's expansive size and beautiful setting blessed us before our trail was soon overtaken by the rising cloud bank. Despite the apparent fitness of our team, much hard breathing was done welcoming in the lower oxygen levels. Soon we found our rhythm and pushed steadily upward further into the cold clouds until the sign on the summit said we were there. By that time we were all in gloves, hats and warm jackets. We then descended quickly before the rain hit. The rest of the afternoon will be spent relaxing and exploring the neighborhood around the hotel. We are all psyched to be leaving the city and heading north. More to come, RMI Guides Adam Knoff, Casey Grom and Team

Good evening readers,

Today we had a casual morning at Everest Base Camp, rolling into the dining tent for breakfast at 8:30am. After a deliciously filling breakfast, we grabbed some jackets and headed out onto the glacier. We moved our way down loose rock to the ice where it flattened out. We weaved around the ice and came upon some tracks in the snow. First thought was one of the puppers followed us up. But on closer examination they were cat tracks...snow leopard to be exact. What a sight the tracks of a snow leopard! Now if only we could see one. We found a nice ice wave to set up an obstacle course for the team to practice their climbing skills. They ascended one rope and then descended the other. These skills will be needed to climb Lobuche. The rest of the afternoon we repacked our duffles and relaxed for a big day tomorrow. The snow pitter pattered most of the afternoon, once again creating a fresh blanket of snow through camp. With water bottles filled with hot water to warm our sleeping bags we are ready for bed.

Have a good day all back home,

RMI Guides Hannah, Abby, and Team

It was sleep-in day at Barranco Camp. We didn’t start slurping coffee until 7:30 this morning and breakfast at 8:00 was a leisurely affair. There were several good reasons for going slow and dragging feet. Barranco Camp is a beautiful place and absolutely worth spending a little more quality time in. But strategy-wise, we wanted to give neighboring teams and their associated porters the chance to get out ahead of us and to clear the tricky ledges and scrambly bits of the Great Barranco Wall before we committed to it. Secondarily, we knew we didn’t have a long way to go to reach Karanga Camp. So it was 9:40 before we put on our packs and followed Gama to the start of the wall. The strategy worked... while we didn’t exactly have the track to ourselves, there weren’t any big bottlenecks or traffic jams and we were able to figure out the tricky rock moves without much pressure or stress. In truth, the great majority of the “wall” is just walking or careful walking. And we did all of that well. We gained about 900 feet in elevation and popped out on top of the wall to easy terrain and gorgeous views of Kibo and the rest of the world. As usual, the rest of the world -with a few exceptions- was under the sea of white cloud lapping at the slopes of the mountain a thousand feet below. We had tea and snacks at that 13,900 ft high point and then carried on traversing to the east. After another hour we’d reached the steep walled Karanga Valley. Our camp sat on the opposite rim, so we dropped down a dusty trail to the valley floor and marched up the opposing flank to our home for the night. Karanga Camp is at virtually the same altitude we slept at last night -13,000 ft, so we hope to solidify our acclimatization before moving higher tomorrow. We made it here in four hours,allowing plenty of time for rest, for kite flying, and for more of Tosha’s great cooking. Best Regards Dave Hahn

Jambo everyone! Day three here on Kilimanjaro was a little windy and cloudy. But those conditions allowed us to make good time on our hike by keeping us cool but not cold. We hiked up the Shira Plateau for a few hours and reached our high point around 15,000' (new heights for some) at a place called Lava Tower. We stopped and took a nice break and enjoyed the limited view then easily descended down into the Barranco Valley to camp. Along the way we saw some of the unique vegetation that only grows in this part of the world. The giant Senecio trees that look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, groundsels,and lobelias. We are all currently relaxing in camp either taking naps or playing cards. Everyone is doing great and having a good time! RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

The RMI Everest Expedition is on track! Three super Sherpa went from Base Camp to Camp 2. En route they stopped at Camp 1 to offer some help to the team and carried the radio and electrical equipment up to Camp 2. After arriving at Camp 2, they put the puzzle together and bingo, loud and clear communication between Basecamp and Camp 2. A few days ago they carried a couple of community loads of climbing gear, and a strong team of upper mountain route workers placed anchors and rope up the Lhotse Face. With the team now nesting at Camp 2 and feeling good, it makes for another great day here on Mount Everest. It did snow a couple of inches last night, but a beautiful day with just enough wind to whip the loose snow around making for wild views. A little maintenance on the floors of the dining and communication tents today is routine when living on a moving glacier. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

It is amazing to think that this morning our team watched the sun rise from the summit ridge of Ixta. We climbed strong today, up the moraines and rock leading up to the Ayoloco Glacier that is the "White Woman's" last major snow veil. There we gained the ridge as the the waxing gibbous moon set to our left and we waited for the sun to warm us from the right. It was a great climb and everyone should be proud of a job well (and safely) done. Back at camp we enjoyed an early morning nap and packed up for the walk out. Pretty solid amount of activity before 11 am. We made it out over rock fields and steep grassy slopes, crossing pastureland before hopping in the vans and heading to Puebla. On our drive through the back roads of Paso Cortes, Cholula and Puebla gave us great views of smoking Popo (Ixta's warrior Romeo) and many angles of the lady herself. Quite a treat to drive through the lights we looked down on a few hours before on our way to hot showers and a triumphant meal in our new home for a day. Tomorrow we will recuperate and relax in the historic colonial town of Puebla, and reconvene for dinner to recount our day's adventures to the team. Then it's off to get in position for our chance on Pico de Orizaba, rested and ready. Wish us luck amigos, RMI Guide Jake Beren

Thursday, May 27. 2021 - 8:48pm PT

We flew onto the glacier late yesterday and did little else but get camp set up and ate some dinner. By midnight there was a blizzard that moved in until 9 am. After rigging our sleds and packs the wind had died down to a dull roar and the sky turned blue. We packed up and headed out around 12:30 pm with the sun to help balance the cold breeze. The route down heartbreak hill and onto the Kahiltna glacier was straightforward but windy. The wind would not abate for the next 5 hours as we leaned into it and got to camp. Heavy packs and sleds have us happy to be eating dinner and getting ready to sleep.

We’ll see what this storm brings tomorrow, but for now our fully bellies and tired legs could care less.

Thanks for following along,

RMI Guide Mike King and Team