Perfect day for moving on up. We took advantage and climbed to 17,200. The team was already roped and moving toward the headwall at 8:30 AM when the cold shadows still covered the entire basin. We got much needed sun at the first rest break. It was a pleasure as always to top out the ropes at 16,200. We broke into our cache for a few essentials... just to make sure the guide packs were heavy enough for climbing the West Buttress. The spectacular walk up the crest went smoothly for us and we rolled into 17,000' Camp at 3:15. As usual, it was tough to build a solid and safe camp at such a high elevation just after arriving. But we got it done and sat down to a nice dinner inside our dining tent. Snow conditions on the route to Denali Pass are still unstable so there is no chance for us to go for the summit tomorrow.
We'll keep evaluating to see whether we get a chance on following days.
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guide Mike King reached the very top of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team had clear weather, a solid route, and climbed strong to reach the Summit. They are back at Camp Muir and will be returning to Ashford Basecamp to celebrate their success this afternoon.
The team had a very nice day here on Kilimanjaro, waking to beautiful clear skies and hiking in sunshine all day. We started with a 6:30 wake up and packing before moving into our dining tent for a nice breakfast with porridge, scrambled eggs, toast, bacon fresh fruit and even fresh dark roast Tanzanian coffee.
We hit the trail around 9 am and slowly made our way up the rocky trail with incredible views of Kili above. After about five hours we reached our next camp that sits on the Shira Plateau, which is one of the three dormant volcanoes that make up Kili.
A lot of wet soggy cloths and gear is now bone dry, getting us back into great shape for our next few days on the trail.
All is well at 12,500'.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Y’all are doing it!!!!! Sara, fantastic newsletter!!!! Your way with words is so powerful! We are all rooting for your team and cannot wait to hear the stories!!!! Congrats on taking a BIG dream and making it reality!!! #primefamily #squeezetheglutes #dreambig
Posted by: RAB on 7/19/2019 at 8:41 am
So excited to read about your adventure!! You all are amazing people and I am so proud of you!!! Stay strong and safe!!!
Friday, March, 22,2018
Hello everyone,
All is well here in the beautiful Khumbu Valley. Today was a scheduled rest/acclimatization day, so we did just that. After breakfast we made a long slow climb up the big hill that’s just behind our tea house. We climbed just up over 16,000ft to help our bodies adjust to the upcoming altitude of Everest Base Camp. The team did great and throughly enjoyed the amazing views in nearly all directions. We could see Cho Oyu the 6th highest and Makalu in the far off distance which is the worlds 7th highest mountain, as well as countless other huge mountains. It’s very surreal to be higher than anyplace in the continental US and be surrounded by so many big mountains.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing at the tea house chatting with other trekkers and recovering from our day’s outing.
Some of the team took showers again and the rest of us rewarmed ourselves by the big wood stove that burns dried Yak dung, just as the Sherpa people have done for centuries. We are a little ways above tree line and firewood is scarce, but Yak dung is plentiful.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Oh my goodness! We must be so far out there. No cell service, no internet, no wifi. How are we gonna get by? Just fine. That's what I can tell you. The team's doing well. We are up here at Lobuche. Had a nice walk up. Fine weather, a little overcast now. Chilly, chilly up here at 16,000'. We are happy to be here in good shape. We are checking in by satellite phone, so we can still be connected. We appreciate everyone following along. Hopefully tomorrow we will move up to Gorak Shep where I think we may have some connectivity, and I may be able to send some fabulous pictures from the jaunt up the hill today. We will check in again.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
What a nice day for the team. Really the first time to catch our breath and that is not an easy task here at 11,000ft. After the whirlwind tour of Kathmandu, a flight into the mountains, and a big hike yesterday, what a nice option to take it easy today. We still cut a swath through Namche Bazaar, invested in the local economy and even stretched our legs a bit. Recharging our physical and gadgetry batteries was the focus of the day.
One highlight was a trip to the local museum. It had three viewing areas: one being a typical Sherpa home with all the furnishings, another of Sherpa history and culture, and a room full of Everest history, fantastic photos and early expedition gear.
The team has been behaving well and enjoying all the support of our local outfitter, High Altitude Dreams, and the fantastic staff here at our Tea house in Namche, Camp de Base. We all feel so lucky to spend this time with these wonderful people.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Jambo from Karanga Camp,
The team did great again today and the good weather continues. Right out of camp this morning we started our climb of the Barranco Wall. While viewed by most people as one of the more difficult parts of the trail, it was a breeze for this group. And it wouldn't be a stretch to say that they actually enjoyed it! We had the usual stopping and starting along the trail as climbers and porters negotiated some of the more tricky sections, but this did not slow us down and we topped out in just 1 hour and 20 minutes.
With the elevation gain behind us, we continued east towards Karanga Valley, traversing below the last of the southern ice fields. We also took advantage of some good terrain along the way to practice some walking techniques that we will use on summit day. By 1:00 we were pulling into camp, just in time to sit down to a spaghetti lunch. Such a treat! Now we are continuing the routine of the past few afternoons and just hanging out in camp enjoying our time on the mountain. The sun has been battling the clouds for most of the day. Lucky for us, the sun is refusing to give up.
Tomorrow is a short climb to Barafu Camp, our high camp. We'll get into camp by early afternoon with plenty of time to get ready for our summit day.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
Our string of good days continues. We made good use of this one as well, climbing in good style to our 12,300 ft high camp. We were up at the crack of 11:15 AM as usual for low camp... waiting for the sun. But then it was a big flurry of activity for us as we ate brunch, knocked down the tents and packed up our packs. Spikes were on and we hit the trail at 1:30 PM. We made great progress today, with everybody feeling strong and enjoying the limitless scenery. Likely we are getting the benefit of having already climbed most of the way on our carry two days back, and certainly yesterday's rest didn't hurt. As we got higher on the fixed lines, it did seem like we were able to see for hundreds of miles... the horizon couldn't actually have been that far, but when it is ice as far as the eye can see, it does start to feel global in scale.
We were lucky to have calm conditions as we exited the ropes and made our way up the last 500 vertical feet to camp. We managed it all in a respectable six hours, pulling in at 7:30 PM. Everybody was in a pretty good and optimistic mood, as they should be. If the good weather continues we could be on the summit tomorrow afternoon.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The RMI Four Day Summit Climb team led by JJ Justman reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team reported a beautiful morning with clear skies and light winds of about 20mph. The ascent to the summit took about 6 hours and 10 minutes. The team left the summit and will descend back to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent led a team of climbers in the North Cascades. They reached the summit today around 2 pm PT. They returned to camp around 5 pm and will spend their final night in the mountains. Tomorrow they will descend to the trial head and complete their trip.
Congratulations to today's team!
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013
We moved a cache all the way up to 14,000 ft camp today. It is a big day to gain that much altitude with a big load, but our crew did great. In fact, several people commented on how good we looked as we pulled in.
We made great time getting back down to 11k. Jake Beren and crew stopped by for a visit as they are relaxing in 11k camp on there way out to Basecamp and the landing strip. Our plan is to move up to fourteen tomorrow, but only if the weather is as perfect as it has been.
Steve says hi to Tania!
Cindee says hi to dad and wants him to know she is safe and happy!
Quinn says hi to Liz!
Lance says hi to the girls! I hope Penny's school play went well.
Haugen says hi to Amber and the girls!
Peter says hi to Bob and Perk! Trust the puppies are doing well. Love to Ivonne.
Grasshopper says hi to Annie, Rose, and kin!
Katie says hi to Cody!
Uchal says hi to all his people in Rock City!
Sandra says hi to mom, dad, and Hikari!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
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This is it… best of luck.
Posted by: Tom Leonard on 7/2/2025 at 5:30 am
Spennende å følge dere, men vær forsiktige. Virker likevel som dere er i gode hender.
Posted by: Erik Blaauw Evensen on 7/1/2025 at 11:43 pm
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