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Buenas noches from Hacienda Chilcabamba. We just moved into our rooms after enjoying a stunning sunset on the drive out into the campo [wilderness]. The hacienda sits right on the edge of Cotopaxi National Park, and with any luck we will get a view of where we hope to stand in a few days. Today was the big market day in Otavalo, so we braved the crowds and headed into the thick of it. The theme of the day was bargaining, and everybody had a chance to practice their Spanish in order to come away with some authentic souvenirs. The team is well rested and excited for another climb. We'll check in tomorrow from the Cotopaxi hut. RMI Guides Casey Grom & Maile Wade with the Ecuador Team.

We enjoyed a full night's rest and had a leisurely morning of coffee and eggs as we packed up our gear to head to our high camp at about 5200 meters on Huayna Potosi. The strong wind abated overnight and left us with blue skies and sun for our two-hour walk to high camp. We are all resting and relaxing as we will attempt to summit Huanya Potosi tomorrow at 6088 meters. Everyone is doing great in anticipation of the big day tomorrow! RMI Guide Eric Frank

Sunday, May 19, 2019 Isla del Sol or Island of the Sun is a remote island with no cars located close to the Peruvian border on Lake Titicaca. It feels weird to be on a mountain climbing trip, yet enjoying the luxuries of home cooked meals, showers and a setting that would remind you of the Mediterranean. At 13,500’ this is an ideal location for us to acclimatize for the higher peaks of Bolivia. Meandering through pre Incan terraced gardens allowed us to stretch the legs, breath the thin air and enjoy panoramic vistas. The day included a traditional Bolivian meal and an amazing sunset. Tomorrow we leave the comforts of Isla del Sol and head into the mountains. RMI Guide Andy Bond

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

The Four Day Summit Climb Teams Led by JJ Justman and Lindsay Mann reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The teams reported great climbing conditions with winds of about 5 - 15 mph as they climbed above the clouds. The teams will spend some time on the summit before starting their descent back to Camp Muir. Congratulations to Today's Teams!

Hi there, we are having a great summit day! We left Camp Muir at 4 am and reached the summit at 9:15. The weather has been very nice. We are making our way down the mountain now. We'll check in when we get back to Camp Muir. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

Jambo! This is Seth checking in from the Dik Dik Hotel. Today was our packing day. We started with a team meeting over a leisurely breakfast and then went into a gear check. It was really fun getting to know each other. Everyone is totally enthusiastic. While we were going over our stuff the guys from the Dik Dik were packing the food and gear. Our big 4x4 Mercedes Unimog is loaded up and ready to go. First thing after breakfast tomorrow we'll load the last of the gear and head out to the park entrance. Then our climb begins! RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

Our weather changed a bit for the worse today, but not before we were able to get our work (and play) accomplished up on the West Buttress. As we started stoves a little before 8 AM, there was already an upper cloud layer above the mountain and a fairly thick blanket below. But there was no sign of wind on the upper ridges so we felt pretty comfortable in gearing up to climb after breakfast. Two hours of steady uphill trudging got us to the slightly more interesting terrain of the bergschrund and the headwall above. We latched onto the fixed ropes and made our way up the 45 degree slopes. Conditions were excellent as there were staircase-quality footsteps in the steep snow. We topped the ropes in good time and it was obvious that everyone was game for going higher, but as we rested at 16,200' it began to snow and so we buried the supplies we were carrying (to protect the food from greedy ravens) and we beat feet back down to 14,200'. We weren't away more than six hours for the round trip but even so it was a significant effort and we were proud of our accomplishments. Three or four of the team broke personal altitude records. We rested away the remainder of the day as snow showers came and went. Tomorrow is a rest day for our team anyway, so we don't mind if a little unsettled weather plays through... but just a little. We are already getting excited for a move up to high camp. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Billy Nugent and team reached the summit of Mt. McKinley today - May 27th! Billy called in at 7:15 p.m. PT from the Football Field, they were en route back to High Camp at 17,000’. Everyone was doing well. Congratulations to Billy, Solveig and the team!

Sometimes, climbing is about a new experience. Sometimes, climbing is about the people. Sometimes, climbing is about the experience you get to enjoy with the people you are with while doing something epic, unexpected, and downright enjoyable. That is what we had. We may not have achieved the objectives we signed up for, but we got to experience something we never have before; an incredible four days with an incredible team on objectives that very few people ever get to be a part of. After an incredibly incredible yet long day that we'd rather not discuss, we then still got to go ice climbing (in August) on the lower Coleman Glacier of Mount Baker. Outside of that, we'll keep the jokes we shared, the sandals we made, and the amount of caffeine we consume amongst ourselves. Thanks to all our loved ones for supporting us on these crazy left field objectives. We are back where it all started at Chair 9 with limited service and celebrating. 

RMI Guides Ben Luedtke, Calvin Jiricko, Bailey Servais, and team