Most Popular Entries

Hello again from Pheriche. Today was another well-deserved rest day for the team. After breakfast we contemplated going on a hike but the chilly temperatures and wind outside kept us inside pouring more coffee and relaxing in the nice warm sunroom. Everyone did a little exploring of this small village of about a dozen tea houses, some venturing further than others. At 3:00 pm we walked next door to the HRA (Himalayan Rescue Association) and sat in on a short, but informative, talk about altitude and travel issues. The HRA has small seasonal medical facility based here to treat climbers, trekkers, porters, and Sherpa that need help. It was established by the famous American doctor Peter Hacket in 1974. Our evening was spent watching the local traffic of porters and yaks pass by loaded with gear for this climbing season. Everyone is still in good spirits and looking forward to tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

Christmas came early today, but instead of reindeer we mounted mules and forded the mighty Vacas river at dawn. Then we made our way up the Relinchos valley, gaining the most elevation of the trip so far. The team did great moving up this Tatooine like landscape underneath ten thousand feet of mighty Aconcagua visual splendor. It was a beautiful walk and and excellent way to spend the holiday. Knowing we've got a rest day coming up doesn't hurt either! Pulling into Basecamp we were greeted by the familiar faces of friends from Christmas' past, Ana and Griselda our hostesses with the mostesses who made an excellent dinner to celebrate our arrival. After a spectacular sunset the team has turned in for a well earned night of rest. Merry Christmas and Happy Festivas from all of us here in the Andes! RMI Guides Jake Beren, Mike King & Steve Gately

On The Map

Hey all, this is Geoff and JJ with Aconcagua Team One. We are currently back at Camp Two after an acclimatization hike up to 20,000' today. Moderate winds, a cloud cap pretty heavy this morning, breaking up this afternoon, pretty clear now with still some winds hanging in there. We are all doing well and everybody's happy and we are just waiting for a good weather forecast come our way, which would be great. That's all for now, bye. RMI Guide Geoff Schellens

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - 9:44 pm PT

Hello everyone! It's been a hectic couple of days packing and prepping for flying on today. We arrived at Kahiltna Basecamp following a smooth and scenic ride from Talkeetna. The team spent the day acquainting themselves with life on the glacier and enjoying this beautiful place. Tomorrow we plan to head for the base of Ski Hill. Everyone still smells pretty good and we are feeling motivated to start moving.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

We're back! Hi everyone, sorry, we have been back at high camp for an hour but we have been going gonzo on the snow melting. Needless to say, after a 12-hour day, our team is thirsty! We all want to thank everyone who followed us during our expedition. It was really great to see and hear the support and I contribute that to everyone on the team reaching the Aconcagua summit. We will post a couple of blogs on our way out but I wanted to send a quick note letting everyone know we are tired but doing great! Tomorrow we head down to Base Camp. RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater. It's a 1.2 million year-old caldera full of wildlife trapped by the steep outer walls. We saw more than our share of lions today! So close that the lions were literally under our vehicles. It was moderately hot and the lions cooled themselves in the shade of our cars. We also visited a working Masai village and were amazed at their simple yet hard life that they live. The whole team had a wonderful day and are looking forward to even more safari tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Just as the Mt. McKinley weather report predicted, we got six inches of snow last night at our 14,200' camp. There wasn't any wind to go with it though, so the night was an easy one. Most of today was spent "inside the ping pong ball" -in a white world of cloud and falling snow. So most of us passed the time in the tents, sleeping, reading, listening to music or talking about the weather. A high point to the cloudy part of the day was a reading of the comments posted to the RMI blog. We can't bring up a web page, but the comments were cut and pasted into an email for the team and were very well received. Thank You. Finally, around dinner time, the clouds began to clear and we were treated to stunning views of Foraker, Hunter and Denali. Now, at 9:30 in the evening it is crystal clear above and cloudy down below. This clear and dry evening defies predictions but we'll gladly take it. The big hope now is that tomorrow will stay nice and we'll get to move up to high camp. Spencer wishes his Mom a happy birthday from Denali... And his teammates second that. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

No sooner had I proclaimed a "season of no snow" than it got busy snowing. About three or four inches our first night at Lobuche and then another two inches yesterday afternoon. Both days were sunny to start and then gave way to big dark cumulus clouds with thunder and lightning to finish. The snow hasn't made the walking any more difficult for those of us with ski poles, boots and gaiters. The ultra-bright new snow surface, combined with intense high-altitude sunshine, can be hard on uncovered skin or eyeballs, but all of us are taking great care in those departments. New snow down in these parts doesn't necessarily mean that the upper reaches of the big peaks are getting it, but one can hope. There isn't much question in my mind that the normal Nepalese route to the top of Mount Everest is easier and safer with ample snow cover. Particularly if it will be a busy and "crowded" season as this one shows every sign of being, then it will be best to have the loose rock covered with snow and frozen firmly in place. We can worry about such things more in a month or so. For now though, I won't mind if it snows each afternoon. These last days on the trail have been extremely busy and congested, not quite like Interstate 5 through Seattle, but busy as heck with foot traffic nonetheless. Much of the Khumbu Valley is focused -in these weeks- on the Everest business, and as we come within a day or two of the mountain, all of that "traffic" becomes concentrated on a single segment of trail. Our expedition is one of perhaps thirty trying to move tons of gear by porter and yak-train to the head of the valley right now. Additionally, numerous and large trekking groups along with Everest climbing teams are all on the same trail and in the same few teahouses now. That isn't all a bad thing. Last night, the dining room of our Lobuche teahouse felt something like a school reunion for me, what with Scottish David Hamilton -the leader of the Adventure Consultants team- showing up. I'd last seen him in December in Antarctica. Ang Dorje, who has been living with his family in Eastern Washington and building wind turbine towers since I last saw him on Everest, was in the room. So was Austrian Walter Laserer, who was skiing around the upper reaches of Alaska's Kahiltna Glacier when I bumped into him in July. There was Lobsang, who'd led a trek I was on in the year 2000. Passang, who'd led the Hillary Step and been key to my tagging the top in October of 2006, was over standing by the stove. Yesterday, I accompanied Ed Dohring on a round-trip hike from Lobuche to Basecamp. His GPS calculated that we moved over 11 miles in the process, and we did it in pretty good time, considering that we stopped nearly every 200 feet for me to say hi to another friend or acquaintance from the mountains. It can be a lot of fun, but at times it can be overwhelming to meet casually and between yak horns and tails for a moment with a climber or Sherpa that I've shared life-shaping expeditions with. Ed Dohring is now on his way home, as was planned all along. We finished his trip with that exploration of Basecamp, which is already quite impressive with tents popping up in every direction. While there, we sat outside eating plates of rice (our Sherpa team already has things up and running and ready for the team's arrival tomorrow) and gazing up at the jumble of the Khumbu Icefall. We could see the Icefall Doctors pushing the route of ladders and rope in the upper "popcorn" section, perhaps a third of the way through the Icefall. We dropped back down to Lobuche in the swirling snows and rejoined the team for a last night together. Ed and Erica said goodbye to each other this morning, as he left for Namche and we left for Gorak Shep. A gorak is a big black bird that lives up high, a lot like a raven. Gorak Shep then translates to "dead raven," which doesn't truly do the place justice. Or maybe it does. Not much of a "town" up here in this large, sandy, dusty flat spot on the lateral moraines of the Khumbu. The place is important to trekkers, as it is the jumping off point for the short hike up Kalapathar. KP -at around 18,500 ft- is the lowest part of a ridge which merges into steep and sharp Pumori, and when one finishes hiking all of that ridge that can be hiked without specialized tools, one can get a big and famous view of Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse. Or... one can go to an internet cafe... at 17,000 feet and 25 rupees per minute... the web is in the Shep. Our team is spending a final night on the trek. Tomorrow we'll go into Everest Basecamp and begin focusing more on the climb.

The first day of Safari delivered. We changed over from a team of disciplined mountain climbers to a gang of slacker tourists. Lake Manyara National Park had plenty for us to see and our driver/guide/naturalist Johnson made sure we saw it all. Elephants, big and small, were everywhere. They came quite close to our Land Cruiser. A tower of giraffes by the lakeshore was a bonus. A pair of mingling pythons surprised us. Monkeys, baboons, hippos and mongooses came to the party. We finished out the afternoon and made it up to the ultra comfortable Plantation Lodge for sunset and a fine dining experience. 

--RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Good morning!

Today we made our way from Lobuche high camp down to Pangboche. On the quiet trail down from high camp we ran into a posse of “Nepali Chickens” these shy little animals are often heard but rarely seen. We stopped and took the time to watch them move through the valley.

We stopped for lunch in Pheriche and said goodbye to the fields of yaks as we headed down valley. We all got to walk our own pace, take in the views and reflect on an incredible trip. This is one of my favorites parts of walking back to Lukla - time to breath in the thick air and feel how incredibly special these mountains are.

We made it to upper Pangboche in the early afternoon and our tea house is located right behind the monastery with views looking out to Ama Dablam. We had an early dinner because we are all still tired from our Lobuche climb! Off to bed. Tomorrow we’ll head to Namche.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and the Lobuche Crew