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June 26, 2017 Today was a well deserved rest day! Yesterday was quite the endeavor and I think everyone was happy to not have an alarm clock to answer to. We stayed cozied in our sleeping bags until the sun hit our tents and the warmth beckoned us out around 9:45 am. Emerging from our tents we wet straight into a leisurely Quesadilla breakfast, a special request by Pepper Dee, who turned 26 today! Later in the day we took a walk to the Edge of the World and everyone got to strike a pose while peering out over the vast expanse of glaciers and mountain peaks. I may be bias but I think the best picture involved a blow up couch that the birthday boy had hauled up all the way from base camp! We finished the day off with a quick dinner and chat about plans for tomorrow. If the weather cooperates we will be headed to 17,000' camp in order to be in position for our summit bid! Yeehaw! Good night from 14! RMI Guide Mike Haugen

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Hi, It’s Mark Tucker here checking in with Rainier Mountaineering’s Everest Base Camp Trek, 17,500’ feet beautiful Mt. Everest. The Team did a bang’em up job and pulled in here in great shape. We are being treated well. We’ve got fine tents, and lots of luxuries. We are going to spend two nights here. Tomorrow will be a great day for investigating and poking around this historic site. We are just so psyched, this team took on a big challenge to get here and we are very thrilled. YEE HA! We will be checking in later. RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team

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

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The Expedition Skills Seminar – Emmons has reached Camp Schurman. JJ reports that the team is doing well. The weather is currently sunny with some clouds above and below. The team is planning on making their summit attempt tonight. Wish them well! RMI Guide JJ Justman

The RMI Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir Team led by JJ Justman and Pete Van Deventer are spending the week on Mt. Rainier doing some Denali Prep Training. The team is doing well and having a great time learning some advanced mountaineering techniques. The team plans to make an attempt at the summit early tomorrow. Best of Luck Team!

Greetings from the Kahiltna Glacier. We had a great day yesterday, as we flew into Kahiltna Basecamp in the morning, prepped our gear, and started climbing. The weather was beautiful and the snow conditions were perfect for efficient travel. We took all of our gear to our first camp, at the confluence of the Kahiltna Glacier and the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, at the base of Ski Hill. We started this morning with bagels & cream cheese, with bacon, before we packed up and started climbing. Leaving camp, Ski Hill provided the first (of many) up hills of our journey. We climbed once again with great weather and snow conditions, hauling our heavy expedition loads on sleds and in our backpacks. With tired legs, sore shoulders, and tender hips, we arrived at our Camp 2, 9,400' on the Kahiltna Glacier. A hearty dinner of Indian food filled our stomachs, along with plenty of hot drinks to rehydrate. We're in our tents now, looking forward to a restful night's sleep. It's snowing lightly, with no wind. We're hoping for good weather tomorrow, and moving up to Camp 3, at 11,200'. We'll be in touch again soon with an update. RMI Guide Mike Walter and team

On The Map

Hello from high camp! The clear skies that formed yesterday held throughout the night and we woke to a perfectly bluebird day. Eager to take advantage of the weather, we wolfed down breakfast, broke down camp, packed our backpacks and headed out onto the glacier. Despite spending yesterday off of our feet in camp waiting out the winds we quickly found our climbing rhythm again and made great time as we ascended. By noon we reached our previous high point where we cached on Friday. There we found our gear, covered in a thin layer of ice from yesterday's winds, still lashed down amongst the rocks. A falcon, doubtlessly lured by our treats saved for summit day, was curiously snooping about when we arrived but took off after catching site of our band of Gore-Tex clad climbers. Thankfully the duffel bag that held everything kept the raptor at bay and we loaded the last of our gear into our packs for the final hour's climb into high camp. As we reached camp the low valley clouds, fueled by the midday heat, swirled up about us, at times blanketing us in a calm fog, other times parting to reveal the rest of the mountain looming above us. High camp sits at 15,200' perched amongst a band of black volcanic rocks running down from the east summit known as Lenz Rocks. Camp is quite exposed to Elbrus' infamous winds so we devoted a good amount of energy to establishing camp. As the clouds danced around us we went to work, chopping the ice out of the tent platforms, bolstering rock walls, and securely anchoring the tents. By mid-afternoon we were comfortably settled in our tents, sipping on water and doing our best to enjoy the rarified air of 15,200' and we had a couple of hours to rest and recover before dinner. As the evening shadows grew long off of the rock pinnacles standing guard above our tents we shared a hearty meal of vegetable lasagna before retiring to the sleeping bags for the night. Tomorrow we are planning to make our summit bid for Elbrus, leaving camp around first light. We will traverse below the east summit to the saddle at over 17,500' and then climb to the west summit. We are hoping to be standing on the highest point in Russia and all of Europe by around noon local time, about 1 am (Pacific) Monday morning. The team is feeling strong and excited about tomorrow's endeavor. Keep your fingers crossed that our perfect weather holds!

Happy New Year from the team, nestled in here at Plaza Argentina! How many of you can say you started off the new year riding on the back of a mule across a raging river? Well, everyone on the team did just that, and once we were all safely across the Vacas River we started today's long ascent up the Relinchos Valley. The early morning shade gave way to sun, and unlike yesterday we didn't have a breeze to cool us down. While the absence of flying sand was nice, the heat wasn't exactly what many expected as we made our way higher and higher. Hydration was critical as we climbed closer to our goal, and by mid-afternoon we arrived in base camp - hot, tired, and happy to be here. Our hostesses Griselda and Anita soon had delicious treats on the table and juice in our glasses, and the team took full advantage. After some much-needed rest, we sat down to a dinner of trout, potatoes and tomatoes, complemented with hot tea and lively conversation. We are settled in now for the night, looking forward to tomorrow's well-earned rest day. Everyone is excited to be kicking off 2014 here on Aconcagua! Keep it locked in for more news from the crew... RMI Guides Ben Liken, Nick Brown, and Garrett Stevens

On The Map

Hey, this is JJ and Leah up here at High Camp 19,600' finishing up the hot drinks and breakfast for our team. It's about 4:30 in the morning, a little bit of wind today but it's looking like it's going to be a nice day to climb Aconcagua. So the team is up and at 'em, getting ready for our summit attempt. Wish us luck! And hopefully we will have some great news for you a little later on today. We'll touch base hopefully from the top of South American's highest mountain. Take care, JJ Justman

On The Map

It was a storm day on Mount Vinson, so we stayed put at low camp. You might wonder how such a day differs from the rest day we took yesterday... it isn't very different. We ate, we slept, we read, we listened to music, we watched TV. The weather seemed to be improving early in the day, in that wind speeds appeared to be dropping on the peaks and ridges above us. Our latest forecasts also suggested that we'd be rewarded for waiting as the outlook is for an easing in both wind and cloud for the next few days. But none of that seemed to do us much good at low camp today. The sun continually found thick clouds and murk to hide behind and so it was a cold afternoon and evening. The team didn't hang out for long in our dining tent after dinner... back to the sleeping bags with fingers crossed for a more useful day tomorrow. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map