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Your read that right, round 2 for RMI Torres del Paine Trek. Our team flew into Puerto Natales on the 19th. We spent the 20th getting gear ready and getting adjusted to the time zone change. Today our shuttle picked us up at 5 am and by 7:30 we were walking up hill. Our first day is up to see the Torres (towers) that the park takes it’s name from. Three granite spires that rise out of a alpine cirque that has a receding glacier and provide great views. It’s a tough day to begin our eight-day trek: 13 miles with 3,500’ up and back down to Torres Central. There was hardly a cloud in sight, no wind at Windy Pass and the heat was not what we’d have expected in Patagonia. Thankful for the shade we got from the forested trail while it lasted we enjoyed a good day and are now back at the Refugio. Tomorrow we’ll hope for some cooler weather but regardless head for Seron Camp over a short four-hour day. Thanks for following along.

RMI Guide Mike King

RMI Guides Peter Whittaker and Ed Viesturs led a team of climbers to the summit of Mt. Rainier morning. The Four Day Summit Climb July 23 - 26 led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Lindsey Mann also reached the top today. Both teams reported light winds and a beautiful day. The climbers will descend to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise later this afternoon. In the North Cascades, RMI Guides Andres Marin, Eric Frank and Geoff Schellens led their team to the summit of Forbidden Peak. All team members reached the summit yesterday. They will break camp and descend to the trail head today. Congratulations to the summit teams!

Hey RMI and everybody back home. This is Casey checking in from the Cho Oyu Expedition. Just wanted to let everyone know that today we officially decided to pull the plug and not continue to climb on the upper mountain. The snow conditions continue to exist. It's a relatively high level of avalanche hazard as well as no one has been on the upper mountain in the last few days. We are certainly not going to be the first team to be up there and stick our necks out. Add that to the forecast that we have, which is some high winds and cold temperatures as the jet stream approaches and we are actually even seeing that today with some winds and some clouds building. The majority of the expeditions here have all packed up and are heading home currently. There are a few individuals left that may stick their necks out and give it a shot, but again, we think that it is foolish for our team to take that risk. Everyone's doing great. Today we actually hiked up to Camp 1 and picked up most of our gear that we had left there. We got the majority of that stuff back to Advanced Basecamp here. Our plan is to relax here for the next day and then our yaks come in on the 3rd to pick up all of our loads to carry that stuff back to the main road, which is about a day-and-a-half trek. Our plan is to leave on the 3rd and try to get to the road and hopefully catch a ride on the 4th. Then we'll drive from Basecamp to Zangmu, on the border of Tibet and Nepal. Our plan then on the 5th is to possibly arrive in Kathmandu if everything goes well. I'm happy that everyone feels good with our decision and we look forward to coming home and seeing everybody and telling you all about our adventure. Thanks a lot you guys.

The final RMI EXPEDITIONS climb of our North Cascade’s season took place under excellent weather & high spirits. The three of us (RMI Guides Jake Beren and Alex Van Steen, with climber Jim Lumberg) enjoyed late season conditions. The chimneys, gullies and summit pyramid didn’t have an ounce of snow in them, making for absolutely fantastic & fun rock scrambling & climbing. On summit morning, we postponed our bid by an hour or two as rain threatened, but by the time we took off the skies were clearing and we enjoyed an improving day and stellar climbing. RMI Guide Alex Van Steen

The Mt. Baker Coleman Deming team July 23 - 25 reached the summit today around 6:45 am.  RMI Guide Mike King reported a warm night and great views north to Vancouver of the North Cascade peaks.  The team returnted to Camp before noon.  They will continue their descent to the trail head and conclude their program this afternoon.

Nice job team!

Today our team completed a 10 hour hike through beautiful marshland. We are getting into an area with limestone masses, passing by caves in the limestone cliffs. Quite spectacular! Today's hike was the first we've had in the rain. But despite the wet conditions, everyone is in high spirits and doing very well. RMI Guide Alex Van Steen

On The Map

Namaste Everyone,

The team woke to beautifully clear skies again and views of Everest right out our dining room window. We’ve settled into our daily routine of getting up and packing our duffel bags before meeting in the dining room for breakfast and plenty of Starbucks thanks to RMI sending it with us. After breakfast we steep outside to get a better sense of the temperature before adjusting our layers for the hike. Once on the trail we do our best to maintain a steady pace, with stops every hour or so to stay hydrated and take in the views. There is plenty of other hikers and yak trains headed in both directions to negotiate as well.

Today we hiked for a little over five hours including breaks and a light lunch to get to our next tea house in Pheriche, which sits at about 14,000 ft.

Everyone did great and enjoyed the stunning views of Ama Dablam, one of the most iconic peaks along the route to Everest Base Camp.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Base Camp Crew

Sherpa. It's a name that we hear with increasing frequency in popular diction worldwide. But who are the Sherpa, and the sherpa, for that matter? The answer to this is as complex as the country in which they reside. Let's begin with a bit of context. The nation of Nepal, one of the poorest in the world in terms of per capita GDP, is arguably one of the richest in terms of geographic and ethnic diversity. A mere 54,000 square kilometers (about the size of Illinois), it ranges geographically from the tropical Indo-Gangetic plains (Terai) in the south to the crest of the Great Himalaya, the highest mountains on earth, in the north. So short is the span from low to high that one can literally sit on the back of an elephant in the Terai, gazing at endangered rhinos, and see, some 90 miles distant, the snowy crest of the Himalaya rising above the haze of the tropical plains. Not to be outdone by its geography, Nepal's human diversity is rich and complex as well. In its small footprint reside some 25 million people from 36 different ethnic groups speaking 36 (or more) different languages and dialects. From the Indian ethnicities of the Terai to the Tibetan peoples of the mountains, the Gurkhas of the center to the Lepchas of the east and the Thakurs of the far west, the countryside of Nepal rings with diversity. The Sherpa, so often discussed if not totally understood, are one of these many ethnic groups in Nepal. Crossing over the high Nangpa La (Pass) some 700 years ago from Tibet, the early Sherpa nomads found in the Khumbu Valley a rich region with lush vegetation, flowing rivers, and the possibility of a life far easier than their nomadic one in Tibet. They settled in, making the valley which drains the slopes of Everest their home. When asked who they were, the early Sherpa would reply, as is common in Tibet, with the region from which they came. Their answer: Shar pa, or "east people." Nomads originally, the Sherpa had come with their yak across the plains of Tibet from the eastern edge of the Plateau, perhaps near Kham. Over time, shar pa turned into Sherpa, their tribal name, and also last name. Centuries later, when the first Western explorers began their attempts on the high Himalayan peaks, they employed Sherpa as porters to help move equipment on the mountains. From George Mallory to Sir Edmund Hillary to our First Ascent Team, the Sherpa - strong, hard-working, ever-friendly, impeccably kind and loyal - have been a mainstay of Himalayan climbing, with only a small handful of teams getting anywhere in the high peaks without the hard work, diligence, and dedication of these remarkable mountain people. So deep has been their connection to mountain climbing in the Himalaya that the ethnic name Sherpa has come to mean any Nepali who works in the mountains. However, not every sherpa is, in fact, a Sherpa. Confused? Our team of Nepalis, our sherpa, hail from no less than 4 different ethnic groups: Rai, Gurung, Tamang, and, of course, Sherpa. All have vast experience: Maila Tamang, Camp 2 cook, with several expeditions and one summit of Everest under his belt Nima Dorje Tamang, hoping for his 4th summit of Everest on this trip Kumar Gurung, a veteran expedition cook since 1994, on his 15th Everest expedition Damber Rai, a seasoned mountain man, on his 7th Everest expedition All these men, Tamang and Rai, Gurung and Sherpa, work hard, day in and day out, and all are contributing deeply to our efforts on the mountain, just as they are for the 30-some-odd other expeditions on Everest this spring. Simply put, we couldn't do it without them, and our thanks are beyond words. Dhanyabhad.

Hello again everyone.

All is still well here in the Khumbu as the team members made our way back into Namche. It was a nice day on the trail passing by climbers, trekkers, yaks, and porters all bound uphill to Everest Base Camp. We slowly made our way through the maze of traffic and enjoyed one last good view of Everest.

Tomorrow we'll be moving out early on our final leg of the journey back to Lukla. So please keep you fingers crossed we have good weather and can make our flight back to Kathmandu the following morning.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

The Five Day Climb July 21 - 25 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by RMI Guides Nikki Champion & Joe Hoch. The teams reached the summit early this morning and were well on their descent around 7 am. RMI Guide Trevor Katz provided the photos from the teams descent from the crater rim.  Once back at Camp Muir everyone will repack and continue another 4.5 miles to Paradise.  They will then transfer to Rainier BaseCamp for a celebration and conclusion of their program.

Nice work everyone!