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Greetings from our first camp! Today we launched from Las Penitentes and began our approach to Base Camp. Walking along the Vacas River, we wound our way up the valley to Pampa de Llenas for another round of chats with the Guardalparque (rangers) and the pitching of our first camp. The team did well today, managing very warm temps and not getting too over cooked along the way. Tomorrow we will try to get out early and head to Casa de Piedra (House of Rock!) for our next camp. Til then! RMI Guide Jake Beren

On The Map

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!

Greetings from Plaza Argentina! After a very early rise and a FRIGID river crossing our team wound our way up through the Relinchos Valley (a side valley of the Vacas) and arrived at Basecamp. We moved well and made good time on our ascent, with everybody feeling strong on our first bit of sustained elevation gain. We arrived just ahead of a pretty decent squall that gave us a but of wind, hail, and rain but we made short work of setting up tents ahead of the worst of it. Later on we were served up some delicious steaks and a little bit of Cabernet for dinner by the Grajales Basecamp staff. We crashed out around 9 or so when the weather started to get a little squirrelly again and enjoyed a well deserved rest! Adios from Plaza Argentina! RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

Just finished a wonderful meal at The Dik Dik hotel with the whole team. They all look about the same as when we started the climb, but I believe everyone of them has change in some sense inside. I think a greater self awareness and positive outlook on just how tough and how much they can endure was brought to life over the course of this expedition. Thank goodness for the available hot showers this afternoon it was a nice touch to have them change on the outside. Perfect weather for our 3 hour hike to the end of the trail where we said good by to a fantastic group of local men who helped us with the climb of Kilimanjaro. Couldn't have done it without them. Thanks so much to The Dik Dik Hotel and RMI staff for all they have done. We will start the Safari part of the program tomorrow and I will do my best to keep you in the loop. May it be a short time before this group gets to a new trail head for the start of another great adventure. Cheers, RMI Guide Mark Tucker

Greetings from La Malintzi, the former Mexican Olympic Team training grounds and our first chance to taste a little altitude. Today we left Mexico City and arrived here, quickly getting ready for our hike up to 13,800 feet. We walked through dry forests before leaving the trees behind and gaining the ridge of La Malinche where we were able to see our future objectives, Ixta and Pico de Orizaba. Tonight we will get some rest and start our journey to Ixta.

Mark Tucker reporting from Basecamp. Here listening to one of our neighbors celebrating the arrival of their team after a successful summit. What a relief for them after so much time and effort on the mountain. RMI's time will come. We continue gathering all pertinent information about the upper mountain to help us have a smooth summit push. Team members are putting the final touches on gear and charging their internal batteries with care. Part of that recharge was the Ultimate Horseshoe Competition at Basecamp. Final competitors: Scott Jones, Rob Suero, Tsering Sherpa and me. The departure date from Basecamp for the summit push is set. Stay tuned.

Camp 1 couldn't have been quieter last night. There wasn't a puff of wind to rattle the tent fabric. No dogs barking, no trucks shifting gears, no loud parties and no roosters crowing when our 5 o'clock alarm went off. Breakfast took about an hour...not because we read newspapers...but more because our little propane canisters barely want to burn when they are cold. So we put our boots on with our sleeping bags on our laps, and we put coffee powder in our cups, and stared at a pot of icy water waiting for a puff of steam. After a few hot drinks, some cereal and a little pre-cooked bacon... it isn't so hard to throw open the tent doors and greet the day. I watched the mere hint of a cloud cap play around Lhotse summit, in an otherwise clear sky as we stuffed our packs. Today was basically our...tag team...day. Those up the hill were dropping down while we were moving up to take control of the heights. As planned, Peter Whittaker came through first so that he and I might have a few minutes face-to-face in order to figure out the timing of our various pushes for the mountaintop. My team of Ang Kaji, Kent, Seth and Erica marched out of Camp 1 at 7 a.m., leaving me to my meetings and the small chore of knocking down our tents for safekeeping. Peter strapped his helmet on and dropped down towards basecamp. Ed Viesturs and John Griber weren't far behind. As I packed up the last tent and stepped into my crampons, I saw Gerry, Melissa, Lambabu and a handful of sherpas bringing up the rear in their strategic withdrawal to basecamp. We chatted for a few minutes as the sun finally found Camp 1. A half hour later, I was cruising up the middle of the Western Cwm alone - feeling pretty good about the day and my strength...when I heard familiar voices in panic on my radio. I stopped and turned around...now sickeningly aware of an avalanche roaring somewhere down valley...out of my sight. I barged in on the radio - trying to get some clear accounting for where the slide was hitting and who was involved. Others closer and with a view began to do the same, and I shut up. I told myself I could run to the scene - the popcorn in the lower half of the icefall - in 45 minutes, but that would be for some worst case scenario that I hoped would not come to pass. I stood in the Cwm waiting through the tedious process of various teams taking attendance on the radio. My mind kept darting back to the morning in 2006, when my own radio attendance efforts came up short, and I realized I lost a friend to the Icefall. This time the headcounts came out right. It was a near miss and too close a call, but everybody was all right. I continued my walk to ABC, still intent on catching my gang. I still felt healthy and hopeful...but I didn't feel nearly as bulletproof or in control anymore. With vast walls of ice and rock surrounding me, in the world's greatest cathedral, I missed my strong, humble friend Phinjo. I'd trade a thousand pretty mountains so see his smile again...but it doesn't work that way.

Jambo everyone, 

Today we visited Ngorongoro Crater, considered by some to be the 8th Natural wonder of the world. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is home for more than 25,000 animals that have taken up residence. We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few more animals before the heat of the day sent them in search of shade. 

There were many sightings today of hyenas, jackles, ostrich, and countless other birds. We manage to see a few Lions, although not as close as we would have hoped for, but it was truly amazing to so many animals in one place.  

We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge and the team is off to bed after a long, but very rewarding day on safari. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari Crew

Hello readers,

It was a cold morning. The coldest thus far. We packed our bags for our carry and then warmed up with some oatmeal and coffee. Putting in crampons is difficult when your fingers hurt and takes longer when you pause to warm them up before the next crampon. With time and cold fingers, we all suited up for our walk uphill.

It's a steep hill out of camp. Not much of a warmup, but we cruised up it and got to the fixed line. The fixed lines are quite steep and have blue ice underneath the snow. It's engaging climbing as we ascend the slope. It warmed up fast on our climb and we were back to base layers and sweat in no time. We cached our gear at the top of the fixed lines at 16,200'. It's great views from there of everything below us. It's a Crazy feeling sitting on the side of a big mountains with snowy mountains and peaks all around. Just gorgeous. After an hour or so sitting at 16200' we made Our way back to camp. It was a productive day, and we are ready for our sleeping bags and rest day tomorrow.

The rest will be productive for our bodies to gear up for our final push to high camp and the summit.

Goodnight, all,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

We are experiencing a bit of wet weather, a cloud mist almost rain here at Karanga camp 13,000' on Kilimanjaro. We did not let the weather spoil the climb today for it held off until we arrived at camp. The infamous Barranco Wall would not have been as much fun this morning had it been wet but with perfect conditions and a strong team we cruised up the wall in about 30 minutes first thing this morning. After a couple more stretches on the trail, we arrived to a great lunch as usual with camp all set upon arrival. What a nice way to rough it! The team is resting now in our tents until the next meal. All is well here on Kilimanjaro. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map