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Hey there, Pete Whittaker and the First Ascent team checking in from the ice still at Vinson Basecamp. We woke up this morning to clouds and very cold, icy fog. And this ended up being our second day of being unable to move. We're pretty much tent bound all day today. We were talking about comparing it to being inside a freezer with the door just slightly cracked so that the light is on all the time, 24 hours of day light down here. So very, very cold and just a lot of tent time today. And that's the story. We have adjusted our plans a little bit because of the weather. Forecast is still for possibly more clouds tomorrow. We were looking for an unclimbed peak closer to the Vinson Massif and I think now we're changing our plans. We've identified a couple objectives that are closer to the Union Glacier camp and the runway, dealing the weather and all the backups due to this strike in Punta Arenas. And the people that need to be moved around with the planes. Also because it is the end of the trip we're just adjusting our objective here a little bit. So we hope to get out tomorrow and have a twin otter drop us on a peak closer to Union Glacier, and we'll see how that goes. We're two weeks tomorrow on the ice, you know, everybody's trying to keep the spirits up. Getting towards the end of the trip, we’re all getting a little bit weary of the cold and the ice but hanging in there and hopeful we can fly and finish off the end of the trip. Everyone is healthy, everyone's doing well and getting a lot of horizontal time in the tent. That is the report for today and we hope to talk to you from a different location tomorrow. And we'll talk then.

All is well here at Everest Base Camp and life is easy for now. We usually have breakfast around 8am (this morning we had pancakes) and relax in the warmth of the morning sun. The next few hours are spent on personal chores and taking it easy while our bodies adjust to the altitude. Lunch comes next and then is shortly followed by nap time or just relaxing in the tents. Dinner is at 6:30 sharp and dress attire is down jackets and insulated pants. Although the dining tent is quite comfortable being double walled, carpeted, and it even has a propane heater. Clearly we are not roughing it! Everyone seems to be doing great and we are enjoying these few days of rest before we get busy. Today we had a gear review and dress rehearsal and then went for a short stroll through the lower glacier. A special thanks tonight to Mark Tucker and Jeff Martin for providing a wonderful burrito dinner! Namaste!

Hate to brag, but our days just keep getting better.  Tarangire National Park is delivering.  We are still in the park -by the way- in a tent camp miles and miles away from the park entrance.  There are no fences between our tents and the animals we were lucky enough to see all day long.  Supposedly, the lions haven’t figured out how a zipper works yet, so we’ve got that going for us. 

We saw good lions today, but they were the sleepy kind.  Five lionesses taking naps in a riverbed.  We saw distant and sleepy cheetahs -two of them- but they were too far away and too sleepy for photography.  Just when we were thinking that was a little unfair, we got to see a mother cheetah feeding a gazelle to two of her pups… up close.  It was stunning.  Our team enjoyed giraffes up close.  We particularly liked elephant families frolicking in mud.  The team got used to seeing massive baobab trees, easily sixty feet around and possibly thousands of years old.  A high point of the day, for certain, was when Johnson took us along an immense swamp shoreline at the golden hour when the light was magical before sundown.  None of us could believe how many animals and birds we were seeing and how few humans.  We’d given all the other cars the slip and Africa was beautiful all around us.  It is our final night of Safari… we still haven’t seen a leopard but we are certainly open to a little luck for the morning commute. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

It was a windy night at high camp, followed by a windy day. More importantly, it was still too windy up on Denali's South Peak for us to make an attempt. Low level clouds have come in, obscuring our views of many of the surrounding mountains. We still have hope for improved conditions tomorrow, but that will likely be our last shot at the top. Given all that, the team has stayed upbeat and excited for a chance to climb.

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Dave Hahn & Team are Flying onto the Kahiltna Glacier! Follow along with us as they begin their climb of Denali.

Not so much to report today.  We were up early and off to the airport to begin our Gokyo trek.  But it was raining as we passed through the streets of Kathmandu.  It turned out that it was rainy and cloudy at our destination -Lukla- as well.  Our gear was loaded on the helicopter and everyone and everything was ready… except for the weather.  There were periods of clearing at either Kathmandu or Lukla, but never at both.  And ultimately, by 2 PM (we’d been at the airport since 6 AM) the weather was still bad at both ends and getting worse.  We called it quits for the day.  So we finished back at the comfortable -and increasingly familiar- Yak and Yeti hotel.  We’ll give it another try tomorrow. 

Best Regards

RMI Guides Dave Hahn

Good evening/ good morning,

Today we had an active rest. A later breakfast allowed for a casual morning full of coffee and milk tea. We sipped on our hot drinks while the sun thawed out the town. Warmed by the sun we took off on a hike uphill to the Everest View Hotel. Unfortunately for us our view was clouds. Even with the lack of mountainous views, it was still pretty and beneficial to go on the hike. Our legs and lungs are getting stronger. In no time we will be at Everest Basecamp. Once back at our teahouse in Namche we all roamed the town for souvenirs and lattes. The lattes at Sherpa Barista taste like a cup of happiness. Tomorrow we will leave Namche for Deboche. One teahouse closer to Everest Basecamp. As for now we are going to enjoy our dinner together and our heated blankets (now that everyone knows about them hidden under the mattress). 

Goodnight on our side of the world,

RMI Guides Hannah, Abby, and Team

All who attempted had a successful summit of Pico de Orizaba today!

Starting at the alpine hour of 1AM, the stars let us know we had a clear morning to climb. Everything went seamlessly as we ascended through steep rocks to the start of the Jamapa glacier. We roped up with our ice axes in hand and climbed to the summit, enjoying the sunrise and shadow of the mountain stretching far across the landscape from 18,491’. 

Although this mountain takes a lot out of us climbers, everyone was in high spirits afterwards, knowing our trip was successful and complete. 

Tonight, we celebrate our trip and our last night as a team!

RMI Guide Abby Westling

June 5, 2014 - 11:00 pm PT We broke camp early today given our usual plan for getting down towards Basecamp and hopefully off the mountain in another day or so, but today not all went to plan. Some equipment malfunctions and mostly general fatigue has us camped again at 14,200', getting recharged for our walk back to the airstrip and closer to a burger, beer, and you. The forecast looks good for walking down the Kahiltna so we're all hopeful. Hope to see you all soon. RMI Guides Brent, Leah and Nick

On The Map

Reluctantly, we got out of our beds this morning in preparation for our first day of the safari. After seven days in a tent and sleeping bag, I know we all could have used a few more hours in the wonderful beds at the RiverTrees Country Inn, but we had animals to view. 

Initially things were slow but picked up after lunch. The highlight: watching a pair of elephants from 30' away.  Now, we're bring spoiled at the Plantation Lodge, a truly special and wonderful lodge where the rooms are 5 star and the food just as good.  We're all looking forward to getting horizontal because we have a big day ahead: the Ngorongoro Crater where we're sure to see thousands of animals

Lala salama,

RMI Guide Brent Okita