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Today we enjoyed our first acclimatization hike, climbing the ~15,500’ Rucu Pichincha, a volcano whose flanks form part of the western perimeter of Quito. In order to access the hike, we rode a gondola from Quito to ~13,500’. The hike begins at the top of the gondola and heads west, gradually climbing up a broad ridge. Dramatic views of Quito were afforded, a few thousand feet below us. The weather was great for hiking, with only a light breeze and comfortable temperatures. As we neared the top of Rucu, the trail steepened, climbing up to a col; from here a quick rock scramble led to the top. Views from the top were limited, as we were in the clouds at this point. But as we descended, the clouds dissipated a bit. Everyone did great on this high-altitude climb, especially considering that most of us were at sea-level a day or two before this! Once we got back to Quito, we had a couple of hours of free time to rest before we headed out for a well-deserved meal where we sampled typical Ecuadorian cuisine, including shrimp ceviche, chicken, pork, and even baked cuy, or guinea pig—a classic dish from the Andes. Tomorrow we’re headed north for our second acclimatization hike to Fuya Fuya, a small mountain near the town of Otovalo. We’ll touch base again tomorrow. Hasta luego! RMI Guide Mike Walter

 

At 7:02 AM, the Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides guides Brent Okita and Ben Luedtke reached the summit of Mt. Rainier!  

Brent reported clear skies, a light breeze, and warm temperatures—a perfect morning to walk the crater rim and take in the breathtaking views from 14,410 feet.  

Huge congratulations to the climbers and guides for a safe and successful ascent!  

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons June 4 - 9 stood on the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI guide, Dustin Wittmier called from Camp Schurman to report their success. The team has spent the last few days making their way from camp to camp before their climb this morning. Along the way, the team enjoyed many training oppurtunities to prepare them for larger expeditions like Denali or Aconcagua.

The team will do some more ice climbing tomorrow morning before beginning their descent back to Basecamp in Ashford tomorrow afternoon.

Nice work! 

Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is home for more than 25,000 animals that reside here year round. We stared seeing the 25,000 with the not too elusive herd animals. We saw seemingly hundreds and then thousands before we knew it! Soon enough the world of big cats became the focus. A couple of nice sightings of large meat eaters got the team's attention. Many hyenas, jackals, ostrich, plus countless other huge birds brought us to our spot by a hippo lake for lunch. Just after lunch we observed a small pride of lion trying to take down two different Cape buffalo. The second one ended up against our Land Cruiser. And in the battle our vehicle was charged and dented by the bullet proof horned skull of the Cape buffalo. A mark of bush life not many wear. While our vehicle bears the scars of this battle, we were unscathed. We are back at the fantastic Plantation Lodge for the night. Tomorrow we will venture to Tarangire National Park for more game viewing. RMI Guide Mark Tucker and team

This morning we awoke just before 2:00am hoping to take advantage of some favorable weather on the mountain. We were rewarded with an incredible morning. Calm winds and clear skies! A full moon and stars everywhere confirmed that we had made the right call to climb. Leaving just a little later than we would on a regular summit climb allowed us minimal exposure to the coldest part of the night, yet still get down before it got too darned hot out. We reached the summit just before 8:00 with no wind and the sun's rays beginning to warm us up. After an hour on top we started our descent, which our team rocked. We're all back at Muir now, relaxing in the sun or catching up on some sleep in the sleeping bags, taking a well deserved rest. But the day's not over yet. This crew is still psyched to hone their mountain skills, so later on we'll be learning about anchors, belaying and anything else they are interested in. This will get us ready for our day of crevasse rescue and ice climbing tomorrow. All for now, RMI Guides Brent Okita, Jordan Cargill, JT Schmitt, Gloria Roe, and Ross Morgan

Dave Hahn with the RMI Everest Expedition. We are without internet this evening, due to forces beyond our control. We are doing fine. It was another waiting day. There was still all of that snow on the ground from the bigger storm and the threat of more falling, but in the end we didn't get that much more today. It was pretty cloudy. Our team went for a climb to the face of the the steep part in the icefall, so we went about an hour to an hour and a half breaking trail to the start of the technical sections in the icefall. We made a good morning of it, and taking it easy this afternoon mostly at camp as we wait and see. Nobody wants to push up through the icefall right now with that possibility for more snow coming. We may have to do a similar program tomorrow- hiking, exercise, training, and then will hope to hit the icefall the following day. At least Sherpas and guides going up to preview it, but that that doesn't seem worthwhile at the moment, but another day or two, we'll see. Everybody is doing well. We'll let you know what happens. Thanks. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Hello from Usa River, Tanzania, The daily KLM flight from Amsterdam arrived right on time tonight, and fortunately our entire team made the flight. Not so lucky with all the bags. We have one bag that is still in Amsterdam and will come down on tomorrow's flight, just in time for us before we leave for the mountain. We are now at the hotel and just finished the best meal that has been served in the last 9,000 + miles of travel. Tomorrow we'll start with a full orientation about our Kilimanjaro climb and safari and then work on getting our gear ready and weighed for the mountain. Everyone is excited to finally be here in Africa and beginning this incredible adventure. More to follow tomorrow. Best regards, RMI Guide Jeff Martin

The Kilimanjaro Family Climb departed Shira Plateau today, passing Lava Tower - and setting a few new personal altitude records along the way - before reaching Barranco Camp beneath Kilimanjaro's Southern Breach Wall. Watch the video dispatch of today's climb:

On The Map

Well, I think we can say the 2011 RMI Everest Summit push has begun. Dave, Linden, Kaji, Dawa, and Tshering left Camp 2 early this morning under great climbing conditions. They have all passed through Camp 3 and are making good time toward the South Col. Dave and Linden stopped at Camp 3 and strapped on bottles of oxygen while the Sherpa opt not to use O2 at this point. They sure are amazing climbers. All is good up here. We will keep you posted. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Today we awoke to mostly clear skies and got our first views of Cotopaxi (which means the neck of the moon). We had a leisurely start this morning with another fantastic breakfast. Next up was to get things in order and packed for our short (50min) hike to the hut on Cotopaxi. The hut (Refugio in Spanish) on Cotopaxi is a far cry from anything that I have ever seen in the United States. It sits proudly on the flanks of the mountain at an astounding 15,700'. It's approximately 6000 sq. ft. and can accommodate around 70 people. There are two kitchens with propane stoves, two dinning rooms, and two fireplaces. Needless to say we are not really roughing it! Our hike to the Refugio was a snowy one, and everyone did great. We had a huge spread for lunch with smoked salmon, cheese, crackers, olives and popcorn. We are just getting ready for dinner and then it will be off to bed.