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We were treated to a perfect night and morning at Barranco Camp. The lights of Moshi twinkled far below, the hanging glaciers and ice fields of Kibo glowed in moonlight above us. We slept in 'til a leisurely breakfast at eight. We walked out of camp just before 9:00 as cumulus clouds began to form up. Within just a few minutes we were out of the gardens and streams of the valley and coming to grips with the great Barranco Wall. With great help from our guides -James, Freddy, Patric, Venance and Philibert, we negotiated the ledges and cliffs. We pulled ourselves up to new ledges and found nooks and crannies for the feet. We squeezed through gaps in the lava and avoided loose and rolling rocks. The wall eased into steep hiking in places, but there were always a few more scrambly bits mixed in. We topped out near 14,000 ft in a little less than two hours. By then the clouds were hiding Kibo and almost everything but our immediate surroundings. We walked down into the next shallow valley and across a few more divides to get to the steeply cut Karanga Valley. Some careful and dusty steps were required to get us down one side and up the other to our new camp on the far rim. Karanga Camp sits at 13,160 ft which isn't too much of a gain over our last camp, so we'll hope for a night relatively free of altitude-associated discomforts. The clouds stuck with us through the afternoon and evening, but of course that didn't prevent us from lounging about and enjoying a couple more excellent meals from Tosha, our climbing chef extraordinaire. The views will keep until tomorrow. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

If success is defined by waking up, having a good breakfast, climbing to a new height on Mt. Elbrus, getting our cache gear on place, and most importantly, getting down before the rain started, then we had a spectacularly successful day. It was a beautiful climb up to our cache site 11,500', with plenty of great photo opportunities, and everyone got a chance to stretch their lungs out after the last several days of traveling by planes and automobiles. The rain was kind enough to hold off until we got back, and with any luck, it will clear out tonight, setting us up for a move to camp1 tomorrow. We'll let you know how it goes! Best from Russia, RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Seth Waterfall, and team

On The Map

RMI Guide Brent Okita led the Four Day Summit Climb August 7 - 10, 2013 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Due to a lightening storm in the area the team delayed their start for the summit. Fortunately the weather cleared and they were able to leave Camp Muir en route to the summit. Brent reported a steady 20 - 25 mph with a cap waiting to form. The teams will return to Camp Muir later this morning and then continue to Paradise. We look forward to seeing everyone at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's summit climbers!

The last RMI winter seminar of the season is almost complete. The team is getting close to the Paradise parking lot and we can smell the cheeseburgers already. We had a great week of training and climbing. Thanks for following along everyone. RMI Guides Brent Okita, JJ Justman, Katie Bono & Thomas Greene

Hola from the south! Today we left La Malinche and drove to the town of Amecameca where we picked up the last of our supplies for our attempt on Ixta. Leaving Amecameca we wound our way thousands of feet above the town, past Christmas tree farms and corn stalks with an eye on our mountain for the next few days. We rallied our bus up the road of fine moondust to the Altzimoni Hut, our launch pad for tomorrow. We spent the afternoon packing and topped it off with a big dinner. Now its off to bed to get some rest before our move to high camp.

Hello everyone, Today the weather was beautiful again here on Elbrus, and the team went on another acclimatization hike. This time we set a few new altitude records by climbing up to about 15,000. The team did great and even made better time than yesterday, which is a sure sign that everyone is adjusting to the altitude. We spent most of the afternoon relaxing here in camp, people watching and socializing with all the climbers. We've even managed to befriend the local cat, who we are calling Brus, short for the mountain we are hoping to climb, Elbrus. Not much else to report. Everyone is in good health and seems to be having a great time.

Sunday, June 30, 2024 - 10:16 pm PT

It was cold at 14,000' this morning because we didn't wait for the sun to get around the mountain. But the cold was nowhere near what we'd experienced up high. We ate breakfast, packed and got on our way. Back to pulling sleds.  We pulled them around Windy Corner, through the Polo Field, down Squirrel and Motorcycle Hills. Down at 11K, we dug up the cache of gear and made our switch to snowshoes. It was a treat to be the only team left on the lower mountain (there are perhaps five or six teams still above us). It was pretty easy going down the Kahiltna Glacier until we reached Ski Hill where the combination of mushy snow and crevasses made things less fun. Even so we made good time reaching 8,000'. We set up camp as clouds rolled in from above and below. Our hope is to have things freeze up in the night to make for safer and easier travel, but with cloud cover, that doesn't always happen. We'll see what we get. Basecamp is potentially just four hours away. 

Best Regards, 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

PC: Dave Hahn

Jambo Everyone

Today the team left behind our beautiful and comfortable river lodge and have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb. We left around 8am and drove along the rural country side and small villages for two hours before reaching the Kilimanjaro National Park entrance.

Most of the area surrounding Kilimanjaro has been cultivated and primarily used for coffee production and for a variety of other agriculture needs, but there are still some areas that have been untouched and resemble more of a savannah that Tanzania is known for. The base of Kilimanjaro is more forested and looks more jungle like and is called a cloud forest.

Once we arrived at the park gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our porters and other staff to carry before hitting the trail. Once everything was in order we started our climb slowly making our way up the winding trail that ascends continuously through the thick forest. Thankfully the overhead canopy provided a little cover from the intense sun and we were happy it didn’t rain either. It took our team around 5hr to reach our camp for the night that sits around  10’000ft.

Once we were settled into camp and got everybody situated the team was served a nice warm meal for dinner before retiring for the night. Everyone is still feeling the jet lag, and I’m sure the team will sleep well tonight.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and Kili crew

Today, after two days of hard work and accomplishment, the team rested at Camp 1 on Aconcagua.  All that was on our minds was quesadillas, hot drinks, and naps.  Our bodies need to recover and make a few more red blood cells before we can be strong higher.  Tomorrow we will try and move camp to 18000 feet, but with a little snow in the forecast we will just have to wait and see. RMI Guide Ben Liken

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb July 17 - 20 led by Mike Haugen and Leon Davis checked in at 7:40 a.m. as they were just reaching the crater rim of Mt. Rainier. The teams reported light winds and clear skies. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise later this afternoon. The Five Day Emmons Glacier Climb July 17 - 21 led by Mike Walter also reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!