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Back to Base The great climber and author Greg Child once wrote: "Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the top is the answer to the question of why we climb." Climbing, and the reason we do it, is an elusive thing. There is no straightforward, definitive answer, and I've struggled with it since I began climbing in 1986. I guess to some extent it's relative to each person. For some, it may be the overall challenge. Others are motivated perhaps by a specific summit or group thereof. To each his or her own. For me, as I labored under a heavy pack today, dragging a laden sled behind me, the question arose as it often does: Why am I doing this? Why am I thousands of miles from my children, my wife, my home and my friends, struggling in tough conditions with aching feet and a sunburned nose? Why? It was as if the mountain heard my query. As I moved, a gentle breeze brought a layer of Antarctic ice fog up the glacial valley. The sun above was muted, and a giant, iridescent sun-dog formed above me. The frigid snow crunched beneath my feet, and massive walls of rock, snow, and ice rose in every direction. It was absolutely silent, and yet deafening in its majesty. Yes, this is why I climb. These moments of solitude that are wholly grounding, humbling, and innately inspiring. They rarely come to me on top of a mountain, and are never predictable. But, they always come, they always inspire, and they never cease to make all the pain, cold, suffering, and challenge worth it. I now sit in my tent at Vinson Basecamp, the sun peeking through a thick fog above. The team is all happy and fulfilled, laughter and conversation filtering around. It's been a great handful of days on Mount Vinson. Tomorrow, or the next day, Ed, Cindy, David, and Ben will fly off on a Twin Otter, and the rest of us - Peter Seth, Caroline, Kent, and I - will stay on to do some skiing and climbing. More adventures await. -Jake Norton

A big hello from Kislovodsk - Wow! What an amazing 36 hours it has been. After leaving Camp 2 yesterday at 8:00 am, we reached the summit of Elbrus at 2:00 pm. Despite a slight wind delay in the morning, the weather cooperated with us all day, and we had clear views from the highest point in Europe. The team did an amazing job climbing the nearly 3000' from camp, and all the hard work really paid off. After celebrating our success, we began the descent down the mountain. We first made our way back to Camp 2, packed up all of our gear, and then make the final descent to Camp 1. We established camp once again at the toe of the glacier and got a good night's rest at this lower elevation. We got up early for the last day of climbing and retraced our steps to Basecamp, where our ride was waiting for us. It was slow going back to Kislovodsk, but made it in time for a big meal and some much needed hot showers. After nine days on the mountain, we are back to sleeping in a real bed. Life is good!

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Casey Grom reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 6:45 a.m. today. The team was able to spend some time on the summit enjoying the views before beginning their descent back to Camp Muir. The team will pack up and refuel before continuing their descent. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford later this afternoon. 

Way to climb, team!

All is well at Machame Camp! The team was really fired up this morning. I was three minutes early to breakfast and I was the last to arrive. It's great to be on a trip with such an organized team. The drive to the gate was smooth and after checking in at the gate we started our trek. The trail was a little slick and muddy but we didn't get any rain along the way. Once we arrived in camp the crew had everything set up and ready to go. Everyone is now settling in for the night and getting ready for the hike up to Shira tomorrow. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

On The Map

June 11, 2014 3:14pm PT Greetings from Team No Troubles, Sitting here for another rest day at 14,200'. Cold temperatures and steady wind have been the story of the day, and we made the right decision to stand by for the time being. Last night saw the mercury plummet to an ambient temp of -17F, which is much more common up here in April than it is in June. Combine that temp with winds in camp of about 15mph and you have a recipe for immediate freezing of any exposed skin, as the wind chill hovers somewhere between -45 and -50F. Brrrrr shiver! So instead of our planned carry to the top of the fixed lines, we'll stay in camp today, on a steady orbit around our posh and sleeping tents. The team is on guard against any uninvited trespassing into our bathroom, too, as we've had more than one inquiry from other folks about using our lovely on-mountain comfort station. Keep sending warm thoughts, and hopefully warmer weather, our way! Keep the comments coming too, we love to hear from y'all. From a frosty 14K camp. RMI Guides Bryan, Tyler, Garrett and the No Troubles Crew

RMI's Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Elias de Andres Martos and Mark Falender reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 7:25 am today. Elias reported really good conditions and no wind. The sky is clear and it's a beautiful day. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing to Paradise. We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!

After an early start this morning from the hotel in Kathmandu, the team boarded a plane to Lukla. Then the trek began. We met our Sherpa team and began our trek to Everest Base Camp with a hike along the Dudh Kosi River to Phakding. The weather was very nice for hiking today. Now, we are checked in at our first tea house of the trip. We are excited to have stretched our legs a bit and arrived in the mountains. We will check in tomorrow from Namche Bazarre. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Today we put what we've learned the last few days into action. We headed to a crevasse and practiced our rescue techniques using the complete system. Going down in the crevasse was an incredible experience for everyone. It was written all over the team's faces in the great photos and big smiles that made this day just fantastic. We are going to bed early and hoping for good weather for our summit attempt to the East ridge of Mt. Francis. Wish us luck. All best, RMI Guide Andres Marin

On The Map

Hello, this is Mike Walter calling from the Cotopaxi hut on Wednesday afternoon. Everything is awesome up here. We are enjoying some soup this afternoon up here in the hut. The weather looks good, some clouds have rolled in this afternoon but the past few days have been beautiful and we are enjoying beautiful views. We are getting set for an early dinner and we’ll go to bed early in preparation for our alpine start. So, we will plan to touch base with you tomorrow and will hopefully be calling you from the summit of Cotopaxi if all goes well. Everyone is doing well and we’ll talk to you soon. RMI Guide Mike Walter

Monday, June 17, 2024 - 12:50 am PT

We got to sleep in! At least what we consider… The day started with wake up at 6:30am and leave camp by 8am. The route today was 11,000' Camp up Motorcycle hill, up Squirrel hill, across/up the Polo Field, around Windy Corner and stop at 13,500 to bury food and other items that we won’t need until 14,000' Camp and higher. Then head back to 11k camp We got moving with a little chill in the air and some slight wind. Enough to make us all continue to question what layers of clothing should we wear? It’s a constant struggle in the mountains. I literally wore three different types of gloves today as the temps changed. We’re now wearing crampons and carrying our ice axes, so it feels like the climb has officially started! We started right off with a long steep uphill - Motorcycle Hill, which alone took an hour! It was certainly a good way to warm up! Since it is Father’s Day, I took the time during the climb to think about my dad. He and I came out a week before the climb and took a small tour of Alaska between Seward and Talkeetna. It was a blast to hang with him. I thought a lot about him telling me how proud he is of me for climbing Mt McKinley. After all, we carry the same former name as the mountain! Aside from today, I’ve spent the past few days reflecting on the encouragement from friends and family. The mental game of the mountains can be tough. We know it’s physically tough, but mentally it can take a toll on you as well. Self doubt, anxiety, overthinking can set in bad. What’s helped me the most is encouragement like this: “I am so incredibly proud of you and excited for you to have this opportunity. You are going to be great. Be safe, show ‘em what you got, stay tough like I know you can, and help others.” I’ve reflected a lot on that one piece of encouragement. That’s the kind of stuff that can drown out the doubt and keep me moving forward. If you’re reading this blog you’re probably one of those people, helping to push all of us along and suppress the negative thoughts that can come in this environment. We all can’t thank you enough for your support and love. And letting us leave for a month...

The sun came out and we moved at a gentle pace. We buried food and such and then made our way back down. The best part of the day was right before dropping Squirrel hill and Motorcycle hill when Nicole, the guide on our rope team pulled me aside and asked me to take the lead and guide our team down the two remaining steep hills. I was speechless. I wasn’t sure I could do it. My other two companions on our rope team spoke up and told me that I’d be great, and that they hadn’t seen such raw mountaineering talent since reading about Ed Viesturs in “No Shortcuts To The Top”. I looked at Nicole and asked, “Do you think I can do it?” She pulled down her sunglasses, looked me straight in the eye and said “Think? No… I KNOW you can do it, and that’s the RMI difference!” Of course, none of the is true. However, I did lead our rope team down, but that’s because the guides like to lead from the back when going steep downhills. All three rope teams did this. Our guides, Dominic, Nicole and Seth are fantastic. They do so much to make this experience the best.

All in all, we had a great day and are very excited to enjoy a rest day tomorrow at the 11,000' camp.

RMI Climber Dave McKinley