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This morning, we woke up early, had our last teahouse breakfast and headed for the helicopter pad.

It was a busy day at the airport since the weather was clear. We saw planes and helicopters land, take off and finally, it was our turn.

After a 45-minute flight, we landed safely in Kathmandu.

We got together for one last team dinner tonight. Reflecting on our nearly 3 weeks in Nepal and enjoying a delicious meal at Le Sherpa.

Some of us fly home in the early hours of the day tomorrow and the rest soon after.

What a trip! Thank you for following along and we can’t wait to see our friends and family to share more about this incredible adventure when we get home.

RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Sam Marjerison and Team.

Daybreak in Thame was stunning. Since it clouded up yesterday before we came into town, we didn’t get a chance to see our surroundings until today. There was a lot to see, as it turned out. Gigantic rock walls and hanging glaciers and fluted, delicate ridges. We managed to swallow our coffee while watching the light come up and we got walking by 8:00 am as usual. We worked our way up the Bhote Koshi River in a broad but steep sided valley. The walking was pretty easy for the early going but as the hours wore on thing got tougher due to altitude and steadier climbing. We stopped for tea along the way and rested, of course, but it all made for a good workout. Basically five hours of tracking up through rock walled yak pastures. We gained 2000 feet of vertical as the clouds did their usual thing, rolling in at midday. It was a relief to get in to Lungdhen (just over 14,300 ft) before the thick and cool fog took over. We’ll spend two nights here at the Kongde View Lodge for acclimatization.  

Best Regards, 
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Thursday, June 22. 2023 10:57 PM PDT

There were signs of improvement - or simply a change in the weather. It was still snowing a little and blowing a little, but it wasn't all that cold. We watched clouds and wind for a while, then pulled the trigger.

We set out from 11,000’ Camp at 11 AM and made fine progress up Motorcycle and Squirrel Hills. The Polo Field put up a little resistance, we had to break trail through new snow to reach Windy Corner at 13,200 ft. The clouds denied us the big views. But we were excited to see Denali's South Peak and the West Buttress as we came around the corner and reached our 13,500’ goal for the day. We cached gear and got moving downhill with lighter packs, pulling back into 11,000’ Camp by 6 PM.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team

The team arrived in Mendoza with all of their gear. The first hurdle of any expedition is the logistical hoops one must jump through in order to pack and prepare. It can feel like quite a challenge to ‘feel ready’ when you step on to the gravel at the trailhead, but the team has it dialed in and we’re truly ready for the expedition ahead of us. Uspallatta, a small town a little ways outside the mountain, was our humble abode last night. We took the time to enjoy the creature comforts of the hotel after packing our bags for the journey ahead. Laying in grass, reading our respective books, and taking naps is how we spent our time after the work was done. The night wasn’t complete until the team and other hotel guests were singing and dancing in a Congo line with live music to boot. Expedition life can be so tough sometimes. Today we leave the comforts of hotels and head out on the trail for our first mountain day. We will do one more pack in the town of Penitentes and prepare our gear for the rigorous journey up the Vacas Valley to Plaza Argentina. Wish for tailwinds, scattered clouds for shade, and cool temps for the trek into Basecamp!

Thanks for following along!

RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli, Jack Delaney and Jess Wedel

Thursday, May 20, 2021 - 9:30 pm PT

We spent another day sitting out the wind and snow at 11,000' Camp. We killed time playing trivia for hours in the cook tent. We will continue to patiently wait for the best weather window to move up to our 14,000' Camp. Thanks for following along!

RMI Guide MIke Walter

Hello again everyone

The team had a good nights rest last night and today just a short 2.5hr hike up to 15’000ft to our high camp. It started out looking like we might have some sun, then luickly clouded up. Thankfully we arrived at camp right before a little squall blew through bring snow/hail.

The team has just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what we’ll be wearing, what will be in the pack, as well as the schedule.
Our game plan will be to wake at 11pm and have a quick breakfast at 11:30, then hopefully hit the trail right at midnight. The team has been doing great thus far and I’m expecting us to reach the summit in 7 to 8hrs if things go according to plan.

I’m also going to bring our Satellite phone to hopefully make a few calls from the summit. One lucky trivia winner will get 2. This winner is a big fan of gymnastics!
So everyone back home please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer. We are 8+hrs ahead of the east coast time zone.

Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili Crew

Volcan Villarica warm up day... Our goal for today was to have skis on our feet, and driving through the lush lowlands in the rain, there was a sense of disbelief circulating through the van that we would soon see snow, let alone be skiing. Next thing we knew, with Sergio at the helm (our Chilean outfitter) we were fully utilizing the Mitsubishi's 4-wheel drive capabilities to precision glide past stuck vehicles on the steep access road. High snowfall intensity from the sky, high psych intensity from our crew. We spent the afternoon Volcano Storm Skiing. Not to be confused with below treeline storm skiing, where the forest provides terrain definition and the ability to see; Volcano Storm Skiing involves using rocks, closed chairlifts, other skiers, and/or their tracks for definition. When in doubt, have someone else go first. If your hat says 'Guide' on it, that means you are the sacrificial lamb. Get blasted by the wind on the way up, seek refuge in a closed lift station high on the mountain, look up at your teammates and see huge smiles, transition to ski mode. Random outbursts of laughter. Volcano Storm Skiing is awesome. Especially the part about skiing in September. Ski bag = reunited with Jonathan. Sergio was invaluable in solving the logistics of getting it to Pucon. He lent Jon his gear for today and we never missed a beat. Tomorrow looks even stormier... RMI Guide Tyler Reid

Greetings from Machame Camp, We had an early departure from the Dik Dik Hotel this morning and arrived at the Park gate at 10:00 a.m. There were only two other groups registering at the same time, so the process went very quickly and we were walking by 10:30 a.m. We had been skeptical all morning long and thought for sure that we would be walking in the rain, but by the time we put our packs on, it was only misting. And by the time we made it to camp, it was all sunshine. The trail through the cloud forest has seen a lot of work over the last year and trail conditions could not have been better. We also had the trail to ourselves which is a rarity on this popular route. As we ascended through the cloud forest, we spotted some black monkeys in the canopy above. We made it to camp in 5 hours total today and had plenty of time to enjoy the afternoon sun. After a little rest and some popcorn, we rolled right into dinner. The team is looking and feeling strong tonight. Tomorrow, we head up to our next camp at the Shira Plateau. RMI Guide Jeff Martin

On The Map

Mike called at 6:10 a.m. PT from the summit of Cotopaxi. The entire team reached the summit at 9 o'clock local time. It was a beautiful day with not a breath of wind. Everyone was doing great. They were planning to descend shortly and will provide a written dispatch later today. Congratulations to the RMI Cotopaxi Team!

We slept contently last night, enjoying the stillness of the mountains after several nights in the city. We awoke to another beautiful day without a cloud to be found in the morning sky. We shouldered our packs and set out of Basecamp. The small climbers trail immediately plunges into a steep gorge, picking its way along the side above the numerous small waterfalls and pools carved by the flowing water. Emerging from the narrow, grassy canyon, we wound our way amongst large, rocky outcroppings. The volcanic rock, jutting out of the rolling landscape, is covered in varying hues of orange, yellow, and green lichen and is quite reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings. We gradually gained elevation, leaving the grasses and flowers behind. By early afternoon we reached our day's destination: the rocky morraine about 800' below Camp 1 on Elbrus. There we cached our loads amongst the rocks. We will retrieve this gear in two days time after we have established ourselves at Camp 1. By "carrying" today to drop our cache, not only did we lighten our packs for tomorrow but we also gave our bodies important exposure to higher elevations before we move up there to sleep - following the climbers' saying "climb high, sleep low". After emptying our packs and resting for a bit we retraced our steps back to Base Camp, returning just as the shepherds brought their flocks of black and white sheep in from the other side of the valley for the evening. Only minutes after we reached the tents the skies, which had grown gradually more imposing throughout the day, finally broke loose in an impressive rain and hail storm. Lucky for us, we relaxed in our tents after a successful day as we listened to the rain patter against the fly. Tomorrow we are packing up Base Camp and moving up to Camp 1 at over 12,000'. We will check in tomorrow night.