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Today we had much kinder weather than the last few and we enjoyed a nice leg stretcher back to 9,700' to retrieve our cache from a few days ago. We're back at 11,200' camp chilling before dinner. It feels good to reunite with all of our gear so we can prepare for the next stage of the climb, which will be establishing a cache up around Windy Corner. We haven't decided yet if we'll try to get that done tomorrow or the next day. In any case, our bodies are busy producing red blod cells as we adapt to living at altitude. One last note for today: Happy Mother's Day to Jeanne, Liz, Valari, Kristy, Karen, Kate, Dorothy, Tracy, Becky, Megan, Kathie, Fiona, Susan, Angela, Lynda, Veronique, Fatemeh, Joyce, Mary, Betty, Dee Dee, Anne, Sarah, Tania, Elaina, Dione, and Meredith.

RMI Guide Mike Walter

Hello!

Today we spent a full day at Everest Base Camp. How cool is that!

After coffee and a big ‘ol breakfast everyone that wanted was able to take a hot shower. The sun was blasting and it was such a treat. The Lobuche climbing team met together to talk about our plan for the next few days while everyone else relaxed and took in the views. Before we knew it, it was lunch time! 

Right after lunch we all headed into the lower Khumbu Icefall where the climbing team got to practice ascending and rappelling on the ice. Everyone did awesome and we are even more excited about the climb. We all headed back to camp to pack and prepare for our base camp departure before dinner. 

Tomorrow, we will go our separate ways. The trekkers will head downhill and fly to Kathmandu, the Lobuche climbers will head to high camp. But tonight we cheered with one last cup of hot tea to this incredible adventure, the warmth of the Sherpa people inviting us into their lives and mountains, and to 12 strangers becoming new companions. 

We are sending lots of love to our friends and family at home and can't wait to share more with you all soon.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel, Sam Marjerison, and the base camp 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

RMI's Denali climbing season is officially underway. Our May 10th Denali Expedition team met yesterday at the Anchorage airport and travelled north to the town of Talkeetna. We will spend today packing our gear and preparing for our expedition, as well as attending an expedition orientation meeting with the National Park Service. The plan is to have all of the T’s crossed and the I’s dotted by this evening so that we’re ready to fly into Kahiltna Base Camp tomorrow, weather permitting. We’ll keep you posted…

RMI Guide Mike Walter

This morning we had our standard breakfast of oatmeal and eggs at our standard time of 8 am. We then suited up for our walk up to 15,000 feet on Mt. Elbrus. The weather was pretty marginal, but it was a great opportunity to test out our various layering systems. We spent about five hours out in the wind and snow today, made it up to 15,000 feet, and only got blown over once or twice. The views were minimal, but we had fun. That’s all for now. RMI Guide JM Gorum

On The Map

Thursday, June 5, 2014 5:23 PM PDT It's always a little hard to leave the food you love in a cold dark hole on the glacier...wondering when you can get back there, whether it's going to snow so much that you can't find it again, or if the industrious ravens will dig into it. Fortunately for us, none of the above were issues today, and we completed our cache retrieval without incident. We started the day with snow showers and overcast skies, and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of bacon, egg and cheese quesadillas with coffee and cocoa (clearly, we're not starving). The food was just the fuel we needed for our two hour mission - we fired downhill, dug up the group gear and food we cached two days ago, and packed up our sleds for the trek back to camp. The snow continued to fall as we pulled into camp, within 15 minutes we had all the gear stowed and were tucked into our tents, as warm and dry as we can hope to be. Now it's time for a little lunch indulgence with the treats we brought, continued hydration, and resting from the output over the last few days. Tomorrow's plan is a little up in the air - we'll see if the weather cooperates for a carry or if we take a rest day here. Keep it locked in for more updates from the team! RMI Guides Garrett Stevens, Tyler Jones, and Bryan Hendrick

More clouds filled the Ruth Amphitheater this morning when we woke up to check the weather and give a report to the pilot. The mist and low hanging clouds meant no flying this morning but it did give us the opportunity to have a relaxing morning cooking up breakfast in camp and then heading out for some ski touring nearby. This little weather system passing through the Alaska Range brought us a few inches of fresh snow and we found great turns on the slopes nearby. We spent a few hours making laps, forgetting about the weather and immersing ourselves in the simple joy of sliding downhill on skis. By early afternoon the clouds looked as if they were beginning to thin and we headed back to camp to pack out the runway for the plane and get our gear in order should the weather break enough for a flight to get in. By the time we finished the clouds were still lifting - albeit slowly - and we entered the waiting game, exerting whatever futile will power we could muster to clear the skies while passing the time telling stories, sharing jokes, and even building a little jump in camp to catch some air on skis. By 5:30 in the evening the views across the Amphitheater were clear and we got the go ahead that a plane was on its way. Shortly thereafter a red Otter poked over the ridge lines above us, made a few sweeping turns above the glacier and came into land. We hauled all of our gear over to the waiting plane, piled everything in and were soon airborne, flying low over the glacier we walked yesterday morning. We buzzed right down the Ruth Gorge, staying low as the summits of the surrounding peaks were still covered in clouds and followed the winding track of the Ruth Glacier out of the mountains and back into the Alaska foothills. The riot of green spring buds covering the forest tops, intersected by rivers still carrying winter ice, was a little bit of a shock after being in a world of ice, snow, and rock for the better part of the past week and the air gradually felt warmer as we neared Talkeetna. We landed in Talkeetna and swapped our ski boots for flip flops, our soft shells for jeans (after a nice long shower), and are headed out for dinner. Despite the unpredictable weather, it's been a fun week of adventuring in the Alaska Range. - RMI Guide Linden Mallory & Team

A little wind and snow couldn't keep this intrepid group of aspiring alpinists from training on our last full day of the seminar. What most impressed the guides was the 100% participation of the group given the 50 mph winds and heavy snowfall. We look forward to a last evening together going over a couple more topics and sharing a war story or two. RMI Guide Brent Okita

As planned, we took a break from mountain climbing today. We rested primarily to catch up on hydration and acclimatization before our assault on high camp and the summit. But since today's weather was a little on the sloppy side, with clouds at all levels, some falling snow and hints of wind aloft, it wasn't a bad day to be taking it easy at low camp. We ate, drank, rested, read, watched TV and listened to music. The teams that went to Vinson's summit yesterday came through on their descent to base today. All seemed well and happy, and of course relieved that they'd gotten to the top before this particular pulse of inclement weather came through. We will just hope it is gentle and short lived. We'd like to move up tomorrow. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb August 13 - 16 led by RMI Guide Brent Okita was approaching the crater rim of Mt. Rainier at 6:50 a.m. They reported a beautiful day on Mt. Rainier with light breeze and fairly warm temperatures. The team will spend some time on top before beginning their descent to Camp Muir and continuing down to Paradise. The Expedition Skills Seminar - August 12 - 17 led by RMI Guide Billy Nugent called from the Mt. Rainier summit at 10:00 a.m. His team reached the summit in what he described as "practically t-shirt weather!" They were crossing the crater to Columbia Crest, the true summit, before they begin their descent back to camp. The team will spend the rest of the day on the mountain before descending tomorrow. Congratulations to today's teams!