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Hello- Everyone has safely arrived here in Ecuador and are doing well after the long flights. We started our day with a team meeting where we did a round of introductions and discuss our upcoming program. Shortly after our meeting we headed out to explore this beautiful old city with our tour guide Edison. He took us to visit the basilica and the old part of town dating back to the 1600's. We made a stop atop a hill that overlooks the city called La Panacea, and took in the view of this long and narrow city of over 2 million. We then made our way north to visit the equator which gives Ecuador it's name. There's a small museum there with a few interactive displays that amused us. But most importantly we stood on the equator itself! After our brief visit we made our way back to our hotel in downtown Quito where we took a break before heading to dinner. The team opted for a place called the Magic Bean that's known for its tasty food and fresh juices. Everyone is doing well and looking forward to getting a little exercise tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

We got a good night's sleep last night, and even slept in until the sun warmed our tents. Then we indulged in a hearty brunch of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and plenty of coffee. We took a much needed rest day today, and enjoyed lounging around in the sun. We also did some work, like building walls around our camp and improving our kitchen area, as well as preparing our equipment for our cache tomorrow. Barring poor weather, we will carry supplies up to around 13,600' and then return to our camp for the night. Tomorrow will bring a much anticipated change, as we trade our snowshoes and trekking poles for crampons and ice axe. Motorcycle Hill, right out of camp will provide the first of many challenges tomorrow, we'll let you know how it all plays out. Cheers, RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Jambo, We left the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge today and traveled to Tarangire National Park. We stopped for a lunch in the bush and were treated to a delicious outdoor meal. Our excitement for the afternoon was a dust devil, a very small tornado looking weather feature, that could have spoiled our great meal. Tarangire has one of the highest concentrations of elephant and it did not disappoint today. We saw a few new species that we hadn't seen at the crater and got great views of two large male lions. The weather has been partly cloudy with a light wind which as made for a perfect safari set up keeping us and the animals cool from the hot African sun. We are now at the Kikoti Camp located just outside Tarangire National Park. We will be spending our last evening in Tanzania enjoying a great dinner followed by a bonfire in the courtyard of the hotel listening to the sounds of the African night. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

(Mark Tucker, “Go ahead.”) Okay, this is Dave Hahn calling from the South Col at 26,000 feet. I’m sharing a tent with Linden Mallory. In a tent of a 6 feet from us Tshering, Dawa, and Kaji came all the way up from Camp 2 this morning. And what were perfect conditions. Like I say, we busted out at 2 in the morning, we were well up the wall. We were almost at 25,000 feet before the sun hit us. The conditions were just great on the face, the snow built up and then tromped down. There’s been a lot of traffic to it from high camp, there not supposed to summit for the last couple of days. So we were meeting all sorts of people we knew and people we didn’t know. A lot of sherpas carrying very heavy loads up and down. But we got here probably about 11 in the morning and all of us feeling good. Popped up some tents and we’ve been sitting in the sun. An occasional little breeze here. But conditions are very good; we are very optimistic about calling for tonight and supposed to summit. Mostly what we are doing right now is melting snow and drinking water and trying to undo the damage of a day of climbing a vertical mile at 26,000 feet. But like I say, very optimistic. I think that the weather is going to play out just right for us. One of the other climbers that are up here with us that are going to be on our summit day. So all is good and we are going to try and keep you updated as much as we can. (From Mark Tucker, “Okay, hope you guys got that. Cheerio.”) RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Our team had a great training hike today, taking a gondola from Quito to an altitude of around 13,000'. There we started our hike up towards Rucu Pichincha, the dominating volcano that towers over Quito. We hiked in clouds to an altitude of ~15,200'. Everyone did great with the thin air, and climbed very strong. After descending, we had a little free time to explore Quito before dinner. Dinner was delicious Ecuadorian cuisine including tomales, sea bass, and potato and cheese soup. We're exited to head out tomorrow morning for our second training hike to the Illiniza volcanoes.

Upon arrival at Antisana basecamp, we had no views of the mountain and a light drizzle. Upon departure it was beginning to storm again: rain, hail and lightning. But right in the middle was a perfect weather window for climbing.

We awoke to fog in camp, which we continued to ascend through until reaching about 17,300’. From that point, the clouds would remain below us and we climbed into a starry, calm night. We reached the summit just a bit after sunrise and it was perfectly still, so we hung for a while.

The route on Antisana is not particularly long, but it is complex, featuring heavily crevassed terrain. At the bergschrund, a steep pitch of belayed climbing takes you to the summit plateau where an additional 20 minutes of high-altitude walking takes you to the summit. Due to these various complexities, our group took just over 10 hours round trip for a route that ascends 4,080’.

Back at camp we enjoyed a lovely breakfast before spending several hours in transit to the town of Latacunga and Hacienda La Cienega, where many members of the team reported sleeping eight or nine hours straight through. The wine and comfy beds were well deserved.

We are now sitting on the bus, making the several hour drive south towards Chimborazo. We will stop in the town of Ambato for hilariously large burritos before continuing to Riobamba, where we will stay the night. Summit day on Chimborazo is Saturday night into Sunday morning and we are hoping for continued good weather.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier and team

Our night at Shira was calm and quiet and not terribly cold. There wasn’t much frost on the tents at 6:30 AM when we rolled out of bed. Mt Meru -our 15,000 ft volcanic neighbor to the West- was standing proudly on the horizon above low clouds. Kibo was cloud-free above us. After the usual deluxe breakfast, we set out around 8:15 for higher places. Walking was easier than yesterday as the altitude gain was more gradual and the terrain much more open and broad. The vegetation -at first- was like a high chaparral mesa in the American West, but as we climbed toward the base of Kibo, the vegetation played out to just a few simple grasses. Within a couple of hours, we’d broken altitude records for half the group as we passed 14,000 and ultimately 15,000 ft on our way to the “Lava Tower” at 15,200 ft. The upper sky stayed largely free of clouds as we reached our high point at the tower. Our fabulous staff had a picnic lunch waiting for us. We lounged about in the strong sunshine until 1 PM before throwing on packs again for the descent toward Barranco Camp. There were a few steeper spots that required full attention on the walk down, but much of our afternoon was on easier grades that allowed for sightseeing. There were lava caves and waterfalls and groves of scenecios and lobelias. Up above was the gigantic and precipitous south face of Kibo with snow and ice fields clinging improbably to the mountain. Near 3 PM we cruised into another expertly constructed camp -this one at 13,000 ft below the Great Barranco Wall. Then we got into our familiar afternoon pattern, snack, drink water, nap, stare in wonder at the beauty around us. By nightfall, the stars above were outrageous and some of the lights from Moshi were showing through the clouds below to complete the magical scene. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

We are off the mountain! After a 4 am start and a nearly ten mile slog with heavy packs and sleds, we made it to the base camp airstrip with beautiful flying weather. We waited for a short time before the first of the planes came to shuttle us to Talkeetna and civilization. When we arrived in Talkeetna to dark clouds and rain, but we were all just excited to get a hot shower and food that did not need to be rehydrated. We want to thank all of our team members for their incredible attitudes and hard work that this trip successful. Also, thank you to all of our friends and family for your support. Your blog comments kept us entertained as well as focused on the task at hand! RMI Guide Mike Haugen

Groundhog day again. We woke to better weather but there was still enough weather in Talkeetna to keep the plane grounded. Some of us were in the tent sleeping when we got the word that K2 planes were inbound. The team rallied quickly and moved gear to the runway and by early afternoon we were back in town. Typical Alaska weather for us but a great introduction to the team. What a great group of people to share time with in the Alaska range. One of a kind collection of personalities and memories to carry with us forever. Thanks for following! RMI Guides Leon Davis, Mike King and Jessie Poquerusse

July 16, 2014 - 5:12 am PT We started our day at a reasonable hour with breakfast at 8 am, we had porridge, fried eggs, and of course plenty of the Starbucks coffee we brought along. :) After breakfast we finished the remainder of our packing and headed over the the gondola to hitch a ride further up the mountain to our new Base camp on Mt. Elbrus. Two gondola rides and one super long single chair lift delivered us at our new home just over 12'000'. Our new home is basically a retro fitted shipping container, they're brand new and rather comfortable. After we settled in we had a nice lunch cooked by our wonderful and cantankerous cook Albina. She's a great cook, but I think is a little over worked and runs a tight ship. After lunch we headed out to stretch our legs and continue our acclimatization process by hiking for a little over an hour and gaining well over a thousand feet. Everyone did great and we are now back at camp watching the evening clouds roll in and getting ready for dinner. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map