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Thursday, June 9, 2022 9:42pm PT

RMI Guide Nikki Champion let us know that their Denali Team was 100% on the summit! They are back at camp resting and will give us full details of their climb soon! 

Congratulations Team! 

Our hike today was a gradual 1,200’ of vertical spread out over eight miles. We got some great views of the Dickson glacier and John Gardner pass. Most of the day was spent under a dense canopy of trees. The heat continues but with a breeze all day we weren’t inclined to go swimming in Lago Perros with it’s floating glacial ice bergs. This camp is well protected from the wind but we are anticipating some rain to begin tonight and might continue through tomorrow. We’ll get an early start in the morning due to the long day ascending and mostly descending from the pass. Wet/muddy trail will make it a more challenging day then it already is. Fingers crossed for clear skies tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in.

RMI Guide Mike King

Excellent weather at Union Glacier this morning.  Our return flight to South America was never in question.  We ate huge breakfasts and then went back for seconds. There was a little easy packing and a little easy waiting, sprinkled through with meetings and reunions with climbers and guides and staff from other trips in other places.  The 757 landed in early afternoon with another load of Vinson hopeful climbers.  We got on board shortly afterwards.  There were excellent views of the Ellsworth Mountains east side, with Craddock, Vinson and Tyree standing out.  Then it was seatback movies and the drink and snack carts for the four hour flight.  We touched down in Punta Arenas around eight. My team was checked in to hotels and showered and ready for a celebration dinner by ten.  This is the easy part. 

Best Regards
RMI Guides Dave Hahn

The Four Day Climb July 20 - 23 reached the 14,410' summit of Mt. Rainier led by RMI Guides Christina Dale and Nikki Champion.  Blue skies but chilly temps and winds around 20 mph accompanied them on their climb.  After enjoying the views from the summit of Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and the Cascade range, the teams began their descent from the crater rim around 6:45 am.  Once they reach Camp Muir they will repack and continue their descent to Paradise (5,400').

Nice work climbers and congratulations!

Hi everybody, this is Casey checking in from the Cho Oyu Expedition. Sorry about the lack of dispatch yesterday. We have been under constant snowfall since we arrived at Advanced Basecamp (ABC). We wore out all the batteries around camp. Finally today we got a little break and some sun for a few hours and were able to charge some things. Everything is back up and operational. Two days ago the team had a rest day here at ABC. We relaxed around camp and packed up a few things for the upper mountain. Started dividing up our loads and food that we will distribute at Camp 1, Camp 2, and Camp 3. We also reviewed our oxygen masks, nozzles and regulators. Everyone got that pretty well dialed in. That was pretty much it for the day. Yesterday we got up early and went for a nice little hike. Managed to go all the way to Camp 1, just over 20,500'. Everybody did great. Took us almost six hours to get to Camp 1 and about three hours to descend back down. It was a good day- long and hard with snow falling sporadically all day. When we arrived back to ABC, we were welcomed by Kumar and some wonderful hot food for dinner. Today has been a lot like two days ago. It has been nice and relaxing on our rest day here as we prepare to move to Camp 1 for our first rotation sleeping over 20,000' tomorrow. The team has again been relaxing and enjoying the little bit of sunshine that we had for a while today. Laundry was done and a few bird baths were taken. All-in-all everybody seems like they are doing really well. The snow is back as I send this dispatch. It seems like every evening we are getting snowed on. Hopefully we are going to get a break here in the weather pretty soon and have some nice, warm and enjoyable temperatures. That's it for now. We'll check in again from here in another day or two.

Today the weather redeemed itself with perfect conditions on Cotopaxi.  100% of the team reached the summit in calm conditions just after sunrise.  It could not have been a nicer day.  We now can all go home having summited a big mountain and with a story to tell from Cayambe.

A huge shoutout to this team for embracing the team aspect of climbing.  All members supported another member at some point during both of the climbs.  It was impressive to see the group show genuine care towards people who were strangers just days earlier.  On numerous occasions we spent two hours or more at a meal sharing stories, laughing and learning about each other.

Also a shoutout to our Ecuadorian guides who continue to show their professionalism in the mountains, this expedition would not be possible without their local knowledge and high level of skill.

Finally, thanks to friends and family who have been following along with this trip.  It’s encouraging to know you’re out there supporting us and we always enjoy getting a comment from Farmer Dave!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

I'll never forget the day I decided to be a mountain climber. I was sixteen years old, sitting in a lecture hall at Edinburgh University - captivated by the slideshow being presented by the famous British Expedition Leader, Sir Chris Bonnington and his climbing partner Doug Scott. After it ended I got myself to the front and spoke to the man himself asking, "How do you begin to start to plan an expedition?"   "Just get your boots on, Lad", was the reply, accompanied by a larger-than-life grin and a firm handshake.    I had no response. However, that one comment led to many climbs the Scottish Highlands - and ultimately - onto years of expeditions, mountain climbing including a long stint as a guide. It's been a long and satisfying adventure so far!    I think that after the decision to climb Mt. Rainier or any other major mountain, there ought be a celebratory moment: a pause to mark the start of the preparation and to consider what the months ahead will look like. The climb may be a long way out, but the adventure starts now.   What are some considerations at this point? I recommend taking an inventory of the following:     - Time - Equipment - Fitness & Health - Location & available resources   Time: What time do I have to train? Be realistic about how many hours per week and also consider any vacation time in the months ahead. Is there a day (or half day) each week you can devote to training? What can you do on a daily basis? Can you combine training and a commute? Walk to work with a pack? Ride a bike?    Equipment: Will you be renting or will you likely need some gear of your own? To begin your training, all you'll need now are shoes, boots, a backpack and workout/hiking clothes. And going forward, there'll be good time to experiment with socks, layering and other clothing. Depending where you live (anyone reading this from Chicago or the northern states?), you might get some good use of cold-weather gear this winter during your training.    Fitness & Health: In next week's blog post we'll discuss how to set a baseline. Now is a good time to think about your strengths and any areas you want to improve. In terms of health, this might be a good time to schedule an annual physical examination, to visit the dentist, to take a look at your overall diet, and to generally consider what your athletic lifestyle will look like going forwards.   Location and Available Resources: A climber can train for mountaineering anywhere. However, if you are living in Florida, stationed on a military base halfway around the world, or getting ready for a northern winter, some creativity and imagination will make things more successful. In terms of resources at hand, do you have access to hiking trails? Are there hills? Can you get to a gym or have access to a stair-master or elliptical machine? Do you have a place at home, work, or school where you can workout? Is there a local yoga class, training facility, spin class, or swimming pool? Do you even like any of these activities? Do you have a workout partner, a fitness coach, or a personal trainer?    We'll discuss program design over the next few weeks. For now, a little time considering all of the options available will spark your imagination as to what is going to work for you. I've always thought that the best fitness program is the one you actually do. Personally, I like to enjoy my training and I like there to be variety and somewhat of a social aspect to it all. You'll be putting in some hours and days of preparation over the months ahead and making it as fun and interesting as possible will boost results.    Your climb is months away, yet the adventure has already begun. Congratulations on getting started!   - John Colver   John Colver is a longtime climber, former mountain guide, and certified personal trainer with the American Council of Exercise. Colver introduced outdoor fitness classes to athletic clubs throughout the greater Puget Sound region before creating his adventX brand. Currently, adventX leads training programs in Seattle and Colver presents clinics on outdoor fitness at companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, the American Lung Association, and REI. Colver lives in Seattle.

Back to perfect weather. We made the summit of Mt. Vinson one more time today. Just a small rope team to get the final climber -who rested yesterday- up to see the sights. And there were unlimited sights to be seen. The entire Ellsworth chain was visible from end to end and beyond, at least two hundred miles of jagged peaks and endless ice. There wasn't any wind at all on the summit today, so it was the most comfortable -30 C one is ever likely to see. We made the top in 6 hours and 45 minutes, spent a half hour up there saying "wow" over and over, and descended to high camp in two hours. Seth Waterfall and the rest of the team took things easy at high camp throughout a nice long sunny day, snacking and catching up on hydration. Tomorrow we'll all drop back down the mountain and begin the journey home. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Day 10

Leaving the ruckus of Basecamp behind, the team enjoyed a smooth ascent to Camp 1 today. The massive rock buttresses of the upper mountain certainly made us feel tiny. It is peaceful moments like today, in epic places like this where we are reminded of how small we all are. It feels great to be established on the upper mountain.

Till next time,

RMI Guide Luke Wilhelm

We are currently in the town of Puebla, taking a rest day after our climb of Ixtaccihuatl and preparing ourselves for our upcoming climb of Orizaba.

Yesterday we left our high camp on a warm but windy night. The route takes us up through a steep scree field and into a short section of chimneys that requires a little scrambling. After gaining the ridge we made our way along the circuitous route, taking breaks to regroup and adding layers as the wind continued to blow. We put on crampons and grabbed our ice axes for the steep descent onto the Ayoloco Glacier. With daylight breaking the horizon we had two remaining false summits before getting to Ixta’s high point of 17,340'. The sun rose just in time for us to take pictures and share some high fives. We descended back to high camp and eventually back to the trailhead. After sorting some equipment and enjoying a few refreshments, we got on the shuttle to head for Puebla.

Climbing Ixta can be deceiving; we don’t cover many miles and the vertical gain seems minimal. However, the rocky and loose terrain makes for slow progress, especially when compared to being on snowfields and glaciers.

The team worked hard yesterday and is planning to take full advantage of today's rest day before we head to Orizaba tomorrow.

 

Thanks,

RMI Guide Mike King