Most Popular Entries

Congratulations on last week’s training, you are off to a great start! How does your body feel after seven practice sessions of the Daily Dozen? The purpose of this week’s training is to continue to practice the Daily Dozen and to add a weekend hike to round things out. Choose an easy or moderate goal for the first hike. This is the end of the adaptation phase. Next week is the beginning of the foundation phase. Fit to Climb: Week 2 Schedule

DAY	WORKOUT	TOTAL TIME	DIFFICULTY
1	Daily Dozen	12 min.	Recovery
2	Daily Dozen + 40 Minute Hike	52 min.	Medium
3	Daily Dozen / Rest	12 min.	Recovery
4	Daily Dozen + 40 Minute Hike	52 min.	Medium
5	Daily Dozen / Rest	12 min.	Recovery
6	Daily Dozen + 2 Hour Hike	132 min.	Medium
7	Rest	-	Recovery
	Total	4 hrs 44 mins

- John Colver Have a question? See the Fit To Climb FAQ for explanations of specific exercises and general pointers to help you through the Fit To Climb Program. 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, and is working on his second book, Fit to Climb - a 16 week Mount Rainier Fitness Program.

Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, and considered by many to be the 8th wonder of the world. The crater is what remains of a once massive volcano that erupted and collapsed on itself, leaving behind a giant caldera that's almost exactly 100 square miles. Every time we've visited the crater it's been excitingly different, and today was the same.

We were able to see several lions and it was exciting to be close to those big cats! As we made our way around the crater we saw tons of other wildlife, zebras, Cape buffalo, wildebeest, jackals, Giselles, countless raptors and many other large birds. It was quite a day to say the least, and I'm certain one that won't be forgotten by anyone.

We finished the evening here at the Plantation Lodge and are looking forward to what tomorrow may bring as we head to Tarangire National Park.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew

Thursday, February 20th at 9:07 pm PT

Today the team enjoyed a well deserved rest day in the beautiful city of Puebla. After enjoying breakfast together at the hotel, we all went our separate ways and wandered the city streets, taking in the views and enjoying everything from fresh squeezed juices to fried grasshoppers. At 7pm, we met up at one of our favorite restaurants for a team dinner, where we tasted some of Mexico's finest moles, a sauce unique to this area. We followed this up with a quick trip to the ice cream stand, just down the street, then headed to our hotel's rooftop patio to take in the evening views. We're headed off bright and early tomorrow morning to start our move to basecamp for our Orizaba climb. Everyone is excited and ready for the next leg of the trip. 

RMI Guide Jenny Konway

Yesterday the remaining members of our team arrived here in Mexico City.  I am happy to report that all people and bags are accounted for.  If the same can be said at the end of this trip we'll call it a success.

This morning we met for breakfast at 7am in the "Bird Room" of the Hotel Geneve.  The food here is classic Mexican fare done right and includes all the papaya you can eat.  The only downside is that a person spends half their time at breakfast trying to wave down another cup of coffee, which seems to be the case in all of Mexico.

We are now on the bus headed for La Malinche and so the traverse of the southern portion of the Central Mexican Plateau begins.  The group is looking forward to getting up high and truly starting the acclimation process.  An attempt on the summit of La Malinche can often be thwarted by local weather patterns (heavy rain and lightning), but with any luck we may be standing on top this afternoon.  Stay tuned for updates!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

So far the weather has been very predictable. Sunny and clear in the mornings changing to cloudy with snow flurries by dinner time. This has been great for all of our planned movement up and down the mountain and today was no different as the sun was shining and the winds calm for our move up to Camp 2. Tonight will be our first night at 18,000 feet above sea level, a hard place to sleep for sure. Despite the lack of thick air, I don’t think any of us would trade the views just to be lower on the mountain. Camp 2 on Aconcagua stares straight out into the central Andes, a view you have to see for yourself to truly appreciate and it’s right off our front porch for the next few days. 

RMI Guide Nick Scott

On The Map

After a nice long night of sleep to recover from our acclimatization hike, the Mexican Volcanoes team was up bright and early this morning to move toward our first objective- Ixtaccihualtl. 

This climb will be a multi-day process, but we are already in a good position. Tonight the team is staying at the Altzomoni Hut at 12,700ft. We spent the evening packing for tomorrow, enjoying carne asada tacos and watching the sunset on the volcano across the valley. 

Everyone is excited for the climb and looking forward to getting higher on the mountain tomorrow. 

Wish us luck and thanks for following along.

RMI Guide Eric Frank

On The Map

After a hard carry to Camp 2 yesterday, everyone enjoyed the late start to the morning today.  It’s not often you get to sleep in on a mountaineering expedition so no one takes these rest days for granted. But besides the extra sleep, the other reason to get excited during a rest day is the breakfast. The guides whipped up a calorie replenishing feast consisting of eggs, bacon, hash browns, fresh veggies and cheese all wrapped up burrito style. With bellies full of warm food and coffee we all retired to a sunny corner of camp to digest our meal. The skies are clear and sunny today. The perfect weather to rest and acclimatize and regain our strength for our move up to Camp 2 tomorrow.

RMI Guide Nick Scott

On The Map

Hello from the Cotopaxi hut, situated at 16,000' on the northern slopes of this incredible mountain.   At least I think we are on Cotopaxi?  Yesterday the mountain shone bright and crisp, the sky cloudless and calm.  Exactly what we were hoping for today.  

But staying true to form, all that enticing weather, beckoning us to climb lasted all of two hours and by 11 am yesterday morning the mountain was gone and we haven’t seen it since.   Through on and off rain we prepared our packs this morning hoping things would clear.   At 1 pm we had left Chilcabamba with cloudy but dry conditions.  By 2:15 we were in the parking lot 500 vertical feet below the hut in a complete downpour.  Not to mention the fog was so thick we couldn’t see the other side of the lot.  

So what gives?  I am listening to rain hit the roof and the fog surround us like a haunting cape.  We will try to climb anyway.

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

On The Map

Oh what a difference 24 hours makes! Last night the Mexico climbing team was at dinner enjoying mole, drinking tequila and recalling our climb on Ixta. Tonight we find ourselves at the refugio below Orizaba repacking our bags and preparing for an alpine start.
Tomorrow looks promising for us. The weather is good, the team is strong and reports say that the route is in good condition for a late season ascent. With any luck we look forward to reporting in tomorrow morning from the summit!

RMI Guides Eric Frank and Jenny Konway

Today was an event filled day for the RMI Mexico Volcanoes team. We started out bright and early with a delicious breakfast at Hotel Geneve, followed by a quick drive to our base for the night, La Malintzi. Upon arrival, we changed our shoes, put on some sunscreen and readied ourselves for our first acclimatization hike of the trip. Expansive views of the Tlaxcala region were enjoyed by all as we made our way up the mountain. The team did a great job, making quick work of the ascent trail. After four hours of hiking, we took our last break and started our descent back downhill to where an asado awaited us for dinner. In addition to the above, we also welcomed our last teammate who, due to flight complications, had to catch up with us here. With a full team and all of our luggage in hand, we're ready to head out early in the morning. Next stop, Altzimoni hut!

RMI Guides Eric Frank & Jenny Konway