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May 29, 2014 - 5:55 pm PT Winter's grip on North America's tallest mountain stays strong, while climbers surround the flight office in anticipation of what lies ahead. A sudden roar, cough, cough, an engine turns over. A lone pilot off to scout the weather towards Basecamp takes off from the Talkeetna air field. With him he carries the hopes of the climbers on either end. So far, no one has made it in or out, and we stand by, sending good wishes and warm thoughts to our friends currently sitting on the mountain. Here in Talkeetna we are lucky to have a meal in arm's reach, to enjoy one another's company, share stories, learn new skills and refine the existing ones. A team bonds, creating an experience that each of us will remember for a lifetime. But for now we wait, hope, and learn. For this is just another day of one intrepid group in Alaska. All the best for now. RMI Guides Tyler, Garrett and Bryan

What a day, what a day! We started the day off with a nice walking tour of this majestic city with our kind Russian guide Natasha. She led us around St. Petersburg stopping by the major highlights this city is know for and educated us to its deep history. We visited the Church of the Savior of Spilled Blood, St. Peter's Square, and St. Isaac's Cathedral along with many other beautiful sites. We took a brief break for lunch and explored a little on our own. Most of the team visited the Hermitage know for its incredible art collection, while others sought out their own adventure. We reconvened around 8 and Natasha took us on a spectacular boat tour on the many canals that intertwine this city. The day was very rewarding for everyone and I'm pretty sure everyone would love to stay longer. It has been a wonderful adventure the last two weeks with a great team! In a way it's sad that we've reached the end of this trip. Good times were had and good friends were made! Missing all of our families and most of our friends. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

The Expedition Skills Seminar – Muir led by Casey Grom and JJ Justman were able to safely climb to the top of Cathedral Gap this morning. They had clear weather, sunshine and no wind. The team had experienced winter-like conditions this week at Camp Muir but had a lot of fun training at 10,000 feet.

This group of climbers sure knows how to adapt to safari life. After breakfast we set good bye to our home-bound teammates and jumped in our vehicle for the plains of Africa. We made a quick stop in the town of Arusha to fill our cool with refreshing beverages and then headed out of town. We arrived at Lake Manyara, our first of three National Wildlife Parks that we will be visiting while on safari. Lake Manyara National Park is not the largest park around but it is easy to get to and has a great number of wildlife. Personally, it is one of my favorite places as it is home to the Strangler Fig tree. Right as you enter the park these amazing trees are all over the place, and are homes for groups of monkey and baboon. When mature the pure size and color of the trees are amazing with huge fluted trunks to boot. We had a picnic lunch in the middle of the bush surrounded by nature and otherwise all to our selves. A few tosses of the frisbe for a little exercise and back to work looking for animals to fall prey to our camera lens. Elephants, zebra, Wart hog, giraffe, Rock Hyrex, Dik Dik, Impala, Water buck, Cape Buffalo, Hippo, Vervet Monkey and loads of birds under clear skies in the afternoon. When we had taken lots of pictures and explored most of the park we headed off to the Plantation Lodge. We will spend the next two nights at the beautiful hotel near the Ngorongoro Crater. Tomorrow we will head down to the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater looking for cats and rhino, and other animals that might cross our path. After a climb of Kilimanjaro this is the life! RMI Guide Mark Tucker

RMI Guides and Climbers were ascending the route above 12,500’ today when they came upon a party in need of help. A major crevasse had collapsed at the 12,700’ level with at least one member of an independent climbing team standing on it when it fell. The RMI Guides stabilized the climber, treated the resulting leg injury, and transported the climber down to 12,300’, the top of Disappointment Cleaver for a helicopter evacuation. By the time all of this was accomplished a summit attempt was no longer feasible for the RMI Summit Team. The team has returned safely to Camp Muir and will to descend to Paradise.

Yesterday’s perfect weather became today’s perfect weather.  Strong sunshine, not a cloud in the sky and no sign of wind.  We got good rest last night to make up for all of the travel nights and didn’t roll into breakfast until 9 AM.  Murph took excellent care of us with eggs, bacon, pancakes, fresh fruit and coffee.  Then we dug into our many packing and organizing chores.  It is no small thing to shift from jet-setting in a sleek Gulfstream IV to old fashioned walking on a glacier with a week of supplies on our backs and in our sleds... but we managed just fine.  Five rope teams of three set out at 1:50 PM.  An hour later, at the first rest break, we all agreed that it was too darn hot in Antarctica.  This was partly an illusion.  The air temps were still well below freezing, but without a breeze and with plenty of hard work, we were sweating.  Conditions were perfect for travel though.  We had a well-packed and generally smooth trail in the snow without any open crevasses to negotiate.  We took a second break at the start of a 90 degree turn in the glacier and a third under the 2,000 meter great western escarpment of Vinson.  By then we were getting good looks at the sharp and dramatic summits north of Vinson.  We had great views of Epperly, Gardner and Shinn -the fifth, fourth, and third highest peaks of Antarctica.  We pulled into 9,200 ft Low Camp in 4.5 hours time and set to building tents and moving in.  Lakpa, Pachi, and Namgya hosted a great dinner of chicken curry with rice in their spacious dining tent.  We sat to sip hot drinks and chat for a bit but as we each began to feel the cold, we retired to warm sleeping bags.  The tents are good and comfortable with sun projected to be on them until 3 AM -it then goes behind the mountain and we expect the big chill to take over.  We’ll rest and do a little training and acclimatizing tomorrow. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The Four Day Climb July 7 - 10 was unable to climb today due to weather. RMI Guide Robby Young reported rain and high winds prevented the group from leaving Camp Muir to make their summit attempt. Winds continued to blow this morning at Camp Muir. The team plans to descent this morning to Paradise.

It was cold and windy today on our gear bump to 18,000' with most of the team climbing in all our insulating layers. The sunny skies kept us moving and everyone did great! The views from Camp 2 inspired the team as we breathed the thin air. We are back at Camp 1 now ready to devour some Mac and cheese. RMI Guide Ben Liken

On The Map

The sun refused to shine today. At least in the Union Glacier region of Antarctica. Not so bright over at Vinson either, according to reports. No flying today as a system of moisture is moving through -at least we hope it is moving through. For all of that, it wasn't a bad day here, just cloud, murk and light snow. There wasn't any of the wind which usually is the main ingredient for making a miserable day in these parts. We got out this morning to review avalanche procedures and then went for a walk and talk on the 10 kilometer track which is groomed and marked out with flags on the immense flat surface of the glacier. Afternoon was spent on reading, mingling, chocolate and chess. As usual, we are ready to fly out to Vinson for our climb. First thing tomorrow morning would be just fine, but the forecast is still calling for mank. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The time has arrived. We are nestling into Plaza Argentina Base Camp. The weather has been too nice on our trek in. It certainly explains why there is a sun on the flag of Argentina. We wish there was a swimming pool at base. The entire team is doing very well and it is nice to unload all our gear knowing we don't have to pack up duffels for the mules. Speaking of mules, we want to thank our cowboys for helping us get to BC. The boys from Grajales are the very best. Second to none and they are part of the RMI family. It's time to relax...we will keep you posted from 13800 feet. RMI Guide JJ Justman and Team