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Today was our first day of safari. The team headed west to visit the beautiful Lake Manyara, the closest of the 3 National Parks we will visit. The lake is a brief stopping ground for many migratory animals and home to more than 300 different birds. Everyone enjoyed the day cruising around in our safari vehicles with cold beverages in hand while seeing the animals up close.

The remnants of the last rainy season are still very visible, and the park is lush and dense, which makes seeing some animals difficult. However, we did see what seemed like record numbers of baboons and elephants. Many of them were so close, we could almost touch them. It was a nice introduction to the incredible diversity of wildlife that Africa has. The team is looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.

We wrapped up the evening with a wonderful meal at our new lodge. See for yourself!

Casey and the Safari crew

It was an eventful day, by our standards. Conditions still were not flyable when we crawled out of the tents at 9:15 (not too much use getting up before that time in this camp as it is pretty cold). But ALE, our logistical partner, offered one of their guides for the day so that we could accomplish a carry of food and gear to "Low Camp". We were excited for the chance to get on the move and for the opportunity to work with Lakpa Gelu. Lakpa has climbed Mount Everest 15 times and holds the speed record there. We were honored to rope up on Vinson with him. We left camp at 2:30 PM hauling a few sleds and carrying full packs. Snow conditions were perfect, we weren't sinking in much and the sleds dragged without much resistance. Despite the persistent cloud parked on the landing strip, a few hundred feet higher up we were walking in bright sunshine with blue skies and big views. We made great time, gaining two thousand feet of vertical and covering 5.6 miles (one way) in 4.5 hours. It felt great to pull into Low Camp, cache the load, and turn for base with light packs. The scenery for the day was spectacular, with views of the third and fourth highest mountains in Antarctica as well as a very close up view of a very big wall on Antarctica's highest mountain. The day was made perfect when, just as we crested the final hill and could see basecamp again, a Twin Otter aircraft, found a way through the clouds. JJ Justman made it into Vinson. We enjoyed our first dinner together on the mountain. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

We're fortunate to be in the midst of a very stable and almost perfect weather pattern here on Aconcagua: the days are clear and calm and today was no exception. After a great night's sleep at Camp 2 we packed up our gear and left for high camp by mid-morning. The trail to high camp ascends a broad north facing gulley, occasionally intersected by small cliff bands and large boulders. We weaved our way up, crossing sporadic patches of snow and across pockets of yellow dirt and rocks that smelled of sulfur. After a few hours of climbing we reached a small cliff band and followed a natural weakness in it to scramble up and over our final obstacle and right into our high camp. Sitting at 19,540', Camp 3 is a small flat area ringed by rock towers on nearly all sides. Between the towers we can catch views over the Vacas Valley to the east into Argentina and all the way around to the west over the Horocones Valley and into Chile. Above us stands the final 3,000'+ of Aconcagua with the first portion of our route visible from Camp. We spent the remainder of the afternoon in camp, finalizing our gear for the summit push and trying to rest up and hydrate as much as possible. We are sharing camp with a few other teams and we traded notes on conditions and forecasts: we all agreed, tomorrow is predicted to be a great summit day! We've retired to the tents even though the sun is still quite high in the sky in hopes of getting some rest tomorrow. We are planning on making a pre-dawn alpine start tomorrow morning and going for the top! We're all doing well, feeling strong, and excited to make an attempt! We'll check in tomorrow after the climb. RMI Guide Linden Mallory

All is well on the trek!

Today we left Pheriche and hiked further up the valley to Lobuche. One highlight of the day was crossing the terminal moraine of the Khumbu Glacier. A moraine is a mass of rocks and sediment carried down by a glacier. Some of the white rock we walked across is millions of years old! 

The second highlight of today was stopping at the Climber’s Memorial at the top of Thukla Pass. It’s a humbling place to be with over 100 memorials of climbers who have lost their lives in the mountains. With the misty clouds moving through and the many prayers flags surrounding the memorial stones, it was surreal. After leaving the memorial, we carried on a gentle trail leading us to Lobuche at nearly 16,200 feet.

We were greeted with warm tea and veg fried potatoes for a late lunch. We also got to share a masala tea with our porters and Sherpa guides. We could not do this trip without them and it was a special day for us all to get to sit down together. We spent the afternoon resting and enjoying good conversation with our team. All while cuddled up next to the warm stove and in our puffy pants! It’s a chilly night in Lobuche but we’re all happy to be here and be healthy.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and the base camp crew

Jambo Everyone 

Today the team left behind our beautiful and comfortable river lodge and have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb. We left around 8am and drove along the rural countryside and small villages for 2 hours before reaching the park entrance. 

Most of the area surrounding Kilimanjaro has been cultivated and primarily used for coffee production and for a variety of other agriculture needs, but there are still some areas that have been untouched and resemble more of a savannah that Tanzania is known for. The base of Kilimanjaro is more forested and looks more jungle like and is called a cloud forest. 

Once we arrived at the park gate, we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our porters and other staff to carry before hitting the trail. Once everything was in order, we started our climb slowly making our way up the winding trail that ascends continuously through the thick forest. Thankfully the overhead canopy provided a little cover from the intense sun, and we were happy it didn’t rain either. It took our team around 5hr to reach our camp for the night that sits around 10’000ft. 

Once we were settled into camp and got everybody situated the team was served a nice warm meal for dinner before retiring for the night. Everyone is still feeling the jet lag, and I’m sure the team will sleep well tonight. 

Casey and Kili crew

The team is officially on the mountain! We’re living our best lives, as they say, up here at 12,600 feet. We took advantage of a series of gondolas to get us here, but we did have to haul our duffels the last 100 feet to our doorsteps. Working smarter, not harder. We took a short break after moving in, and then went for an exploratory jaunt above camp. After we walked as far as we felt like walking, we turned around. We did spend some time practicing our footwork and balance on steeper snow. Some team members took to boot skiing like they were born for it. Others...not. Ultimately we all found our style, and descended with class and grace back to the huts in time for lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, mingling with other climbers, people watching, and story telling. Now the sun has set, and there’s no reason to be outside anymore, so we’re going to bed. We’ll check in tomorrow. RMI Guide JM Gorum

On The Map

Good evening again from Yanapacha moraine camp. We're turning into our sleeping bags after an incredibly successful day. We turned our acclimatization day into a summit; weather was good, and spirits were high, so after our training session on the glacier, we decided to put things into practice right away. Yanapacha provided a short but steep glacier that definitely challenged the team this early into the stages of acclimatization, but now that it's under our belt, and with another night here, at its high camp, we're sure to get the most out of this rotation. Every one did an outstanding job, and the views from the summit are the new favorite for this guide. We'll descend tomorrow to base camp to the food of our cook and the rest that the thicker air will deliver. Stay tuned for more! Elías and team

January 12, 2015, 1:30 PM PT This is Zeb Blais checking in from high camp with a jubilant summit team. Today we topped out on Aconcagua at 2 PM in adverse weather conditions. We fought through a small snowstorm to get to the top and spent a brief time taking pictures on the summit before descending back down to camp where we are now hydrating, resting and preparing to head back to base camp tomorrow. Thanks for checking in. January 12, 2015, 9:20 AM PT RMI Guide Zeb Blais just called from the Aconcagua summit! The team did well and they will check back in from high camp. Congratulations to the team!

On The Map

Happy Thanksgiving from 78 degrees south of the equator on the Vinson Massif! The sun finally slipped behind the mountains around 3am last night and the temperatures here at Vinson Base Camp instantly dropped even further, causing us all to stir from our slumbers to burrow deeper into our sleeping bags. Despite the cold we all slept soundly. After reluctantly crawling out of our bags we set about preparing for the day: melting snow, boiling water and sorting gear to carry further up the mountain. We took our time this morning, waiting for the low hanging clouds that hung over the glacier to break but they never did and by midday we set out up the Branscomb Glacier with our packs full with food and fuel for nearly a week above Base Camp. The climb out of camp ascends the gently rolling glacier before entering a minor crevasse field that guards the entrance to a large flat bench at about 8,400' on the glacier. Snow at very cold temperatures is known to be "crunchy" or "squeaky" as the crystal is break and fracture instead of bending or bonding and we settled into a routine on the climb out of camp, listening to our skis glide across the cold snow and settle under the weight of our feet with an audible crunch. As we approached the crevasse field our hopes to break through the clouds to clear skies above dissipated and we navigated our way through the cracks under a world lacking any sort of contrast. Glimpsing only occasional wands or tracks left from a previous group. We climbed another hour like this until we lost all visibility completely. We were in a world of white with no ability to differentiate the sky from the ground or near from far. Climbers refer to this as being "in the ping pong ball" - like being inside an sphere of impermeable whiteness. Having crossed the plateau and nearing the second notable crevasse field for the day we opted to drop our loads there, near a no longer used camp spot called 1/2 Camp, instead of pushing forward navigating only by feel. We unloaded all of our gear into a large duffel bag, lashed it securely to the ice, marked its location, pulled the skins from our skis and turned our sights toward Base Camp. We were able to retrace our skin track without too much difficulty, following the telltale marks of pole tip plants and skin tracks (and keeping an eye on the map and gps just to be sure) back down the glacier. A couple of hundred feet above Base Camp the clouds thinned and we could spot our tent alongside the airstrip. We skied back into Base Camp grinning. Despite the poor visibility today, it still felt good to be on skis in Antarctica. We celebrated a southern Thanksgiving swapping stories of traditions back home and sharing a package of Oreos. We're wishing all of our families a Happy Thanksgiving and just so there's no confusion: Tasty Bites are no comparison for home cooked Turkey! RMI Guide Linden Mallory & Team

Hello again from the SE fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. Temperatures have remained chilly at night around here. Although a brief period of snow yesterday afternoon brought in some slightly warmer temperatures. Yesterday we walked underneath the north Buttress of Mt. Hunter as we traveled further up the SE fork for some training. The scenery was breathtaking. The weather has been splendid. Today we all summitted the Control Tower. Some moderate glacier travel gave us access to a beautiful Alaska snow ridge to the top. Wonderful views of the Alaskan Range were had from the top. Everyone has adjusted well to life on the glacier. Ciao, RMI Guide Jason Thompson