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Saturday, June 25, 2022 - 7:46 pm PT

Good evening all,

It's been quite a day and it's not even over yet. We woke to a chilly morning at 17,000' Camp. It made for a slow break down of camp and packing due to cold fingers and let's face it tired bodies from the day before. But with some effort we left camp and made our way to 14,000' Camp. Like usual it got real hot when we got low. By the time we arrived it was hot and we were tired. We opted to stay at 14,000' for the evening. Another RMI team helped set up our tents and gave us water. True team players. After shuffling gear and eating breakfast burritos for dinner we are all laying down for a few hours before we wake to start walking at midnight for the airstrip. It's going to be a long day but we've got this. Lots of motivation to propel us forward. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon we will be flying back to civilization.

Time to nap,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

RMI Guide Mike King and the Mexico's Volcanoes team reached the summit of Ixtaccihuatl (17,340') early this morning.  Mike reported a clear and windy day with many climbers on the route.  The team left early from their High Camp and their reward was enjoying the sunrise from the summit.  We will get a full report from Mike once the team has descended.

Congratulations team!

RMI Guide Mike Walter called from the top of Mt. Shuksan this morning. The team enjoyed a beautiful, hazy morning at 9,000' ft. The team made it back to camp and will enjoy a night's rest before they head back to the trailhead tomorrow.

Our first day got off to a successful and fun start. For one, after 2 1/2 days of flight delays and less than stellar performance by my airline, I finally arrived in Arusha in time for our team meeting and a little breakfast. Our last two teammates got to the hotel just as we were beginning our orientation. Everyone's baggage even made it!

It was fun getting to know everybody and I think we all agree we have a pretty fun group. With equipment checks all done and a great dinner we're excited to get underway and start making our way up this beautiful mountain. 

Sunrise on the mountain from 25,000' this morning has done nothing but pump me up to start our climb of Kilimanjaro. We're ready!!!

--RMI Guide Brent Okita and team

Our climb kept pushing us as we descended from our high camp at Barafu (15,200') all the way to Mweka Camp (10,000'). The feet and knees were talking to us and what they were saying would be inappropriate for the ears of young children. 

But we all made it, in part to the fantastic pizza our chef Tosha made us for lunch. Pizza, at 15,200'! On a two burner stove, no less.. Incredible!

At Mweka the gods were smiling down on us, granting a rare sunny day at this place that exists on the edge of the rain forest where clouds always seem to hang. Of course, Tosha beat us to Camp to prepare another wonderful dinner. 

Last night brought everyone a night's sleep they haven't had since they were bouncing about in diapers. 10+ hours of solid sleep was had by all, just the right medicine for our tired bodies. It was amazing to see a bunch of mostly middle aged men bounce back from an intense 13-14 hour day and trot down a slick, slightly muddy trail to the Park gate at 6000'. In fact, they even beat many of our porters down. A first!

At the Mweka gate we were greeted by our outfitter and the busses and enjoyed our last meal 'on the mountain.' This time cold drinks were available, and many bottles of the local brew were consumed. The gift shop was happy to provide some the chance to get something special to bring home. 

The highlight of this time was certainly the singing and dancing our mountain crew did celebrating our week together. The joy and kindness these hard-working individuals shared with us all week was distilled into a few minutes, and really reminded us of how special this trip was. 

Yes, the mountain was fantastic, but it was the people we shared this time with that proved to be the most special part of the climb. These people, who lack so much in material things compared to us Westerners, are so rich in spirit and generosity that we as a team were all moved and reminded of what's really important in life. 

And in the end, there was this team of climbers that came together to climb a mountain and left as friends,  sharing an amazing story that will never be forgotten.

Hope to see you all again! 

RMI Guide Brent Okita

Thursday, July 30, 2022 10:20 am PDT

I’m going to start with the spoiler-100% of our team made it to the summit! This was very special because of the excellent chemistry we developed on this trip. To get to the summit, we had to travel across the Autobahn-clipping in and out of over 50 pickets, climb past Zebra rocks, take in the views at Denali pass, do the 100 yard dash across the football field, tackle pig hill before finally arriving on the summit ridge all while changing layers of clothing throughout the day. The summit brought tears to many of our eyes.  It took us just under 7 hours to reach the summit from 17,000 camp. At the summit, everyone exchanged hugs and laughter. Some commemorated with flags and special notes for loved ones. We took lots of pictures and celebrated our hard effort before we descended back to camp in 3 hours and were completely exhausted. Our celebration included watching Steve, who carried a hula hoop he found in Talkeetna to the summit, break the world record for completing over 30 seconds of hula hooping at the highest elevation recorded for the activity. We all videoed the event for the record book. 

We were blessed with incredible weather; 1st rate guides-Andy, Grayson and Ben; interesting, accomplished, funny and caring team mates.

I want to also share my own personal story which motivated me to climb Denali- The highest mountain in North America. After hiking the Appalachian trail in 2018, I decided I needed a new challenge which was tackling the highest point in every state. I quickly realized this goal included Denali and Mt Rainier and that i better get working on those two mountains since I wasn’t getting any younger. Having no mountaineering experience, I did some research and decided to climb with RMI since they guided on both mountains and came with high reviews. To get some experience, I decided to take the kahiltna seminar followed by a climb of Rainier. Covid initially delayed my plans by a year but in May 2021, I completed the Kahiltna seminar only to find out a month later that I had stage 1C ovarian cancer. I had surgery in July and started 6 rounds of chemotherapy which ended in December. I wanted to have a goal to focus on during chemo, so I signed up for the June 15th climb of Denali. Knowing this was a daunting task, I went hiking everyday during the four months of chemo no matter how sick I felt. Amazingly, I continued to get stronger and fitter and climbed a 13,000 foot mountain in Colorado in November. I think I had this overwhelming desire to push myself because I didn’t want to let cancer interrupt my goals. Another part of me wanted to do something that was as close to mentally and physically demanding as combating cancer as I could find. I certainly believe climbing Denali fulfilled that objective!  Standing on the summit was thrilling but at the same time I realized the yearlong journey was the meaningful part not the single destination.

Mary-Beth and Team

We woke at over 17,000 feet at Chimborazo High Camp for our final climb. Looking outside we were surprised to see heavy snowfall. Momentarily the guides debated if the weather would push back our start time or stop us in our tracks. After discussing, we optimistically decided to stick with the plan, start packing up and hope the snow would subside. After breakfast we looked outside elated to find a perfectly starry sky, the timing was perfect. As we climbed we encountered difficult firm route conditions and a steady 20 mile an hour breeze that wouldn’t quit. Even so, just before sunrise some of the team managed to summit. That only team to do so today. We descended a route completely empty of other climbers. Back at High Camp the team had a lovely second breakfast together and relaxed after the all night battle up Chimborazo. 

RMI Guide Avery Parrinello

On The Map