Most Popular Entries

Back safe and sound in Kathmandu! Well all most! Managed to get the team out of Lukla by the skin of our teeth. Sadly I wasn’t able to join them, only eight helicopter seats available for the nine of us. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to join the crew. I’m sure everyone is enjoying the comforts at the Yak & Yeti Hotel, hot showers, good food, and the warm temps. It's been one amazing adventure with a great team and it will be sad to say goodbye, but we are all looking forward to getting back home to our loved ones. Thanks for following. RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy crew

It's an evening for celebration! Our Expedition Skills Seminar - Peru team made it back down safely from Copa Base Camp to the bustling city of Huaraz after a successful climb of Nevada Copa yesterday. Tonight, we're winding down our program after an incredible two weeks here in the Cordillera Blanca. We've done a whole lot of moving through the mountains during that time, learned a ton about what it takes to climb in this great range, and successfully stood on top of three incredible summits. This afternoon, we bid farewell to Coronel and Pablo, our incredible cook staff, who took excellent care of us over the last two weeks. Tonight, our dinner plates included a wild and wide range of local eats, including the classic Cuy (Guinea Pig), a Peruvian delicacy. With some local cervezas in accompaniment, we shared some stories, enjoyed each other's company for one more dinner, and reflected on our time here in this wonderful country. Tomorrow, it's back to sea level, where most of us will say goodbye to friends, new and old, and start the journey home to our families. Thanks for following along for the last two weeks! Until next time! RMI Guides Robby Young and Steve Gately, and your Expeditions Skills Seminar - Peru team

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Winter led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Seth Waterfall spent yesterday training on the lower slopes of Mt. Rainier. The team experienced stormy conditions with 5 - 6 inches of new snow overnight and some mild wind. Today, the team is breaking camp and making their way uphill towards Camp Muir where they will continue their technical training. While breaking camp, the team enjoyed bluebird skies and beautiful mountain views.

We got a casual start on our day knowing that the storm was raging on Villarica. That summiting was not going to be an option for today was glaringly obvious in the forecast, but the skiers mind is slightly different from the climbers mind: stormy conditions yield a bunch of new snow, and a bunch of new snow equals powder skiing. Powder skiing equals the polar opposite of defeat. So like yesterday, we set off into the storm, the only skiers on this mountain crazy enough to go touring (the ski areas on these Chilean volcanoes are above treeline, thus relying on good visibility and not too much wind to stay open). Yesterday was Volcano Storm Skiing. Today was just plain storm skiing. We stuck below treeline for most of the day and found some great tree shots. With over a foot of new, dense, fast, springy pow, we put in a skin track, and one lap turned into two laps, then three laps, four laps, five laps... To be skiing in an early succession forest with a cauldron of lava bubbling 5,000' above your head feels exotic. At the end of the day we toured up into the storm to get a sense of how windy it really was in the alpine (and to line ourselves up for a nice glide back to the parking lot). It was windy. Really windy. RMI Guide Tyler Reid

May 26, 2014 - 5:18 pm PT Hello everyone! Saying hello from Talkeetna, Alaska! We made it off this afternoon despite the evil forecast. This morning we left 9,700' and walked down glacier into deep clouds that retreated as we made our way to Kahiltna Base Camp. All day we heard and saw fleets of airplanes coming in and by mid afternoon we were on one of them. So the team is safe and sound taking showers and indulging in vices. It's been a fantastic trip with a great group. Thanks for tuning in! RMI Guide Leon Davis

We moved up-valley to Deboche today. Morning in Namche was pleasant but we had places to go and things to see. We hit the trail by 8:30 and walked easily along the traverse trail leaving town. At first we were mixed in with a few trekking groups and strings of pack animals, but after a little while we had the trail to ourselves. We'd have loved to have been able to hang on to our hard-won altitude, but it was necessary to give plenty of it back as we needed to drop all the way down to the river to get across and take on the Thyangboche Hill. We worked slow-and-steady up the hillside trail, gaining about fifteen hundred vertical feet in an hour and a half. Along the way, we got great views of Kangtega with its giant walls of rock topped by hanging glaciers, but these views were surpassed when we reached the hilltop and saw Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse and Ama Dablam spread out before us and doing battle with the wind and clouds. Thyangboche Monastery sat like a palace at the ridge crest behind elaborate and ornate gates. We took our packs off for a few minutes and tried to take it all in, but we were only twenty minutes walk from Deboche at this point and lunch had taken on great importance to the team, so we shouldered packs once more and set off down through the rhododendron forests to our lodge at 12,200 ft above sea level. The afternoon passed with food and naps and a break from the distractions of the internet, since WiFi was not readily available. We are not quite in the wilderness yet, but we can see it from here. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Rugged and rough is a great way to describe the ascent to Aconcagua Camp One. The team carried gear to cache at 16,400 feet. The last stretch into camp is a light and fluffy scree section that can sometimes cause folks to spin your wheels. Our team managed fine and we hung out for a half an hour in the thin air. We cached a couple of duffel bags filled with food and gear that we will need higher on the mountain. We are now back in Basecamp once again enjoying the good life! RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

RMI's Four Day Summit Climb June 12 - 15 led by Casey Grom and Five Day Summit Climb June 11 - 15 led by J.J. Justman reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They encountered high winds, cold temperatures and light snow. The teams were starting their descent from the crater rim at 7:45 a.m. PT. RMI Guide Mike Walter and his team on the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz are completing their program today. They had a great week of training on Mt. Rainier and were able to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier yesterday via the Kautz Glacier route. This morning the team will break camp and hike a few hours down to Paradise. Congratulations to the RMI Teams!

Weather forecast was right. Winds picked up last night and didn't slow down until 8 am this morning. We estimate that the wind speed was a steady 30 mph and gusts of 50 mph. The good news is that besides a few cut guidelines, our tents stayed in place with no damage. Nobody slept that much so this morning our stoke score descended a few points. Once the wind slowed down we had a late breakfast and packed for the carry to Camp 2. The first hour and a half we walked uphill on a steep trail up the col Aconcagua-Ameghino (17,500'). Once we got to the west side of the col we were exposed to the cold wind that was still blowing on that side of the mountain. It took us 2 more hours to reach Camp 2. The descent to Camp 1 was very quick, just 1:10hrs. As I write this Garrett is cooking dinner, which smells great, so our stoke score will get to 8 points! Hot drinks are ready so we will be sending a new dispatch tomorrow during our well deserved rest day at Camp 1. Gabi and the RMI Aconcagua expedition

The Five Day Climb June 7 - 11 led by RMI Guide Joe Hoch reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today with 100% of the team.  We started in full moonlight and summited 100 percent on a perfect morning!

The climbers will return to Camp Muir for a sort break and to repack before beginning the final descent to Paradise. They will conclude their program later today at Rainier BaseCamp.

Congratulations to the team!