This morning our team woke up at one the most impressive haciendas I’ve had the pleasure to visit in this beautiful country. I think what added to the splendor of the place was the outright need for rest after two big mountains in a row. The beds were superb, the food amazing and the amenities top notch. But in mountain climbing, as in life, all good things come to an end.
So where are we now?
Currently I am writing this at 17,500' from my sturdy but noisy tent on the southern flanks of Ecuador’s biggest mountain, Chimborazo. We were just fed dinner by our awesome camp staff so life could be much worse. On the other hand the wind is tumbling down hill at 30+ mph crashing into the tents and buckling them over on a routine basis making the sound of jet engine stuck in place. Not exactly last night’s digs.
But now the full moon has begun to rise, we are wrapped up warm in our bags and the summit cleared up catching the last rays of sun enticing us to venture upward.
Which we intend to do in five hours from now.
Wish us luck as we attempt to reach the place farthest from the center of the Earth.
And Ecuador’s highest point.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Good Morning- I am anxiously waiting to hear how everyone is doing! If anyone reading this blog has information on this Summit please email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call me at5419482777. Many Thanks,
Beck Condon
Posted by: Beck Condon on 1/21/2019 at 8:06 am
Travel safe, team! Praying for a successful summit. The full moon and new light to guide you all to the summit. Upward bound! :)
It was another beautiful day here in the Khumbu Valley, and finally we had our first views of Everest. Just above Namche you can see Everest far off in the distance, still about 20-30 miles away. You can also see the 4th highest mountain, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam, which is one of the Himalayan's most iconic.
We hiked for about 6 hours today up and down, dropping all the way down to the river, which is a stunning turquoise, then climbed slowing up the hill before the famous Tengboche Monastery. You wouldn't believe how hot it can get hiking in the middle of the Himalayas at 12'000, but let me tell you, it was so hot we had to break in the shade to stay cool. All in all it was a really enjoyable day here in the Khumbu Valley.
We've settled in to a nice and warm tea house called Rivendale that's full of trekkers from all over the world. Cribbage and good conversations have rounded out the evening and now it's time for bed.
RMI Guide Casey Grom & Crew
Hello from the Dik Dik! We made it down and out of Kilimanjaro National Park today. It's nice to be back inside a place where they have cold drinks.
The group moved off the mountain in good spirits and our lunch at the park gate was excellent as always. Our legs were tired from the long climb when we awoke but the pull of getting back to comfortable living got us up and moving by 8:00. The crew has been wonderful all week and today was no different. They made a great breakfast that sent us downhill in style.
Now we are shifting gears; getting ready for safari. I just checked in with the drivers and everything is all set for the morning. That's it for now.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
The Four Day Summit Climb teams July 26 - 29, 2014 led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Walter Hailes reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6:45 a.m with climbers from Wilderness Ventures. The teams reported light winds and great route conditions. They started their descent from the crater rim around 7:45 am. The teams will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
The 2014 RMI Expeditions Denali climbing season is officially underway. Our team spent yesterday in the town of Talkeetna readying our gear for flying on to the Kahiltna Glacier. An expedition of this magnitude necessitates a good deal of preparation, and while our planning and preparation has gone on for months now, we still had a lot of work to do.
The day started off with a team breakfast at the Talkeetna Roadhouse before heading over to the National Park Service for our pre-trip orientation meeting. Then it was over to K2 Aviation's hangar to get our equipment ready for our glacier landing. This involved finalizing the packing of our personal kits as well as combing over the group gear, setting up tents, firing up stoves, and generally assuring that everything was in top working condition before loading it into the airplane.
The weather is forecast to be very good for flying, and expect to be on the Kahiltna Glacier by midday on Thursday. Hopefully that's the case and our next dispatch will be from the Alaska Range. We'll do our best to keep you up to date with the latest.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
After one last night in Babylon (Quito) the gang packed up and hit the road for what will become our journey to Cayambe. We passed through several small towns on our way to the day's acclimatization hike on Cerro Fuya Fuya. A small hand-cobbled country road led us up into a deep caldera filled with a beautiful lake. From there we began our march upward through tall grass meadows towards Fuya Fuya's summit on the rim of the crater. A short couple hours of hiking and scrambling brought us to el cumbre at just above 4,100 m. Unfortunately, the views weren't quite as spectacular as our jaunt on Pichincha because of clouds, but they'd occasionally part and give us glimpses of the green slopes and the lake below. After a quick descent we hustled back to the bus and headed back towards Otavalo where we posted up for the night at the beautiful Casa Sol guest house. We're enjoying a last night in a real bed before heading for the big hill tomorrow.
Ciao...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
First and foremost...Todd wants to wish his beautiful wife Kelly Happy Birthday! The team spent their first night at Aconcagua Basecamp and everyone woke up this morning feeling great! On a rest day the key is to eat great food and drink lots of liquid to ensure proper acclimatization.
We had scrambled eggs with homemade potatoes. This afternoon we will be making homemade pizzas for the team. We even had Grajalas' cook, Griselda, coming over asking for our recipes!
Later today we will set up the shower tent so we can get clean and smelling back to normal. Another camp activity for today is sorting group gear for our carry to Camp 1 at 16,500 feet.
Happy Birthday Kelly!!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Congrats to you, Lew, and your teammates. Heard you made the summit. Nice accomplishment. Be safe on way down.
Posted by: uncle jake on 1/28/2014 at 12:23 pm
Team - 2 bottles of Melbec and a note for you at the front desk of the Nutibarra. I flew over Aconcagua yesterday afternoon and everything was clouded over for miles. I hear your next two days of weather w/b good….so you should make it by tomorrow. Wish I was with you.
Our Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Casey Grom and Billy Nugent stood on the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. It was breezy cold morning but clear. All nine members of Casey's team made it to the summit. Both teams are doing well and have started their descent back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations Casey, Billy, and Teams!
Hey it’s Mike Walter checking in on Sunday night from the RMI Ecuador's Volcanoes Climb. We are here at the Cayambe climbers hut. We arrived here last night. Today we did some training and review of climbing techniques: cramponing, ice axe arrest and roped travel.
It's been pretty windy and off and on snow and rain. We're hoping for better weather and good climbing conditions tomorrow. There's a lot of snow on the route so we will hopefully be able to climb tomorrow. Maybe some deep trail breaking but we'll give you a shout tomorrow hopefully from the summit and if not, then we’ll check in once we get back down.
RMI Guide Mike Walter checks in from the climbers hut on Cayambe.
Buenos dias from Ecuador.
Yesterday we traveled into Cotopaxi National Park; en route to the climbers' hut we were lucky enough to see six Andean Condors! They were very close to the road and were defintely an impressive sight, with wingspans of more than 6 feet.
Upon arrival at the end of the road, we shouldered our packs and hike 45 minutes to the climbers' hut on Cotopaxi. The rest of the day was spent resting, eating, drinking, playing cards, and telling stories ...the time spent here, at nearly 16,000' will help us get used to the (even)thinner air that awaits above.
This morning we are getting ready to head out to the glacier, in order to stretch our legs and review ice axe and crampon skills. The weather is very nice and we're looking forward to our summit attempt tonight. We will likely leave the hut around 1:00 am, and hopfully we'll be on top at 6 ot 7. We'll be in touch, and I'll send pictures when we have access to the internet in a couple of days.
Hasta luego
Good Morning- I am anxiously waiting to hear how everyone is doing! If anyone reading this blog has information on this Summit please email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call me at5419482777. Many Thanks,
Beck Condon
Posted by: Beck Condon on 1/21/2019 at 8:06 am
Travel safe, team! Praying for a successful summit. The full moon and new light to guide you all to the summit. Upward bound! :)
Posted by: Chrissy on 1/19/2019 at 9:56 pm
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