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June 12, 2016 - 10:53 p.m. PDT We left camp with chilly toes and no one ahead of us. Pushing toward the fixed lines, we were treated to the sun at our first break. The sun (and uphill effort) warmed us up and soon we were steadily working up the fixed lines. It was a beautiful day and the team got their first taste of real altitude. We did fine and cached just below the impressive Washburn Thumb. The time spent on the West Buttress is the best climbing of the route and we had a perfect day to dance on the ridge. Now we are all set up for the next window in the weather to move higher. Tomorrow we will rest up to prepare our bodies for the next challenge. RMI Guide Jake Beren and team

On The Map

The Four day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Billy Nugent reached the summit of Mt. Rainier along with climbing teams led by RMI Guides Leon Davis and Lindsay Mann. All teams were descending from the crater rim as of 7:50 am PST this morning. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short time and then continue down to Paradise. Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!

After almost two days of rest at the lovely Chilcabamba the team is feeling refreshed and excited for Cotopaxi. We had a leisurely breakfast and then finished our packing before loading up the van and heading uphill to reach the parking lot that allows us easy access to the mountain. The parking lot sits at about 15,000' and the climbers hut is just about a 1,000' above that. Our timing was perfect today as we hiked to the hut just after a small snow squall and shortly before the weather came back in. Lucky for us! Our plan tonight is to get up around 11pm again and hopefully be climbing shortly after midnight. I'm expecting the climb take us around 7 hours if all goes according to plan. Keep your phones nearby tomorrow morning. A lucky winner will make a summit phone call if the weather allows. Wish us luck RMI Guide Casey Grom and team

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb July 2 - 5 led by Chad Peele reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. It's a beautiful day with light winds, warm temperatures and clear skies. The team began their descent from the crater rim at 8:30 a.m. en route to Camp Muir. They will return to Paradise later today. RMI Guide Casey Grom led the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz July 1 - 6 to the summit today. The team reported great route conditions and a beautiful day on the mountain. This six day seminar will return to their high camp at approximately 10,000' for their final night on the mountain. The group will finish their training and descend to Paradise tomorrow afternoon. Congratulations to today's summit teams!

Jambo! We set new altitude records for many team members today when reaching 14,750' on Kilimanjaro! Too often climbers seem to decide how they are going to feel at a certain altitude in advance. Today the team climbed steady and before we knew it we were standing at 14,750' and everyone was feeling great. From about 13,000' to the high point there was about 4 to 6 inches of snow. We were fortunate to stay dry as we hiked up the Shira Platuea to our new camp at Barranco but once in camp the rains began. The rain has stopped now, we are all in good shape and getting ready for a hot dinner. Cheers, RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Hello from Aconcagua Basecamp. Today saw more great weather on our walk from Casa de Piedra up to Plaza Argentina which will serve as a basecamp for the rest of the expedition. A BRISK river crossing first thing in the morning lead to a gorgeous (literally) walk up the Relinchos Valley. For the most part everyone on the team is performing well but some cold-like symptoms seem to be starting their rounds within the group. Hopefully tomorrow's rest day will give us the time we need to kick these colds and continue working our way up. RMI Guide Billy Nugent and Team

Lots of Puja smoke in the air this morning at basecamp, lots of banging pots and cheering. Lots of people walking around with radio antennae held high. Lots of people smiling but bleary-eyed at having monitored climbers through a long night. I guess it was an exciting day for everyone in basecamp...the estimate being that at least a hundred climbers from perhaps 10 teams had gone for the summit overnight, but of course I know for certain that it was an exciting day for those of us on the RMI team. Not only were we ecstatic to hear each of our climbers check in from the South Summit, the Hillary Step and the Summit in good time and in good strength, we are now more fired up than ever for our own attempt on the top. It was a day of meeting with the Sherpa climbers that will accompany us; taking a final close look at the extended forecasts and a day of getting packs rigged for climbing once again. In between all of that, my team kept listening in to make sure the summit gang was descending safely. Before lunch, we managed to put everybody through the shower one more time and got a little fluff back in the hairdos. I scraped off my fourth beard of the trip...not sure which number Seth and Kent were scraping off, but they were looking sharp and clean...and ready to go. Melissa and Erica are also eager, healthy and packed for an early morning Icefall transit. The entire summit team is safely tucked away back at high camp now. They'll spend the night there before resuming the descent. We'll meet them at ABC tomorrow at mid-day. Ours is the normal up-at-3-breakfast-at-3:30-walk-at-4 plan...climbing straight through to Camp II with only a pause for rest at Camp I. I expect we'll get some good stories out of the summit team as we share ABC for the night. The following day, they will undoubtedly be down in BC while we take our single rest day at ABC. Then we move to CIII and on the 23rd of May up to CIV...making us ready for a shot at the top on May 24th. We discussed our priorities today, along with our perceived strengths and weaknesses. We each know the points in the next week at which we'll need nothing but good luck to achieve our goals. We know who is guiding, who is filming and who is climbing and we all are aware that this climb will push of us to our limits. But we are ready. We want to try to climb the highest mountain in the world.

We had a leisurely morning in Pheriche - taking our time to pack and sit in the sunroom playing games. Much needed after our big Lobuche push. 

We said goodbye to Dawa, our head Sherpa guide, as he heads back to Everest Base Camp to climb this season and took off out of Pheriche.

Right before we left town, we were sent off by two more of the floofiest baby yaks. Always a day maker. 

We took in the views and walked just under three hours to our teahouse in Pangboche. A lovely short day so we had the afternoon to rest before two big days of walking ahead.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel

RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier and Jackson Breen reached the top of Mt. Rainier this morning around 6:20am. They enjoyed the sunrise before starting their descent. 

The team will take a break at Camp Muir before starting their final descent back to Ashford for a celebratory dinner and certificate ceremony. Nice work team!

We are in our beds at the Cayambe hut and feeling motivated for tonight's climb. This evening, the clouds are settling and the mountain is out. We will check back in tomorrow afternoon after our summit attempt!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier