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We lit our stoves at 3 AM today and had breakfast a short time later while enjoying the beauty of the Alaska Range in shadow. It took until 6 AM to get moving out of camp at 7,000 ft, but when we did, we were pleased to find that the snow surface was a hundred times more user friendly than it had been the previous afternoon. Our sleds slid easily along and we didn't have the problem of "post holing" that we'd experienced in the warm part of the day. We got to the base of Ski Hill and began the hard work of the day, pulling heavy loads uphill for several hours. Clouds came over, giving some relief from the sun, but also bringing a new storm. Just as we picked and prepared a campsite at 9,000 feet, it began to snow. We spent a good chunk of the afternoon warm and dry in our tents as the snow intensified. Dinner was in our POSH dining tent, skillfully constructed by the guide team who battled to serve up a hearty supper in less than comfortable culinary conditions. Now as we are all in for the night, the snow continues to pile up outside. We'll wait and see what the morning brings. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Our Cotopaxi Express team enjoyed a tour of colonial Quito today, visiting various churches, museums, parks, and plazas, and learning about the history of Quito and of Ecuador. We then traveled to the equator, just north of Quito. There we visited an ethnographic museum, and straddled the equator with a foot in each hemisphere! It was a good, relaxing day in Ecuador as everyone is adjusting to the new altitude (9,000') and recovering from a long day of travel yesterday. Tomorrow we'll head out on our first acclimatization hike, climbing Rucu Pichincha, a volcano outside of Quito. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

June 22, 2014 - 12:49 am PT Today we woke to a cold, windy morning at high camp after yesterday's amazing summit. The blowing snow and frigid temperatures kept us tent-bound until mid-day, when the allure of thicker air and warmer temperatures finally got us motivated to pack up and get moving. The first stretch down the buttress was windy and cold, but by the time we reached Washburn's Thumb it was much warmer and calmer. We made quick work of the last stretch to the lines, and then shot down the fixed ropes like it was our job. Soon we were dropping packs back in 14k camp, saying hey to Billy Nugent and Mike Haugen and their respective teams, picking up our cache and getting ready to move further down. Soon enough, we got past Squirrel and Motorcycle Hills, revisiting our old stomping grounds at 11k. We pulled out all the cheese, meat, tortillas, and bagels we had, and commenced to put them all onto the griddle for the annual tradition of the "11,000' Cheese Fry". Basically we just cook all the goodness until folks are full, and then it's off to bed for the early am launch. We're definitely missing the team members who had to head home early, and hope that everyone is warm and dry. Lots of walking left, but we should be at the airstrip tomorrow if all goes according to plan. We'll check back then! Cheers, RMI Guides Garrett Stevens, Tyler Jones, Geoff Schellens and the No Troubles team

On The Map

This is Seth checking in from Advanced Base Camp (Camp Two/ABC). Today and tomorrow the teams will start their third and final rotation for acclimatization. If all goes well with the weather, tomorrow all teams will be at ABC getting ready for a climb up to Camp Three with hopes of spending one night there. We have been receiving several inches of snow over the past three days and conditions on the upper mountain have improved, infact today marks the first summit of 2010 from the South Side of Mount Everest! Nine people on top from three different teams.

The ESS - Kautz Team, led by RMI Guide Mike Haugen, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning via the Kautz Route, a classic route!

After a week of intense alpine training and a thrilling climb up the Kautz Ice Chute, the team topped out in style. They're now making their way down the mountain via the Disappointment Cleaver Route, completing an epic "up and over" traverse.

Huge congratulations to the entire team for their teamwork, and mountaineering skill!

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 8:40 pm PDT

Clothes and food in our packs and headed down to our cache. The round trip only took 2 hours and we were back in our tents relaxing. Relaxing is the main focus from now through tomorrow. The team has earned a rest day to recover from some big days and to recover for a big carry day on Friday. We are trucking along and right on schedule. Hopefully the weather keeps holding and we keep hitting all our target days. As we get ready for bed, light snow falls on our tents It’s a soothing sound to fall asleep to. As always keep up the good weather vibes and throw in there some sleep like 10-pound baby vibes.

Thanks for following along!

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Hello everybody!

We are now a couple days into the final RMI Ecuador trip for this winter. The whole team is here and we're settled into the Quito hotel and spa life. The soft landing is nice after basically everyone has to spend a full day in transit reaching Ecuador. Not everyone is sold on the cold plunge and the science is still out on it, but we can all agree on hot tubbing.

Yesterday, we had a nice tour to overlook the crater of Pululahua, visit the equator and see some sights in the old town sector of Quito before the skies fully opened on us and lightning struck within the city. This was real rain, equatorial rain, the kind where you get soaked if you spend any amount of time in it and the streets turn to streams. Needless to say, we all hoped that would not be the case for our hike of Rucu Pichincha today.

I am happy to report that our wishes and our sun dances worked! We had a lovely day on Rucu Pichincha. As clouds built throughout the day, there continued to be nervous anticipation about whether or not we would need to turn around. As much as I love reaching the summit of Rucu Pichincha, I would hate to be struck by lightning. However, the clouds continued to peel away and never quite turned to their menacing, cumulonimbus form. So, we were excited to have every member of the team stand on top, with it being an altitude record for several in the group.

Tomorrow, we head north out of the city working our way towards Cayambe. It's still a few days before we will venture that high, so we have some time planned continuing to acclimate and just enjoy ourselves as tourists in this beautiful country.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier & Team

Well there ain't no rest for the wicked but thankfully we aren't wicked and we had ourselves a wonderful day of rest at the scenic Casa Ilayaku today. Gear was dried out while birds were watched and various animals visited during a stop at a local bird sanctuary and petting zoo, and fun was had by all. We will be checking out of the Hacienda tomorrow morning before making our way to Antisana basecamp where we will stage for another summit attempt tomorrow night. I didn't think it possible but morale has soared to unprecedented levels and we are looking forward to wrapping this trip up in good style with another strong push in the mountains. Friends and family you are certainly all missed at home and we look forward to seeing you soon.

RMI Guide Michael Murray

Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - 8:15 PM PT Good evening from the Pika! We're back from another great day of climbing in Little Swiss. Today we took advantage of the cold temperatures, and climbed a route up "The Witch's Hat", the southernmost formation of the cirque of mountains around our Base camp. Several pitches of steep snow, ice and mixed climbing brought the team to a narrow summit where we enjoyed a well deserved rest to our calves after the endless front pointing with our crampons. All accomplished by another objective tackled in this program, we're about to enjoy a burrito dinner at camp. Good evening everyone! RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

This is Zeb Blais and team checking in from 16,200ft at Camp 1 Aconcagua. Today our team left Basecamp and all the creature comforts there in and moved up on the mountain. Now we have all our supplies with us and will only move up hill from here. Our team is strong and psyched to do a carry to Camp 2 tomorrow. We will check in as soon as we are back to Camp 1. RMI Guide Zeb Blais

On The Map