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Greetings! Yesterday, the March Mexico Volcanoes team arrived in the heart of Mexico City, after catching flights from various parts of the country. It is always a long day of travel, but we all managed to arrive without excessive delay or loss of bags. That is a big first victory that puts us in position to get out in the mountains as soon as possible. The team met for a short chat last night before going to dinner. There is a lot of experience represented in the group and with a good weather forecast, we expect to have a fun and successful trip. After an early departure this morning from Mexico City, the team arrived at La Malintzi around 11am. We did a quick gear sort, then headed uphill. The skies were clear and the air warm as we made our way up towards the summit. After about five hours of hiking, the team reached the summit of Malinche and was rewarded with sweeping views of the surrounding areas. A quick descent led us back to hot showers and a delicious dinner of grilled meats, fresh chips, and guacamole. We're all headed off to bed after a great day, looking forward to tomorrow's adventures. RMI Guide Eric Frank

We packed up our gear, loaded up the van, and left Quito, heading north towards the town of Otavalo this morning. On tap was another acclimatization hike up the extinct volcano Fuya Fuya. The hike started at Lake Mojanda, high up in the Andes. The trail wove through the high Andean grassland, with increasing steepness with every step. A short rock scramble culminated in a 14,000' summit with great views and not a breath of wind. A quick descent followed. We are now at our hacienda for the night, Casa Sol, where we are looking forward to a hot shower and a nourishing meal...I'm sure we won't be disappointed. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Hola amigos y familia, Today team Ecuador finally got some needed exercise. Yes I will admit, curling cervesas and walking around Quito does count as calorie burning activities but after a long travel day and substantial city tour, we were ready to go up! And up we went. After breakfast today we met one of our local guides here at the hotel, his name is Henry. Henry owns a beautiful old Toyota Land Cruiser which unfortunately fits only four team members. This space deficiency created a need for two taxis to shuttle the rest of us to the starting point of the day's hike. I had luck working on my side it seems when myself and three others loaded into one yellow cab and Nick and his team piled into the second. Why were we lucky you might ask, because we made it to point B from point A without an accident. Nick's cabby thought "all street signs, traffic lights and street lines were merely suggestions". Three close calls and a fender bender with another cab later, we were all together. I always say let the adventures start as soon as possible. From our gathering point, the next mode of transport was a cable car or gondola starting at 10,000 feet which swooshed us without even breaking a sweat to 13,000 feet. Luckily no accidents on this stretch. Those might be less forgiving. From the top of the gondola, the 15,400 foot summit of Pinchincha Rucu, which was the day's objective, looked sunny and inviting. A rare case in my experience. With a bit of heavy breathing and 60 minutes walk time, 6 of our team's 10 climbers had reached a new personal altitude record. With a bit more breathing, two more hours walk time and all of our warm cloths on, the entire team reached the summit. It was a glorious start to what should be one grande adventure. Barring the vans and jeeps keep between the lines. We are now preparing for a well deserved dinner and otra cervesa. Follow along tomorrow to hear about mountain number two. Adios de Quito, RMI Guides Adam Knoff, Nick Hunt and Team

July 12, 2014 - 1:15 am PT Hey - This is JJ. Well, this morning we did not play Eye of the Tiger. We did not play T-N-T. But let me give you a few of the lyrics we played this morning: I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast. I do like jelly on my breakfast toast. And do you know what else I like? Not one, not two but every single climber on top of Europe's highest mountain. What do you say gang? (cheers in back ground) It's an urgent news message, we are on the summit of Mt. Elbrus. Everyone did a great job. Strong as can be. And we are enjoying a beautiful day, a few puffy, happy clouds out in the distance, but that is about it Stay tuned for some photos and videos. We are going to head back down. I do believe we have a well deserved dinner and maybe a little bit of a celebration back at camp. Take care and thanks for following along. We will touch base again soon. Sayonara from the summit of Elbrus. RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Hi RMI Blog Enthusiasts! It was really nice to finally get in the mountains and breathe some fresh air! We had a gorgeous day as you'll see in the video. The team had a relaxing day as we strolled up to 11,000 feet topping out on Peak Cheget. Tomorrow we will continue the adventure and head to the hut on the lower flanks of the mighty Elbrus. Sad news...or maybe you'll be glad...I don't think I'll be able to post anymore videos until we get down in a few days. If you have any questions please contact my agent... RMI Guide JJ Justman

This is Dave Hahn calling in from 7,800’ on the Kahiltna Glacier. Still at 7,800’! We really had high hopes this storm would break a little earlier today and then we would get to move. We did get up early again and kept checking the weather, but it was snowing good and steady through the night, through the morning and well into the afternoon. It was socked right in, like looking at the inside of a ping pong ball. Wet snow kept falling right until 3 this afternoon and then it started to clear. And now, at almost 8:30 in the evening, I am standing out here and we do have a blue sky above us. Most of the mountains are still kind of hiding in the clouds. But it is definitely breaking up and it's beautiful to see the mountains again. We haven't seen them for a few days, and looking down the Kahiltna Glacier and we're all kind of excited. We just did a radio calls with Linden Mallory and Mike Haugen. The treat for everybody was that Mike was doing his radio call from the summit of Mt McKinley. So that's pretty far from us right now, but we were excited for those guys because we know that they have been up there waiting and trying. And we've been down here waiting. Tomorrow, I'm pretty confident, that we're going to get up early and we are going to climb on up to 9,500’. I think the weather is going to work out for us tonight. We'll see. Everybody is in good spirits. We had a snow carving contest today. There was a bowling alley carved over here. There is a pony, a lion, and a cobra. There was a giraffe that broke his neck a little earlier. There were some pretty good snow sculptures out here. The team is keeping their spirits up, and eating well. That is all. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Our climbing team has assembled under a full moon in Mexico City. Some bags are on the relaxed program and will eventually find their way to our possession. Our rooms are situated with grand views of the Zocalo in the Centro Historico of the capital city. Across the way, the Presidential palace. To the left, the Cathedral Metropolitan. In the middle, a 100ft faux Christmas tree and an ice skating rink the size of two hockey rinks. After a meeting in the hotel lobby, we headed down Ave 5 de Mayo, up Motolina, and further down Ave. Tacuba to the famed Cafe Tacuba. As we ate, traditional Mexican musicians serenaded us with folk songs on their string ensemble. With full bellies we will hit the sack as we prepare to head out of this beautiful, historic, 25 million strong capital to La Malinche for a great acclimatization hike. We'll check in tomorrow!

Monnday, May 26, 2025 - 8:09 am PT

Mt. McKinley Summit!

It was a splitter morning, so we prepped for a big day and left at 10:15 with sun on camp and the Autobahn in the shade. For that reason we were wearing pretty much everything we had. There had been maybe one other guided team above 17,000' this year, and not much traffic overall, so the infamous Autobahn needed quite a bit of foot scuffing and picket hammering as we passed. It made for tough work, but we were across to Denali Pass. Light wind and clouds that were in and out were the rest of the day, and at 6:15 AK time, we walked onto the summit. It’s always emotional reaching a big goal, and we took it in before turning our attention downhill. Moving down under the late Alaskan light we made good time and were back at camp at 10:15. A late dinner, recovery, and sleep are in store.

Tomorrow we’ll start the descent to the airstrip, which is always incredible in its speed.

RMI Guide Pete, Nick, Ben, and a very happy and tired team.

Greetings all! Onward and upward! We had an absolute beautiful day on the mountain today. Sunny skies and warm temps allowed to get up and attem early for a 9am departure from 14,000' Camp. We made it all the way to the base of the Washburn Thumb at 16,700’, where we cached some food, fuel, and gear for our future move to 17,000’. It was great to stretch the legs and set some new altitude records for some of our team members. The views from that height were exceptional today...a true highlight of the trip for some. We could see all the way down the Kahiltna Glacier and the neighboring Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter in all their glory. A truly great day to go climbing in the Alaska Range. We’re planning a rest day for tomorrow so maybe some views from ‘Edge of the World’ are in order. We’ll let you know how it looks! Until then, night y’all. RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe and Team Feast

On The Map

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Mike King and Nick Scott reached 11,900' today on Mt. Rainier before route conditions forced them to turn. Mike reported clear and calm skies on the upper mountain with a marine layer coming in and out at 8,500'. They plan to depart Camp Muir, and be back at Rainier Basecamp early this afternoon. Congratulations to today's team!