Yesterday our team earned a big Ecuadorian summit towering 18,990 feet above sea level which also happens to be the only place on the planet where the equator itself is snow covered. These big mountains are not highly technical climbs requiring fixed ropes or advanced ice climbing skills but they are long sustained endeavors taking upwards of 8 to 10 hours to complete and literally pull the energy from your body one step at a time. Within our group we have a number of climbers who are very technology savvy and wear one of those super watches that short of turning you into James Bond, gives you critical info on how your body is performing. After the climb one person reportedly burned over 7,000 calories on the climb alone. Not only did we earn the top, we earned the 3,000 calorie hamburger we ate for lunch when we returned to town.
After lunch our half asleep, food comaed bodies crawled onto the waiting bus and began our 3.5 hour drive back down the “avenue of the volcanoes” toward our country side hacienda located ten miles from the sleeping giant, Cotopaxi.
Standing at 19,385 feet, Cotopaxi is considered the world’s highest active volcano and the most beautiful mountain in Ecuador. We couldn’t see the mountain when we arrived but exited the bus like a group of stiff, smelly walking dead looking only for beer and showers. Definitely a good theme for America’s next horrible zombie film.
Despite our showers being cold, the beer and Bourbon sufficed so after dinner we agin congratulated our climb and then quickly turned from alive to dead, collapsing around 9:30 and not moving until 8am this morning. When we finally did pull ourselves out of bed, we were greeted with stunning views of the mountain and a scene straight out of an Ecuador tourism book. Llamas grazed in the pastures and clouds drifted like dreams in front of the peak which confirms why people are so impressed with its beauty.
Throughout the day rest has been the objective. Shortly after 10 it began to rain so our time has been passed napping, sitting by the fire and prepping gear for tomorrow’s big climb. Not a bad way to recharge.
Stay tuned for the outcome of tomorrow’s attempt.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
As promised, the storm hit Araucania last night. After a nice evening sunset on Villarrica, the rain came. We retreated from our camp this morning with heavy wet snowflakes falling from the sky, very happy to not be high up on Lanin. Now we are on our way to Peumayen, a beautiful lodge and termas (hot springs) outside of Pucon. This is our last night in Chile, and one to celebrate - this trip has been top notch. Great crew, great skiing conditions, a lot of great weather... Every year I'm always amazed how fast this trip goes.
Tomorrow we head for the airport and home to the US. Thanks for following along!
RMI Guide Tyler Reid and the Chile Ski Crew
First off a big thanks to everybody and their good weather vibes for us down in Mexico. We were able to sneak one in on Orizaba today as the only climbers to stand on top. Beautiful day we were climbing in a very volatile weather situation, but we were able to move around and get to where we needed to be at just the right time, and were able to go stand on top. It was a wonderful day with a great crew. Thanks so much for sharing everybody with us and we look forward to seeing you all in the next day or two when we get home. Thanks so much.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren calls in after the team's successful Orizaba summit.
Congrats everyone!! Excelsior John. So happy for each of you. You were all in my thoughts all weekend. Jake, Christina, Alfredo sounds like you where champs finding a way through the weather.
Date: Thursday, February 19th
Time: 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM (CST)
Location: Arc'teryx Minneapolis
Small Q&A with Arc'teryx pro athlete and RMI Guide Katie Bono where she will be answering questions for attendees about their own upcoming trips to Rainier, Denali, Shasta or Whitney. With Katie's vast experience, she will be happy to provide insight and advise. Arc'teryx Minneapolis will be providing appetizers and a micro brew for this intimate discussion. Click here to reserve free tickets and more details.
After nearly two weeks of progress moving in fits and starts, as we move camps, carry gear, and take rest days to acclimatize, the last several days suddenly start to rush by. We had a great, though very difficult, summit day yesterday. The sun shone in a completely clear, brilliant, azur sky, but as has been the nature of the last several days, the wind continued to rush on. We prepared in gusty conditions that made it uninviting to leave the tent, and donned our packs. For much of the climb we received only gusts, protected from the main force of the wind, the constant noise of which we couldn't ignore. This region has received very little precipitation for the last several years, and the results of that were the second major challenge of the climb. Where snow fields usually provide nice cramponing, only sand existed, and climbing sand hills at 22,000 feet is no small task. We persisted, and at 2:45, crested the summit of Aconcagua.
Time flies, and while that was only yesterday afternoon, it feels much further removed. We woke this morning to the ever present wind gusts plastering the tent to our face, and packed our bags to head to base camp. As we descended, we picked up the items that we had cached at our previous camps, so our packs grew heavier, even as the air grew thicker. We arrived at base camp to a delicious spread, which was followed up shortly with our first carne dinner in a while. We organized our bags for the mules, and tomorrow we will reverse our course, once again carrying light day packs as we descend the Relinchos and Vacas Valleys back towards Penitentes, and ultimately Mendoza. Everyone is excited at the prospect of more beef, wine, and warm temperatures that await us in the coming days. Thanks for following,
RMI Guides Pete, Alex, Juan and team
The Four Day Summit Climb July 24 - 27, 2014 led by RMI Guide Mike Haugen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 7:30 am with 100% of their team. The team reported great weather and good climbing. Today's team consists of climbers raising funds for Big City Mountaineers and their Summit For Someone program.
The team will complete their descent today, returning to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Big City Mountaineer Team Members!
June 2, 2014 - 9:30 pm PT
Comfortably nestled in our sleeping bags we've been listening to the winds flapping the fabric of our tents since we put them up.
Our morning started well with clear skies all around us, except for the cloud cap over the summit. But the entire camp at 14,200' was stirring since this was one of the nicest days we've seen for a while.
The team did great breaking camp and we were the first guided group out of camp, a nice position to be in given the madding crowds that were right behind us. Everyone did well going up the fixed lines, though we could certainly feel the loads we were carrying. Unfortunately, the winds came up at the top of the ridge and didn't relent further up the Buttress, so we decided to dig in for the night here at 16,400' instead retreating all the way back to 14,200', or pushing in a head wind up to 17,200' camp. With a well secured camp here and dinner in our bellies we're looking forward to some rest and an easy day up to 17,200' camp tomorrow.
As I finish this post it seems like the winds might even be abating some. We'll touch bases again tomorrow from 17,200', hoping for some nice settled weather for a change.
Good night,
RMI Guides Brent, Leah and Nick
We are with you every inch of the way, willing you forward when you dont want to take another step. we know you will make it. god speed and good climbing . We love you Steven Hart
Posted by: Aida Hart on 6/3/2014 at 6:15 am
Outstanding job Daniel & Team! We are cheering you all the way to the top! We are so excited for you.
The Denali Bingo card formulated by our team.
1. Get uncomfortably close to filling your pee bottle in the middle of the night.
2.Make eye contact with someone from the next camp while pooping.
3. Stand outside your tent for more than 30 minutes because you want to go pee before you get into the tent because once you're in you don't want to come back out.
4. Wear your bootys instead of your boots outside and almost slide to your death (or fall into the kitchen tent)
5. Have more than 5 blisters.
6. Read out loud to your tent mates for entertainment.
7. Read all the books you brought/watch all the shows you downloaded before day 16.
8. Eat 3 servings of breakfast/dinner.
9. Drink your warm food bowl cleaning water (gross)
10. Get very frustrated when you realize that all the music you downloaded on Spotify isn't working.
11. Eat a questionable snack.
12. Get woken up from condensation drops on your face.
13. Dig yourself out of your tent after a storm.
14. Be thankful for all the life choices that brought you here
15. Regret every life choice that brought you here.
16. Taste your last meal in your current meal.
17. Use your pee bottle for warmth.
18. Skip brushing your teeth because it’s cold outside
19. Use pee bottle as spit bottle when brushing teeth.
20. Tent yoga.
21. Finish packing your pack and then fully unpack because your gloves are at the bottom
22. Unusual shaped sunburn
23. Eat a pound of cheese in 3 days.
24. Get blasted by snow in the kitchen tent during an entire dinner
25. Wear the same pair of socks for more than 10 days
Denali bingo brought to you by Sharon and the team. We are all winners in this one!
Greetings from Pisco Base Camp,
The Spanish word of the day today is ‘Tranquilo’, meaning calm, easy, or chill. That’s what we did today here at 15,200’. We ate omelettes and then took a walk up to the top of the moraine to take a look at our route towards Pisco in the daylight. Back at camp, we dove into crevasse rescue skills in the grass before a ceviche lunch. Delicious as always! The rest of our day, we packed a little, and did some resting as the rain and graupel peppered our tents most of the afternoon. It’s clearing up as we bed down this evening after a chicken dinner and we’re hopeful we’ll see stars when wake up at 11:30 PM to start our climb. Not much else to report on a tranquilo day here at 15,200’. We’ll have more to rave about tomorrow if the mountain and weather allow! Stay tuned party people.
RMI Guide Robby Young, Alfie, William, and Team ‘Seeking Blister Tape Sponsorship’
Monday, July 1, 2019 - 10:34 PM PT
Last night’s snowstorm was short-lived, we got perhaps one inch of new at 14 Camp. Afterward, the bulk of the night was calm and in the morning -with some of the smoke washed out of the sky- we were treated to long distance views of the Chugach Mountains to the SE and to volcanoes 150 miles or more to the South. Reports were that it was still windy high on Denali, but in our sheltered bowl at 14,000 ft it was a calm and easy day. We did a long and lazy breakfast of coffee and pancakes which took us pretty much up to lunch. Then it was time for napping, books, TV or movies on the phones, daydreaming, drinking and eating. An enormous cloud cap formed on the upper mountain and so it wasn’t nearly as hot today as it had been, but the mild temperatures have still made life at 14K considerably easier than usual. We are all for easy. With Mike Haugen’s team waiting up at 17,000 and looking to summit tomorrow, we’ll most likely wait another day at 14,000 so as not to crowd them. The forecast is calling for dry and stable weather, giving us the luxury of dragging feet for better acclimatization before we make the big jump up for our summit bid.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Congrats everyone!! Excelsior John. So happy for each of you. You were all in my thoughts all weekend. Jake, Christina, Alfredo sounds like you where champs finding a way through the weather.
Posted by: Dom on 3/15/2015 at 4:50 am
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