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Acclimatization has been going well thus far here in Huaraz. Not only have we been sleeping at 10,000', but yesterday, we went for a hike a few hours round-trip walk from our hotel to the "Puca Ventana" or "Red Window" which overlooks the city. Today, we went up to 14,700' on another hike to the beautiful turquoise Laguna which sits in front of the 18,000' "Nevado Churup." After packing for the week ahead, we all enjoyed another delicious meal at the Hotel Andino. Early to bed for some rest before we begin the 6-day adventure that awaits in the Ishinca Valley where we will set up our basecamp and attempt our two objectives (Nevado Ishinca, and Urus Oeste). Stay tuned!

RMI Guides Alan Davis and Emma Lyddan

Strong winds and about a foot of fresh snow prevent the Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides JT Schmitt and Alex Halliday from leaving Camp Muir. Big spring storms and winter like weather are keeping all climbing teams from reaching the summit. 

The team will enjoy the stormy morning with a leisurely breakfast before starting their descent. We expect them to return to Rainier Basecamp in the early afternoon.

11 PM sure seemed like it came early last night.  Some got a little sleep, some got none, but we all got up to go climbing.  We had an 11:30 “breakfast” before leaving Barafu High Camp just after midnight.  It was magically clear and calm.  We could see the lights of Moshi and a thousand other towns.  The moon didn’t rise until about three so there were plenty of stars to see as we marched by headlight.  Naturally, all the other climbing teams were getting going at the same time, so Naiman -who led the way- had to do some bobbing and weaving to get us free of traffic jams.  Eventually we broke free and were able to set our desired pace up the steep, zig zag of pumice and lava steps.  We took short breaks every 60 to 90 minutes, generally adding clothing layers as we got higher and colder.  It was still dark when we hit the crater rim at Stella Pt at 5:48. We took a short break and the guides broke out thermoses of sweet black tea which the team devoured.  Then we walked the rim to Uhuru as daylight slowly came on.  There is a lot to look at on a 19,000 ft stroll at sunrise.  We hit the tippy top… Uhuru… at 6:47 AM   There were a few tears and cheers, then a bunch of happy photographs.  We sat to eat and drink and then -after 25 minutes on the top of Africa- we began our descent.  The team made good time, boot skiing down thousands of feet of loose pumice.  In three and a half hours we were back at High Camp. Our staff welcomed us with cups of fruit juice and joyful songs.  Tosha -our chef- prepared a 15,200 ft pizza lunch to fortify us for our continued climb down.  The team pulled out of High Camp at 11:40 AM and got down 5000 ft of rocky and dusty trail in three hours.  It is clear and sunny still at 10,000 ft Mweka Camp.  Our team is tired but happy.  We’ll sit down to our final dinner on the hill in a few minutes and we’ll review the highs… and the hard parts of an excellent day.  There will certainly be a few mentions of the amazing job our guides and staff did to get us living out a dream. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Four Day Team climbed into a cap and had light winds. but that didn't stop them from reaching the 14,410' Summit. RMI Guides Steve Gately and Joe Hoch were leading the team off the crater rim at 6:57 am. They are on the descent making their way back to Camp Muir.

Congratulations team! 

Hello again everyone,

The team had a good night’s rest last night and today was just a short 3 hour hike up to 15’000' to our high camp. It started out sunny, but then quickly clouded up thankfully for great hiking temperatures. The Equatorial sun at this elevation is quite intense, a little break was needed.

The team has just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what we’ll be wearing, what will be in the pack, as well as the schedule.

Our game plan will be to wake at 11pm and have a quick breakfast at 11:30pm, then hopefully hit the trail right at midnight. The team has been doing great thus far and I’m expecting us to reach the summit in 7 to 8 hours if things go according to plan.

As per usual on a Casey climb, one lucky trivia winner will get a phone call from the summit.

So everyone back home please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer. We are 8+hrs ahead of the east coast time zone.

Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Summit Bound Crew

Mt. Rainier, everyday, when it’s not cloudy … I get to see Mt. Rainier. Ever since I moved to the Seattle area 10 years ago, I’ve been looking at that mountain, knowing that I would summit it someday.  This September, with RMI Expeditions, I will be able to attempt the climb and hope that the mountain allows me to summit.   Every day for the past 8 months I have been waking up and heading to the gym at 4 AM to work out.  I have been part of a fitness program getting back into shape, and now, down 80lbs, I have been inspired to make my summit a reality this fall.  The great thing about living in the Pacific Northwest is that I get to look at the mountain almost daily and it serves as a constant reminder of what I am training for.  That training has to be incorporated into a very busy life, balancing my work and family schedules, but as many I have talked with, every bit of training you do is more ‘fuel’ in your tank for when you summit - that is what drives me to get up every morning. As someone who works in marketing for a major software company in Redmond, my days are kept very busy, and 9 - 10hr work days on top of training is at times challenging to keep up with.  The way I keep life balanced is by starting my days early as it helps me get in what I need to at the gym and allows for some quiet time in the office to catch up on email before the busyness of the day begins. My days look like the following: • 4 AM: Alarm goes off and I drag myself out of bed. • 5 AM: At the gym to get in a 60 - 90 minute workout doing either circuit training, or a mountain conditioning class at the Pro Sports Club. • Around 7 AM I am into work for a full day. • 4 PM: I either head home for the day to relax or I head to Tiger Mountain’s cable line trail for training on Tuesdays & Thursdays. • Eat dinner when I get home. • 8:30-9 PM: Head to bed to rest for another busy day. Right now I’m doing a combination of circuit training and a mountain conditioning course Monday - Thursday at the gym and on Fridays I workout my bigger muscle groups and do a short 30 min on cardio.  On Monday and Wednesday after work I head to the driving range to mix it up a bit and have some fun.  Tuesday and Thursdays are my big days where I have both mountain conditioning and I head up and do the Tiger Mountain Cable Line Trail (1000 vertical feet in a little over a mile).  I use Fridays to recover and I do major hikes for training over the weekends, and try to include my wife on some of these more “fun” hikes.   Balancing the heavy training schedule with work and a family is very tricky, but I also remember this is only for a short period of life, and I am constantly reminded of the goal ahead when I catch a glimpse of Mt. Rainier peeking out from the clouds. - Jeff Marcoux _____ Jeff Marcoux is an avid hiker & lover of micro brews who lives with his wife in Seattle, WA.

RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Bryan Mazaika led the Four Day Climb May 28 - 31, 2023 to the summit of Mt. Rainier today.  The teams enjoyed over an hour in the summit crater before starting their descent from the crater rim shortly before 9 am. Conditions above Camp Muir were clear and sunny with a cloud deck below near 7,500'.  Climbers will make a quick stop at Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them back at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

What a difference a day makes.  Yesterday morning we woke at Vinson high camp and finished the “day” around a campfire in Miami, Florida. 

We packed camp on another cold but beautiful Antarctic morning and started climbing downhill at 11:30 AM.  Getting down the steep “fixed rope” section was the tricky part, but we managed it without great difficulty and pulled into low camp at 1 PM.  We switched gears, pulling off crampons and rigging sleds for the lower angled glacier walk to Vinson Basecamp.  There were some low clouds about and a forecast for more to come, so it wasn’t certain that we’d be able to fly out.  But we didn’t think too much about that as we walked the amazing walk down the Branscomb Glacier to VBC.  We pulled in at 4 PM… minutes after Russ landed his ski equipped Twin Otter.  We were greeted at VBC with fist bumps, champagne and COVID tests.  We did the duffel shuffle into the plane and shared a last cocktail with the top notch ALE staff.  Bidding Scott and Hannah goodbye, we loaded up and flew to Union Glacier.  Our timing being perfect, as always, we showed up at 6:30, just in time for an excellent dinner -sitting in chairs at a table in the comfortable dining tent.  By then we knew our Bombardier jet was inbound and so we simply extended dinner for a few hours to sit and talk and mingle with the other adventurers.  Nimsdai, the great Nepali climber and expedition leader, walked in fresh off a plane from the South Pole, and regaled our team with accounts of skiing the “Last Degree”

The “Global” landed at 11PM on the blue ice runway as we watched and cheered.  We took our last steps on the glacier and up the ramp to the luxury of the plane.  Within minutes, Sniggy transformed from Vinson climber to Pilot and lifted us off the Ice.  In less than four hours we were back to Punta Arenas, but only to refuel and say goodbye to Ed Viesturs -who stayed behind for a planned second Vinson climb.  The team toasted Ed as we flew through the South American night.  By early afternoon we were in Miami, Florida and welcomed “home” by Sean “Stroker” Gustafson.  Stroker -the famous F16 pilot and former Vinson climber- had us out to his place for a memorable evening of jet skiing, fishing, and fabulous dining.  Stroker’s family made us quite comfortable and welcome around a campfire to finish the “day”.  The team told stories of mountain climbing and space travel.  We laughed and plotted future adventures long into the night.  It is rare to end an Antarctic journey with a campfire in the sand, but I highly recommend that you try it. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Today we are training at Camp Muir. The weather is not cooperating with our training, but we are having fun teaching and using advanced techniques for our very advanced clientele. It is very winter like here at Camp Muir a lot of snow and a lot of wind. Our last session will be navigation, and that will come in handy tomorrow getting down the Muir Snowfield. JJ, Dan & the Expedition Team

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and the Five Day Summit Climb led by Casey Grom checked in from Camp Muir this morning. Due to high winds, blowing snow and poor visibility the climbers were unable to leave Camp Muir this morning to make their summit attempt. The telemetry at Camp Muir and the guides state that wind speeds were consistently 70 - 80 mph with a high of 102 mph during the 1 am hour. The teams are safe and warm in the hut enjoying breakfast and hot drinks at 10,000'. They will be starting their descent from Camp Muir at 9 a.m. PT.