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Friday, May 24, 2024 10:51pm PDT

Things worked well for us today to get to 17,000’ Camp. The morning was relatively warm, things looked calm above finally, and everyone was excited to go somewhere new. That was true of most of camp as many guide parties all took the opportunity to bump up to high camp. It was a busy day on the fixed lines and buttress, but overall, it went pretty smoothly for us.

We were one of the first parties to arrive at 17,000’ Camp in the midafternoon, and had plenty of time to build camp while taking breaks to rest and recover up here in the thin air. We are settled in comfortably, and headed to bed shortly to wake up and see if tomorrow is our day to go for the  summit!

Wish us fair weather and swift feet!

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer & Team

"Popo says Nono"

Late we woke in the night, to find an unfortunate sight.

The volcano next door, poured ash on the floor,

And now we're forced to make flight.

For those who haven't seen the news, Mexico City not only had flights grounded due to the eruption of Popo, but we stayed grounded as well. A difficult but necessary decision meant we didn't leave high camp, and we chose to sleep in and keep our respiratory systems in check. We packed up camp and hiked back to basecamp with buffs and goggles on...seems like a Gen X trend of sorts. We were greeted back at basecamp by JP's new dogs and a tasty lunch. Thanking our porter crew, cooks, and guide, Alan Marghereti, we loaded the van and made our way towards paradise...AKA a fresh shower. Arriving at our hotel in Puebla, it was our first step towards no longer feeling like a piece of ash. After a quick breath of fresh air, a few light and carbonated beverages, and what feels like 3/4 of a pig, we are very excited to continue checking out the sights of Puebla tomorrow while we rest and try to keep our walking to a maximum of 2.5 Dom units.

(Poem title courtesy of Eric Obscherning)

RMI Guide Ben Luedtke and team

RMI Guide Nick Scott and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz team was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Poor route conditions forced the team to call 13,100' their high point. The team will spend a final night on the mountain before finishing their descent tomorrow. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford tomorrow afternoon.

A few years ago I had the pleasure to work with Caleb Ladue, RMI guide on his first trip here on Aconcagua. We spent Christmas with our group at base camp. Caleb had bought a bunch of treats and little bottles of champagne for our team to enjoy, one of which was TANG mimosas. He had somehow grabbed a sock from each climber without them knowing and when the team walked into our dining tent there hung a stocking for each of them. Caleb passed away in a skiing accident not far from where we are now in the Andes last fall. In his memory, we started our holiday morning off with stockings and hot drinks delivered to the Team’s tents. The champagne would have been to heavy to get up this high and not benefited our acclimatization so we opted for coffee. The Team is doing well and excited for a rest day. The weather is supposed to get windy for the next 3-5 days. Advancing our schedule isn’t in the cards so we will wait to see what the weather gives us and hopefully have a summit bid Sunday-Monday. This will get us back to Mendoza for flights home. Until then we are going to reinforce camp and enjoy the calm air and warm tents. The office sent in your blog comments, we will read them during breakfast, thanks for supporting the Team from a far, it means a lot to them. Merry Christmas from 18,000’. RMI Guide Mike King

The Four Day Summit Climb July 22 - 25, 2017 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI Guides Mike Walter, Lydia Johnson and JT Schmitt reported clear skies and calm winds. The team will return to Camp Muir and continue down to Paradise. They will conclude their program with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's climbers!

Good evening from Camp 1. Gnarly day we had today folks, as we're currently waiting out a nasty wind storm. The morning went well, with our Sherpa team plus guides Robby and Elías making it to Camp 2, in the vicinity of 7,000m, breaking trail with more than a one foot of soft snow. Meanwhile the climbing team, under the directions of guide Knoff, made an acclimating stroll around Camp 1. Everyone is doing well, and the effects of the altitude at this elevation are barely noticeable now. We'll keep you posted on our upcoming plan. Time to go rest now! RMI Guide Elías de Martos and team.

June 9, 2014 - 9:52 pm PT The team remained at 7,800' on Mt. McKinley and chalked it up to a weather day. Apparently they spent the day composing poetry. A copy of their work is below: We're below Ski Hill Snowing, blowing, eating here Hope to move up soon! Cheers from 7800, Katie, Leon, Jake, and Crew RMI Guides Jake Beren, Leon Davis & Katie Bono

On The Map

Blue skies and calm winds greeted our Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Jason Thompson and Pete Van Deventer. The teams enjoyed the views from the Summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning and are now en-route back to Camp Muir. Congratulations to Today's Teams!

The Four Day Summit Climb July 7 - 10 led by Chad Peele reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team reported clear skies and light winds this morning. They began their descent from the crater rim at 7:30 a.m. PT. Congratulations to today's summit team!

Hi, this is Andres from the West Rib Expedition. We are having a rest day at 14,000’ Yesterday, we carried to 16,200’ to make a cache. So we now have some groceries and luggage up there, now we are having a rest day back at 14,000’. Everybody is doing great, in good spirits. Good weather here right now and we look forward to climbing again in a couple days. Everything is well here and we are having a great time and looking forward to the climb. RMI Guide Andres Marin