Most Popular Entries

This morning at Barranco, the clouds were lapping at the mountain just a hundred feet below us, but it was crystal clear up above.  We were out of camp just after 8 AM and doing battle with the Great Barranco Wall. Climbing through this section requires hands on some careful holds and feet on some well-chosen ledges in the lava.  We cruised it. We pulled over the top of the wall (at 14,000 ft) in about an hour and forty minutes.

Somehow, Benson, our chef, had beaten us to it and had a picnic table set up with refreshments. We lounged about in the sun and took pictures with Kibo’s impressive south face as the backdrop. Then we traveled on, traversing several shallow valleys.

Finally, we dropped down a steep hillside into the Karanga Valley and then up the just-as-steep opposite side of the valley. This climb took us into Karanga Camp where we ate lunch and rested and told each other tall tales for the afternoon.

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Sunday, January 27, 2019 4:48 AM PT This morning was superb. Our wonderful hacienda has coffee ready early so it seemed the birds and had found their share. At 7:15 I threw my yoga mat down on the patio outside my room and was delighted at how many songs echoed around me, many coming from beautiful fruit trees blooming in bright reds and yellows. After some bendy stretchy, we had a great breakfast which was critical to power our all man shopping spree taking place in one of Ecuador’s largest outdoor markets. Once at the market we quickly discussed negotiating tactics, set a time to return and then set forth into our shop till you drop Otavalo extravaganza! No matter how many times I walk through this explosion of textiles, jewelry and crafts, I never get past the sensory overload. Even if Amazon has eroded any sense of “good shopping wherewithal” it is still possible for nine dudes to stroll head first into this crazy place and come out with something a loved one might enjoy. Loved ones, please just say you “love it” when you get your gifts. We really do try! After the market we picked up some groceries for the hut then piled into two rowdy 4x4 trucks and headed up the mountain. These roads aren’t your average cobble stone roads so after 2.5 hours of intense butt massaging and dust inhalation overload we arrived at the Cayambe hut. Sitting at 15,100 feet we moved slowly but still managed a great hike before dinner. The weather was great so our views of the mountain left us wondering if we should just keep climbing. Back at the hut we all enjoyed good stories and food setting us up well for our first night at a new altitude. We shall report on the nights effects tomorrow. Buenas Noches from Cayambe. RMI Guide Adam Knoff

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Tyler Jones reached the Summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Casey reported increasing winds, and a cap forming as they climbed. The teams are on their descent and will be celebrating back at Rainier Basecamp early this afternoon. Congratulations to Today's Team!

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Seth Waterfall, Christina Dale, and Katrina Bloemsma reached the summit of Mt. Rainier just before 7:00 a.m. PDT. Katrina reported clear, breezy skies above Disappointment Cleaver. The teams will spend some time celebrating on the summit before beginning their descent. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford this afternoon. Congratulations climbers!

Mr. Mark Tucker here on the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro a beautiful day and a fantastic team. Everyone wants to say hi to the family. Hey -With Mark Tucker and “Tuck’s Tucklings” on the summit of Kilimanjaro. It’s a beautiful day up here. Hey it’s Maryann standing on the summit of Kilimanjaro – it’s pretty awesome. We are having some fun. Hey it’s Laura here on top of Africa. Hello to everyone back home. Well we are going to wrap it up and start working our way downhill in a good safe manner. And we will check in from Mweka Camp at 10,000’. That is 9,420’ below here. We are doing great. Thanks for checking in.

On The Map

June 21, 2014 - 11:38 pm PT This morning the team woke to some clouds in the sky and a lenticular on the top of the Mt. McKinley. We got ready for the day while we waited for Adam to get the final words from the mountain gods on our next move. If only we knew what the mountain gods had in store for us... Heavy loads up Ski Hill came first, followed by snow falling in a microwave followed by setting up camp in a serious snowstorm. The team made such impressive camp walls that a solo climber decided to use them as protection also for the night. The best news of the day though is that today marked our last uphill single carry of the trip. Happy solstice! RMI Guides Adam Knoff, Andy Hildebrand and Lindsay Mann

On The Map

Leaving Papallacta behind today wasn't easy. We only spent a single night there, relaxing our muscles in the natural hot springs, but I'm sure many of us were ready to call it home. Wifi, beds, good food, cozy cabins... But alas, we must move on and continue what we came out here to do. The glistening white slopes of Antisana are calling out to us! Our day did began with some sad news, however. Two of our climbers made the difficult decision to head home early due to a debilitating illness. We will miss them on the rest of our journey and we hope for a speedy recovery once they get back. On paper, today's objective was to establish base camp at Antisana. In practice, however, it felt like our objective was to eat as much food as possible! After packing our gear, we ate a hearty breakfast at our hacienda, complete with fresh fruit, cheese, eggs, and bread. We loaded our gear and headed down the road toward Antisana. En route we stopped at a beautiful eco-lodge nestled at the base of a rocky cliff, famous for its native condor population. There, before our breakfast really had a chance to digest, we sat down for a delicious four course lunch. In truth, most of us probably could've stopped eating after the appetizers, but our insistent hostess made sure we finished the full meal. From there, another thirty minutes of driving brought us to the field that we'll call home for the next few days. We spent the evening setting up camp, practicing various knots, hitches and bends, and (you guessed it!) more eating! Now the night is coming to a close, and everyone is inside their tents, resting up for another full day of training tomorrow. RMI Guide Adam Knoff

We're at 11,200 feet! The camp is quite the scene as there are at least 6 nationalities represented. The weather today was stellar and we moved smoothly into camp. We're all set up for a few days here, and tomorrow we plan to take a well deserved rest day. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

The team spent their last night on the trek out and has now reached the end of the trail. They will be making the drive back to Mendoza. Everyone is looking forward to good food, wine and a hot shower.

Sunday, June 16, 2024 - 11:56 pm PT

Good evening readers,

Today we woke to perfect weather for our move to 17,000 Camp. The team did well repeating the fix lines and made solid work on the Buttress. The views are spectacular being on the Buttress.There is exposure on both sides and mountains all over. It really is the best part of the mountain. We once again setup camp and got cozy. It's a bit colder up here but it's a cool place to be. Freeze dried dinners filled our empty bellies. And soon we got settled into our tents. It's gonna be a chilly night but that's what we signed up for. Enjoy your warm beds at home.

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team