Rest day at Camp 2:
Our coldest morning of the climb here at Camp 2 on Aconcagua. Our water source is a large snowfield, that lately has been a raging torrent due to warm temperatures and almost zero snowfall this season. The amount of water and ice that has melted at Camp 2 has begun to erode tent sites that have been staple spots at an already cramped camp.
We are going for a walk to 19,000' this morning to stretch our legs and lungs. 18,000 ft is the highest our group has slept and the guides are pleased with how everyone is acclimating. We are still anticipating high winds tomorrow and remain flexible in our ability to move up if we see a significant difference in the forecast.
RMI Guides Mike King, Steve Gately & Team
I’ve got a detailed map of Aconcagua, and it’s extremely cool to see your photos and locate them on the topo map. I can’t wait to take a shot at Aconcagua! It may still be a year or two away, but I’m working my way up to it.
Today was a day of feasting and resting. After yesterday's carry, Mike King, the master chef, started us off with a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. Then we went for a a brief walk down the Relinchos Valley to stretch our legs a bit. Upon our return to camp, we relaxed reading books and hanging out. To be followed by a delicious lunch of quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches. We're making our preparations for tomorrow's move to Camp 1 and we're looking forward to our last dinner at Basecamp for a while. Signing out for now.
RMI Guide Zeb Blais and team
RMI Guide Zeb Blais calls in from Aconcagua Basecamp.
Tonight I'm in the village of Jagat. The last 4 days were comprised of a challenging bus ride and 3 days of trekking. During the bus ride I learned why, although popular for it's price, a bus is sub-optimal for the road to Arughat -- the passengers are as much mules to help get it through the muck as paying customers. However, trekking in from Arughat has been beautiful; starting from rice fields, then through the rain forest, to now in more of a steep riverside canyon with heavy vegetation. The highlight of the trek has been midday swims in crystal clear waterfall feed pools. The low point has been the heat, humidity and incessant mosquitoes. The climate is quite stifling. Constantly wet with sweat -- day and night. Tomorrow I'm going for a bigger day to Namrung and hopefully it'll be my escape out of this Nepalese sweat locker. The occasional glimpse of snow capped peaks has me stoked for Manaslu! Though even after 3 days of trekking, the altitude at Jagat is still only 4500ft...
At some point this trail has to start holding onto gains right?
RMI Guide Alex Barber
May 17, 10:31 pm PT
The team spent today resting and acclimating at 14k Camp. Winds up high were strong today and about a half a foot of snow is forecast for tomorrow. We're all healthy and happy in our well-built camp. Hopefully the weather will break soon and we can put a cache in up high.
During the day, RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall and I teamed up with some other guides and climbed up above camp to establish the fixed lines on the headwall that go from about 15,500' to 16,200'. The previously existing lines were buried in ice and damaged to the point of being unsafe and unusable. Now that we have good fixed ropes up there we all feel better about the prospects of safely climbing higher with our team.
With the weather forecast as it is, we plan to take another rest/acclimatization day tomorrow. We'll be in touch and keep you up to date with our progress.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The weather was OK today, but there were at least eight teams trying to move up the fixed lines toward the 17,000’ Camp. Because of this we decided to wait a day and carry our gear tomorrow. It turns out that this was a good idea as all of the teams arrived at the fixed lines

together and the resulting traffic jam was frustrating to the other groups that we talked to. I took part of our group out to “the edge of the world” today. This is the edge of the ridge that abuts the glacier that the 14,000’ camp sits upon. The view down to the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier is mind boggling and we spent about an hour out there taking photos and admiring the scenery.
Mission accomplished. We had sunny weather with a light, but chilly breeze for our back carry. It took us 15 minutes to get back to our Windy Corner cache and an hour to get back up to our camp in Genet Basin. A good leg stretcher. We will likely rest tomorrow and try to carry to high camp on Monday.
Happy birthday to my brother andre!! we think of you every day! make the most of it and look forward to hearing about this wonderful trip!
Rachel, Simon, Olivier et Alexandre xxx
Posted by: Rachel on 5/19/2024 at 9:42 am
In every place on Earth you travel
The people who love you ever marvel
Your strength and stamina
Your will and resolve
Your curiosity and fearless nature.
All will carry you
To see the rarely captured
Glimpses of our world
From Nebraska to Alaska you are in my heart.
Posted by: Becky Farho Killian on 5/19/2024 at 7:37 am
Our last day in St. Petersburg! The team had a great final day here in Russia. We visited the very famous Hermitage Museum, where we saw paintings and sculptures by many well known artists including Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and even Da Vinci. It's one of Russia's great treasures and houses several thousand pieces of art collected over the last few hundred years. The Hermitage consists of 5 buildings, each with 3 floors, and has hundreds of rooms. The team did their best to take in the highlights in a little over 2 hours. We took a quick lunch before stopping by the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, that's decorated almost entirely with Mosaics/ We then wrapped up the day with a wonderful evening boat cruise to see this amazing city by water. It's been a wonderful adventure here in Russia, but it's time to say our goodbyes and return to our family and loved ones. Thanks for following.
Casey and comrades
Monday, June 3, 2019 - 7:33 AM PT
It was a busy day yesterday. We woke to clear skies with great views of Foraker, Hunter, and Crosson. As we crawled out of the tent you could here the sweet sound of the planes coming in. At that moment we knew we were gonna fly out. This was not a drill, but go time. In record speed we packed up camp and dragged all our gear to the airstrip. Somewhere near 100 people stood around waiting anxiously to board a plane. Like clock work the planes landed, loaded up a team, and flew off so another plane could land and repeat. We waited our turn, a lot like waiting for your number to be called at the DMV, we waited for our name to be called. After a couple hours, it was our turn to load up the plane and hit the slide to the sky. Showers, beers, and comfy beds were in our future. After organizing and cleaning gear, we loaded into a van headed to Anchorage. We enjoyed one final dinner together, reminiscing about the fun time we all had together the last week and a half. It's been an amazing adventure with great people. Lots of laughs, lots of learning, and lots of great memories were shared by all on the team. As we all load planes going to different states to rejoin our normal routine, I wish the best of luck to the entire team on their next adventure.
Till next time,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
We joined the emails late but thought it was awesome to be able to hear and see some of what you experienced. Now that we know how to connect with you, we will stay tuned for more. You make us feel like we are lazy at home watching adventurous people like you having amazing experiences. Keep it up and have a great summer in the mountains. xoxo
Monday, June 11, 2018 - 3:42 PM PT
We made it through a very snowy and windy night at 14,000' Camp and also made it through the coldest night we have had near -10F. The skies were clear and cold when we crawled out of the tent to nearly two feet of fresh snow. The team cleared the snow from the tents and shoveled the snow out of our snow block fortress. Then we had another amazing breakfast that started with coffee then hash browns, then blueberry pancakes, a Tyler Jones special. We then proceeded to have another round of hash browns and pancakes. This was obviously paired with a healthy serving of crispy bacon.
The new snow along with the wind has most the camp relaxed and waiting till the winds up high on the mountain subside and give the new snow time to settle. The forecast is looking up later this week. We will be patient and out chill the wind and snow, then when the opportunity presents, we will make our move to High Camp. Till then we have a fierce game of Yahtzee in the cool tent and laps around camp to keep us busy.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Tyler Jones and team
Dave and Team Jones, the ice fortress looks pretty cool. Hopefully you guys get to move to new digs on higher ground soon (winter is coming after all).
Sending lots of love,
Your big sister and the family.
Posted by: Beth on 6/12/2018 at 11:31 pm
Nothing better than a good game of Yahtzee to pass the time! Can’t wait to see the pictures from the summit! Continued prayers for good weather and a safe climb! Big hugs to Nick from his Mom. XO
The Four Day Summit Climb August 12 - 15 led by RMI Guide Geoff Schellens turned around today at 13,300' due to difficult terrain. The team reported a nice day with calm winds. The team will return to Camp Muir and continue their descent to Paradise later today.
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I’ve got a detailed map of Aconcagua, and it’s extremely cool to see your photos and locate them on the topo map. I can’t wait to take a shot at Aconcagua! It may still be a year or two away, but I’m working my way up to it.
Posted by: Michael Gibbons on 2/8/2015 at 3:54 pm
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