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June 6, 2015 9:15am PST RMI Guide Adam Knoff just called into the RMI office and gave us an update. The team is at 9,000’ camp and heading toward the air strip. They woke up yesterday and made the decision to head down to 11,000’ camp. In high winds and blowing snow they headed down and after 2.5 hours they were greeted with smiles and hots from RMI Guide Tyler Jones and team at camp. The team took a bit of a rest, packed it up and pointed their boots downhill. They then traveled through deep snow, whiteout conditions and with some help from the GPS they reached 9,000’, where they rested for the night. The Sun came out this morning and the team was all smiles! The team is packed and ready to blaze the five miles of trail in knee deep snow toward Base Camp, where with some luck they will fly off the glacier this evening or by the afternoon on Sunday. Special request from Adam: “WISH US LUCK!”

Hello everyone, This is Team Mexico calling in from the hut at Orizaba. We had a great day yesterday in Puebla, a day of rest and relaxation. We've all recovered and recuperated after our big day on Ixta. But we're here now setting up tents. There is a hut here, as I mentioned, but it's a little nicer to stay outside. We've got some great Mountain Hardware tents that we're setting up right now for the team. The weather was beautiful coming in, we were able to see Orizaba all day long. But, now we're actually in a cloud but it's one of those happy clouds that surrounded the mountain, real calm winds really non existent winds right now, and we're having some good high hopes for tomorrow. Our plan is to wake up around midnight, and start climbing right around 1:30 - 2 o'clock in the morning, and if all goes well will be getting to the top of Orizaba right around 9 or 10 o'clock in the morning, so thanks for following along. Stay tuned, because hopefully tomorrow will have some great news for you. Take care everyone, adios from Mexico. RMI Guide JJ Justman, Elias deAndres Martos & Team

Hi all... Just checking in on a rest day here at Chilcabamba. Been enjoying the views and the rustic setup of this farmhouse turned lodge and lazing about like monarchs. The famous dogs of Chilcabamba, Pacha and Toa are still around and friendly as ever (anyone who's been here knows what I'm talking about). These guys might be easier to adopt than the aforementioned monkey but I'm pretty sure the folks here won't give them up so easily. Not much else to report besides views, wood burning stoves, hundreds of hummingbirds, and ponchos! Enjoying our rest and letting our brains as bodies recoup after yesterday's challenge, getting ready for the next... RMI Guides Billy, Garrett & Team

We're enjoying ourselves today on another beautiful bluebird day here at Plaza Argentina after being awoken by incoming helicopters. We chowed down this morning on bacon and eggs with green peppers and onions, coffee, and maté and then spent the afternoon prepping for tomorrow's carry to Camp 1. The carry should take us over 16,000' and give us some good exercise to stimulate better acclimatization. The weather looks like it'll be turning south on Sunday/Monday so it will be nice to get a cache in before the snow comes. We will check in again soon. RMI Guide Billy Nugent

"Pista!” 

“¡Venga!”

“¡Sí se puede!”

The hike up La Malinche gave our RMI crew a chance to stretch our legs (muchas gracias to our driver, Hector, for our safe travels from CDMX) as well as to practice our Spanish thanks to a race up and down the mountain that was happening during our acclimation hike.  

Our group went from 10,000 ft at the La Malinche resort to a near summit at 14,000ft. About half the crew tried to summit but were turned away by the local enforcers of summit attempts. 

In a few quick hours everyone was back at the resort and enjoying a delicious authentic Mexican meal prepared by the resort staff. 

Off to bed early and in the morning we will be back at it headed to Ixta base camp. 

“Watch the course!”

“Come on!” 

“Yes you can!” 

RMI Climber Jared Wood 

We had a great kick off meeting last night and everyone is excited to be together and starting a fun week long mountain adventure to Pico de Orizaba.  After quick introductions for Merrick and me (Alden, Brett, Jeff and John have climbed together in the past) we enjoyed a beautiful view from a roof top lounge looking over Mexico City. We then moved to Historico Azul a unique open air restaurant beneath a perfectly manicured canopy of trees for dinner. In each trees hung hundreds of small oil lamps giving the room a warm glow, and the food was delicious. Today we are driving to La Malinche, a small mountain resort, to begin our acclimation process with a promising weather forecast. 

Thanks again,

RMI Guide Walt Hailes

Hello again everyone. We had a slower start today to allow the many porters to hit the ever narrowing trail. Right out of camp we were faced with the only real technical obstacle right out of camp. This hurdle is the great Barranco Wall, which rises about 1,000 feet and looks as intimidating as it sounds. Thankfully there is a nice narrow trail that weaves its way up and through the wall and all the way to the top. Most of it feels more like steep hiking, but there are a few places that require the use of our hands to help us climb up. The team did a good job of moving steady and allowing a few porters through with their loads precariously balanced on their heads. Which was astonishing to see! After reaching the top we took a nice break and enjoyed the amazing views of the ice-ladened south face and valleys below. The team continued our hike for a few more hours up and down through a few valleys before reaching camp. All in all, it took only about four hours for us to reach our next camp called Karanga, named for the big and beautiful valley which it overlooks and the peanuts that are grown far below in the valley. We spent the remainder of the day relaxing and playing cribbage, which has been quite the hit. RMI Guide Casey Grom and the 2nd Kili crew

On The Map

Day one of Expedition Skills Ecuador Today the team assembled here in Quito, Ecuador’s capital and gateway to the numerous volcanoes reaching 19,000 feet into the equatorial sky which we plan to climb in the coming weeks. With no lost bags, on time flights and darn right prompt people we all gathered for breakfast, ran through a fun team intro and prepared for the day’s events all without the slightest hiccup. I hope the mountains themselves go so smoothly. Once oriented to one another and the plan, all eleven of us loaded the tour bus, captained by a tour guide named Angel, yes we were in good hands, then headed 15 miles north to the Mitad Del Mundo, or translated to mean “The Middle of the World”. Here we learned much about the history of sun dials, the ancient indigenous knowledge of the equator, proving we don’t need GPS’s to know where things are and many cool physical effects that literally change ten feet on either side of the line. Of course the most important test was to show how an egg can balance on a nail much easier on the direct line as opposed to 15 feet to the north or south. Whomever managed to earn their master egg balancing certificate gets to climb on my rope because I now know their focus is superb! After we were all convinced the equator does exist and the world is not flat we headed into the old town of Quito to experience the sights and sounds of a truly bustling city. With clear vistas from the Panecillo hill, one gets a true sense how far stretched this city really is. From north to south, Quito extends for more than 90 kilometers making it seem vast and expansive. From the hill we moved into the old town where we saw the golden church, the presidential palace and the main square of the city. The weather was warm and pleasant and at one point we could see the snow capped summit of Cayambe, our first big objective coming in five days. But before we do that we must acclimate on lower mountains. Tomorrow we climb a 15,700 foot tall volcano 15 minutes out of the city. It’s a big jump but the team seems experienced and healthy so I am looking forward to a good day. Stay tuned for how that climbs goes. Hasta Luego or Until Later. RMI Guide Adam Knoff

We heard from our team members at high camp that the route has been fixed. They reported that that the route is a mixture of blue ice and snow. They have a fixed line all the way to the ridge. The ridge, however, is too dangerous to walk along due to poor snow quality. They are optimistic though that the team can make it onto the ridge and enjoy some beautiful views. We are all excited to get the chance to climb something. As for the rest of us today, we fixed our own rope in a gully outside of camp, that had some ice in it, to give the Nepali girls more practice before the real deal. They all did great, with one of them showing real potential in the mountains. Tomorrow we rest, to give our teammates that have been working so hard to put in a route, a well-deserved break. On Saturday the whole team will move up and try our hand. All the best, RMI Guide Hannah Smith

June 22, 2017 After having so much fun with our cache mission up to 14,000 feet and back, the team decided they want to do it again tomorrow. This time we will be moving up to make a new camp at 14,200. We hope that the weather tomorrow will be as lovely as today. RMI Guide Mike Haugen

On The Map