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RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Four Day Climb August 13 - 16 enjoyed clear skies this morning as they made their way from Camp Muir to the summit of Mt. Rainier. Although it was a bit breezy and there was a cloud deck below Camp Muir, climbing on the upper mountain was nice. The teams enjoyed spending some time in the crater rim before starting their descent. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise and complete their program this afternoon with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Today we woke up to another beautiful day in Ecuador. After breakfast our team, now complete with our outstanding local guide Jaime, headed for the teleferico (gondola) and began our first acclimatization hike on a beautiful ridge overlooking Quito. The entire team styled our climb to Rucu Pichincha, breaking a couple of altitude records along the way. After some time on the summit enjoying just enough weather to make for dramatic light without spoiling any views, we headed back to Quito to rest and pack up for our move to Fuya Fuya and Otavalo tomorrow. The whole team was happy to get up in the mountains today and are feeling great, we hope our streak of great weather continues!
RMI Guide Chris Ebeling
Paul you are incredible!
Posted by: Julianne Echols on 1/25/2019 at 7:22 am
Nice work everyone! It looks absolutely beautiful out there. Good luck on your climb today! *Rock Stars*
Posted by: Amy Collins on 1/25/2019 at 4:46 am
Posted by: Hannah Smith
Categories: Guide News
Snow lightly pitter pattered against our tents. Every so often we tapped the sides of the tent to knock the snow down. We woke to a winter wonderland. As we boiled water for coffee you could hear sloughs of snow tumble down the mountain side. Mother nature had spoken. The mountain had spoken. We were not going to climb. Due to the amount of snow that had fallen and the terrain we were going to get on, we were concerned about the avalanche hazard. Today was not going to be our moment to climb. Instead we packed up our camp as the snow fell from the sky and more snow rumbled down the mountain. Our packs were heavy and the walking slippery with the new snow on slick grass and crumbly rock as we made our way back to Base Camp. Tomorrow we will enjoy our last day at our Base Camp. The following day we are looking at going up and over a col to a new valley for a few days before we begin our trek out. For now, we are all getting cozy in our sleeping bags, for there is a chilly crispness to the night air.
Sweet dreams,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith
Posted by: Kel Rossiter, Ben Markhart
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 6,800'
Hello, this is day 2 of the Mount Baker Climb & Ski program. Today was an excellent training day. We woke up with a sunrise, had some breakfast, and got out on the glacier for some firm snow ski, uphill travel techniques: ski cramponing, boot cramponing, roped travel, and a variety of other skills. Then we ripped skins and had a delightful 1,300-foot descent back to camp. In the afternoon we covered avalanche rescue techniques and crevasse rescue techniques as well. We rolled into dinner, cooked up some great food, put the finishing touches on our packs and getting set for a successful summit bid on Baker tomorrow or tomorrow morning. Bye. Bye.
RMI Guide Kel Rossiter
RMI Guide Kel Rossiter checks in from Mt. Baker.
Posted by: Seth Waterfall, Katrina Bloemsma, Chase Nelson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Katrina Bloemsma was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Due to overnight rain the team was unable to leave Camp Muir for their summit attempt. The weather improved enough this morning for the team to climb up to Ingraham Flats at 11,200' to climb a bit and experience the upper slopes of Mt. Rainier. The team left Camp Muir at 10:45 a.m. to make their descent back to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford early this afternoon.
Jambo from Shira Camp at around 12,500 feet. We enjoyed a rain-free day from start to finish. Early risers back down at Machame Camp claim to have seen Kilimanjaro's main peak before clouds hid her cliffs and glaciers. We ate breakfast at around 7:30 under partly cloudy skies and got walking at 8:15 under sunny skies. It was a day of serious altitude gain as we covered half of yesterday's distance but still got up 2,500 vertical feet. There were dramatic changes in vegetation as we came out of the forests and through various zones of plant life flourishing in arid conditions. A large part of the day was spent working up along a ridge of old and weathered lava. Eventually we saw our first Senescu and Lobelia plants. The first of what will be many. The climb finished with a traverse out to the west, where ancient lava flows built a broad flatland between Kibo- Kilimanjaro's main peak and Shira, its western satellite. The gang are all climbing well and continue to marvel at just how much dirt and dust will fit under human fingernails in this environment. Temperatures aren't so cold yet, despite our having pushed up to roughly 12,500 feet.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori !
Posted by: Laurie on 9/5/2015 at 9:45 am
Yay Jenell!! Hope everyone stays safe.
Posted by: Leisa on 9/5/2015 at 8:12 am
Posted by: Billy Nugent, Mike King, Sean Collon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
June 28, 2015 12:20 am PST
Big day today... In spite of the forecast for 6-12" of new snow to fall today we awoke to partly cloudy skies, sun breaks, and only occasional flurries. Our long-shot plan to carry was a reality. We got rolling and packed up loads of supplies for High Camp and after a quick breakfast we made moves for the headwall and the fixed lines. After a few growing pains the team hit their stride and were able to put a cache in all the way up at high camp. The need for a back-carry could have hamstrung us on our move but since we cached at camp we are sitting pretty, waiting for our summit attempt weather window to open up. We're planning on a rest day tomorrow and then it's game on. We're a tired bunch but we know that today's hard work will pay off.
All for now!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
beard looks good on you !
Posted by: MARK AND HELEN WALSH on 6/29/2015 at 6:14 am
Hard work paying off indeed team - rest and be ready!
Doug - “If the sky could dream, it would dream of dragons”
-Llona Andrews, Fate’s Edge
Stay safe on the dragon’s back. ~Belladonna
Posted by: Belladonna on 6/28/2015 at 11:28 am
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Lindsay Mann, Chase Nelson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
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Sunday, May 31st 11:45pm PDT
Today the weather was wonderful! We woke up with the sun warming the tents. With a leisurely breakfast of pop tarts and grits we then sauntered down to hit our cache at 10,000ft. The groceries now in hand, we walked back up hill on firm snow dawning our crampons which was a pleasant change from waddling like platypus in snowshoes! Do platypus even walk anyway?
Back at camp our food bags were calling us as we climbed in our tents to beat the afternoon radiation. We welcomed RMI teams Walter and Van Deventer back to 11 camp fresh from the summit yesterday. Great work teams!
After giving high-fives to our friends, we worked on fortifying our camp. We built walls, bathrooms and a new cook tent. Camp looks good and we are snug as a bug in a rug here at 11,000ft.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
looks like from the other teams you have some weather coming”. Love U
Posted by: Richie on 6/2/2015 at 7:26 pm
good morning Brenda everything is great on the home front we are so happy your team is doing so well and the weather is co operating
Posted by: Richard Larscheid on 6/2/2015 at 9:06 am
Hey gang,
Being on the border of the Amazon Rainforest almost always keeps some clouds floating around Cayambe, but last night it brought more than just clouds. We awoke to a soaking mist that would have drenched the team within minutes of climbing. So we postponed for an hour and a half until there was a minor let up. Then we gathered our gear and started walking up hill in what can best be described as a "dry mist". For 45 minutes we had optimistic smiles as the moon was poking through the clouds and the team was moving strong. But at the first break the rains came and didn't let up. We pushed a bit further to 16,500 feet until the crew was soaked and the decision was clear to head down. To go higher would mean freezing our wet clothes and pushing the limits of a safe climb.
The descent went well and the whole team is now at Papallacta hot springs, happy and healthy. Everyone is turning their sights to more training and our next big climb......Antisana!
Stay tuned
RMI Guide Ben Liken and the Team
Posted by: Seth Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
It's been another great day on safari. Today we got an early start and headed to Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area. This is different from the national parks here in Tanzania in that the Masaai people are allowed to continue their traditional way of life in the conservation area but no one is allowed to live in the national parks.
The entrance to the crater is only 15 minutes from our hotel but then we have to drive around the rim to get to a descent road. So along the way we stopped at a Masaai village where they showed us how they organize the village and what their homes are like. It was all very interesting.
After we got down to the floor of the crater we started to see all of the animals that we came for. We did get the chance to see a female lion and her cubs but it was very hot and they we just relaxing in the shade. After that we got to see two fairly active rhinos fairly close to the road and that was a real treat. But I would have to say the best sighting of the day was a few hippos feeding on grass very close to the car.
Now we are headed back to the Plantation Lodge for the night. Tomorrow we'll sleep in a little and then head to Tarangire National Park and Kikoti Camp which are our last destinations on this trip.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
WOW! Sounds like an amazing experience! Patty, we can’t to see you and hear all about this incredible adventure!! Take lots of pictures… We love you… Be safe…
Posted by: Sally on 2/5/2015 at 4:18 am
Patty—-get as many selfies as you can with ALL of the locals… 2 legged and 4 legged as long as it’s legal, and of course safe! Love you! Regina
Posted by: Regina on 2/4/2015 at 2:11 pm
Thank you, Casey, Jessica, and Matias(my rope team lead) for helping me get up to Rainier! I thoroughly enjoyed your company. Big thanks again! Btw, I was so dazed yesterday I didn’t turn on my iPhone to accept Casey’s offer to airdrop transfer pictures. Please remind RMI office to send us the picture link. Take care, Donald
Posted by: Donald Chong on 8/17/2019 at 8:56 am
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