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It was a relief to sleep “low down” at 10,000 ft last night. The air had oxygen and humidity and everything we’d been missing up high on Kili. We ate breakfast at 7 AM and got walking downhill through the rainforest at 8 AM. The trail was in better-than-expected condition. It can be slick and muddy, which can make the 4,000 ft descent treacherous, but today we found it pretty easy going. The team flew down the track at a record setting pace, making the Mweka Gate in just two hours and fifteen minutes. Hot showers can be a powerful motivator. A short distance from the National Park, our Barking Zebra staff treated us to one final picnic lunch. We then thanked each of the 46 men who’d put so much effort and kindness into helping us climb the mountain. After tips were passed out, the staff sang a few very fun and traditional songs while pulling us in to dance along. We then said our goodbyes and got on board the bus for the two hour ride back to Usa River. We checked into the Rivertrees Hotel and sprinted for the showers. When we next met to plan our four days of Safari, the team was nearly unrecognizable in fresh clothing and shampooed hair. We enjoyed a dinner outside under the big trees and wished our climbing partner Rob a safe journey homeward since -as planned- he’ll head home and come back for Safari on a future trip.
Safari starts in the morning!
Best Regards
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Hello everyone,
Today we headed to Tarangire National Park known for its abundant animals and plentiful elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many elephants we saw, probably several hundred at the least. It wouldn’t seem like we could get tired of seeing elephants, but there were so many that eventually we had to keep driving so we could see other animals. There were lots of giraffes, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many others. One of the highlights was seeing a male Lion up close, only about 30 feet away. He was just relaxing under a big tree with some shade and a nice breeze, hardly seemed to notice us.
We are spending our last night here in Africa at Lolkisale Camp, which has beautiful, tented rooms with screen windows to allow the sounds of the African night in. Everyone is doing great and hoping to see a few more big cats on our way out tomorrow. Then it will be back to our main lodge near Arusha for a quick shower before catching our evening flights home.
Come join us for an adventure sometime!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari Crew
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Mike King, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Elevation: 12,500'
Thursday, December 30, 2021 - 8:38 pm PT
Our run of perfect weather continues on Vinson Massif! We got out of the big sleeping bags at 10:15 this morning when the shadow loosened its cold grip. We weren’t interested in a quick and hectic start or jumping out on the climbing route immediately. Scott and Hannah -our superb ALE guides- cooked up a sumptuous breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. We ate, we looked each other in the eye, we polled the gang as to how the night had gone and how each climber felt about pushing higher. And then we pushed higher. We put on our crampons and got ice axes in hand and headed for the fixed ropes. This section would be the “meat” of the day, roughly 2,000 vertical feet on steep and firm snow slopes, protected by a continuous line of rope, anchored every 200 feet or so. We spent a good three or four hours on the wall and a few more on the lesser angled glacier above it. The lead ropes pulled in a little after 8 PM and got busy building camp for those who would follow. We climbed in fine weather, but things are on the cold side, with our estimates centering on about -30 F. It was quite challenging to climb safely in such conditions with the odd 3 mph breeze coming through. The team rocked it. We ate a long dinner and drank hot beverage after hot beverage to rehydrate and regain energy. It is 1:30 AM now, the sun is still beaming on the tents and everybody has turned in, excited to be here -close to 12,500 ft- and excited for a rest day on the final day of 2021.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Jenny Konway, Grayson Swingle
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,310'
On The Map
Posted by: Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mongolia
Posted by: Peter Whittaker, Ed Viesturs
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Hi! I have done one day of ice climbing basic skills in Iceland in 2016. I am interested in the 4 day or 5 day rainier summit trip. I was wondering if Ed Viestrus and Peter Whittaker are still taking people up there? if so, which dates?
Posted by: irene on 11/4/2017 at 11:47 pm
Fantastic! Thank you weather gods for the favorable weather. Looking forward to the first hand report.
Posted by: Cheryl McConnell on 6/29/2016 at 9:35 am
Posted by: Jeff Martin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Billy Nugent, JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
On The Map
Nicole LoBiondo: I hope you have safe travels back home and I am so happy to hear that you and your team are safe! I’ll see you soon! Much love, Sammy
Posted by: Sam Borneman on 4/28/2014 at 8:25 pm
I hope you all have safe travels back home! I can’t wait to hear all about your adventure at Copper Canyon with a margarita! And of course the salad with the bacon, fish tacitos and the steak!!!! Love ya Nicole!
Posted by: Lisa Taddeo on 4/28/2014 at 7:13 pm
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Kel Rossiter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Posted by: Camille Leininger, Jess Wedel, Pete Van Deventer, Nicole De Petris, Will Ambler, Hannah Blum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb teams June 13 - 16 led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Jess Wedel reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Casey reported a windy day with a great route. The teams were able to spend a bit of time in the crater before starting their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 am PT. Once back at Camp Muir the teams will take a short break before continuing the remaining 4,500' to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Thanks everyone for a great climb yesterday! Great meeting everyone and good luck with the next adventure.
Special thanks to Jess as Cam and I probably wouldn’t have made it without you! Jess, since we didn’t have much time for pictures, would you happen to have any pictures of our climb or previous Rainer climbs? If so, could u send them to my email or post some where on the Rmi blog? Thanks again for everything!
Posted by: Steven Funanich on 6/17/2023 at 11:48 am
Congrats to all the climbers! Great job Meghan!! I admire all of u!! Gayle
Posted by: Gayle Conarello on 7/7/2019 at 6:01 pm
WOW, Andrew! Congratulations!!!
Posted by: Paul Myers on 7/7/2019 at 12:37 am
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