We awoke in Mexico City this morning to clearing skies, warmer temperatures, and relatively quiet streets. Leaving town early on the Sunday morning of a holiday weekend has its benefits!
The team enjoyed a delicious traditional Mexican style breakfast provided by the hotel, and after efficiently transferring our mountain of luggage into the vehicle to go to the actual mountain, we stole a few extra moments prior to loading our bus to make a final run to the closest Starbucks. This last minute luxury is one which instantly triggers my Seattleite soul into an irrepressible mental fist-bump!
We sailed through the streets of District Federal with ease, making quick work of our exit from the metropolitan area. We had discussed the need to "roll with the punches", so to speak, at our evening meeting, as the logistics of traveling in this part of the world can sometimes be an exercise in patience. Soon after we left the city center behind we were met with our first mental challenge of the trip!
Our driver pulled off the highway, jumped out of the bus, and made a break for the nearest field and distant buildings in what at first appeared to be either a desperate trip to get to the restroom, or an oddly-timed opportunity to get in a quick jog...either way we all followed suit and hopped off to snap a few quick selfies and capture the views of Ixta and Popo.
To our delight, our driver returned, with tools and additional man-power, and we soon discovered we were not being abandoned, but rather beginning the process of repairing a punctured tire.
After an hour of relaxing roadside, we re-boarded and continued toward La Malinche, eagerly anticipating stretching our legs on the slopes of the long-extinct volcano. Once we arrived here at the La Malitzi Resort, we quickly moved into our Cabanas, organized our day packs, hit the trail, and hiked at a casual pace ascending to our high point of just over 12,000ft.
Back at the resort just before dark, we are enjoying a beautiful sunset here at 10,000ft, awaiting our dinner reservation and a hot shower to wash off the trail dust.
Tomorrow we head to Ixta to continue the acclimatization process and prepare for our first summit bid in a few days!
Buenos Noches!
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall and the Team
Hi there, this is Seth checking in from 10,000 feet on Kilimanjaro. Everyone is doing well after our first day on the trail.
We started early at the hotel, with breakfast at 6:30 this morning. I arrived a few minutes early but I was still one of the last ones to arrive. This is a motivated bunch of folks.
The drive to the trailhead was relatively uneventful but checking in at the national park entrance took a little longer than usual. The small delay was quickly forgotten after a few minutes of hiking. Everyone agreed that it felt great to stretch the legs after all the traveling.
The weather was great for the hike and we are hoping that carries over for the rest of our time on the mountain.
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Early this morning we made our summit attempt on Cayambe. Although we were unable to make it to the top, we gained some invaluable mountain experience and made many new personal high points. Spending the time at altitude will also help us be better acclimatized for our next two targets, Antisana and Cotopaxi. Just after leaving our break at 17,000 ft on Cayambe, we were faced with exceptionally high winds and freezing rain, conditions that just don't allow us to continue moving uphill safely. The decision was made to turn the entire team around descend back to the refugio (our mountain hut).
After making it back to our camp, we went right in to packing our gear and preparing for our descent. No rest for the weary! We made the short hike downhill to our waiting bus and started our journey to Termas Papallacta, a natural hot-spring resort that we called home for the evening. A nice, long soak in the hot springs does wonders for sore legs! The rest of our evening will be spent organizing and packing our gear, preparing for our move to Antisana in the morning.
Until next time,
RMI Guide Nick Hunt and team
Sorry about your summitt bid, good luck with the next one! Just catching up with your latest adventures. Stay safe, have fun and great posts. Hope you summitt the rest.
Love from cold MN! Kris, Jon and Boys
Hi there. This is Adam Knoff calling from the Cayambe Hut at 15,300 feet. We had an unexpected bad weather day today. We had hoped to climb to the glacier and do some training, but we were bouted by high winds, blowing raining and cold temperatures. We did manage to squeeze in a good amount of training around the hut here and the team is feeling psyched that now, this evening, the clouds departed and we have a clear view of the mountain. We are getting up in about four hours to start our climb of Cayambe at around midnight. Things are looking much better than they were earlier in the day so we are optimistic that we have a good shot at making the top. We will call tomorrow with a progress report until then, buenes noches.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
RMI Guide Adam Knoff calls in from the Cayambe Hut.
Namaste
The team woke to beautifully clear skies and views of Mt. Everest right out our dining room window. We’ve settled into our daily routine of getting up and packing our duffel bags before meeting in the dining room for breakfast and Starbucks coffee thanks to RMI sending it with us. After breakfast we step outside to get a better sense of the temperature before adjusting our layers for the hike. Once on the trail we do our best to maintain a steady pace, with stops every hour or so to stay hydrated and take in the views. There’s plenty of other hikers and yak trains headed in both directions to negotiate as well.
Today we hiked for about 5-6 hrs including breaks and a light lunch to get to our next tea house in Pheriche, which sits at about 14’000ft.
Everyone did great and enjoyed the stunning views of Ama Dablam, one of the iconic peaks along the route to Everest Base Camp.RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Update from Mike King at 10:30 am PT:
If you haven't listened to my hypoxic voicemail from today, you should know that we stood on top of Aconcagua, 22,841' around 1pm local time. The climbers are back in camp trying to avoid these late afternoon snow/heat waves...ya doesn't sound fun does it? The climb had wind, snow, heat, drifted snow in the trail and lots of other parties attempting the summit. I'll leave the details from the summit day for your loved ones to tell...but the guides are in agreement, one of the harder days we've had in the mountains. Tomorrow we will start our downward retreat to the thick air of base camp.
Summit call transcription:
Hey, this is Mike with the RMI Aconcagua Team. We are standing on top of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalaya. The team did well, we had a really cold morning, probably about 25 mph winds in the face for the first several hours. Now we are sitting up here, we could be in jeans shorts and tank tops. The team did well and we're going to hang out here and take some photos. Then we still have to descend. We will call in or send a dispatch once everyone is safe back at camp. Thanks for following along. Everyone sends their best.
RMI Guide Mike King
RMI Guide Mike King calls from the summit of Aconcagua.
The Wilderness Adventures Team reached the summit of Mt. Baker via the Coleman - Deming route in the early hours Wednesday, July 26th lead by RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall and Steve Gately. The team had a great climb and beautiful weather.
During this program, the teens learned various techniques which meet the challenges set forth by Mt. Baker. Including basic mountaineering skills; efficient mountain travel (rest-stepping and pressure breathing), various safety practices including use of helmets, harnesses, and avalanche transceivers, climbing in balance, proper use of our ice axe, self and team arrest, and moderate cramponing.
Congratulations Team!
Well we had a really nice last day in Russia yesterday. We began the day meeting with our tour guide, Galina, and headed out on a quick tour of St. Petersburg. We stopped off at St. Nicholas Church, stopped by the grand St. Isaac's Cathedral and made our way to the famous Heritage Museum. Not having a ton of time to see the thousands of exhibits so we did and express trip to see the highlights, which included a few paintings and sculptures by Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, and other great artist. It was pretty amazing to see so much art in one place and everyone enjoyed the brief visit.
We took a short break before meeting back up with our tour guide for a evening canal tour via boat of this historical city, which was a great way to wrap up a wonderful trip.
That's all for this trip! The team heads home tomorrow. Thanks for following us.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
June 4, 2015 3:04pm PST
Sitting in a storm at 11
Living in a snow heaven
Building walls and eating snacks
Preparing for the next snowy attack
Spirits are highway we wait for blue sky
Tentalanches occur in the night
But tucked away in our tent, we have no fright.
We gather in the posh for cards and meals.
As we listen to the wind squeal.
Hopefully tomorrow will bring less snow, But we will keep you posted as to how it all goes.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones & Team
Hi Brenda the weather is frightful but the climb is so delightful! Let it snow let it snow and then you Go. Blue skies are on the way get ready for another climbing Day, love you , Richie
Posted by: Richard Larscheid on 6/5/2015 at 5:40 am
Snow will fall wherever it may,
As you sit waiting for that clear day
Keep spirits high and don’t dismay,
Mountain climbing is better than work anyway!
May 14, 2015, 6:20 pm PT
Checking in here from 11,200 ft: Today we awoke to less than desirable weather for a potential carry. Gusty winds and snow prompted a welcomed rest day. The team slept in and once awake began the process of fixing up camp and repairing the cook tent. A multiple hour breakfast of eggs, meats, and hashbrowns gave way to some socializing around camp, and on and off napping. The team is in good spirits and hoping to begin the eventual process of moving to 14,000 camp as soon as the weather improves.
RMI Guide Billy Haas and the team
I hope the weather improves soon so you can continue your adventure! Chris, had a healthy baby Savannah appointment this week! The boys are doing awesome and enjoy moving you up the mountain poster we made! I’m glad you’re eating well! We love you and are missing you! Good luck to the team and stay safe! Praying for y’all
Posted by: Brooke Q on 5/15/2015 at 10:10 am
Thinking clear blue skies for you all….Chris..Dad and I love seeing the updates. Your breakfast sounded wonderful to have on the mountain…dare I let the cat out of the bag that you are Great at cooking breakfast! Oh and Landon won’t share his Elmo with Cohen…and there isn’t an Elmo for sale in Fairbanks..so Cohen has a Blue Elmo which is really Cookie Monster that Brooke found and he is happy and just thinks Elmo has a blue suit on! :c)
Take care all…Be Safe…every step upward will be amazing!
Glenn enjoy your adventure! Saw your wife today! Take care and we cant wait to hear all about the climb!
Your fans,
Frank and Margie
Posted by: margie grillo on 1/13/2015 at 7:03 pm
I’m glad to hear of a successful first day. Looking forward to following your grand adventure through the blog each day. Hike on!
Posted by: Shirley on 1/13/2015 at 5:34 pm
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