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The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Andy Bond climbed throughout the day yesterday and reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Emmons Glacier. Andy and team have spent the week honing their alpine mountaineering techniques including: crevasse rescue, anchors and running belays, route finding, and fixed line travel. It is currently snowing, so the team is breaking down camp and will be descending and making their way off the mountain today.
Congratulations team!
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Up before dawn, just one more time. Balloon Camp was kind to us... such a quiet night and such an easy morning -until just after breakfast when we had to split up with Emily and Phillip who were off to the Serengeti. We loaded up again with Ibrahim and Edson to see what we could see. We saw tracks in the road. We saw the vastness of a marsh, stretching to the horizon, dotted here and there with big animals, we saw a very pretty morning. And after an hour, we saw an amazing and beautiful leopard close up. We scared him and he scared us. Ibrahim looked up to find him on a branch as we passed nearly underneath. We skidded to a halt and he hopped up on his feet. We fumbled for cameras and he showed his teeth. He growled in a low and ominous rumble and we each wondered if he was considering jumping through the open top of our Toyota. Instead he climbed quickly and gracefully down the tree trunk, bared his teeth at us again and went hunting in the marsh. We followed his progress by watching his tail above the tall grass for a bit and then drove on, stunned and excited by our quick and awesome encounter. We were still talking to each other about our good luck twenty minutes later when we saw another beautiful leopard up another tree. This one from a relaxing distance of 100 meters, which took away the pressure to photograph and record. We just watched and appreciated for a time before moving on. We had a few more hours in the park... hours of trees and rivers and eagles and vultures, elephants, zebra, gnu and impala, giraffes and Cape buffalo. We even saw kudus, which is a rare thing (don’t try it at home).
By late morning we’d left the park and were cruising back toward Arusha. We made a stop for more shopping and a little culture at the cultural heritage center and then pressed on to the hotel. Saying goodbye and thanks to Ibrahim and Edson for a big five experience and a wonderful four days, we set to repacking and prepping to fly. We had one last dinner together, while watching the Dik Diks and monkeys play in the garden and we practiced our Swahili while saying goodbye to the staff at Arumeru River Lodge. Said then drove us out to the airport as the sun set on our great adventure. Lots of flying awaits and there are lots of pictures to go through now. We haven’t said much in the way of goodbyes, it will be easier to just say “see you all on the next mountain.”
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello down there. Mark Tucker checking in from our High Camp on Aconcagua. Climbers are all tucked in and we are here hanging around our stoves for another bit of time. It's a challenge to get water, we are melting snow now, and it is chilly. Everyone is doing very, very, well. We came in looking strong and we're going to leave looking strong. (Lost call).
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Congratulations to the team on a successful summit!
Posted by: Bob & Dottie on 1/28/2018 at 10:42 am
Wishing you all strength and great conditions on your trek toward the summit!
Posted by: Diane O'Connor on 1/28/2018 at 7:23 am
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jessie Poquerusse
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Hola from our well deserved rest day in the historic city, and UNESCO world heritage site, of Puebla. While most folks would spend the day meandering the streets and enjoying the local pleasures, this diligent group was practicing their mountain efficiency skills until the very last minute... effectively pressure breathing and rest stepping their way, single file, the way into our local evening dinner venue (photo attached). What a team.
RMI Guide Jessie Poquerusse & the team
Hello from Barranco Camp located at 12,800' on Kilimanjaro. We left Shira camp and slowly climbed uphill before we started our traverse over to Barranco Valley across the volcanic plateau and just below the remaining glaciers that cling to Kilimanjaro’s slopes, which sadly we didn’t get to see up close, but there’s always tomorrow!
As we approached camp we were all amazed to the giant Groundsels and famous Senecio trees that look like something out of a Dr. Suess book and were relieved to be at camp after about five hours of hiking.
Everyone is doing very well and are looking forward to tomorrow’s climb up the Barranco wall which sits just above camp.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
On The Map
Hi daddy just wanted to say I’m so beyond proud of you. Miss you terribly tho and can’t wait for you to be home safe!!
Xoxoxo
Maggie
Posted by: Maggie on 1/27/2018 at 8:29 pm
Hi Conrad and Stanley! So happy for both of you and am loving following these daily updates. I love and miss you, Conrad! Cannot wait to see the photos.
Posted by: Ali on 1/25/2018 at 4:31 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 8,300'
First, and most importantly, we'd like to wish Kathey Uchal a very happy birthday. We hope it is a great one!
We fell asleep listening to the bass tones of the nearby river last night and woke to sun early. The sun rises at 4:30 or 5:00 up here, and once out there's not much sense trying to sleep, so we crawled out, fired up coffee and breakfast, and got set for the day.
With packs full of food, fuel, a spare tent and some other odds and ends, as well as our personal gear and food, we headed uphill towards camp one, in a moraine at the base of the glacier around 12,000'. Early on, the sun made its presence felt, instantly heating everyone to a rolling boil. As we climbed higher though, we made it into a nice breeze that kept things pleasant. After many hours of laboring under our loads, we arrived at Camp 1 and stashed all of our stuff. With the bulk of the work done, we turned back downhill. Mt. Elbrus wasn't done with us yet though. Half an hour into our descent, the first piece of hail fell in the rocks somewhere, probably not that near us. But then the skies opened up and it was like being brutally outmatched in a paintball game. We threw our hard shells on and beat foot downhill, running at times to escape the pelting. The hail finally let up, yielding a rainbow a few hundred yards in front of us, but no matter how hard we looked, we couldn't find the pot of gold.
Back in camp, folks ducked into tents, eager to snack and recover, but then one of the Russian cooks of our outfitter came looking for Josh, wanting someone to play volleyball with. Mike and Pete couldn't resist, and joined the match too, and soon we had a decent game going. Now dinner is done, and we're back in tents eager for the deep sleep that follows a hard day of work. We'll do it again tomorrow, moving our camp to Camp 1 and continuing forward progress. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
On The Map
Hey Lisa and Robin - The whole gym is routing for you!
Lifting 250 or pushing 300 seems like nothing compared to what you guys are doing - best to you and all your comrades (no pun intended) - enjoy!
Cheers - Liz
Posted by: Liz on 8/8/2017 at 9:06 am
Hi Sonam
Hope you’re having the time of your life!
Everyone from Seattle says Hi!
Have a great climb!!
Mayank
Posted by: Mayank on 8/7/2017 at 4:28 pm
Another great day in the mountains and another summit! Today the Ecuador Skills Seminar team stood on top of Antisana, the second large objective for this trip.
Although the weather was windy and wet when we woke up this morning, we waited it out and were able to leave in decent conditions. The climbing on Antisana is quite a bit more technical than our previous peak of Cayambe, but all the training over the last few days paid off. Everyone was able to tackle the route finding, steep climbing, and exposure in good style.
We did end up climbing in to a cap on the summit, however, and everyone was covered in rime ice by the time we reached the top. Most folks had all their layers on to combat the chilly wind, but it was still fun for everyone!
Twelve hours after leaving camp we returned, and immediately got around to packing up our things and tearing down all of the tents. We traveled to a beautiful hacienda for the evening and are all looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.
Sorry for the short post, but even the guides get tired on long climbs like today!
We'll be moving to Chimborazo Base Camp tomorrow to prepare for our third and final peak of the trip.
Until then,
RMI Guides Nick Hunt and Steve Gately and the rest of the Ecuador team!
Posted by:
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
Thanksgiving marks the beginning for many of a busy holiday season filled with visiting family, kids home from school, shopping and errands to run, and delicious meals. Busy days entertaining, traveling, or preparing can put pressure on your training time, and the changing weather doesn’t always help either. Your training plan is important, but during the often stressful holiday season remember that adapting, changing, rescheduling that plan is ok. A missed workout won’t affect your performance six months from now (though missing a week might), and shortening a workout is always better than canceling it completely. Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind during the festive times:
Involve your family, friends, and guests: It’s easier to stick to your routine if you can involve others. Find a hike to make a group outing to, and make a day of it. Your guests get to have a nice adventure, stretch their legs, and get a few photos. You get some endurance base training in. If you have to slow the pace a bit, it’s ok; you’re still getting the miles in and improving your endurance base. You can increase your workload by offering to carry the group’s water bottles, jackets, cameras, and other odds and ends.
Use the mornings: Vacations often mean sleeping in, dawdling over a cup of coffee and breakfast, and enjoying time off. Try waking up 45 minutes earlier than you would and getting out the door for a run, hike, bike, or strength session. If you go to bed with a plan for the morning, it’s easy to get your workout done before anybody else has even gotten out of bed!
Have a few quick go-to workouts: Some days get busy, and the workout you may have planned just doesn’t fit. Having a few 30 – 45-minute workouts in reserve can be the difference between skipping your training entirely, and getting out the door. A couple of ideas are:
a yoga session
a core strength session
short intense intervals (6 x 1minute)
a 30-minute tempo run
or an easy 45-minute recovery run before the big meal
Remember to enjoy it: We head to the mountains because they bring us enjoyment, we spend time with family and friends because it brings enjoyment, and hopefully our training brings a measure of enjoyment as well. If your training regime becomes a chore that you feel like you have to get done, but dread doing, switch things up and spend a couple of days doing activities because you enjoy them rather than for their training benefits. When you find enjoyment in your training, you’ll train harder and more effectively, and it will be easier to get out the door. Similarly, don’t let the stress of fitting in training take away from enjoying the time you spend with friends and family. It is that time of the season after all!
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New to skinning flatlander Canadian skis east NA.
Great articles for second year older skier. Thanks T
Posted by: Tim murphy on 1/16/2017 at 2:40 pm
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 12,430'
Good evening from Huaripampa, our camp on our way to Artesonraju Base. For the writer here, starting the Santa Cruz trek from this side has been a revelation of yet undiscovered beauty. We're currently enjoying an incredible dinner of fresh trout, zucchini soup and fried banana, fueling for tomorrow's hike. We're all enjoying social time and laughter inside or pyramidal dining tent.
Stay tuned on our progress,
RMI Guides Elías de Andres Martos, Eric Frank, Peter and team
Sounds amazing! Have a great climb!
Posted by: Jim Thayer on 8/4/2016 at 6:58 am
Sounds yummy! Happy climbing (and eating!)
Posted by: Pam on 8/3/2016 at 5:19 am
Hello from the tiny mountain village of Azau. Today was our transfer day so we've been up and on the move since before 5:30am. We rolled out of Moscow just as the hard core partiers were finishing up their night and it was funny to see people dressed up for going out mingling with other people starting their Saturday morning.
The traffic was light, the check-in and security lines were smooth and the flight was just under two hours. The only major events of the day had to do with our spirited Russian driver and cows in the road.
Tomorrow we'll get some hiking in and I think the whole team is looking forward to some exercise and fresh air.
That's it for now,
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
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I was part of the two person team that climbed along side you guys. Congrats to everyone on the team. Also wanna say thanks for keeping others in mind you guys had a fantastic professional team and it was great hanging out.
Posted by: Donnie Stephens on 7/4/2019 at 3:47 am
That’s awesome!
Posted by: Jenni Campbell-Watt on 6/21/2019 at 8:33 am
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