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It was worth the wait - the weather this morning was absolutely perfect and our whole team was able to ski from the true summit of Mt. Elbrus! We woke up to brilliant stars and an impressive Big Dipper, and soon found ourselves being propelled uphill by snowcat to our starting point for the climb. Snow conditions on our ascent were a bit too frozen for skinning, so we put on boot crampons and threw our skis on our packs, moving efficiently up the well established climbing route. A long, ascending traverse brought us to the col between the east and west summits, a nice flat spot for a break. Above the col we broke through the shadow line into the sun, and after a couple more hours, onto the summit plateau. 15 minutes later we were on top, enjoying spectacular views deep into the Republic of Georgia, and the impressive surrounding Caucasus Mountains. And then came the best part. A never-ending-feeling 6000' descent back to our camp. We had the full range of snow conditions on the way down; the last 2000' or so was pure hero snow - incredibly smooth, predictable, perfectly sun softened corn. Of all the teams climbing this morning we were the only skiers! Such an efficient way to travel in the mountains. Our team was back at camp hours before any other team. After a few gondola rides down into the lush lowlands and a nice lunch, we're back in the village of Azau for a well earned celebration. RMI Guide Tyler Reid

May 11, 2015 9:10 pm PT Greetings from the Kahiltna Glacier! Our team is making steady progress, and we're currently at our camp at 9,600'. The weather has been beautiful since we were able to land on the glacier on Sunday. The climbing is strenuous, as always, as we carry heavy backpacks and pull full sleds. This morning we tackled "Ski Hill", our first real significant incline, followed by rolling glacial terrain until we reached camp. Camp is all set up and we are busy cooking dinner. We'll try to rack out early tonight for some well-earned rest. Tomorrow we plan to make a cache of equipment here, at our current camp, in order to lighten our expedition loads. Then the plan is to then move up to the 11,200' camp; we'll come back for the cached gear the following day. That's the plan at least. Our plans are always at the mercy of the weather in the mountains. That's it for now. Everyone is healthy and in good spirits. We'll touch base again tomorrow, hopefully from 11k camp. RMI Guide Mike Walter and the team

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Not too many of us got good sleep last night. Waves of wind rolled through, driving snow and rattling nerves. The alarm clocks went off at 4:30 AM but the wind hadn't let up by that point. It did eventually calm down with daybreak... just a little too late for us to go for Aconcagua's summit. We all crawled out for breakfast and to dry out and stare at the storm's leavings. There was still some sign of wind up high, but all-in-all, we enjoyed a calm morning. The decision was made for part of the team to descend and wait things out at Basecamp while the rest of us tried for one more lucky day. All were sorry to see Melissa, Gerry, Rachel and Kelly walk out under big packs a little after mid-day. The clouds were already building by then for the next storm and sure enough, by mid-afternoon it was snowing and we were resting quietly in our tents... waiting patiently for another chance. Dinner was in steadily falling snow, but at least there wasn't a puff of wind to mess with the team's enjoyment of their mac-and-cheese-supreme. We'll hope that the snow quits and that the stars come out at some point tonight... we turn in ready to jump all over a summit bid tomorrow. Stay tuned.

What an amazing hike we did today. Starting in the dense trees of the national park (which are open in Mexico), we headed up past horses grazing and children laughing to 12,000 feet where we met some really nice people who were excited to joke with us. We kept our slow and constant pace all the way to 13,500 feet where the trail became rockier and the air lighter. After a break of dried fruit and protein bars we headed to the summit of La Malinche at 14,500 feet. We were in a light cloud so no great views but it felt got to be up there and not too winded. Here's a picture of Sue at the high break. Feeling happy and proud, we chitchatted all the way down to hot showers and enchiladas! RMI Guide Christina Dale

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

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Good evening from Taullipampa, the meadows where our Base Camp sits. We had a beautiful hike up Punta Union Pass, 4,700m, and then down to Artesonraju Base Camp at 4,000m. The journey, while long, will sure help with acclimatizing. Upon arrival, we enjoyed another incredible meal from our cook and had time to relax, listen to some music at the dining tent and share some stories of High School prom. We are looking forward to a full day at BC tomorrow before the action starts. RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team

Sunday, June 28, 2015 - 10:15 am PT It was touch and go at base camp. We woke up to clouds and some very wet snow. As expected, as soon as we started to fire up the stoves to make breakfast and hot drinks, the skies started to open just a bit. I still didn't think that the weather was flight worthy, but I was glad that the pilots did. We were told that we had 20 minutes to be packed and ready because the planes were already approaching. We were ready in 10! We got the first half of our team onto a plane and off the glacier before the weather started to sock back in. We had to wait for the first plane to go back to Talkeetna, drop off our first group of climbers, and then return. Luckily the weather cleared back up a bit and we squeaked out the rest of the climbers for the amazing flight back to the world of great food and pillows. After a couple of great meals and a series of showers, the now legendary "El Siete" crew is fresh, semi-recovered, and ready to be reintroduced into society. Thank you to the group for being such a great team and for all of the families and friends that have supported us. RMI 7 "El Siete"

Wulp, your intrepid team has made it smoothly and safely into Camp 4 at over 14K! Forecasts were calling for an end to our decent weather on Thursday or Friday so we decided to push up and forego a rest day at 11. The climbers have been motivated and moving strongly throughout the trip, which made the decision to move up a relatively easy one. We were greeted by RMI Guide Pepper Dee with a great looking posh and nice camp to move into. Pepper also had plenty of cold water for us which really hit the spot after our first really hot day on the move. Not much else to report other than pretty marginal weather forecasts and a happy team sitting pretty at 14. RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

Today was a day of feasting and resting. After yesterday's carry, Mike King, the master chef, started us off with a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. Then we went for a a brief walk down the Relinchos Valley to stretch our legs a bit. Upon our return to camp, we relaxed reading books and hanging out. To be followed by a delicious lunch of quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches. We're making our preparations for tomorrow's move to Camp 1 and we're looking forward to our last dinner at Basecamp for a while. Signing out for now. RMI Guide Zeb Blais and team

June 15, 2014 - 11:26 pm PT We awoke this morning to blue skies and our excitement spiked. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that this was only a trap door, the forecast is still looking poor for the next few days. We decided to stay put here at 14 camp, and by early afternoon the clouds and snow were back. The team is beginning to become discouraged and there is talk of heading down hill without a better weather forecast. That's all for now. RMI Guide Eric Frank and the McKinley Upper West Rib Team

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