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RMI Guide JM Gorum led his Emmons Seminar team to the top of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team was 100% to the top! They will be on the summit for photos and taking in the surrounding vistas prior to starting their descent. The team has been training on Mt. Rainier all week and will end their seminar tomorrow. Congratulations to JM and his team!

Our beach vacation on Isla del Sol came to an end today as we made our way into the Bolivian Andes to begin the mountain portion of the trip. The first of our three peaks is called Pequeno Alpamayo, located next to Condoriri. The views were amazing as we walked to our Base Camp at 14,700’, located at the base of the valley surrounded by big glaciated peaks, including Huayna Potosi (our 2nd peak on the trip). We are all enjoying the luxuries of amazing home cooked meals including having lunch today at Gregorio’s house (a local farmer) on the way to base camp. Tomorrow we’ll move camp and do some training on a glacier before our first summit attempt. RMI Guides Eric Frank & Andy Bond

The team summits Alpamayo! We had a spectacular climb starting this morning just after midnight. A short walk on the glacier slowly became steeper as we approach the massive wall of ice and snow in front of us. Once we crossed the bergschrund we pointed our headlamps up the runnel but our lights were lost in snow ice and darkness above. We began pitching it out, climbing a full rope length before building an anchor and belaying the second climber up. In this fashion we inch-wormed our way up into the steep snow and ice. The climbing was superb, soft enough to accept the pick of an ice tool but firm enough to support a crampon. We climbed nine of the 12 pitches in the dark, but as we closed in on the summit the sun began rising across the Cordillera Blanca. Truly outstanding views as we celebrated on the summit before making our descent back down the face. Seven full length rappels brought us to the glacier below and then on to our High Camp. Extremely tired but also satisfied the team is eating, drinking, and napping for the rest of the day before making our descent to Base Camp tomorrow. Thanks for all the support and following along on this incredible expedition. RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and the Alpamayo Team

June 5, 2017 Today the team woke to find a fresh coat of feather light snow over camp, with more coming down. We were content to snuggle back into our sleeping bags for a few more hours before the sun finally appeared. After a satisfying breakfast of granola with fresh blueberries, we spent the morning practicing ascending fixed lines in preparation for when we move from 14,000' Camp to 17,000'. We followed up our training with a delicious potluck lunch. Now we are getting ready for bed with full bellies and well rested legs. If weather allows, we will try move up to 14,000' Camp tomorrow. Good night from 11,000'! RMI Guide Jake Beren

On The Map

May 15, 2016 - 10:35 pm PT The day started with our camp above the clouds deck and good views of Mt. Hunter and Foraker. After breakfast we headed downhill with empty packs to retrieve our cache at 13,700'. After a fifteen minute walk downhill and an hour back to camp, we are all set with all of our gear at 14k. After we returned to camp, the clouds lifted and it began to snow. It snowed all afternoon, with about a foot of accumulation. As I write this dispatch from my sleeping bag tonight, there is blue sky above us. Hopefully the snow is done and tomorrow we can climb. We're hoping to carry a cache of supplies up above the fixed ropes tomorrow, up above 16,00'. We'll touch base again tomorrow to let you know how it goes, thanks for following our trip. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Summit! Solveig called from the top of El Pico de Orizaba. It was just after 9:00 am Mexico time. The weather was nice with calm winds. They were going to head back down to Piedra Grande Hut and will check after their descent. RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall

On The Map

RMI Guides Zeb Blais and Leon Davis reported beautiful conditions for their climb to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Two groups of climbers on the Four Day Summit Climb September 12 - 15 reached the summit around 7:30 am and were able to enjoy some time on top with clear skies and a light breeze. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short rest and to repack before continuing down to Paradise this afternoon. Congratulations to today's Four Day Summit Climb teams!

Rest: A period of time when you relax, sleep, or do nothing after being active.

Although this sounds nice, it's not all sunshine and rainbows doing nothing at almost 14,000 feet.  Fortunately for us, we did get to sleep in this morning, but we also got to go on a short climb along the first leg of our route to Camp 1. Active rest days are important. We take the time we need to rest our bodies and our minds, but it helps a lot to also keep those muscles busy with small activities. Mindfully, we also packed our large backpacks for our first big carry day tomorrow. It may be heavy, but we're feeling ready. We are excited to start our second half of the trip: the climb.

Per request, a huge congratulations to Daniel and Sydney on the new baby! 

RMI Guides Ben Luedtke, Hannah Blum, & Team

Something had changed overnight. We woke to brilliant blue skies and sunshine. Of course we could still see the wind beating up the ridge atop Vinson’s Western escarpment and there were still fog layers lying thick just to our west, but everything looked different and we liked that. The forecast was still calling for another day of wind, but we figured it was time to get on up to Low Camp. We busted out of basecamp at 2:20 in excellent walking conditions. The track in the snow had firmed up a little since all the other teams had gone up in the days previously, stomping their feet and dragging their sleds. We made it in a respectable four hours and thirty minutes. For the last hour we could see and hear the wind on the ridge two thousand meters up over our heads. It was gratifying to reach camp and find it calm and sunny. We rejoined all the other folks on the mountain in a tight little cluster of tents. We threw ours up to one side and worked to dig a kitchen and dining area in the firm glacier surface. That took a little doing, but by 10 PM (still in strong sunshine) we were sitting down to dinner in our new and higher home. Most of the gang was in bed by midnight. I warned them that the sun would continue blazing until at least three AM but that it would then go behind the mountain and plunge us into shadow and bitter cold for the following eight hours. Life at 9,000 feet in Antarctica. Happiest of birthdays to my Dad. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Hello again! Here we are, just below 14,000' and everyone is feeling like a million roses. We left Namche and got a step further up the hill under the best weather possible. The mountains continued to provide jaw dropping views at every corner, and having Ama Dablam on sight for most of the day was rather motivating. Yak caravans and rhododendron forests added a touch of authenticity to the Himalayan experience we're having. Tomorrow we'll continue up, towards Gokyo, acclimatizing and kicking butt! RMI Guide Elías and team