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A wind started up in Shira Camp last night, rattling the tents and nerves but not knocking down anything vital in the process. Once we were up and about in the cool morning air, we knew a little steady breeze wouldn't stop us from our day's mission. We were on the move at 8:20 and before long we're stripping off hats and gloves and superfluous clothing layers. The walking was much easier than on the last two days, even if it was at progressively higher elevations. We all found the rock and vegetation surrounding us to be remarkably similar to the sagebrush mesas of Northern New Mexico -home to the majority of the team. Once again, we were above a sea of cloud and once again Kibo was free of cloud and shining in the distance. This time though, the distance was steadily reduced as we walked directly toward Kilimanjaro's central peak and hanging glaciers. After just two hours, we'd managed to surpass all altitude records within the group, save one. Alexis had been higher in Peru. All others were breaking new ground as we hit 15,200 ft at the Lava Tower. We had a great lunch in the sun up there, checking out the formidable slopes of the Western Breach and the giant frozen waterfalls below the remnant glaciers. And then we got cruising downhill toward Barranco Camp and its lush gardens of Lobelias and Senecios. We dove back into cloud to hit camp at 13,000 ft. but were granted a stupendous evening look at our surroundings as the clouds broke at sunset and a giant moon rose over the fabled Barranco Wall -tomorrow's first goal.
A big shout out from the team to Grandma Yoohoo! All is well in Tanzania tonight.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Posted by: Billy Nugent, Hannah Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Well, the whirlwind is finally over... We enjoyed a breezy, sunny, but not too hot walk down from Plaza Argentina into Pampa de Leñas complete with multiple river crossings and the sore feet that come with a seemingly endless rocky trail. The camp at Pampa de Leñas turned out to be a ghost town... only the Rangers were there along with us and one herriero who was running a small mule team with our gear. The head ranger at the camp, Hugo, wished for me to pass on his hello to several RMI guides including JJ, Garrett, and Katrina. It's fun to see familiar faces like Hugo's over the years, and even though we only get to hang out over maté once a year we still feel like we know eachother. Anyway, our ragged team enjoyed a truly amazing meal prepared by Barco, our lone herriero which we devoured sitting around the fire. We ate a typical Argentine asado complete with roasted veggies, slabs of grilled beef, bread, and of course wine.
The next day was a bit of a slog but we managed to dispatch the remaining miles to the trailhead before the afternoon and before we knew it we were packed and on the van back to Mendoza. While the Rodrigo and the friendly staff at the Nutibara hotel are totally used to returning Aconcagua climbers there were certainly looks from other hotel guests while we were checking in. I guess they're not used to crews of people coming in dusty, sweaty, bleary-eyed, and stinking of mule farts with over a dozen filthy duffel bags piled in the lobby. Lucky for the people of Mendoza we cleaned up nicely and ate a casual meal at a nearby restaurant because we were a bit tired. We're saving our big celebration dinner for tonight at a fancy pants restaurant even though some of our comrades are gone already and others will be headed out this afternoon. Sorry amigos, you'll be missed.
I wanted to thank our whole team for their hard work in making this expedition a smashing success... but I especially wanted to thank Hannah and our local guide Rolo for working their butts off for the rest of the team. You guys are rad.
Well, that's about it... Until next time.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Hello Everyone,
Tommy and I wish we could be there for the celebration. It was great being with all of you. It was a truly amazing trip. Reaching the summit and enjoying the time on the trail with each of you was terrific. Congrats on a successful trip back to Mendoza. Thanks again for being willing to help me when the injury occurred.
A special thanks goes to Billy, Hannah and Rolo for being the best guides ever!!!!
Posted by: Rick Jordan on 2/2/2017 at 8:57 am
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
Posted by: Billy Haas, Billy Nugent, Katrina Bloemsma
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 9,000'
January 14, 2015
Hola de Pampa de Leñas! Today our team made our first moves in the mountains in great style by ticking off the first stretch on our three day journey to Plaza Argentina, our basecamp. The trail was hot and dusty but we enjoyed a nice breeze from time to time and incredible views that made the heat bearable. After setting up our camp we had the good fortune to greet another RMI expedition as they arrived in camp returning from a successful summit bid a few days ago. Big congrats to Zeb and his crew! We all got to share an asado last night complete with grilled beef tenderloin and vino which was quite a treat. The herrieros (mule drivers) cooked for us over an open fire... Pretty classy backcountry living. We're thankfully not on the ramen noodle program yet, it was nice to hold that off another day. Anyway, all is well and tomorrow calls for another day of walking up the Vacas Valley... We'll check in and let you know how it goes.
All for now,
RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Katrina Bloemsma, and Billy Haas
On The Map
Glen, boy you’re getting spoiled! Asasdo and vino, pretty luxurious. I think it will be Cliff bars soon. Love, Katalina
Posted by: Katalina on 1/15/2015 at 4:53 pm
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
On The Map
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
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the RMI Mt. Elbrus July 11th team reached the summit of Mt.Elbrus, Europe's highest peak on July 20th. The team had a great day and will check in again when they are back at camp.
Congratulations to the team!
On The Map
Yayyyyyy!
Posted by: Tamara on 7/20/2014 at 6:21 pm
Congratulations Bill! Looking forward to hearing your stories about this latest adventure. Love, Gerry & Sharon
Posted by: Gerald Hill on 7/20/2014 at 8:48 am
Back safe and sound in Kathmandu!
Flight out of Lukla went smooth.
Everyone is enjoying the comforts here at the Yak & Yeti hotel, along with hot showers, good food, and the warm temps.
It's been one amazing adventure with a great team and it will be sad to say goodbye, but we are all looking forward to getting back home to our loved ones.
Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy crew
Still at High Camp. True to the predictions, today was a lot like yesterday. Windy, snowy, socked-in, cold and consistently poor for going places. We passed the day in our sleeping bags, with a little more frost and snow building up in the tents each and every hour. But we are still smiling. We’re fed. We’re hydrated. Well-rested, tanned and ready for action. This evening, although we are still in murk and a ground blizzard, the peaks are out. Cloud free and shining in sunlight. The forecasters back at Union Glacier tell us we are in store for rapid clearing and calming tomorrow. In which case we’ll shake off the frost and get moving again.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Following your daily updates with high anticipation that today will be the day you are finally at lower camp…as a total mountain novice I stand at awe of your adventure and all that it brings!
Hurry home Sue…we can’t wait to hear all about it!! Yes…beers and burgers await! Or hot cocoa & soup…?!?
Love you my friend!
Posted by: Laura Thompson on 12/13/2017 at 11:13 am
Deja vu from 17 camp on Denali. I hope today turns out to be a great day for a hike. Cheeseburgers and beer on this end. Pop
Posted by: Les Zimmerman on 12/13/2017 at 7:23 am
Today was another magnificent Russian day on Mount Elbrus. The team did an acclimatization day to exactly 15,000 feet. Not only did they do it, they rocked it! The stage has now been set. We are back in camp hydrating and recovering with a great lunch. As I told the team, sure, we could summit tomorrow. They are strong! However, there is no need to rush. Tomorrow is calling for a little snow so we are going to have a rest day. That way, come Saturday, if the weather allows, everyone will be feeling even stronger.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Privet! We are up on the mountain and everyone is doing great. The seven of us are bunked in an 8'x8'x20' container at 12,500' elevation. We started the morning with coffee at the hotel along with the Elbrus Ski Team who are on their way to St. Petersburg today.
After breakfast we drove to the base of the big ski area here and loaded ask our duffels on three consecutive gondolas. Garabashi Hut is right at the top of the last gondola so we were able to drop duffels, grab lunch and head out for an acclimatization hike.
Yuri, the local guide, and I decided to try and shoot for a climb up 15,000' to speed up our acclimatization schedule as the weather forecast isn't looking great after tomorrow. Everyone did really well and we made great time up and down from 15k.
Tomorrow we are going to make a plan after checking the weather. We will ideally go over some ice axe safety techniques and go on another hike, but we will just have to see.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall and Team Elbrus
On The Map
Way to go boys! Sounds like you’re doing great. If you have some down-time, have Keagy lead you in a few stanzas of “Lotties”. I know a guy whose name is Keagy…........
Best of luck on the summit and stay safe. Wish I could be there with you.
TP
Posted by: Tom Power on 6/27/2016 at 9:33 am
Watching Sunset on the Sandias, remembering Peru, and thinking of you all on this long, challenging and beautiful journey. Savor every moment! Love, Z’s Gramma Jude
Posted by: Judith Roderick on 8/6/2017 at 7:20 pm
Good luck Sarah Sauce on the Barranco wall tomorrow, you can do it!
Posted by: Deon on 8/6/2017 at 11:11 am
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