Team Ecuador is excited to announce that we reached the summit of Cayambe this morning at 7:30am. We woke up, or should I say got out of bed at 10:45pm to clear skies and warm temperatures. We began our ascent at exactly midnight and had great climbing conditions the entire way up. Having been on this mountain ten times I have never had a summit day this beautiful! Not a breath of wind, temperatures in the 30s and views that you rarely get to see.
The team climbed strong and performed really well, especially for reaching 19,000 feet six days after arriving in the country.
We were grateful to be finished early because as soon as we reached camp, the perfect weather that graced us up high took a 180 and began snowing, raining and sleeting on us. By the time we got to town, the downpour was so intense we couldn't hear each other at lunch because of the rain hitting the roof.
Now we are settled into the oldest hacienda in Ecuador and ready for a nap. We are relieved to have gotten the first big climb under our belts and look forward to Antisana in a couple days.
Stay tuned.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
The Gambler said it best, "you have to know when to hold em, know when to fold em". He wasn't referring to his chain of Kenny Rogers' Roasters, but to our team taking another weather day at Camp 2.
We received only a few inches of snow, and with strong winds our tents were drifted in this morning. A cloud reminiscent of Mordor hung over the upper 4,000 feet of Aconcagua until 11am. Instead of getting a late start and arriving in High Camp later in the day, we will dry our sleeping bags and acclimate.
Our summit day will be the 12th. The Gang is hangin' tough and enjoying the saxophone riff from WHAM's "careless whisper".
RMI Guide Mike King
At 7:05 a.m. RMI Guide Brent Okita and his summit climb team were five minutes from Mt. Rainier's crater rim. The route work, completed yesterday, was great and well wanded. Brent also reported great weather.
Congratulations to the team!
The Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier Climb July 11 - 13 reached the summit of Mt. Baker led by RMI Guides Jackson Breen, Ray Holt and Rosie Hust. The team returned to camp and enjoyed a few hours of sleep. They will continue their descent to the trailhead and conclude their program.
It has been a nice leisurely day here at Aconcagua Base Camp. We started out the day by putting a good dent in the 72 eggs we brought in, yummy. The majority of our day was spent gearing up for a load carry to Camp 1 tomorrow. On these expedition style climbs we take a portion of our food and equipment up and cache it, then we return back to Base Camp. It is just too much to carry in one push since we stay for an extended period up high on the mountain it also helps our bodies to acclimatize. We took a short hike after lunch in big boots with light packs to fine tune our systems for a smooth ascent tomorrow. Our team is looking good. All is well here in the high country.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The team left the bustling Zona Rosa District in Mexico City and headed for the hills. We arrived in La Malinche at noon and we quickly settled into our private cabanas and dinned our trekking shoes.
The weather was less than ideal with steady rain; however, our team made the best of marginal conditions not to mention rain gear! The park police actually were not going to let us up because of the weather.
You see, the park sees a lot of tourists...locals from the city dressed in sandals and sweatpants. Which, is nice on a beautiful day. For us, the weather wasn't actually that bad so with my best Spanish I sweet-talked our way to trek up to 13,000 feet.
The team did great! We had a fun time and did our bodies good adjusting to higher altitudes. We are now settled back in our cabanas and we are getting ready for another great dinner here in Mexico.
Heh! After a wet day at altitude this team deserves a little pampering!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
Thursday, June 4, 2015 6:45pm PST
The snow is still falling and the winds continue to blow here at 11k camp. This morning, the Upper West Rib team woke to another six inches of accumulation and drifts ranging from mid-calf to mid-thigh. We quickly shoveled our camp back into shape, then lingered over breakfast bagels for several hours while we discussed potential future schedules.
Overall the team is doing an excellent job of staying busy and motivated while utilizing these imposed rest days. Between bouts of shoveling, we are able to sneak in hours of reading, naps and movie watching. Once the weather improves we will be strong and ready to cruise uphill.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
Hi Kim - Re: the “hours of reading, naps and movie watching?!” Seems I’ve been “training” for this trip my whole life without even knowing it. I’m signing up for the next one!
-michael
Posted by: Michael on 6/5/2015 at 4:27 pm
We are in Atlanta. Hope you guys get to start moving soon! Sophia’s haircut is great. Love momma
Yesterday we spent the whole day on hold here in Talkeetna. Today is a new day. This morning's skies are clear and we're loading up to go! We are off to climb Mount McKinley!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Jon and team members:
Happy that the weather permitted your flight. Know that we are wishing you great weather for a safe climb.
With much love and aloha,
Hugs, Mom
Posted by: Kemai on 5/15/2015 at 7:49 pm
Godspeed Matt Godspeed team Pete ,Robby and Josh
We love you and proud of you Matt
Love mom dad and Michael
RMI Base, this is Alex Barber calling in with the Aconcagua Team. This morning was perfectly clear with light winds. Definitely an appreciated contrast from yesterday's windstorm at Camp 1. We took full advantage of this clear weather today and pushed up to Camp 2. Everyone on the team did extremely well and now we are sitting tight here at Camp 2 playing cards and eating snack food, and plotting our summit attempt. Tomorrow is just a rest day, so we will check back in with you from Camp 2 sometime tomorrow. Adios.
RMI Guide Alex Barber
RMI Guide Alex Barber calls in from Aconcagua Camp 2.
Today saw, most notably, the arrival of Leif and Jake here at basecamp. It was about as eventful as a rest day could be. We gorged on a bacon, egg, and cheese scramble with grilled onions and peppers, drank mate (pronounced mah-tay) and told stories all afternoon, and then had steak fajitas for dinner. Ooh yeah, we're roughing it all right! Oh yeah, we also packed and sorted provisions for tomorrow's carry to Camp 1. It has been pretty windy, and that trend is supposed to continue, so tomorrow may be a litte tougher than normal. Wish us luck.
Sounds very exciting, not to mention awsome!!!! Congratulations!!!
Posted by: George on 1/11/2017 at 10:44 am
Congratulations, team! Quite an accomplishment!
Posted by: George Nimmo on 1/10/2017 at 10:25 am
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