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
June 2, 2015 - 10:40 pm PT (Both updates received)
New heights achieved! Today we rose early to no wind and blue skies with a satellite lenticular cloud slowly inching closer, cluing us into the fact that the weather may change in the next few days. We loaded our food, fuel and other equipment making for a smooth and relatively quick trip up to our next camp at 14,000'. We dug a large pit in the snow in the center of the Genet basin and filled it with many of the supplies that we will need for the next stages of the climb.
With the weather still holding we passed the infamous Windy Corner in breathless air. The crew flowed down hill flawlessly making a short stop at the rarely visited lunch rock bump view point. Taking in the full panorama of the enormous Father and Son wall, the upper Peters Glacier, NW Buttress and the Washburn Wall! Spectacular!
The short nap was well deserved this afternoon and the days timing was impeccable. The snow and a brisk breeze blew in shortly after our arrival. Which was followed by one of the best Ramen meals ever consumed on the slopes of Denali. Now as we crawl into our tents a light snow continues and we wait to see what tomorrow brings. Good evening all.
RMI Guide Tyler JonesJune 1, 2015 Blog
Today was another great weather day! We had bagels salmon and cream cheese. Not bad for mountain food! Yet we decided after four days of hard work we took a real full rest day in order to regain our strength and further our acclimatization.
The day progressed with some tent time laying around like mushrooms on a pizza. As the afternoon rolled in we spent time training our walking skills and prepping our kits for carrying our load to 14,000 Camp. We're hoping for good weather tomorrow. Send us good vibes. As the sun crests the horizon to the north in this latitude we stare at purple sky's to the south in the shade of the mountain.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
The Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide Brent Okita was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Low visibility and windy conditions prevented the team from climbing above 13,200 ft. The team will descend back to Camp Muir before continuing on to Ashford this afternoon.
Sorry to hear of the news, but thankful you guys will be coming home safely. Sure wish the weather would have opened up for your summit push. Great job getting that far in that weather.
After waking up to a nice breakfast of huevos Mexicanos at the Altzomoni Hut, we loaded up our packs and departed for our Ixta high camp! We hiked under mostly cloudy skies and chilly weather but were greeted by some sun breaks in the afternoon. Great views all day of Ixta's actively erupting neighbor Popo, as well as the cities surrounding the mountain. We made it to the Refugio with plenty of time for some last minute prep and an early evening. The team is looking good and acclimatized for a summit bid tomorrow, it should be an exciting day!
RMI Guide Chase Nelson
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
RMI Guides Seth Burns & Leif Bergstrom led their team of Mt. Baker - North Ridge climbers to the summit yesterday. They enjoyed a nice day on the mountain and returned to camp after their summit. They spent last night on the mountain and will be returning to the trailhead later today to conclude their program.
I just want to take this time to thanks the guides and to share my appreciation for all participants that contributed to such a lovely experience throughout the journey to the top of baker and back at camp. It was such a pleasant experience and wish everyone all the best on their adventures to come!
Thursday, June 14, 2018 - 7:42 PM PT
After yesterday's grueling day the team slept in until the sun hit our tents, 9ish. We had a slow start with salmon and cream cheese bagels and coffee. The goal for today was to build walls around our tents and get our kitchen/dining tent dug out and reinforced. The walls are built by digging through the loose snow into the firm layers below. Then we take snow saws and begin to quarry large blocks to be the foundational row. Each successive layer gets smaller so the wall isn't top heavy. The walls help keep wind from destroying our tents. The team rallied through their wall building then helped the guides finish reinforcing the kitchen tent or Posh as we call it. The Posh is a five sided tent without a floor. We dig a hole in the snow and have benches for people to sit and cooking counters for the guides. Out of the wind and sun we enjoy our meals, today's dinner is hand rolled chicken burritos. With the menacing forecast on the horizon we will put the finishing touches on camp and hunker down for the remnants of a tropical cyclone that is headed for Alaska. People are happy for the sunshine and tired from the 'light exercise' of camp craft. This helps us acclimate in preparation for heading to 17,000' Camp, High Camp, for our cache day and ultimately our summit day when the weather and mountain tell us it's time to go up. Until then we will be at 14,000' continuing to get comfortable being uncomfortable and focusing on the tasks that our in our control and leaving the conditions that our out of our control to Denali.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
So fun following your adventure, Robbo! You’ve got a huge fan base down here, everyone’s asking about you - and I’ve been in mis-matched socks since you hit the trail :) Sounds like you’re in for a few euchre days! Have fun. Be safe. Love to you and Cole. And prayers for the whole team. XO, Mamoose
July 4, 2017
Happy Independence Day to all of our readers back home in the USA! We couldn't find any fireworks, so we celebrated with a nice walk around the hills of Cheget instead. Beautiful weather and warm temperatures allowed for a leisurely tone today. We spent around an hour above 10,000 feet, snacking, trading factoids, and testing out some thinner air. Passerby might have called it lounging, but we're going to call it hard work. Whatever you want to call it, today was a success.
We headed back down toward tree line for lunch in Cheget. The team considered purchasing matching headwear as a sign of solidarity and unity. Ultimately, the potential headpieces proved to be far too itchy. A good idea nonetheless. Now, gear has been sorted, packing has begun, and we are just about ready to move up to the mountain tomorrow morning.
RMI Guides JM Gorum and Mark Tucker, and the Elbrus Crew
July 3, 2017
Dobryy vecher!!! That's good evening, to all of you at home. We are writing from the wonderful hamlet of Cheget after another full travel day. We left our hotel this morning at 5:40, packed our 24 duffels and 12 bodies into a van, shuffled through airport security, and departed for Mineralnye Vody. We all made it, and so did our bags. Excellent news!
The sun and heat of our more southerly locale had people changing into shorts and flip flops as soon as possible. After checking in to the hotel, the team enjoyed a walk around town, some locale cuisine, wonderful views of Elbrus, and maybe even a nap or two. More relaxing is on the schedule before our first acclimatization hike tomorrow. We will check in again tomorrow.
Thanks for following along-
RMI Guides Mark Tucker and JM Gorum, and the Elbrus Crew.
July 1, 2017 12:18 a.m. PST
This time we did it. But it wasn't easy by any means. As usual, there was murk and cloud around at 5 AM, but we could see the West Buttress and we couldn't see signs of big wind blowing. We packed up and ate a last low altitude breakfast. The team was climbing by 7:45 in light snow. We didn't have the perfectly packed trail this time and in the poor light of the mild shadowy whiteout, it sometimes felt as if we were climbing by Braille. At the top of the fixed lines, the crest of the Buttress wasn't universally friendly. When the sun prevailed, we were too hot and when the wind and cloud ruled, it could be kind of raw and mean. What was definitely friendly was crossing paths with Mike Haugen's victorious descending team. Climbing Washburn's Thumb at 16,600 feet was strenuous and exhilarating. The airy ridge walk after that felt slightly less airy with cloud filling the void on either side of the crest. It took us 8.5 hours, with some glitches and minor setbacks, but we got up to high camp. The weather improved at 17,200 ft as the clouds fell far below us and the sun made everything comfy and magical as the evening progressed. We'll likely rest tomorrow, but that doesn't mean we won't be looking out early to check conditions.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
June 28, 2016 - 6:56 pm PT
Hi, it's Mike Haugen and the team, we just reached the summit of Denali. It is about 5:30 in the afternoon Alaska time. Everyone is doing well, we are 100% to the summit. Beautiful weather, we plan to have a nice safe descent. We hope everyone is doing well. We love all of you. Have a great day.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen calls in from the summit of Denali.
Congratulations to all! The photos are breathtakingly beautiful. Thank you for sharing this experience with us. Can’t wait to see all the photos Phil. Love, Jill & Steve
Posted by: Jennifer Garrett on 6/29/2016 at 7:25 pm
Congratulations to the team! Enjoy the accomplishment!
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Nice job guys!! I hope you are all having fun and staying warm :)
Posted by: Jen Boekenoogen on 6/3/2015 at 2:36 pm
Daddy! 6th Grade is over! Excited to play some video games and sleep in!
Be careful!
Love you,
Oz
Posted by: Oz on 6/3/2015 at 12:39 pm
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