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We took a well deserved rest day today at Plaza Argentina. Though most woke early, everyone opted to stay in their sleeping bags until the sun hit the tents. Our long morning continued with a scrambled egg breakfast and some joke and story telling over coffee. We roused ourselves in the late morning to head to the camp doctor's building for our obligatory medical check. We are happy to report that everyone is as healthy as they look and we are all clear to keep climbing! It wasn't all fun and games, as we all had to sort through the duffels that the mules have been carrying to organize our gear for our carry to Camp 1 tomorrow. Unfortunately, Base Camp is the end of the road for the mules, and from here on up we take over their job. An afternoon siesta led into another delicious dinner, which led to a spectacular sunset that turned the whole sky a variety of red and purple shades. A large thunderhead that has been hanging to the east provided a canvas for the painting, and dusk is just now beginning to overtake the brilliant hues. We are lucky to be in such a beautiful place. We'll let you know how the carry goes tomorrow. Hasta mañana, RMI Guides Pete, Alex, Juan, and team

On The Map

It's been a really busy 36 hours, getting everyone here, buying food, securing permits, traveling to Penitentes, and packing our gear for the mules, but we have gotten it all done! The bags are packed and we are ready to hit the dusty trail tomorrow and start up Aconcagua! In all of that bustling around, we still found time for our first of several delicious steak and wine dinners in Mendoza. This can be the most stressful part of the trip, making sure that everyone arrives, and with all of their bags. Tomorrow we move into the rhythm of the mountains, things slow down, and we take a deep breath. We'll be in touch tomorrow from Pampa de Lenas, where we hope to see JJ and his team as they make their way out from a successful trip. We're hoping ours is as well. Ciao for now. RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer, Alex Barber, and team

SUMMIT! Under clear skies,a bright moon and breezey conditions, RMI, once again had the good fortune to have the whole team on the top of the "Roof of Africa". We are all here at Meweka camp, our final camp of the climb. A bit tired, but all in good spirits. We are now back into the clouds that we have been looking down on for the last 5 days. We have been up since eleven last night, so it's quick nap before dinner.

Saying hello from our final day at Camp 1. Currently we're resting up for a big push up to Camp 2 tomorrow. The team is acclimatizing well and getting stronger by the day. We're really starting to feel like we're getting up there. Wish us luck as we push higher and begin staging for our summit bid later this week!

The RMI Mexico's Volcanoes Team reached the summit of Ixtaccihuatl at 5:30 am local time.  They left High Camp in warm conditions but the weather changed to cold and windy by the time they reached the summit.  The team is making their way to the trailhead and will check in later with more details.

Congratulations to the team!

Waking up at Balloon Camp, deep within Tarangire National Park, was a treat. We breakfasted and were saying goodbye to the friendly hotel staff by 7 AM. The team was looking for wildlife before we’d gotten a hundred feet from the hotel reception desk. Michael and Francis took us down along the great marsh along Tarangire’s Eastern edge. We saw eagles, kudus, hippos and all of the “usual” animals that -just a few days ago- were exotic and foreign. What we didn’t see was any other Safari vehicles. We had it all to ourselves for hours. But inevitably we had to start making our way toward the front gate of the park. Even so, we were treated to another leopard sighting on the way. A handsome but sleepy fellow conked out on a tree limb. By midday we were on the highway pointed toward Arusha and our Tanzanian home base at the Arumeru River Lodge, which we reached by 3 pm. This left plenty of time for repacking and showers and even an early dinner before we said “so long” to our friends at the lodge who’d taken excellent care of us... and “so long” to the Dik Diks and monkeys in the yard. We didn’t get a final glimpse of Kilimanjaro on the drive to the airport. It was hidden in clouds. So we’ll just go away recalling the view we had from the top looking down. Thank You for following our trip... until next climb. RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Saturday, June 8, 2019 - 7:39 PM PT Guess who’s back? We are. We’re back at High Camp. A place I never really thought I would find myself twice over the course of one Denali trip. The Precision Strike Summit Team (PSST) made quick work of the move back up here. We are a well oiled machine by now. Other teams yell various commands when passing anchors on the fixed lines: “stop!” “go!” “climbing!” “what?” “did you say go?” “huh?!” We climb in silence now, like panthers, sure of each others actions without having to verbalize them. We made it to 17,000' Camp and moved right back in to our old tent platforms, so that made things efficient. We’re currently all chilling out in the tents, rehydrating, and waiting for dinner. The views are great, but we’ve already spent four days looking at them, so nobody is terribly preoccupied at this point. Here’s hoping tomorrow is another calm, clear day. RMI Guide JM Gorum

On The Map

The December 4th Ecuador Volcanoes Team reached the summit of Cayambe (18,997') today. The entire team was able to top out and everyone is back down safely. We expect to hear more from Casey later today. Congratulations to the team!

On The Map

The team has moved camp once again and everyone is doing well. It was a big day ,more than six hours and everyone handled it well. We left the Shira Plateau a bit after 8 am and had a steady ascent for 2,500' right out of camp at a steady grade. Our high point of just below 15,000' was right about noon then we had a constant descent to our new camp here at Barranco Camp at just under 13,000'. We are looking forward to another great dinner provided by the Barking Zebra staff and then a good night's rest. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Hello from southern Russia! Things are good here in Russia. We left Moscow this morning and have traveled via plane and bus to the beautiful Caucasus Mountains. Our flight took us to southern Russia not too far from the Black Sea. This part of the country is predominately rural and is responsible for much of the agriculture that the larger cities depend on. We were meet by our trustworthy guide Yuri, whom I've climbed with many times. Then hopped in our van for the three-hour drive up the Baksan Valley to the base Elbrus. The small town we are in is called Cheget, and it doubles as a ski town in winter and converts to climbing in the summer. We didn't do a ton of exploring this afternoon due to the adjustment of the time that we are all still feeling. However, tomorrow we will do our first acclimatizing hike and do a little exploring. All is well here and the team is excited to stretch our legs a bit! RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map