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Elevation - 15,413 feet

Team Summits Ruca Pinchinca! 

This morning we started early for our first acclimatization hike of the trip. We opted to skip the Teleferico (Gondola) ride in order to get ahead of some afternoon thunderstorms. Thanks to Hector for driving us up to 12,800’ feet! 

It took us 5 hours to reach the summit and return. The hike gradually picks up with grade and we were feeling it towards the top. Today was hard work and the team did great. We got a glimpse of our main goal - Cotopaxi - which built excitement for the days to come. 

We will rest for the afternoon and enjoy a team dinner in Quito before moving to Illiniza Norte tomorrow! Wish us luck. 

 

RMI Guide, 

Sam Hoffman & Team

Jambo Everyone

Today the team got off to a moderately early start this morning leaving behind our beautiful lodge and have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb. We left around 8am and drove along the rural country side and small villages for 2 hours before reaching the park entrance.

Most of the area surrounding Kilimanjaro has been cultivated and primarily used for coffee production and for a variety of other agriculture needs, but there are still some areas that have been untouched and resemble more of a savannah that Tanzania is known for. The base of Kilimanjaro is more forested and looks more jungle like and is called a cloud forest.

Once we arrived at the park gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our porters and other staff to carry before hitting the trail. Once everything was in order we started our climb slowly making our way up the winding trail that ascends continuously through the thick forest. Thankfully the overhead canopy provided a little cover from the rain that arrive around midday.

The team hiked for a little over 5 1/2 hours and managed to not get too wet before we reached our camp for the night that sits around 10,000ft.

After settling into camp and get situated the team was served a nice warm meal for dinner.

Everyone is doing well and looking forward to a good nights rest.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and Kili crew

On The Map

Saturday, February 18, 2017 8:35 pm PT This is Mike with RMI's Mexico Volcanoes trip. All the climbers arrived in Mexico City with luggage and enthusiasm. We had a nice team dinner and got to know each other a bit. From here we will leave the sprawling grasp of Mexico City for the scenic and rolling country side of La Malinche. Tomorrow's plan is to have an acclimatization hike to stretch the legs and lungs so the Team is prepared for our first objective, Ixtaccihuatl 17,340'. We'll check in each day and update those back home. RMI Guide Mike King

It was breezy all night and thru out the climb as we traversed along the west side of the mountain today. Dramatic clouds below on the Shira Plateau stayed around until the wind died down. We were hiking thru the highland desert zone among large volcanic boulders up to well over 14,500' when we began the big descent into tonight's camp Barranco at 13,030'. The south side of the mountain begins to unveil the dramatic upper mountain and a scattering of the beautiful giant groundsel tree not found many places on this planet is making an appearance. The team worked hard to get here and are glad to be sitting at the dinner table getting ready to begin another great mountain meal together. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Zeb Blais, reached the top this morning. Winds were in the 10-15 mph range and beautiful, sunny skies. After spending some time on the summit, the teams began their descent at 7:00 a.m.

May 17, 2016 - 10:28 p.m. PDT Grey clouds greeted the team in Anchorage as we began our movement towards the mountain but the wet skies could not dampen everyone's excitement to start the trip. Finally, after all the preparation and training, we are on our way! At first glance, on this first day, I'm excited about the team. All seem fit, experienced, and fun to be around. Dinner, dessert, and drinks were a nice conclusion to our long day of travel to get here. Now for some sleep so we're fresh for a busy day of gear preparation tomorrow... Until next time, good night. RMI Guides Brent Okita, Christina Dale, and Chris Ebeling

On The Map

This was a great day of climbing. It dawned crisp and clear at Shira Camp. Kibo, Kilimanjaro's main peak, was visible in all it's glory. We still couldn't see much out to the west because of clouds and murk, but everything was nice and blue up above. We got walking at 8:30 AM and made good, steady progress climbing toward Kibo. Inevitably, the clouds formed up as we went along, but we still enjoyed dramatic views of the hanging ice fields and steep mountain flanks ahead. We reached the 15,000 ft Lava Tower in early afternoon, and shattered everybody's previous altitude records in the process. Then our long descent into the Barranco Valley began. The good weather held for us and we even had a few sunny moments again as we got into the garden-like surroundings of our camp for the night. We passed under 30 ft high Giant Senecio plants... Seemingly straight out of a Doctor Suess book, and reached camp at 13,000 ft shortly after 3 PM. We are now camped below the Great Barranco Wall, but that of course, doesn't need to be climbed until tomorrow. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Hey, everyone. This is JJ Justman calling from Kilimanjaro with Team Orlando. Sorry for the summit call way up high; it was havoc. There were a ton of people and for some reason they all wanted to hoot and holler and have a big party while I was trying to send my dispatch. We had a great summit day today; the team did just a fantastic job. Actually, I've had all the great climbs here on Kilimanjaro but this team just did an incredible job getting up and down in style. We're back at Barafu Camp, the high camp here at 15,000'. We're actually packing up and we're heading down to what we call Mweka Camp at 10,000' and that's going to be our last night in the mountains, in the forests here of Kilimanjaro and then we're heading out tomorrow back to the hotel. Everyone says hello to friends and family. Again, everyone reach the summit today. There's no doubt it's a great way to do this climb. And we're now looking at our next objective of just kind of resting, relaxing, having a little bit of a fiesta, and then heading onto safari. So we'll stay in touch with all of you. Stay tuned tomorrow, I'll send a bunch of summit photos and we'll talk to you again from Tanzania. Take care everyone. RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Hey, everyone. This is JJ Justman with Team Orlando here on Kilimanjaro. We're at high camp at the Barafu Camp at 15,200 feet. Everyone is doing really, really well. We had a nice day to get up here to high camp. We are hydrating, resting, taking it easy, organizing gear. Weather is looking very nice. Some happy clouds here in the late afternoon, and we are really looking forward to a beautiful summit day tomorrow. So stay tuned, and we will hopefully, keeping the fingers crossed, which I'm thinking things are going to be great. We are all going to be standing on top of Kilimanjaro. We'll give you a call from the summit. Take care everyone. Thanks for following along. RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Wednesday, July 8, 2015 - 10:51 pm PT No forecast could have predicted a day as nice as the one we just had, and certainly none did. They were calling for more snow, and perhaps it was snowing below the immense blanket of clouds that we looked down on all day. But right from our 6 am start at 14,200' Camp, it was nothing but calm, blue sky and sunshine - where we were and up above where we wanted to be. We got climbing just after 9 am and made excellent progress, reaching our previous high point in a little over three hours. We then worked up the crest of the West Buttress, climbing steep snow with a hand on perfect granite from time to time. There was plenty to concentrate on to ensure safe climbing, but there were also moments devoted to pure pleasure, gazing down at ridiculously steep drop offs and at the gigantic faces of neighboring mountains. We rolled into 17,200' Camp after about six hours and fifteen minutes on the route. This gave us plenty of time in the strong afternoon sunshine to build a strong camp and eat a good dinner. We are all ready to go climbing to the top tomorrow if the great weather continues. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map