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Hello - This is Elias and Eric. We are on the summit of Paria North at 5,500 meters roughly 18,500' and it's a beautiful day up here. We can see a lot of the cool summits of the Cordillera Blanca. We just wanted to let you know that we are are starting our descent. We will let you know what happens in the next few days on the blog. That is all for now everybody's good and we are enjoying ourselves. Take care, RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

It was a BIG day, but not so enormous for this tough team. We woke up early and put in a solid six hours of climbing in good style. At one point on the trail we reached just under 15,000 ft, our current trip high point. We are now at 13,030 ft at the Barranco Camp. The plan of climbing high and sleeping low is in place for acclimatization and seems to be working well; everybody is in good shape. The upper mountain towers above us at this camp and the beautiful weather will make for a fantastic sunset tonight. Tomorrow we tackle the Barranco Wall as we continue our ascent of Kilimanjaro. We will check-in and let you know how that goes. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Today we are headed out from our post in Malintzi and moving on towards Ixta. Luckily we will get a chance to do some sight seeing on route. Traveling to another country is about so much more than just trying to stand on top of a mountain. It is often the spaces in between the summits that you remember years after the summits fade. Here's to the waterfalls and markets, the small town zocalos (town squares) and random Christmas tree farms in the foothills on the way to the climbs. And we hope everyone back home is enjoying the in-between time too. RMI Guide Jake Beren

Hey this is Seth dropping a quick check in via the satellite phone. We are way out in the bush at Kikoti Camp. Since I checked in last we have had some really great animal encounters. Right after I emailed yesterday we spotted several rhinos fairly close to the road. That brought our total rhino count for the day up to 5 which is by far the most I've seen in a single day. Right after that we pulled up to a male lion next to the road. Our drivers got us into a good position and before we knew it he got up and walked to less than 10 feet from the cars! That was a real treat. Today we spent the morning driving to Tarangire National Park and had an afternoon game drive. The elephants were out in full force and I'd say we saw well over 100. It was a very hot day though and that keeps the cats in the shade. We didn't see any of them. Tomorrow we will spend the morning looking for more cats and then head back to the Dik Dik before we all fly home at night. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall and Team

RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier and Mike Bennett and the Ecuador Volcanoes team reached the summit of Cayambe earlier this morning. 

 

Way to climb!

Rough day at Union Glacier. Early on, there was the hope that the Ilyushin would fly... there were even expected times and schedules developed. But before we got very far into the morning, the flight was canceled due to big winds in Punta Arenas. This wouldn’t have been our flight, of course, as it is devoted to getting the marathon folks out. But obviously we need this one done to get to our own. The weather at Union spiraled into a nasty storm during the late afternoon and evening. 55 mph winds punished our tents in the middle of the night in this normally calm camp, causing most guides and staff to be up and on alert through the wee hours. Winds mellowed by morning, but now a snowstorm has set in. Despite the disappointments of the day, spirits were high as we worked to entertain one another with lecturers and movies and slideshows. We are hanging in there at Union Glacier. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Saturday, June 2, 2018 - 2:43 PM PT We awoke to a leisurely morning as we waited for our porters to arrive and collect some of our gear to bring to High Camp at 17,600’ on Huayna Potosi. As with any big mountain around the world, weather plays a major role when attempting to summit a 6000 meter peak. With a deteriorating forecast in the coming days, we’ve decided to bump up our summit attempt to tonight! Today we climbed a little over 1500’ to the Anselme Baud hut at the base of glacier. The hut feels similar to any European Chalet with a mixture of people from all over the world looking to climb. The crew did great getting to the hut allowing us ample time to enjoy tea, and food. Currently it’s cloudy, with no precipitation and winds are calm. Our hope is to climb tonight before the weather turns with an approaching cold front. Forecasting weather in Bolivia is a challenge as clouds slowly build in the Amazon lowlands slowly building over the mountains. Some local guides use the sight of a certain beetle to tell when a storm is approaching. We remain optimistic that weather will hold off until Monday. We’ll keep our fingers crossed as we look to make our summit attempt tonight on Huayna Potosi. RMI Guide Eric Frank

We are all back safely in town after a successful summit of Pico de Orizaba! The entire team stood on top after a long day climbing up the Jamapa Glacier. We had thunder and lightning last night that turned into snow all the way down to the hut. The skies cleared around 12:45 am and we were out the door at 1 on a warm night. The Team is sorting gear for flights home in the morning and looking forward to a good dinner and restful nights sleep. Thanks for following along. RMI Guide Mike King

Another pretty perfect, successful day here in Russia. Sunny, clear skies beckoned us up towards Lenz Rocks, where we will make high camp. The plumes of snow we saw yesterday were still twirling their way our of the col between the east and west summits, but we had only a fresh breeze to face as we made our way up. Everyone climbed really well, hitting their high altitude glacial climbing stride. We left a small cache of food and fuel at Lenz, then opened up our strides and cruised back to camp. We'll do it again tomorrow if the weather lets us, and move up with our tents and summit gear to get in position for our summit bid. It's getting close! Best from the Caucasus, RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Our third AMS-Alpine Expedition has come to an end. What an incredible time we had! The rugged terrain of Little Switzerland didn't disappoint at all... While the weather has been the main challenge, conditions on the routes were stellar. Our team of four climbers were super talented and motivated, and training days in the vicinity of camp waiting for weather to clear, turned to be the most productive lessons on the terrain; from rock rescue scenarios, to anchor transitions, all paid back with very efficient climbs up iconic formations like "The Lost Marsupial" or "The Troll", which astonished glacier landing tourists from down below as their K2 Aviation plane landed on the Kahiltna Glacier. Worth mentioned was our menu. If most of us are familiar with the concept of car camping... imagine how plane camping can be! With a powerless fridge like the glacier, steaks or fresh vegetables are unquestionable components of our diet in here. Yes, the alpine climbing in our seminar is at its best; light packs, 1 day missions from camp, and technical terrain. But when we're at camp, fun times, quality rest and better food is guaranteed. Now we're headed to the airport, already thinking of next year's edition. Thanks for following and I hope you will consider joining us next season! RMI Guide Elías de Andrés Martos