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June 8, 2016 - 10:30 pm PT The team did an excellent job today. The weather was mealy; periods of light snow, partly cloudy, some wind here and there. Everyone handled all these conditions, and a big climbing day, in stride. We made our way from 11 Camp up Motorcycle Hill, up Squirrel Hill, across the Polo Fields, around Windy Corner and on to 14 Camp. At 14,000' we caught our first glimpse of the Upper West Rib for a few seconds when the clouds parted. Then we headed back to our home at 11 Camp. Everyone is feeling great and excited to move up a little more. Thanks for following along, cross your fingers for good moving weather for us. RMI Expeditions Upper West Rib Team

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The Mount Rainier Summit Climb, led by Mike Walter, and the Expedition Skills Seminar – Paradise, led by Leon Davis, crested the crater rim at 7:06 a.m. The teams reported a beautiful day with 10 mph winds. After spending over an hour on the summit, they began their descent. Congratulations to today's teams!

Friday, May 29th 7:00 pm PDT We woke early to perfect weather, packed up camp and headed to 17K. We have a good forecast and hope to summit tomorrow. We'll be in touch as our summit bid progresses. RMI Guide Mike Walter

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You’re back! Let me tell you about our day. 

We woke up early after a night of fun. We finished our packing, ate a fabulous breakfast, and hit the road. Vamonos! Not to the playa. To start our trek amidst some of the biggest mountains in the world. 

Today we walked eight miles, along a roaring river, in the blazing sun. Hoods up, sweat dripping, mouths like cotton. Overwhelmingly beautiful and entirely humbling, we made our way to Trek Camp 1. 

We were greeted at camp with fresh, juicy watermelon, lemonade, and beautiful smiles. We milled around for a bit and soaked up the place while we waited for dinner. The grill was fired up, and by early evening, we were chowing on endless meats and grilled vegetables. Such luxury! 

Of course, we ended the day with an exciting and strategic game of Farkle. Laughter, followed by big yawns, and then off to bed. Another good day awaits! 

And per special request, a very Happy Birthday to Michael & Daniel! 

RMI Guide Hannah Blum

The team is in fine form today as we loaded our heavy packs onto our strong backs and hit the steep trail up from La Joya to Campo Alto Ixta. We all moved under the hot Mexico sun as a tight unit of perfectly timed rest steps. A small dog, we later named Ixta, decided that our group is great company and came with us all the way to 15,500 feet. Now we have our tents up and are treating ourselves to an hour of rest before firing up the stoves and making a hot dinner. We'll be turning in early because we'll be back up in the middle night for a climb to the top! RMI Guide Christina Dale

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Recipe for recovery, rest and relaxation: one hot shower, two cold beers, great food, friends and a soft bed. So good! Our descent from Mweka Camp at 10,000' to the gate and our bus went smoothly. It was preceded by the closing ceremony at camp where the mountain staff sing and dance to commemorate the special week spent together, and we in turn get to express our appreciation for their hard work and dedication to making our mountain experience as wonderful as it was. An African lunch was enjoyed before we had to say goodbye to the local guides, porters and kitchen staff. Then it was back to the Arumeru Lodge to clean up and relax. The water ran brown for the first minute in the shower as the weeks worth of dirt washed off our bodies. I think we all felt a bit reborn as we put on clean clothes and headed to the bar for a cold one. A nice surprise for me was seeing my good friend Dave Hahn, who was leading the RMI Kili trip before ours and getting ready to start his next trip. Shortly, we'll be up for breakfast and beginning the next part of our adventure: the safari, where we plan on visiting Lake Manyara, the Ngorogoro Crater and the Tanagire National Park. There we'll be hoping to see some of the incredible wildlife this special part of the world call home. Lions, elephants, leopards, wildebeest, hippos, zebras, giraffes and so much more. And, no more walking for a while. Bring it on! RMI Guide Brent Okita

Tuesday, June 19, 2018 - 11:28 PM PT It was a full and busy day for our gang in Talkeetna. We met for the traditional breakfast at the Roadhouse where formal introductions were made and the plan and possibilities for the next few days were discussed. Then it was over to the Talkeetna Ranger Station where we greeted longtime friends in the National Park Service. Roger Robinson -who has been active on Denali since 1975- gave our safety briefing and orientation slideshow. We then made our way across town to the airstrip and the hangars of K2 Aviation, our flight service. Skies were cloudy, and we hear that it is still blowing and snowing hard all up and down Denali, but in town today, life wasn’t too bad. It never rained and there were even some spells of blue sky and sunshine in the afternoon. We spent almost the entire afternoon in the hangar though, conducting equipment checks and sorting tents, stoves, ropes, pots, pans, shovels and piles upon piles of food and clothing. By 5 PM it was all in order, weighed and inventoried... ready to be loaded on planes in the morning. The team got together one more time, for a relaxing dinner at the Twister Creek brew pub. After dinner, we strolled over to the river bank to watch the mighty Susitna boiling past town and to look over to where Denali was hiding in the storm. We broke up for the evening, with everybody intent on taking advantage of a final night -we hope- of Internet, telephone and comfy beds. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Our final night in St. Petersburg! The team had a great last day here in Russia, with a visit to a beautiful church full of mosaics. We then visited the very famous Hermitage Museum, where we saw paintings and sculptures by many well-known artists including Rembrandt, Michelangelo and even Da Vinci. We took a small break and wrapped up the day with a fantastic evening boat cruise to see this amazing city by water. It's been a wonderful adventure here in Russia, but it's time to say our goodbyes and return to family and loved ones. Thanks for following. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Hola, Today, after a lot of travel and food the team finally got out into the mountains.  We set off for a gondola ride on the outskirts of town that takes us all the way up to well over 13,000 feet.  We were pleased to find fair skies and moderate temps with sweeping views of the city at the top. From there it took us 2.5 hours to reach the summit at 15,700 feet with the whole team!  This is a great team and everyone did excellent.  After some time on top breathing thin air, we descended back to Quito grabbing some tasty carne empanadas on the way. After an afternoon nap we all got some pizzas and ice cream to soothe the soul before bed.  Tomorrow we will venture further outside Quito for another highland hike. Stay tuned, RMI Guide Ben Liken

Good evening from Otavalo, Ecuador.  Today was a good day.  It started as all the others have.  Breakfast and coffee at the hotel, light rain on the streets and an eagerness to see something new.  The exception was we left Quito.  It is easy to fall into the creature comforts of city life but we know that bigger and wilder places await outside of the country's capital. Once loaded onto Victor's magic bus, we weaved our way through the maze of streets which eventually took us to the Pan-American Highway heading north.  After two hours of driving we arrived at the foothills of a volcano called Fuya Fuya.  Even though it's altitude topped out at 14,300 feet, it still posed a worthy hike.  Unfortunately the weather had it out for us.  Just like yesterday, a soggy rain fell all around and the prospect of hiking for three hours up a slick mud trail didn't sound worth the benefits gained by going up 2,000 feet.  Much like yesterday though our team of determined climbers showed strong will so we stopped the van 5 km from the parking lot where our climb would have started and walked the road to our waiting van.  This idea proved sound when five minutes after arriving the heavy skies opened up and soaked everything with a downpour no hiker would want to be in.  This is what Ecuador can do.  So after Fuya Fuya we headed down into town for lunch and then moved 11 men and 20 duffel bags into our beautiful hacienda. After a couple of hours settling in we gathered in the sun room, ordered some cervezas and listened as Nick taught everyone knots, hitches and bends. The weather hasn't been perfect but we still seem to have fun times. Tomorrow we visit the largest crafts market in Ecuador.  Pray for sun. Hasta Manana, RMI Guides Nick Hunt, Adam Knoff and team

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