Most Popular Entries
The
Four Day Summit Climb July 19 - 22 led by
RMI Guide Christina Dale was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today due to route conditions. The team is currently descending to Camp Muir. They will spend a bit of time at Camp Muir before continuing to Paradise later this morning.
Hello from
Argentina!
The team all arrived in Mendoza, minus a couple of bags. We all got acquainted at our first meeting; sharing some stories and giving some background. After a fantastic meal we are well fed and ready for some rest. It will be a big day tomorrow- permits, more shopping and transfer up into the Andes.
Our next stop should be at around 9,000 feet. But first, the missing bags must arrive, which could show up tomorrow. Then we will finish our gear check and move forward with the adventure ahead. Everyone is A-OK.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
We were up early for this big day of the Safari, leaving our comfy hotel at 7 AM to get over to
Ngorongoro Crater. Our Landcruisers clawed their way up the rough dirt road to the crater rim and then we bounced our way around the circle until another dirt track took us down into the collapsed caldera. Right off, we began seeing wildlife in great numbers and in close proximity. Before long we were quite used to ostriches and great herds of wildebeest and Cape Buffalo. We saw a pack of perhaps 20 hyena, barking eerily and crunching the bones of some freshly departed big animal. We got way closer than we ever imagined was possible to a couple of lionesses and a big male who decided the road would do just fine for napping. We saw (and got a whiff of) several dozen hippos, wallowing in various ponds. There were secretary birds and kori bustards, fish eagles and vultures. Gazelles and zebra were everywhere. We didn't manage to spot rhinos, but we did see a few great bull elephants. The day was fairly hot and sunny until a system of thunderstorms rolled by, cooling things for our afternoon tour. Then Edson and Juma skillfully brought the cruisers back down the rough roads to our hotel for a relaxing evening at the Plantation Lodge. Suffice to say that we were blown away by our day inside a volcano.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
With yesterday's preview of the terrain between Base Camp and Camp 1, today's move uphill felt significantly easier to everybody. Everyone commented that it felt like we were walking more slowly, but were covering more ground and trimming time. In short, we were the best looking team on the hill today, in fashion and in climbing style.
Once at
Camp 1 we found that available tent sites weren't as plentiful a we had hoped, with a fair number of climbers here since it is high season. We managed a few spots in our outfitter's camp, before the guides broke out the rock bar to move a couple big boulders to clear one more. Everyone was excited to see the cook hut and celebrated our successful move with some gluvine. We are psyched to be up above the clouds with some great views. Tomorrow, we will take a rest day after two big days in a row. We'll refresh some climbing skills and enjoy our new home before focusing on moving higher once again.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer & Team
Well, not literally. But yes figuratively. Our weather forecast is looking great and we are waiting out what will likely be our last rest day of the program here at Camp 2. The calm winds and sunny skies should persist through our summit push which is set to start with tomorrow's move to Camp 3 at
Plaza Cólera (19,600'). If the weather holds true to the forecast we'll be taking a crack at the summit the following morning! I think some nervous butterflies are settling in with the team right now as all we have to do is sit around and finish out our acclimatization process. Too much tent time can be a tough thing to handle but in actuality we are slightly ahead of schedule. We're trying to keep that in mind as we finish off our rest day and begin what will be at least five busy days of hard work that will eventually bring us back to the milk and honey of Mendoza.
We'll do our best to keep checking in along the way!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
RMI Guides
Pete Van Deventer, Sid Pattison and the Moondance Adventures Team reached the summit of
Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team was walking off the Crater Rim at 8:35 am. Pete & Sid reported light winds and light snow as they moved through the cloud cap at the top of the mountain.
Congratulations to today's team!
Sunday July 5th 10:45 am PT
RMI Guide Billy Nugent just called the office to check in. The team had a long, tough day yesterday breaking trail through the new snow that had fallen on the route. After sleeping in this morning, they are getting ready to depart
Denali's 11K Camp. They are hoping to be at Kahiltna Base by late afternoon/early evening.
On The Map
This is Zeb Blais checking in from Plaza Argentina. Today, our team made our first carry to
Camp One. Our team did great under some big loads, carrying supplies and gear for the upper mountain... [transmission lost]
RMI Guide Zeb Blais
On The Map
The weather seems to have changed its tune as of late and is cooperating with us nicely. Today was mostly cloudy with an occasion light snow shower and a light breeze. It was perfect for climbing up
Ski Hill and continuing up the Kahiltna to 10,000' where we made a cache of food and fuel and gear. The glacier is in excellent condition and the traveling was smooth. Our team all did well today and we're now in position to move camp to 11,200', hopefully tomorrow.
We'll let you know what shakes out,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
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
On The Map
.jpg)
Good effort team. I’m sorry you didn’t reach the summit, but you will forever hold the memories of this adventure!
Posted by: Katharine Miller on 7/22/2018 at 11:29 am
Sue Niezgoda. So sorry you weren’t able to make it to the summit. But also glad you are safe. Love you
Posted by: Helen Bogdon on 7/22/2018 at 7:43 am
View All Comments