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The last two days have flown by quickly, mostly involving automobiles, planes, airports, lots of bags, and a little walking. We had to wake early yesterday after our summit push to start the walk to Mt. Elbrus' Base Camp, and the forecast called for rain, and our drivers were worried about getting the vans back across the river before the water levels rose. So we awoke at 5 to the sound of rain and quickly packed our bags, but pleasantly the rain subsided, and we had a nice, but very heavy walk back to the pastures where our adventure started. As we descended, the loose scree of the moraine have way to wide alluvial plains again, then the moss covered rocky hills and chasms of the lower mountain. We had only been at camp 1 for about a week, but the verdant green plant life, flowers, and birds of the lower elevations were still welcome sensory stimulation! As we arrived at Base Camp, so did the vans, so we repacked hurriedly and climbed into another offroad sprinter van for the bouncy and at times thrilling drive back to Kislovodsk. Some took the afternoon to explore town, others supported and dried gear, and then we meet for our final Caucasian dinner, which we deemed Meat Fest. Three and a half 1 kilogram platters of delicious bbq lamb, beef, chicken, and pork had everyone holding their stomachs, gasping for air, but still trying to finish every morsel. Our national pride was on the line as Dave pointed out. Today we once again did the great shuffle, catching an early shuttle to the airport, and then a flight to Moscow and on to St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg is very cosmopolitan, and has the feel of old Europe, with cafes, bars, and restaurants at every turn. We found the Craft Brew Cafe and knew it would suit our needs. We just returned from another delicious meal, where different types of dried meats, chantrelles (which are in season!) and a delicious take on Bourchte were all featured heavily. Tomorrow we've got a busy day touring this beautiful city, and everybody is excited. RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, JM Gorum, and team

Today was the most fun I've ever had acclimatizing. The team was feeling good and moving well as we made our way up to the crystal clear waters of Laguna Churup. The lake sits at 14,600' and is a perfect day hike to get some altitude in before we move to our base camp in the Ishinca Valley. When we arrived we couldn't resist the glacial-fed emerald pool. Within a few minutes most of the team was fully submerged and paddling as hard as they could to get back on shore. The water temperature was... Refreshing. Pictured here from left to right are Chase, John, Sarah and Steve. This inspired group of adventurers is back in Huaraz, packed up and ready to head into base camp tomorrow. Can't wait to get climbing! Until then, RMI Guide Zeb Blais and team

It was a soggy day for the team in Cheget. We still made the best of the rain by hiking above 11,000 feet and acclimatizing. However, at the sound of thunder we hightailed it back down. The team had a great lunch and we are now finalizing our gear for tomorrow. Hopefully the skies will be a little sunnier! RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Our team reached the summit of Kilimanjaro this morning in good style and we have now arrived at Mweka Camp at 10,000 ft for our last night here on Kilimanjaro. This group I have had the pleasure to climb with excelled in all phases while on the mountain. I have a high level of confidence they will be able to handle phase two, our game viewing safari. But for now we will enjoy a well deserved night's rest and tomorrow make our way down the to the trail head. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Friday, October 11, 2024

After our rainy summit of Volcan La Malinche, our team was pretty excited to see sun pop up in the forecast. We headed toward Volcan Iztaccihuatl (Ixta) excited for our next summit. 

At our regular food and water pit stop in Amecameca (my favorite word) our local guide Allan had some bad news. The rains from Hurricane Milton had caused the park service to close the road, and we would have a 9 kilometer hike to our normal parking/basecamp area.  This was sad to hear, as it made a summit of Ixta a hard proposition. But we quickly brainstormed and decided we would trek to basecamp, then get as far up Ixta as possible. This would give us great altitude training for our biggest goal, Orizaba at 18,500’. 

The next day we hiked through pleasant tall grass meadows and pine trees and camped at our normal basecamp at 13,000’. In the morning we woke to a ‘practice’ alpine start at 3:00am, and were finally greeted by stars and the moon. 

On our climb to 15,500’ we watched a colorful sunrise and Volcan Popocatepetl puffing away across the valley. All in all a spectacular altitude training day. 

Trekking back through the pine tree meadows, everyone was excited to get to Puebla for pizza, a nice night in a hotel, then to our final volcano, Pico de Orizaba!

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

Sunday, June 16, 2024 - 2:57 am PT

We chose this.

That’s crucial to remember the fifth day that you’re pulling on the same pair of socks  and $h!**ing in a plastic green bucket. Also, guides lie. Or more charitably - plans change. They’ll tell you it’s because of “weather” and that we’re a “strong team”, but I think they just like to see us suffer. There seems no other logical explanation for why they insist on passing every other rope including Dave Hahn’s - on our move up to 11 Camp. As though today’s walk wasn’t going to be a slog already - 3400ft of climbing, picking team we come up behind - up our cache en route to single carry the rest of the way to 11 Camp. The single carry being one of those “change of plans” due to the aforementioned “weather”. Add to this Seth’s excitement to “enter the pain cave”, and you be the judge. And so we spend the day cruelly retracing our footsteps up Ski Hill and the other unnamed - but just as vertical - slopes of the Kalhiltna. We are surrounded by the towering peaks of the Alaska Range - the mere glimpse of whom have surely inspired poets and painters (and Thomas) alike, but my world is a 3ft section of a neon orange rope dragging through the snow in front of me. Do not step on the rope. Keep pace; Seth isn’t going to drag you up the mountain. Do not step on the rope. Try again: Do not step on the rope. Breathe. You learn quickly just how many types of snow there are when your existence is reduced down to slowly walking through it for hours on end. There’s the firm crusty stuff - an excellent uphill walking surface when it’s smooth, if only you can tolerate the grating sound of the sled being dragged across its surface. There’s the loose icy stuff that resembles hail, but smaller and more of it. This can be okay to walk on if it’s not too deep and there’s a good surface underneath. There’s the heavy, wet, slushy stuff - miserable for both traction and the will to live. Then there’s my favorite - the stuff that is so fine it could be mistaken for a white sand beach, if only we weren’t on a glacier in Alaska. This snow has a gentle softness underfoot that makes traversal feel effortless - until your snowshoe punches through and sinks down several inches. Then I just hate snow, all of it.  We eventually reach our cache from the day before and load up for our final ascent to 11,000' Camp. The team is feeling the weight of the packs and sleds, but we make it in a single push. Work isn’t over when we arrive, as there’s still an hour plus of shoveling to do to create our new home on the ice. Eventually, the tents are up, the toilet is dug, the kitchen is ready for us all to gather together, after some rest and a reprieve from the sun. At dinner, we’ll celebrate Tait’s birthday with quesadillas and birthday cake. Only now do I stop to realize just where we are - how wild, how breathtaking, how inhospitable. And how much of a team effort it took to get here. So I remind myself to look up from that neon orange snake of nylon every once in a while. Emerge from my tent and take it all in. And remember just why we chose this.

RMI Climber Sophia Bishop

The normally intimidating Barranco Wall wasn’t so intimidating for my team today. We cruised up it. Perhaps it was because we all got pretty good sleep in Barranco Camp last night. Or it might have been Bruno’s outstanding 8 AM breakfast. Maybe we were energized by the staff breaking into a spirited singing and dancing session in honor of our 9 AM departure. In any case we set off up the network of lava ledges and gullies and none of the team seemed the least bit concerned with the drop-offs and consequences for mis-steps. Nobody puzzled over how to pull up onto the next ledge or on how to let porters with loads squeeze by in such tight spaces. We were up the whole thing in 90 minutes and joking about going back down to do it again. The morning had started out clear but we were in familiar clouds from the top of the wall all the way to Karanga Camp which we reached by about 12:30 PM. Our crew blew us away with another excellent lunch and a well-built camp for us to relax in at 13,100 ft. The clouds fell away just before sunset, enabling us to see Kibo shining and majestic with recent snow. The winds got going a little around camp as we ate dinner and sheltered in the dining tent. With it a little on the cold side, we were inclined to linger a bit longer over hot tea for an after-dinner storytelling session before bed. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

We spent a quiet night at Machame Camp with clouds above and below. Those of us lying awake, still wrestling with jet lag, were never able to detect even the faintest of breezes rustling tent fabric. 6:30 was our wake up target and although we were right on the mark, Kilimanjaro itself decided to sleep in. We were never able to see Kibo, the central peak, due to clouds. We set out at 8 AM in pleasant walking conditions -never in danger of overheating- with the sun obscured. The trail led steeply upward through a giant heather forest. We climbed slowly and steadily, working from time to time on walking and breathing techniques for the days ahead. Views were limited but still enchanting as we reached and followed a ridge top of old lava formations to well over 12,000 ft. We finished with an hour of traversing ledges and trails to the north, turning the corner onto the easier Shira Plateau just after noon. We were in our 12,600 ft new home -Shira Camp- by 12:45. We lounged away the afternoon with meals, naps, storytelling and exploring. Sunset into the cloudy peaks of Shira was briefly beautiful. We finished with a sumptuous alpine dinner in our dining tent, chatted a bit more about legendary climbs and climbers, and then called it a day. (A good day) Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

July 11, 2015 7:58 pm PST All enjoyed the "low" altitude sleep at 11,000 ft last night. Such a relief from the past few days at higher and colder locales. As was always the plan, we chose to stay in place today in order to get on a night-time schedule for exiting the lower Kahiltna Glacier. It was a fine day for resting, even as the weather seemed to deteriorate around us. Our hope was that clear skies and a cool night would make travel safer (from a crevasse standpoint) and easier. That might not happen tonight as there is still plenty of cloud, but we'll get up at midnight and head for our pickup point anyway. As usual, we'll need good luck and good weather to get down and off the mountain. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Today we rest! Today we did some camp improvements, reinforcing the snow walls and buffing out the kitchen tent. Other than that, we were working on our relaxation techniques. These cannot be underestimated on a climb of this length.

On The Map