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Well, the summit is still very far away, but we are headed in the right direction. We left Penitentes this morning at 10:30 am with perfect weather. Temperatures were warm but not scorching, and there was a nice breeze to keep things bearable. Everyone was excited to get some blood flowing after long travel days, and we made it to our camp at Pampa de Leñas in about four and a half hours. It always takes me a few days to adjust to the desert climate, but everyone else seems to be fitting right in. No sunburns, no blisters, just efficient movement through a giant valley. The only snafu of the day occurred when a localized dirt tornado blew through camp and sucked one of our sleeping pads into the stratosphere. If it entered restricted airspace no one noticed, or no one cared. Against all odds, it fluttered back down to camp. A casual stroll and a quick inspection revealed that it was no worse for the wear. We’re about to sit down for one of the best meals of the trip. A traditional Argentinian asado, with meats of all kinds cooked over an open flame. Then we’ll go to sleep under the stars, and continue the journey tomorrow. RMI Guides JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, and Avery Parrinello

On The Map

Wednesday, May 23, 2018 Well, we have checked all of our boxes to take off, but we weren't able to track down flyable weather to get us in to Base Camp on Denali. Fog rolled in first thing this morning on the glacier landing strip, and we spent the day on standby, waiting for it to clear. Instead, moisture continued to stream into the Alaska range, and rain came off and on to Talkeetna. With a lot of daylight up here this time of year, our flying window is long, and we stuck it out until 8pm, when we finally accepted another night in town and checked into the hotel again. What do you do on a standby day in Talkeetna? Nap in the hanger, download more movies, chat, and explore the curio shops on Main Street, ready to drop everything and run back to the hanger at a moment's notice should things clear. All of that is punctuated by frequent trips to the coffee shop. We'll enjoy another night in a bed and wake up tomorrow to see what the weather gives us. This is the game that we are playing in Alaska! RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Jess Matthews, Taylor Bickford, and team

Another sparkling and clear start to the day. Mt. Meru, our 15,000 ft volcanic neighbor to the West seemed close enough to touch in the early morning air at Shira Camp. Kibo stood out in all its glory with bunches of recent snow on her flanks. We got walking at around 8:30 AM heading directly toward the central peak. The trail was a good deal easier than yesterday’s rock hopping. We gained altitude steadily, but without getting on any steep terrain. It took a few hours to work up the broad plateau through juniper and low sage-like shrubs. Clouds had begun to form and by the time we reached our highpoint for the day, the 15,200 ft “Lava Tower” we were robbed of any views by fog and murk. Even so, we sat for a pleasant half hour eating lunch in the clouds, having broken altitude records for about three quarters of our group. Just as we began our descent toward camp in the Barranco Valley, it started raining and so we quickly covered up. The storm lasted about an hour, but didn’t give us much real trouble in our descent. Just before we reached camp, as we came into a fabulous garden of Lobelias and Giant Senecios, the rain quit and things dried out a bit. We rolled into camp at 13,000 ft at precisely 3:30... just ahead of tea time. Chef Tosha dazzled us with another fine dinner in our dome tent to finish this big day. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Sunday, January 21, 2018 - 7:03 pm PT Hello from day two on the slopes of our first volcano, La Malinche! Today we made our way to the Malintzi resort at a little over 10,000ft. We wasted no time and immediately headed uphill and hiked up to the ridge heading to the top, at about 13,700ft - not bad for our first day. We were rewarded with a panoramic view of our upcoming objectives, Ixta and Pico de Orizaba, poking up through a layer of clouds. We all returned dusty and ready to shower and eat. RMI Guides Jessie Poquerusse, Walter Hailes & the team

On The Map

The group is doing great after a strong showing on the trail today. We are at Karanga Valley which sits at 13,100' and is our last stop before Kilimanjaro's High Camp. We tackled the Barranco Wall this morning and had a very smooth ascent up the steep slopes. When we were about 2/3 of the way up we could look back down on last night's camp which looked like a camp for ants. The rest of the way felt like it was a dance off with a bunch of ups and downs. A few clouds made for very comfortable climbing conditions and a picturesque setting. No sooner did we arrive to camp than a two minute rain shower began, luckily we had our tents for shelterr and more big mountain story when we get home. We're all relaxing now before dinner and tomorrow we head up to Barafu camp at 15,000'. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Summit! Today the team stood on the highest point of Europe. I have to admit we were pretty lucky with the weather, as we had a little snowstorm pass through last night leaving a nice dusting. The team did a fantastic job of taking care of themselves and climbed incredibly well. With pretty decent weather we could see much of the massive Caucasus mountain range from the summit. Once we descended back to the saddle between the two summits that Mt. Elbrus has (West and East), four of us decided to climb up to the other summit while the rest of the team descended safely back to camp. It only added an additional one and a half hours, so not too bad, especially since the weather was good. After everyone returned to camp, we had a quick lunch and then packed up to head down valley to our hotel at the base of the mountain. Everyone is high spirits and smelling great! RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy, freshly showered crew

On The Map

We're back from our first foray above Basecamp where we carried a load of food, fuel, and cold weather gear and cached it at over 16,000' in Aconcagua Camp 1. Some of the loosest scree fields and difficult footing on our entire route challenged us today but the team pulled through with good style. Our performance today bodes well for our chances higher on the mountain with the team staying on pace and efficiently navigating the tricky terrain. We started out around 9:30 am and were back in Basecamp before 4 PM which made for a full day but still left us time for a nap before dinner. The kitchen staff knew we were working hard today and rewarded us with a hearty dinner of steak and potatoes. Now it's off to bed with a full belly and no major plans for tomorrow... RMI Guide Billy Nugent

May 17, 2016 - 9:52 p.m. PDT While we had hoped for sunny warm skies, we were delivered a snowy cloudy morning. After a nice pancake breakfast we set out to do some training in the area. Avalanche education and crack rescue took up our entire day and folks picked up the skills pretty quickly. The clouds lifted long enough for us to drop a few folks into the hole and let their teammates pull them out. That certainly was a comical and educational experience for the team. Just before dinner the temps dropped off significantly and it started to snow again. Seems to be a bit manic weather here at 7000' but everyone is rolling with it in style. Tomorrow we hope to move up glacier for some exploring. Stay tuned, RMI Guide Leon Davis & Team

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Mike Soucy reached the Summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The Team reported strong winds, clouds and deteriorating weather. They have started their descent and are en route back to Camp Muir. Congratulations to Today's Team!

Thursday, June 6, 2019 11:56 PM PT We woke up this morning and looked uphill at the summit again. We watched as winds increased up high. We watched a few teams leave camp and turn around before Denali pass. We looked at our dwindling food. We looked at our rapidly filling poop cans. When we added it all up, we decided that it was time to leave high camp. Four nights at 17,000 feet can seem like an icy eternity, but the team actually managed it quite well. There was nothing in the forecast that made us want to stay any longer, so we left. We’re back at 14 camp now, which seems like a beach resort in comparison. Some folks have decided they have had their fill, and some want to sit it out for a few more days, potentially trying again. Tomorrow we will flesh out our options and make a plan. For now, we are excited for the best nights sleep we’ve had in a while. We’re excited to eat something other than freeze dried food. We’re excited to be able to wear fewer than three jackets to bed. RMI Guide JM Gorum & Team