Most Popular Entries

Thursday, August 15, 2019 - 8:32 PM PT We are out of the mountains! It took a little extra time to make it happen. One of the vans apparently broke down on the way to get us, necessitating a return to Kislovodsk for another vehicle, and a few hour delay. The WAS van eventually showed up at base camp and unloaded its inhabitants and gear, and we proceeded to pack the back full with duffels. The river had risen, so rather than be in the van for the crossing, we walked across the nearby fields, crossed the river on a small bridge, and met the van on the far side. The four wheel drive road is always exciting as we sway back and forth with the ruts, and was made even more so by the uncanny resemblance of our vehicle to a clown car with everyone inside. Though we arrived late to Kislovodsk, we got a delicious dinner at a Georgian restaurant on the central pedestrian mall. Tomorrow we transition back to big city mode, making our way to St. Petersburg. RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal, and team hurry up and wait

Today we left the busy city and headed north to continue our acclimatization and experience some of Ecuador's wonderful culture. Our drive north took us to the small town of Tabacundo were we turned off the highway and drove up a cobbled stone road to the base of our next hike. Our hike for the day was the beautiful Cerro Fuya Fuya, which is large grass covered mountain with a small rocky summit that overlooks a small lake. Although Fuya Fuya is considered a small mountain here in Ecuador it is nearly as tall as Mt. Rainier, but not nearly as tough. Today's climb took just over 3 hours to reach the summit and make it back to our vehicles and everyone did great. Thankfully we timed it perfectly, because no sooner had we arrived back to the cars then the rain started to fall. We quickly left the trailhead and headed for our new home for the night at Hacienda Hosteria San Luis. San Luis is nestled in between our first climbing objective, Cayambe and one of South Americas largest markets, Otavalo. Normally we would spend the day exploring the grounds of this working ranch, but the rain is still falling and now we are relaxing, listening to the frogs croak and enjoying the peacefulness and the warmth of the fireplace. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and I'm sure are looking forward to a nice meal and a good night sleep. RMI Guide Casey Grom

Update 3:45 pm PST: Seth Waterfall radioed in after the team made the oxygen bottle switch at the Balcony. They are are well past that point and working their way to the South Summit. A bit of traffic but not too bad. Kaji and Tshering are right there with them and report not much wind and a beautiful morning is shaping up. Rough estimate of between one and three hours to top of the South Summit. All is going very well. RMI Guide and Everest Basecamp Manager Mark Tucker (The map shows a point at Camp 4 with the next point marking the South Summit.)

On The Map

Tuesday, June 29, 2021 - 10:13 pm PT

And that's that,

Today we gave it all we could. The forecast was for less than 15mph winds and party sunny...well that wasn't exactly what we got. Camp was windy from the start. The sun was out but so was the wind. But today was our last shot so we left camp. It was a slow start behind a bunch of teams on the Autobahn but we made it to Denali Pass. The first stretch of the day is a real butt kicker. Clouds began to roam above Denali but conditions were still good. As the day progressed so did the clouds. By late afternoon we were in a cloud and the winds had picked up. We pushed as far as we could until it didn't make sense to keep going. 19,500' was our high point. Pushing past there with the conditions we had would be a risk. As the saying goes the mountains will be there for another try. They are much more robust than we are. The team made good, safe work making it back to camp. It would have been nice to arrive to a quiet camp but it is rather windy here. It will be a rowdy night in the winds but tomorrow we will skiddattle out of here to the land of more oxygen.

We gave it our all,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

We made it to Ama Dablam Base Camp! Right on time for lunch, the team pulled into the little hut (we're avoiding tents at the base of the mountain) and we have been just resting, hydrating and eating. We're motivated as acclimatization seems to be doing its job, and we're expectant to see what the weather brings in. In the mean time, tomorrow we'll be on schedule resting and practicing our ascending techniques here at Base Camp, and allowing our bodies to "do their thing in getting themselves ready" RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos

RMI Guides Seth Burns, Josh Geiser and Michael Murray reached the summit of Mt. Baker today with 100% of their team.  Seth reported a nice sunrise climb this morning via the Easton Glacier.  The team will return to camp for their final night on the mountain.  Tomorrow they will walk out to the trailhead and conclude their program.

Congratulations to the team!

The tents began flapping in the wind mid way through the night last night. Soon snow was peppering the tents, a light patter against the walls as the flakes blew against the tent. Occasionally a faint rumble could be heard over the storm as thunder echoed up from further down the valley. By morning 2 - 3 inches of snow covered Base Camp and the winds continued to blow light flurries of snow through camp. Sitting around the table we could hear the roar of the winds high above blowing up the Khumbu Valley and through Lho La Pass into Tibet. The sun poked through on occasion, only to be obscured again by the quickly moving clouds. It was a nice morning to sit in the dining tent and enjoy a second cup of tea and the fresh coffee we brewed up. By mid morning the weather calmed a bit and we geared up, donning our climbing boots, crampons, harnesses, and helmets and set off from Base Camp into the Khumbu Glacier for some technical training in order to prepare for our upcoming climb of Island Peak. The Khumbu Glacier is a wild looking glacier here at Base Camp: the weight of the glacier flowing down from the Ice fall causes the surface to buckle upwards in large pressure ridges - fins of ice that run horizontally across the glacier, sometimes 20 - 30' high. Between the pressure ridges the surface has melted and refrozen into large expanses of flat ice. Walking into the glacier, we wound our way between the fins of ice, getting comfortable walking with crampons on the firm glacial ice. Once everyone was comfortable moving across the uneven terrain with our crampons, we headed over to the fixed practice ropes that Kala, our lead Sherpa, and I put up this morning. Using the side of one of the towering pressure ridges, we climbed up and down its side practicing using our ascenders on the 50 degree ice, refining our transitions past anchors points, and then rappelling back down. The team quickly took to the techniques and soon all were moving fluidly up and back down. As we practiced the winds and snow picked up again and we found our way back out of the glacier and to camp where we got out of the elements. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging here at Base Camp, playing cards in the dining tent and reading. The weather is still blustery but seems to be settling out. We are all hoping for clear skies for our hike back down the valley to Pheriche tomorrow. RMI Guide Linden Mallory

On The Map

RMI Guide James Bealer led his team to the summit of Mt. Baker this morning!  The route was steep and icy making for a challenging day but everyone was up to the task.  They are four days into their six-day program where they are also receiving their credentials for the Leave No Trace Master Educator Course.

The Mt. Rainier Four Day Summit Climbs led by Dan Windham and Shaun Sears reached the summit this morning in bluebird conditions. The cloud layer was at 9,000’ and the summit temperature was 25 degrees with light winds. What a spectacular day on the upper mountain! Walter Hailes is leading the Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise. They start out on the mountain today and will spend the next five days learning mountaineering skills and will conclude their week with a summit attempt.

The Five-Day Climb with RMI Guides Casey Grom and Dominic Cifelli reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Our Five-Day Climb ascends Mt. Rainier's classic route while providing an additional day on the mountain to allow the flexibility to adjust the summit schedule to take advantage of the best window. With great weather all week, the team took a short acclimatization climb to Ingraham Flats on Tuesday, choosing to climb last night. The team had clear skies and light winds on their climb. 

Congratulations team!