Jambo! This is Seth checking in. I finally received my luggage and can now begin to send reports from the mountain. I have to thank the wonderful staff at the Dik Dik hotel for getting my bag delivered to 12,500' on Kilimanjaro.
The group is all doing really well. We have had two excellent days on the trek so far. Our camp tonight is at the Shira Plateau which gives us a wonderful view of the summit. The weather has been just fine as well. We had a few drops of rain yesterday but we had already arrived in camp when that started. Everyone is climbing strong. I'll check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Sunday June 28th 10:22 pm PT
Once again, the weather was a little sloppy in the early hours, so we didn't get out of the tents until the civilized hour of 7AM. It was still pretty well socked in at 9,500 ft as we ate breakfast, but things seemed workable for moving up. We were on the go by 10:00 and in our new camp at 11,000 ft by 1PM. The clouds cleared from time to time, giving us some great views of the end of the West Buttress. Luckily, clouds hung in there enough to keep the sun off the final steeper hills into camp. We dug in and got settled in our new home. It is a relief, after building four camps in four days, to know that we'll get to stay in this one for a few days. The afternoon and evening were spent resting and sorting food and gear. If possible, we'll do a carry to 13,500 ft tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
It sure is refreshing to think of snow in the heat and humidity of DC. If you get chilly along the way just think of us to warm up. What do you folks do for fun while chilling at 11,000 after the day’s work is done? Peter, if you forget to plant that Swiss flag at the top and take a picture of it, plant it in an olive in a martini when you’re down safe. Cheers to all, Charlie
Posted by: Charlie Thomas on 6/30/2015 at 7:14 am
Kenny Cornett- good luck! Get to the top and be safe! Love ya- Rhonda, John, Meriden, and Morgan
This is RMI's last expedition of the Aconcagua season. Our team enjoyed a scenic drive through the Andes and arrived in the rustic ski town of Los Penitentes. Our team rallied and got bags packed for the mules. Everyone is excited to hit the trail when we begin the trek to Base Camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike King
We continued feeling like a cowboy by riding a mule across the river this morning. The river is painfully cold, so it was nice to avoid walking across. After a short ride we were back to traveling by foot. We exited the Vacas Valley and entered the Relinchos Valley. The views are gorgeous with steep rock on one side and rolling hills on the other. By the end of our walk we reach Aconcagua Basecamp just under 14,000'. Its a welcoming sight. We are greeted with juice and pizza. You feel rather civilized up here. Comfort food of shepard's pie and a welcome cake were enjoyed by all for dinner. The team is psyched and doing well.
Later alligator,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
The Team is all assembled with bags in tow here in Mendoza. We broke the ice with a meeting that was followed by gear check and permit registration. Since we are here to attempt Aconcagua the team opted for dinner and an early night to get caught up on sleep from the two days travel instead of a night out on the town. Tomorrow we will head to Los Penitentes to pack for mules and the trek into base camp. We have a great group with a varied collection of personalities, experiences and mountains under their belts. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
Have a fun and safe trip. It looks very beautiful there.
Love you much Mom
Posted by: melinda widmer on 1/23/2018 at 6:11 pm
Justin, have a great climb. Are you over half way to the summit yet? Sounds as if the group is eating well! Take care and stay safe! Think of you every day, Mom and Dad
Our assault of the Barranco Wall was relentless and the team finally conquered its mighty face with no loss of limb or life. The same can't be said for the poor, hapless porter who lost his load a third of the way up, which meant beating a hasty retreat down to the valley floor to retrieve it. Luckily, said porter was below us and not above, which might have been a whole other story.
The climbing up that part of our climb today was fun and exciting, but we were all humbled as we watched the porters scaling the same terrain with forty pound loads balanced on their heads or shoulders, and arriving to camp two plus hours before us.
The rest of the route undulated into and out of valleys, always under the shadow of the steep flanks of the upper mountain. We ended up only a little higher than our previous camp, so everyone's feeling strong and we're all becoming well acclimatized.
After arriving to camp and 'washing up' another incredible lunch was served: schnitzel with warm German potato salad, followed by apple pancakes and banana fritters. Wow!!!
While in our dining tent the clouds finally unleashed a little rain. We've been so fortunate with the weather so far, that this little precipitation has not dampened anyone's spirits. And now, after thirty minutes of wetness, it has abated.
We're all comfortably sheltered in either our personal tents or the mess tent playing cards, so not really affected by the vagaries of the weather. Quite nice.
Until tomorrow, we'll try to suffer on. Wish us luck.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
We did it! We stood on the summit of Mt. Elbrus, Europe's highest peak.
I have to admit we were pretty lucky with the weather, as it was near perfect. The team did a fantastic job of taking care of themselves and climbed strong. We summited around 7:30 in clear skies with a wonderful view of the entire Caucus mountain range.
But it didn't end there, after descending a short ways off of the summit we were at the saddle between the 2 summits that Elbrus has and a few of us decided to climb both summits while the rest of the team descended safely back to camp. It only added an additional hour and a half, so not too bad, especially since we had such amazing weather.
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.
RMI Guides Casey Grom & Billy Nugent
Last night was full of gigantic fireworks set to the tune of the Star Wars anthem…on YouTube…on my laptop! But heh, it was a great way to spend Fourth of July and with great company.
We spent today finally stretching our legs and getting into the high altitude zone. Our team had a beautiful day trekking up to 12,000' on Peak Cheget. Don’t take my word for it…check out the video!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
The RMI Mexico team is in Puebla. While at their hotel, RMI Guide, JJ Justman, was able to send us photos and a video of his team's successful Ixta summit. Check it out below!
Friday June 12th 11:25 pm PT
Upon our late arrival at Base Camp the weather started turning nasty, so we set up tents and burrowed into our sleeping bags. Lo and behold, upon awakening the skies had cleared and the mountain beckoned! We broke camp and descended the Southeast Fork Kahiltna to the Main Fork, turned up-glacier and headed toward Camp 1. The glacier route is in prime condition and we reached our camp in several hours taking in the spectacular mountain views around us. Everyone in the team is doing great and looking forward to our next objective, Camp ll. More later!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
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Seth- great posts! Way to go Rachel, Andrew, Catie, and the rest of the gang.
Posted by: Karla on 8/12/2015 at 8:01 am
Seth, take good care of the Texan on the trip. Enjoy the climb. Mark
Posted by: mark miller on 8/8/2015 at 5:45 am
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