This is Mike and team checking in from the Andean ski resort of Los Penitentes. We enjoyed a scenic drive through the vineyards of Mendoza and the twisty highway that brings our team into the Andes.
There is a lot of snow in the hills and we are looking forward to starting our trek to base camp tomorrow.
All the gear is sorted and packed to survive the mule ride to Plaza Argentina. If you are wondering what our gear will encounter just picture your duffel bag in an industrial paint shaker going for 12 hours straight.
The team is in high spirits and we will check in from Las Lenas tomorrow evening!
RMI Guide Mike King
Greetings from the beautiful Plantation Lodge. We have just returned from a great day of safari. We started off early and visited a Maasai village before descending into Ngorongoro Crater. It was a little cloudy on the rim of the crater but once we were inside the sun came out. The temps were a little cool which I always think is good for seeing lions and sure enough about 15 minutes after we arrived we saw our first lion, a female. She quickly grouped up with several others in her pride. The rest of the day was packed with tons of other animals and we even got to see a black rhino from a distance. It's always great to see that elusive beast.
Tomorrow we are off to Tarangire National Park and Kikoti Camp. I'll check in then.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Tyler Jones and Mike Uchal reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 5:45 this morning. The teams spend about an hour on the summit before beginning their descent. Tyler reported colder temperatures and breezy conditions on the summit. The teams are currently descending through warmer temperatures and clouds that reach down to around 12,000’. We look forward to seeing the teams when they return to Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations Climbers!
We are all set up at 14,000 Camp acclimating and waiting for our weather window. After a breakfast of bagels and bacon we went and picked up our cache at Windy Corner. The next few days look to hold plenty of rest as we expect some weather to move in.
The team didn’t seem particularly tired today, considering that they’d been within 1,200 feet of the summit yesterday. We had sunny skies and not much wind upon waking at high camp and so we were able to get going at 8:30 AM. We traveled with our big parkas in the packs for much of the day, just putting them on and off at rest breaks. That changed as we got near the final summit ridge. Things got a bit more serious with a ten mph wind that let us know just how cold the air was. We put on parkas, expedition mitts, goggles and face covers in a hurry. Just then it seemed we’d be in a battle to get to the top, but as soon as we did a few of the steeper snow ramps to get on the ridge proper, we got above the wind. It was a calm and even comfortable walk along the top of Antarctica. We got to the true summit at 3:30 PM and stayed for 45 minutes because it was so nice. We could see for hundreds of miles. We shook hands and congratulated one another... and in particular we slapped Dale on the back for completing his seventh continental summit. We took pics and made calls and then started walking carefully downward, mostly in dead calm and easy conditions. We were back in camp at 7 PM. Ironically, there was wind in camp so we served dinner in the sleeping tents. We’ll get down to basecamp tomorrow assuming that the weather holds.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The sun WOULD have hit our tents at 10:40 this morning, but by that time there was a lot of cloud to get through. As forecast, it was good and windy pretty much everywhere except in our camp. We ate breakfast and hung out talking in the cook tent until midday, at which point a nap was due. We passed the day reading, digging, meditating, and kicking back. The winds above and around us quit in early evening -which was good- but the clouds had increased. It became a world of murk with the lightest of snow falling... the kind of crystals that can come down for hours without adding up to an inch. We did a late dinner from 9 PM til 10:30 and then retired to the tents, this time without the sunshine to make for the warm and easy end to the day that we enjoyed yesterday.
The forecaster, back at Union Glacier, suggested some improvement for tomorrow. If we get that we’ll endeavor to carry a load up the fixed lines toward high camp.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Friday, August 11, 2017 - 6:59 pm PT
Hello, this is Eric Frank calling in from the South side of Mt. Shuksan. I just wanted to let everyone know we're doing well. We had a good day of climbing through the old grow forest and we have settled into our little bivy camp here for the night. So far the team is just getting camp set up and relaxing. We are going to make some dinner, watch the sun go down and enjoy ourselves a little bit. Thanks for following along. We will check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank checks in from their first camp on the Mt. Shuksan Seminar
We did it!
Yesterday we had a wonderful albeit long day climbing to the "Roof of Africa".
The team woke at the enjoyable hour of 11pm to thankfully clear skies after a very cloudy evening that had us wondering the lay ahead.
We had a brief midnight breakfast of porridge, tea and coffee before hitting the trail right around 12am.
We climbed in hour increments with 10-15 breaks in between, which we've been doing every day thus far. The weather was very calm allowing us to take our time and not feel too cold which we were very thankful for. The climb took about 7 1/2 hours to reach the top, and thankfully the sun had risen shortly before reaching the top to help warm us and boost morale after climbing through the night. Once there, we hugged each other, enjoyed the view and took plenty of pictures while we waited in line to get our photos of the sign that adorns the summit, as it was a pretty busy day up there.
It was a true test of endurance for most of the crew, and I'm really proud of everyone. We descended back to high camp, had a quick lunch, repacked and continued further down the mountain to our final camp on the mountain, where we had dinner and then headed to bed for some well deserved sleep.
Today we woke at 7am feeling good, had breakfast, then enjoyed a goodbye song and dance from our gracious crew of porters, cooks, and local guides numbering 42. We finished the little celebration by handing out their well deserved tips and then hit the trail one last time.
It took a little over three hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch then hopped aboard our awaiting bus for the ride back to the lodge.
Finally we are all safe and sound, and a little cleaner after an amazing seven-day journey up and down Kilimanjaro.
The team is currently relaxing and looking forward to Safari which starts tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy Kilimanjaro crew too
Monday, July 4, 2016 - 10:31 p.m. PDT
Seeing as how we got about 24 inches of snow in yesterday's 24 hours, chances were small that we'd get to move higher today. Sure enough, even though we had some calm and cloud-free skies overhead this morning, the decision was made to let the avalanche slopes settle for a day. We contented ourselves with a trail breaking journey over to the "Edge of the World." Clouds came in while we were out at the normally breathtaking vantage point, which lessened the thrill somewhat, but we all still enjoyed the chance to stretch our legs and mug for the cameras at the point where our plateau drops about a vertical mile down to the NE Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier.
The rest of the day was spent lounging in camp under cloud and light snow at 14,000', reminiscing about all the Fourth of Julys when we hadn't been lucky enough to be halfway up America's greatest mountain.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
Beautiful pictures! I hope you’re having a great time Robin! Looks like you all are making steady progress. Keep up the great work! Julia, Charlotte, and I had a great July 4th weekend at the beach with mom and dad. It was very hot though, totally opposite from your environment! Mom wishes you well too. She can’t post because it gives her an error message she says. Best of luck in the days ahead! Let’s do this Cletus!
June 28, 2016 - 9:51 pm PT
Hey everybody,
After four continuous days of strenuous climbing we finally stopped for a rest day. The team is doing splendid, but on a large mountain like this we need to let our bodies recover and acclimatize.
The crew slept in until the smell of hashbrowns, eggs, and bacon crept into their tents around 9:30 am. Most folks said they "slept like a rock". After some casual conversation and coffee drinking we set off to read, watch tv shows, or listen to NPR for the afternoon until we met for even more food at dinner. It's a tough life here at 11k but somebody's got to do it.
Tomorrow we will try to move camp up to 14,200' providing the weather stays in our favor. Stay tuned!
RMI Guide Ben Liken
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Sending a big shout out and Good Luck to John Hughes - praying for the winds to abate and the sun to stay out. Climb on!
Posted by: Peter Rogers on 12/22/2015 at 11:13 am
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