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!
May 25, 2016 - 11:14 p.m. PDT
The walk up to camp at 11,200' was our easiest of the trip. Less than 3 hours of climbing with reasonable loads today was a very nice break for the team. Everyone was all smiles coming into camp just after noon. We even moved into a recently abandoned camp so we didn't have to work on building camp. Our cache is a mere 30 minute walk from here, so picking it up on our back carry tomorrow will be even easier. Which is perfect after all the hard work everyone has been doing. And of course, the Posh Tent remains the center of activity and social life for us here on the mountain.
That's all for now from camp at 11,200.'
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Christina Dale, and Chris Ebeling and the team
¡Hola de Pampa de Leñas! After a last night in a real bed we got outta Penitentes and hit the trail. Needless to say the team is psyched to finally be on the move after the months of anticipation and the seemingly endless packing and repacking. We enjoyed clear skies and a decent breeze that despite kicking up a bit of dust was actually pleasant in keeping the temps manageable. Everyone moved extremely well and is currently lounging around camp waiting for the herrieros to finish up grilling up some giant slabs of beef for us. Steak and wine, and a crew of happy campers. Not bad for our first day on the hill.
All for now!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Hi Heather and all of you up there.
Sorry to hear about the weather. The New Yorkers have been hit by heavy snow and the weather system is heading to us across the Atlantic but will change to strong winds and heavy rain for us this week. Not quite as bad as you are getting.
Stay positive and try and meditate if the storm noise allows!
Love Diane and Paul
Posted by: Paul and Diane on 1/24/2016 at 11:13 pm
The tough part begins - our thoughts are with you - stay safe
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!
Our Four Day Summit Climbs led by Nick Hunt and Ben Liken reached the top of Mt. Rainier this morning at around 7:06 am. RMI Guide Ben Liken reported sunny skies and light to moderate winds. The team will spend some time on the summit before starting their descent.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Early departure from one of the world's largest cities. Traffic not so bad as we made the three-hour drive to our first big mountain, La Malinche at 14,636 feet. A nice lunch was had near this peak that is surrounded by fields of corn and beautiful stands of pine trees. We made a quick turn of unloading our equipment in the digs for the night, which is a comfortable cabin with fireplace and even a hot shower. It was all uphill from there. Great to get out and hit the trail. The idea was to the top but getting used to the altitude and some new equipment was the priority. We made good time up the lower forested area and found the team on the summit ridge at the same time as a strong weather impulse hit the upper mountain. Hail, rain in the clouds, no visibility and wind a howling gave us great training with the kit that was pulled from our packs to keep us protected from the nasty weather. A number of our team hit new altitude records and a smooth descent has us fed and clean in the digs for the night. All is good wish u were here.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Team Orlando arrived at Shira Camp 12,570 feet. Today hiked the trail which became steeper and rockier as the vegetation thinned away. The gnarled trunks of heather disappeared and we entered the moorland, the grasses and rocky terrain unique to Eastern Africa,
After we ascended the wide ridge we gained the Shira Plateau. We descended a few hundred feet along the edge and into our camp that is tucked among sparse vegetation and volcanic rock bands. We have beautiful views of Kilimanjaro's upper slopes as well as Mt Meru.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
The entire team has arrived in Tanzania. We spent last night at the Dik Dik Hotel in Usa River and have been enjoying the great food and hospitality.
After a leisurely breakfast, part of our team traveled to a local orphanage to pass along some items they brought from the US. It was well received and very much appreciated.
Our equipment checks went smoothly, thanks to the great preparation made by the team. We should be all set for our time on the mountain.
We have experienced a bit of light rain this afternoon and cool temperatures in the lowlands of Usa River at around 4,000'. Unfortunately it wasn't warm enough for anyone to appreciate the beautiful Dik Dik swimming pool.
We will get to bed early tonight to help recover from our long flights and so that we are rested and ready to head into Kilimanjaro National Park tomorrow morning.
Stay tuned,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The Team got a casual start to the morning with some breakfast and last minute packing and adjustments before the Mule drivers arrived to load our food and equipment for the next 2.5 weeks on Aconcagua. The morning sun already felt hot was we waited for our shuttle to the national park. We got started around 11am with a stiff breeze that turned into a very windy day. While wind makes some parts of being outside difficult, it lowered the temperatures and wicked our sweat, this cooling effect made for a nice hike to camp.
The Team is getting out of the sun, some in tents and some have found some shade among the massive boulders that surround camp. We will enjoy the afternoon and then throw down on the best steak and assorted grilled meats the world has ever known. The asado at Las Lenas is legendary, it’s rich and bountiful smoke is infused into your clothing, bringing back memories of the communal dinner and meatmares often associated with this wonderful start to an expedition. We are happy, healthy and looking forward to what tomorrow will bring. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
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
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BEAUTIFUL!!!! Best of luck to all!
Posted by: Kelly on 7/5/2016 at 8:16 pm
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!
Posted by: Russell Moore on 7/5/2016 at 6:51 pm
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