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Kilimanjaro: Tucker & Team Climb The Shira Plateau

September 21, 2016

Posted by: Mark Tucker

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro

Elevation: 12,200'

We left Machame Camp 9,890' in cloudy skies but only for a short stretch. The gnarled trunks of the giant heather disappeared and we entered yet another zone, the moorland. After ascending a wide ridge we gained the broad and sloping Shira Plateau at about 12,570' and nearly three miles later we gained beautiful views of Kilimanjaro's upper slopes and Mt. Meru, our near by neighbor, standing at about 15,000'. A fine hot lunch and beautiful camp site greeted us upon arrival at Shira Camp. The team continues doing well and we are having a good time. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Walter & Team Explore Quito

June 29, 2016

Posted by: Mike Walter

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador

Elevation: 9,350'

Our Ecuador Volcanoes expedition is underway! Everyone (and their luggage) arrived yesterday and the team met for breakfast this morning at our hotel’s café. Today’s agenda involved an informational tour of the historic areas of Quito, Ecuador’s capitol. Angel, our local city tour guide, led us through colonial Quito, and taught us about the history of various churches, the presidential palace, independence plaza, and the large statue of the Virgin of Quito, overlooking the city. The weather was beautiful and we even snuck in partial views of some of our climbing objectives, Cayambe and Rucu Pichincha. Cotopaxi (which is closed to climbing due to recent volcanic activity) also came into view. Next we jumped in our van and headed north to the equator, or “mitad del mundo”, where we visited an ethnographic museum and learned about various indigenous cultures of Ecuador. We straddled the equator, with one leg in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern, as we watched some demonstrations of Coriolis Effect and our position on the equator. We’re off now to sample some Ecuadorian cuisine for dinner! RMI Guide Mike Walter

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Lookin’ good, folks. Be careful - good hiking, trekking and climbing.

Posted by: George Nimmo on 6/30/2016 at 6:19 pm

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Aconcagua: Cifelli Recaps Summit Day

January 22, 2025

Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Ben Luedtke

Categories:

Elevation: 22,841'

Whenever someone would ask me what my favorite mountain to climb was. I’d beat around the bush, answering in vague “it depends” that guides often use to avoid concrete answers in an ever changing arena. Nowadays, it’s Aconcagua. Something about the amalgamation of the people, the food, wine, expedition demands, and luxurious accompaniment makes me come down every year. It’s hard to describe, but in the theme of our early Gen Z style posts, it’s a vibe. You just have to come see it for yourself before you believe me.

We set out today to summit said peak. “The Stone Sentinel” it’s commonly referred to. It was a breathtaking morning, altitude pun? Still, crisp air, the Milky Way painting the sky with a dull hint of moonlight. Excitement, nerves, anxiousness fill these summit mornings too as you watch fellow tents and teams gearing up to face the same hardships you will. A certain sense of camaraderie is palpable, even if that climber was yelling to their tent mate 2 ft away from them about juice or something.

Our climb starts at 19,600ft and it certainly feels it as we switchback up toward Piedras Blancas, Independencia, and then onto the grand traverse. A bitter cold wind trap that chills me just typing about it. But we chose today for the lack of wind, and it didn’t disappoint. The usually windy traverse was calm and snowy, making for easy foot placements even if the climbing itself was anything but. Just our Luck. As we ascended and climbed we then reached the cave, the canaleta, and the shoulder of Aconcagua. All daunting and hard features in their own right, but combine to make one hell of a final push.

I am happy to say that we did summit today, right before the clouds rolled in. And even though we couldn’t share the summit with all of our teammates, we expect them to be back and we can’t wait to hear about their version of summit day.

We’re safely back at Colera (High Camp) in our bags listening to the heavy snow fall from above. We’ll head down to see our friends at Basecamp tomorrow and we can’t wait.

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

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Mt. Rainier: Paradise Expedition Skills Seminar Summits!

August 30, 2024

Posted by: Jackson Breen, Avery Stolte, Dylan Anderson

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 14,410'

Our Expedition Skills Seminar on the Paradise Glacier led by RMI guide Jackson Breen spent the week focusing on and developing foundational mountaineering skills while ascending the less traveled Paradise Glacier route to our high camp: Camp Muir. Establishing tented camps, they ascend the Paradise Glacier using the mountain's terrain to learn mountaineering skills such as snow & ice anchors, crevasse rescue, ice climbing, fixed line travel, belaying, and other technical skills. The team completed their week by reaching the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Disappointment Cleaver route.

Congratulations Team!

Aconcagua: Gorum & Team Reach Last Trek Camp

January 14, 2019

Posted by: JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua

Elevation: 9,000'

Today was about steak. Glorious, salty, fatty steak. We spent most of our day walking back through the Vacas Valley. We got snowed on. We saw some lightning. We heard some thunder (go on the YouTube and look up “Jim Cantore thunder snow.” That was basically us). All of those things were great, but do not capture the true essence of the day. All of that walking, over all of those rocks, across all of those rivers was done to accomplish one goal: to get to Pampa de Leñas, so we could eat our weight in carne asado. We sit at a picnic table, we’re covered in dirt, and we eat with our hands. We eat next to climbers who are walking in to Aconcagua Base Camp. They are still clean, and not yet hungry. They watch in amazement as we devour our food as fast as it is brought to the table. We watch in amazement as they politely pass their bread around. We laugh at them because they don’t know what we know. This is our last night in the mountains, our last night to eat with our hands, and to sleep on the ground. Tomorrow at dinner we will wear collared shirts, and say please and thank you. One might start to wipe food from his face with the back of his hand, remember where he is, and reach for a napkin instead. The conveniences of society will be welcomed, but we’re all a little wilder now, and what we’ve learned in the mountains won’t be forgotten. RMI Guide JM Gorum

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Happy to hear you all are safe and sound! I’m sure a hot shower with lots of soap is much needed, and will be amazing! Enjoy the steak and wine!

Posted by: Shannon Smith on 1/15/2019 at 4:45 pm

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Aconcagua Expedition: Gorum & Team Back to Basecamp

January 13, 2019

Posted by: JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua

Elevation: 13,800'

We woke up this morning at 19,600 feet in the cold, windy environment of high camp. It’s pretty hard to get moving when you have already accomplished your goal, but we rolled out of our cozy sleeping bags and packed up our tents. The warmth and WiFi of basecamp were calling our names. We made great time heading down hill, and arrived at Plaza Argentina around 3 pm. We sat down at our table and waited patiently for four hours until dinner time. Once the food came out, everyone stopped talking. Once the food stopped coming, we did some quick organizing for our walk out tomorrow. Now we’re all huddled up in a dome tent having a team slumber party. The Russians next door are serenading us with all genres of music. You might think that would hinder our sleep, but we are 6,000 feet lower than we were last night, so I’m betting everybody will sleep just fine. RMI Guide JM Gorum

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Congratulations Team!!! Such an accomplishment for all of you. Glad all is well and heading back.
Jimmy- Can’t wait to hear about it.
All best to the whole team
-Kelly Gaines

Posted by: Kellogg C Gaines on 1/14/2019 at 11:30 am

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Kilimanjaro: Hahn & Team Transition into Safari Time

August 1, 2018

Posted by: Dave Hahn

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro

It started to seem like we’d get fog and rain for the rest of the trip just to pay for the sweet summit weather we’d been granted. But when we woke today at Mweka Camp, we were under blue skies and high above the white clouds. After breakfast, we enjoyed a gathering of the entire staff for the traditional tipping ceremony. We expressed our great thanks and the guys serenaded us with a few more memorable sing-alongs in the bright sunshine. Then we shouldered packs and hit the muddy trail downward at about 8:30 AM. It was just a few more hours of careful walking in slippery conditions to get down through the rain forest. We stopped at one point to see a couple of colobus monkeys high in the tree canopy, but mostly we paid attention to the treacherous track and to where we were putting our feet. At the Mweka Gate we were down in the clouds again and had a brief rain shower just after signing out of the park. A short walk in the deep dirt of a road construction project took us to our lunch venue and the bus parking lot. We enjoyed a fine picnic and a round of Kilimanjaro and Serengeti beers along with Savanna ciders. Two hours on the bus through the Tanzanian countryside got us back “home” to the Arumeru River Lodge. Showers and a few shaves made the team presentable by evening. We finished with a delightful victory dinner out on the veranda and discussed just how much the climb and our interactions with each other and with the staff have come to mean for us. We are excited to begin the safari tomorrow but we will miss our climbing buddy Tim who will begin flying toward the States and home. Best regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Congratulations to the team! Thanks for everything DAVE! I feel like I was there in spirit! Enjoy your next journey!
Aunt Vicki

Posted by: Aunt Vicki on 8/1/2018 at 4:07 pm

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Denali Expedition: Van Deventer & Team Move to 11,000’ Camp

May 18, 2017

Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jess Matthews, Jenny Konway

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 11,000'

May 17, 2017 We're done with the Kahiltna for now! It's been snowing lightly all day and for most of the day it was hard to tell where the ground ended and the sky began, but we had a good gps track to follow and we plugged our way along. The wind was moving snow around as we got close to Kahiltna Pass, making for some tough trail breaking. With all of that the team did great, hanging tough through a hard day and then rallying and buffing out a nice new abode at 11,000' Camp once we arrived. We've been going hard for three days now, and it's time to spend some time recovering from our big loads, sleds, blisters, etc, while we acclimate and get strong here. Our plan is to make the short jaunt back to our cache tomorrow to retrieve it. Some time in the tents chilling is in order too. RMI Guides Pete, Jess, Jenny and team

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Stay strong, be safe, enjoy the beauty that surrounds you. Love you much Jenny. Your momma ❤️

Posted by: Melinda widmer on 5/18/2017 at 7:52 pm

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Mt. Rainier: Four Day Summit Climb Teams Top Out!

August 31, 2016

Posted by: Jake Beren, Christina Dale

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 14,410'

The Four Day Summit Climb August 28 - 31, 2016 teams led by RMI Guides Jake Beren and Christina Dale were approaching the crater rim at 7:15 am. Jake reported moderate winds and cold temperatures but overall a very nice day for climbing. We look forward to seeing the groups at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's climbers!

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Congratulations. Love you all!!
Mom

Posted by: Suzi merz on 8/31/2016 at 8:31 am

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Mt. Rainier: Four Day Summit Climb Teams Enjoy Beautiful Day

August 14, 2016

Posted by: Jake Beren, Christina Dale

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 14,410'

RMI Guides Jake Beren and Christina Dale led their teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Both teams reported clear skies and warm temperatures with great climbing conditions. The teams began their descent from the crater rim around 7:45 am PT. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise later today. Congratulations to today's Summit Climbers!

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Most Popular Entries

Kilimanjaro: Tucker & Team Climb The Shira Plateau

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Walter & Team Explore Quito

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Aconcagua: Cifelli Recaps Summit Day

Mt. Rainier: Paradise Expedition Skills Seminar Summits!

Aconcagua: Gorum & Team Reach Last Trek Camp

Aconcagua Expedition: Gorum & Team Back to Basecamp

Kilimanjaro: Hahn & Team Transition into Safari Time

Denali Expedition: Van Deventer & Team Move to 11,000’ Camp

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Mt. Rainier: Four Day Summit Climb Teams Top Out!

Mt. Rainier: Four Day Summit Climb Teams Enjoy Beautiful Day

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