Hey, everyone. This is the Aconcagua team with Christina and JJ. Everyone's doing great. We woke up early this morning and began our hike to our second trekking camp, which is Casa de Piedra. We're in a little bit of an argument as to what Casa de Piedra means. I said it means house of Piedra, but they don't believe me. If any of you know what Casa de Piedra means, if you could, just write in the comment section what it means so I can settle this with the team. Other than that, we're doing great. Good walk up to about 11,000 feet. We set up camp. We weren't able to get a look at Aconcagua. It was a little cloudy today, but down here the weather is really nice. So we're just relaxing, acclimatizing, drinking water and just hanging out. Tomorrow we will be trekking to Base Camp of Aconcagua at 14,000 feet. We're hoping for a good day. It was definitely a littler blustery up at Base Camp today. We're glad we're down a little lower. The team says hi to all their family and friends. Stay tuned and we'll touch base from Base Camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Casa de Piedra means House of Stone; sounds like everyone had a great trip!
Posted by: John Boicourt on 12/10/2015 at 5:35 am
I bet you guys all wish you had your cell phones to ponder over the meaning of “Casa de Piedra”. The internet came of no help after 20 minutes of searching. Only the lonely planet had a snippet saying that it was a beautiful stone….something since the page no longer existed. Perhaps you will find the answer down the road or more like up the road.
Hoping you guys are having a blast and absorbing all the beauties of mother nature.
Ava saw Tibor’s photos and says “That’s my Daddy!” She, myself, and the entire Kelemen Clan is very happy to see these post. We miss you Aps and be safe!
RMI Guide Eric Frank and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons were unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning due to route conditions. The team climbed to 10,800' before being forced to turn around. Despite being unable to summit, Eric and the team enjoyed and incredible meteor shower in the early hours of the morning.
The team is back at Camp Schurman and plans to spend the rest of the day doing crevasse rescue and ice climbing training around camp. Tomorrow the team will descend from Camp Schurman. We look forward to greeting them in Ashford tomorrow afternoon.
Wednesday, June 17th
Our Ecuador Seminar trip is officially under way. We met this morning for breakfast and group introductions, and then hit the ground running. First on our to-do list was head out to the Panecillo, a statue and view point overlooking Ecuador’s capital city, Quito. Surrounded by mountains and sitting at nearly 9,000’, the views were beautiful, including a glimpse at tomorrow’s objective, Volcano Rucu Pichincha.
Next up, we toured the streets of colonial Quito. Here we got history lessons from our local guide and visited churches, the presidential palace, independence plaza, and more.
Finally we were off to the Equator to simultaneously place a foot in both the northern and southern hemisphere. At the Equator we visited an ethnographic museum and learned about the various cultures of this diverse country. We also saw some simulations explaining the Coriolis Effect and the significance of being at mitad del mundo …literally at the middle of the world.
The evening ended with a team dinner with traditional Ecuadorian food. One bold team member ordered the local delicacy, cuy, or guinea pig.
With day one in the books, we’re eagerly awaiting our first acclimatization hike tomorrow. We’re headed to the Volcano Rucu Pichincha, one of the major volcanoes forming a geographical boundary of Quito. We’ll be in touch tomorrow!
Ciao,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
We know you all must be disappointed about not getting to the Summit. But Denali’s conditions are notoriously unpredictable, and you met every challenge with immense courage, skill, and endurance. You should absolutely be proud of your resilience in the face of such harsh conditions. What’s clear from the daily blogs is that you will all return with incredible memories, lasting friendships, and valuable new skills for your next mountain challenges.
Posted by: Chris & Theresa Mizer on 6/5/2025 at 8:24 am
If we thought yesterday was weathery, today topped it. After we went to bed last night, we were lulled to sleep by the sound of blowing winds and drifting snow — a soundtrack that carried on through the morning and well into the day.
We had a slow roll into the morning, enjoying eggs and hashbrowns before spending some time shoveling and fixing up the bathroom tent. The rest of the day followed a familiar rhythm: a bit of sport eating, followed by rounds of napping.
Around 5 PM, some familiar faces rolled through camp — another RMI team guided by Seth, Jackson, and Ray. We welcomed them into our cook tent for some hot water and shelter while they thawed out. Once everyone was warmed up, we whipped up a big batch of mac and cheese with bacon bits, then tucked in for the night.
We’re prepping our gear and feeling optimistic about making the move to 11,000 feet tomorrow.
Lots of folks tracking your progress here. No doubt you’re all anxious and chomping at the bit to climb. We’re all wishing you clear skies and God’s speed in the days ahead.
The meals sound great… if you don’t get moving soon you may get too fat to climb!
Posted by: Larry Lytle on 6/5/2025 at 8:35 am
Hoping you all get better weather the rest of the trip! So proud of James and the team! Thank you for the updates! Sending love from Colorado!
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Well, it was another day of waiting in Talkeetna for the weather to improve enough to fly into Kahiltna Base Camp. The FAA webcams looked socked in all day, but every once in a while some clearings would emerge. Finally, around 3 pm, we decided to round up the troops and don our climbing clothes and boots to be ready to board if a flight was possible. After a recon report from another K2 airplane on a scenic flight confirmed that it looked like we could land at Base Camp, we boarded the two Turbo Prop Otters and launched for the Alaska Range. A beautiful flight with partly cloudy skies took us all the way to Base Camp …but a small but thick cloud hung over the landing strip. We held in a waiting pattern for as long as we could and the conditions did not improve. Finally we regained our elevation and pointed back south for Talkeetna. An awesome flight, and oh-so-close. We’ll try again early tomorrow, with a more promising forecast.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The last two days have been a whirlwind. We had a long drive to Puebla after climbing Ixta. The team rallied out that night for a much needed meal and then hit the racks for some well deserved sleep. The Hotel Colonial in Puebla was built in 1865 and is located on the historic square among several massive cathedrals.
We spent the day off exploring historic Puebla. Some of the group got massages while others wandered the various markets and narrow streets lined with colorful buildings. We are recharged and ready to head towards Orizaba this morning. The ride to Senior Reye’s climbing hostel takes us hours hours East towards the Gulf of Mexico. From there we will pack our mountain gear and head up in 4x4 trucks through the dry grassy slopes and dense pine forests that cover the lower flanks of Orizaba. Once at the Piedra Grande hut we’ll get a walk in to stretch our legs and get some rest for the main objective, Orizaba’s 18,400’ summit.
The group is doing well and surprised how fast the trip has gone.
RMI Guide Mike King
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
We have been going up and up this mountain for the last three weeks and now we get to make our way down. We left High Camp this morning with our eyes set on Base Camp. A place where there are chairs and tables, wifi, showers, and delicious food...all the incentive you need to keep your tired feet moving. After dropping nearly 6,000' in elevation, the air feels thicker. The team did a great job getting down and deserved some celebratory drinks. It definitely feels good to be down. As for tomorrow, we continue our downward trend to our very first camp on day one, Lenas where we will fill our bellies with a traditional carne asada feast. Our bellies are already growling.
Adios,
RMI Guides Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello and team
Hello again everyone
The team had a really nice day here on Kilimanjaro today, waking to beautifully clear skies and hiking in sunshine all day. We started the day waking at 6:30 to start packing up before moving into our dinning tent for a nice breakfast with porridge, fried eggs, toast, avocado and even some fresh fruit, and most importantly plenty of hot coffee.
We hit the trail shortly after 8am and slowly made our way up the rocky trail with good views of Kili above. The trail climbs up a ridge and eventually out of the trees and allows for some truly spectacular views of the valley below. The team hiked for about four hours before reaching out next camp that sits on Shira plateau, which is an ancient lava flow.
Everyone is doing very well and we are currently relaxing in our tents.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Day 4 and we're knocking on the summit door of this mountain. This morning we scaled the Barranco Wall right out of camp. Ditching the trekking poles so we can use our hands to better grasp the rock on this steep part of the climb the team moved like pros. Exclamations of how much fun the climbing was was universal. Yes, we had to wait several times for groups of porters to pass by, but no one was complaining of the chance to catch our breath. Plus, it was a chance for us to appreciate the coordination and athleticism of these folks as they negotiate this steep terrain, balancing 32 pound duffels of gear on their heads.
Our high point was never more than 14,000' as we traversed up and down several drainage to come around to the SE side of Kilimanjaro where our camp is situated. During this slow walk we were constantly rewarded with magnificent views of this special place.
Today was also a day of solidifying the acclimatization gains of yesterday before we venture to our high camp tomorrow. Measuring our oxygen saturation levels this morning indicate that everybody is doing great! But we already knew that just based on how well we're all walking.
We're excited to get to high camp!
We'll be back in touch tomorrow from 15,200' camp.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
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Casa de Piedra means House of Stone; sounds like everyone had a great trip!
Posted by: John Boicourt on 12/10/2015 at 5:35 am
I bet you guys all wish you had your cell phones to ponder over the meaning of “Casa de Piedra”. The internet came of no help after 20 minutes of searching. Only the lonely planet had a snippet saying that it was a beautiful stone….something since the page no longer existed. Perhaps you will find the answer down the road or more like up the road.
Hoping you guys are having a blast and absorbing all the beauties of mother nature.
Ava saw Tibor’s photos and says “That’s my Daddy!” She, myself, and the entire Kelemen Clan is very happy to see these post. We miss you Aps and be safe!
Kisses from California,
Tam & Ava
Posted by: Tam & Ava on 12/9/2015 at 10:01 pm
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