Rest is important for the body and mind. It allows both to replenish the energy it has lost from hard work. And today we did just that. The morning began with a casual breakfast with copious amounts of hot water for coffee and tea. From there we enjoyed the warmth of the sun and pleasant conversation as we lounged among the rocks. Of course there was plenty of snacking all day long. As we say in the mountains lunch begins after breakfast and ends at dinner. Now that we are rested and getting a little antsy to start walking uphill again, we are ready to move to Camp 2 tomorrow.
Buenos dias,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team
The team has left Basecamp! We are officially on the mountain now, and our timing could not have been better. When we arrived in Basecamp we were the only ones there, and as of yesterday evening there were 64 people. We have all of Camp One to ourselves, however, and we should stay about a step ahead of the masses.
The group broke down camp quickly this morning, we ate a nice breakfast, finalized our plans with the Basecamp staff, and hit the trail by 8:45. A nice breeze kept things cool for us today. We got to camp around 1:15 this afternoon, and set up camp efficiently. This group doesn't mess around with tents. A couple hours of hardcore, downright chillin' brought us to an early dinner of ravioli, and lentils and rice for our more gluten-challenged climbers. A surly snow squall sent everyone to their tents after dinner, and that's where we are now. Everyone is feeling great, and our plan is to carry to Camp 2 tomorrow. The team sends their best to everyone back at home.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in on Day 2 of the Kilimanjaro Climb. We awoke to a clear morning and enjoyed some nice views of Kilimanjaro from our camp before hitting the trail. The route right out of camp was a bit of a broad ridge that slowly ascends and winds its way up the Shira Plateau, which is about mid level on Kilimanjaro. The team did a fantastic job today. Everybody was pretty amazed as we made our way up the trail in the porters passed us with their loads, easily balance on their heads. It took us about four hours to make it up to our camp today and once again our staff was amazing to have passed us on the trail and have arrive at Camp and have camp fully set up and lunch, in fact a hot lunch, waiting for us when we arrived. Everybody is incredibly grateful for that and big thanks to our outfitter that we work with here in town. We had a duffel bag that got hung up in Amsterdam and arrived late last night down in Arusha and our outfitter was able to get that bag to us today. It was real miracle and our last remaining climber was able to get his his gear up here at 12,300'. So a big thanks to those guys for making that happen. Now we have everything we need and everybody's looking good, everyone is feeling great. We just finished our dinner and everyone is climbing into bed. It is starting to cool down a little bit up here. Hopefully we'll have a nice nice day tomorrow to take in as we ascend directly towards Kilimanjaro. That's all for now. We'll hopefully be able to update tomorrow with some pictures as well. Thanks a lot.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom checks in from Shira Camp at 12, 200 ft on Kilimanjaro.
Woohooooo go Uncle Joe! This looks and sounds absolutely incredible! We sure miss you here, but we’re sending lots of love and power your way! So proud!
Ahh how nice it is to finally be settled into a camp in the mountains. The lowlands have treated us well but this is what we came here for! This morning we boarded a bus and said goodbye to Huaraz and began our hike into the Ishinca Valley. Mule assistance kept our packs light and views of the Cordillera Blanca inspired our trek all the way to basecamp.
We built camp in a grassy meadow at 14,300 ft. flanked by our climbing objectives for the coming days. We're enjoying a bit of relaxation and adjusting to our new altitude at camp, before the real training starts tomorrow!
RMI Guides Zeb Blais and Chase Nelson
Rain, early bus ride and some sore legs were the deciding factors to hangout this morning in Aquas Calientes instead of heading up to hike Machu Picchu mountain.
The team will pack up and take a 3:30 train back to Cusco. This will be our final dispatch of what has been an incredible trek through beautiful mountains, culminating in a nice day at Machu Picchu!
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
RMI Guide Dave Hahn just checked in with the RMI Office. His Denali team was able to take advantage of a good weather window and fly off of the Kahiltna Glacier this morning. The team arrived in Takeetna at 10:00am AKDT. The team will spend some time celebrating their success before catching flights home tomorrow.
Congratulations to Dave and team, and to all of the RMI Expeditions Denali teams for a successful 2016 Denali season!
The Four Day Summit Climb Team led by RMI Guides Tyler Reid and Zeb Blais reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team climbed in and out of the clouds this morning and were able to spend a short time on top. They have started their descent and will be back at Rainier Basecamp in Ashford early this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Great ascend fantastic experience responsible safe and enjoyable climb to the top, unsurprisingly spectacular crevice formations just below the summit, memorable experience Thank you Zeb, Tyler , JT Schmitt, Chris, Jordan, Steve for all fabulous work!
Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - 1:38 a.m. PDT
We were hoping for an accidental break in the weather today. Some morning blue sky or a little unplanned sunshine, but that didn't happen. It was cloudy at every level of the sky that we could see from our camp at 14,000ft. But we couldn't see much sign of wind. We ate breakfast and watched the weather, we got ourselves organized and watched the weather. Finally we decided to go for it... to try moving up to high camp at 17,000ft. We knew a couple of teams were coming down, which was important because we wanted to use the track they plowed through the deep snow. We didn't get much encouragement from the sky- it began to snow lightly, still we left 14K Camp a little before noon. It was tough climbing, as expected with all of the new snow, but our timing was pretty good for using the tracks hammered in by others. At 16,200ft, our high point of the other day, the weather was still a little sloppy, but the team was strong and enthusiastic, so we went on up the steep crest of the West Buttress. Normally climbers have to consciously avoid looking down the steep dropoffs under the crampons, but today, with all of the cloud shrouding the scenery, it wasn't a very airy feeling walking along the ridge. We got into 17K Camp around 7:00 in the evening in blessedly calm conditions and set in to the hard work of building a secure camp. The team is excited to have capitalized on a slim opportunity and excited to be so close to our goal now after two weeks of trying.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens led the Four Day Summit Climb team to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. While on the summit, Geoff reported cold and windy weather with clear skies. The team began their descent around 7:30 a.m. and will return to Ashford later this afternoon.
Way to climb!
Thanks so much Geoff, Nikki, and Blake, and the rest of the team. Matt and I had a blast climbing with you all. Best of luck to everyone on your next mountain adventure!
M+M
Posted by: Meredith on 7/7/2016 at 12:44 pm
Thanks Geoff, Nikki and Blake. This was a great climb and an excellent experience overall :)
June 10, 2016 - 10:11 pm PT
We woke this morning to much improved weather. Some scattered clouds and a light wind but a huge improvement from yesterday. We had a quick breakfast and set about breaking camp. Just after the sun hit we were off and climbing. The team did a great job today, we had to battle a little around Windy Corner, it was a bit windy (go figure), but we were out of it soon and on to 14K Camp. After tents were up, everyone settled in to our new home above the clouds. Tomorrow we will do some training and fortify our camp with snow walls.
Thanks for following along with us.
The RMI Upper West Rib Team
Sorry for the late comments. Garrick just forwarded the link. We are following you from afar. We will follow up on past reports. Congrats so far. Hope all finishes well.
Posted by: James and Sara on 6/12/2016 at 10:03 am
Good job team - hopefully you are all helping and supporting each other! Climbing is of course a group effort and it takes everybody to get everybody to the top safely - make sure to help each other along the way!!!!!!!
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Merry Christmas to all.
Posted by: M Mitan on 12/24/2017 at 10:10 am
Congratulations. Merry Christmas Kevin and all your adventurous friends.
Posted by: Tammy Gjerde on 12/24/2017 at 7:08 am
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