Turned out to be a great day to carry group and personal equipment to our high camp of Aconcagua at 19,600ft. We made good time up and down and round tripped it in about five hours. At one point I was down to just a thin poly-pro top. Not bad for being exposed to the elements at 19,000ft.
Big decision time tonight. Weather reports are calling for some unsettled pattern ahead. Need to put all the factors in the hopper and come up with a plan. Excitement is rising and a major buzz going on around camp. My team continues to be a solid unit and so proud of what we have accomplished so far. All is well up on the hill.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Billy Nugent attempted to summit Mt. Rainier early this morning, but snow instability forced the teams to turn at the top of Disappointment Cleaver today. The is headed back to Camp Muir and will spend their remainder of their time on the mountain training before descending to back to Rainier Basecamp tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations to today's team!
We can’t wait to hear all about your adventure! We decided to combine your names (Fred & Jack) and dub you “Team Frack”..Lol. ....Go Team Frack !!! ~ Your Friends @ Toyota
Hey it's Billy checking in. We are all back safe and sound at our camp on Chimborazo. We're about to actually hike on down to the bus. We had a safe and successful climb to the summit today. Just about perfect weather most of the day. That's all I have to report. Long, long day- everyone is super tired but definitely big smiles on our faces. As we were just talking about this, it totally rethinks our whole trip down here. That's all I have for now. Signing off and we'll check in again tomorrow evening at the end of the trip.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in post Chimborazo summit.
Sunday, June 17th - 5:53 pm PT
Happy Father's Day to all the Dads following along. The storm broke by mid day with views of the wind blown West Buttress. The Team spent some time walking around camp and getting to know some of the other groups at 14K Camp. We've been eating good, getting plenty of sleep and are all eagerly awaiting a window to climb to 17K Camp. The forecast is 5-6 mores days of high winds above and snow down here in Genet Basin. Books are being swapped and audio books Airdropped. That's all from 14 for now.
RMI Guide Mike King
David: Hope you and team had a safe and warm(ish) Father’s Day, daddy! We’ll get ice cream as soon as you get back to celebrate O:) Love you! ~Theresa
Posted by: Theresa Smalley on 6/18/2018 at 9:50 am
Glad to hear you are comfortable and becoming well read. Know Scott’s mom is breathing easier as you aren’t climbing in the wind. Wishes for calm winds and blue skies…good climbing when the weather is right.
Hello, this is Eric Frank and team up on the North Side of Mt. Shuksan. I just wanted to send a quick note and let everyone know that we reached the summit this morning. It was a textbook climb in perfect weather conditions.
We intend to descend to Lake Anne later this afternoon, and work our way out to the trailhead in the morning.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Howdy folks,
We have just kicked off our next Ecuador Volcanoes program here in Quito. With most of our team arriving late last night, we spent day one casually around town. After a large buffet breakfast we went on a four-hour city tour where we visited the equator along with some key landmarks throughout the old city of Quito. Even though this wasn't quite as relaxing as laying by a pool all day, it is important that we keep some blood flowing for acclimatization. Just by being in this city we are starting this process because it sits at 9000'.
Once we returned to our hotel and did a gear check the team was ready for a little fun, so we checked out one of Quito's new micro breweries. The pale ale was on par and the chili cheese fries were among the best I ever had.
Finally we will go to dinner tonight so we can pack on a few more calories before we start burning them tomorrow on our first acclimatization hike up Rucu Pichincha. A small 15,700-foot hill right outside town.
Stay tuned to follow the rest of our journey through the Andean high country!
RMI Guide Ben Liken
Safari time!
Today was the first day of safari for us and we headed east to visit Lake Manyara, which is known for its tree climbing lions, flamingos, and more than 400 different species of birds. We didn't manage to see any of those famous lions, but we had a very close encounter with a few elephants within just minutes of entering the park. Nothing dangerous, but they passed close enough that we could have almost touched them.
It was a pretty hot day here in Africa, so I'm sure that kept many of the animals hiding in the shade. We did manage to see wildebeest, zebras, Cape buffalo, giraffe, hippos, baboons, impalas and so many birds I lost count. It was a pretty nice introduction to the incredible bio-diversity that Africa has, and everyone enjoyed the day riding around in our safari vehicles.
We finished the day spending a few hours relaxing and exploring the grounds of our amazing lodge. Check it out for yourself.
https://www.plantation-lodge.com
We also celebrated another birthday here in Africa. This time it was for Sean McCroskey.
So a big happy 22nd birthday to him!
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew
The team did an incredible job today with our Carry to Camp 1 (16,200ft). The route starts off traveling up the moraine to the Glaciar de Los Ingleses. The terrain is loose and awkward, peppered with penitentes as tall as 6 feet. Penitentes are towers of snow and ice that form from different melting patterns in the snowpack, specifically from wind transported glacial pumice. After that the terrain eases off as we pick our way through a maze of rock debris covering old glacial ice. We finish with what is normally steep loose scree but we had the pleasure of ascending snow which made the walking much nicer. This portion is a lot of work as we're carrying 40-50lbs packs and are entering an elevation of over 16,000ft. We reached Camp 1, left some gear, teased our bodies with a new high altitude to jump start the acclimatization process and took in the views. We're now back at basecamp and everyone is resting before another enormous basecamp dinner. Tomorrow we look forward to a well deserved rest day. Keep your fingers crossed the weather stays nice for us! Hasta mañana!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Casey Grom and Robby Young turned at 13,800' due to high winds and route conditions. The team has has started their descent and are en route back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team!
RMI Guides Katrina Bloemsma and Steve Gately led their teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The weather report from the top was calm, sunny, and warming up quickly. At 7:15 a.m. they began their descent from the crater rim.
Congratulations to the teams!
Safe summit to all. A fine accomplishment for all. Enjoy
Posted by: Mike Albrecht on 1/19/2017 at 5:11 pm
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