Its about that time. Our Aconcagua team is ready to hit the trail. We have our duffel bags ready for the mules and light backpacks ready to be slung over our shoulders. Needless to say, the team is anxious to get moving. Tonight will bring us to Lenas camp where we will enjoy hanging out with the cowboys eating steak and sleeping under the stars.
RMI Guides JJ Justman and JM Gorum
After two days and 9,000 miles of travel the team is assembled in Tanzania. We are still waiting for a bag to arrive. The bag missed its connection in the Netherlands due to poor weather but we are hopeful it will arrive tonight. Thankfully the weather is great in here and the team is excited to start climbing Kilimanjaro tomorrow!
We will keep you posted as we continue our adventure.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Hey everyone. This is JJ and Christina with team one on Aconcagua. We are up at Camp One. We settled into camp at 16,400 feet. It was a windy day. We're putting on the wind burn cream as we speak. The team did a phenomenal job. It was a tough day to get up here, probably had about 30 mile-per-hour winds, but we did a great job getting tents up. Right now we have the stoves going. We're melting snow because there's no running water here, which there usually is. So we are melting snow for water and getting some hot drinks going and recovery at 16,400 feet. Everyone says hi to family and friends. We're doing great, but we're going to go for now and get busy on hots and dinner. Thanks for following along. Stay tuned. Tomorrow if the weather is decent, we are hoping to do a carry to 18,000 feet, Camp Two. Take care. Ciao from Aconcagua.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Yeah! Wishing you all continued success. This is a wonderful way to end 2015 and be ready for new challenges in 2016. A special good wish and high-five to our nephew Chris. We are sooo proud of you! Prayers for you and the team…and a bit of the Christmas Cheer to warm you up. Say “Hi” to Santa! Love, Aunt Cindi and Uncle Roy
Posted by: Cindi Burrell on 12/15/2015 at 5:30 am
Great job on the move, in those conditions. The views only get better from here on. This is JJ’s mountain, and sounds as if you have a very strong team. Special shout out to Chris and John, and wishing only the best for all of you!
Today we woke at 6:30 feeling good, had breakfast, then enjoyed a goodbye song and dance from our gracious crew of porters, cooks, and local guides numbering 52. We finished the little celebration by handing out their well deserved tips and then hit the trail one last time.
It took a little over three hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch then hopped aboard our awaiting bus for the ride back to the lodge.
Finally we are all safe and sound, and a little cleaner after an amazing seven-day journey up and down Kilimanjaro.
The team is currently relaxing and looking forward to Safari which starts tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy Kilimanjaro crew
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir September 16 - 21 met in Ashford on a very rainy Sunday for their Technical Training day. With a gear check completed and their backpacks full they left Paradise on Monday with clear skies and sunshine. The team has been at Camp Muir practicing mountaineering skills and enjoying this great weather. Today they got an early alpine start and made their summit attempt. RMI Guide Brent Okita reported a beautiful morning with no wind as they reached the crater rim of Mt. Rainier around 8:30 AM PT. The team will enjoy some time soaking in the views from the summit before starting their descent to Camp Muir. On mountain training will continue for the group until Friday when they will descend to Paradise and return to Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Hello everyone,
Today we headed to Tarangire National Park known for its abundant elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many we saw, probably several hundred at the least. It wouldn’t seem like we could get tired of seeing elephants, but there were so many that eventually we had to keep driving so we could see other animals.
There were lots of giraffes, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many others.
One of the highlights was seeing a male Cheetah up close, only about 20 feet away. He was just relaxing under a big tree overlooking a small pond and hardly seemed to notice us.
We are spending our last night here in Africa at Tarangire Balloon Camp, which has beautiful tented rooms with screen windows to allow the sounds of the African bush in.
Everyone is doing great and hoping to see a few more big cats on our way out tomorrow. Then it will be back to our main lodge near Arusha for a brief stop before catching our evening flights home.
Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
The team awoke from a restful night of sleep ready to pack up and make our move to Aconcagua Camp 2. We enjoyed a warm breakfast and coffee in the sun, then packed our things and headed uphill. After three stretches of moderate uphill walking, surrounded by wonderful views of the Central Andes, the team pulled into camp with spirits high and feeling strong. We set up camp in time for an afternoon siesta and snack that everyone enjoyed. We're looking forward to a restful evening here at Camp 2 to prepare for our carry to high camp tomorrow. The weather is looking good, the team is feeling strong and we're all excited to keep moving up the mountain. Thanks for following along!
RMI Guide Mike King
RMI Guide Jess Matthews and the Five Day Summit Climb team July 27 - 31, 2017 made an early start for the summit and reached the crater rim at 5:30 am. The team enjoyed blue skies and minimal wind on a beautiful day. The team spent an hour on top before starting their descent. The team will return to the trail head at Paradise and then continue to Rainier BaseCamp in Ashford.
Congratulations to today's Five Day Summit Climb team!
May 11, 2017 - 11:07 pm PT
The weather was perfect and we took advantage of it by carrying heavy backpacks loaded with supplies to our cache at 13,700', on the far side of Windy Corner. Climbing conditions were great and everyone did well. After burying our cache, we returned back to our camp at 11,200'. Hopefully tomorrow's weather will cooperate and we can bump camp up to 14,200'. We'll keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
So glad you were able to make such good progress today, and that you had such good weather. Sam arrived safely last night and got his vaccinations this afternoon. Tomorrow we are having lunch with the Bashyals to talk about Nepal and India. Sunday it is brunch with Auntie Anne, and then he heads back to Montana.
Hello to everyone following the Mt. Shuksan Seminar. Tonight we are checking in from the North Cascades logging town of Sedro-Woolley, at the foot of Mt. Shuksan. Today was meant to be our summit attempt, but instead we awoke to pelting rain on our tents, similar to the weather we have been struggling with for the last four days. After having a group meeting and considering the options, we decided as a group to forego our summit bid in favor of descending to focus on training tomorrow. The weather forecast called for improving skies, but that has been the case each day and yet it continued to rain. We opted to find a dry place down here to ensure that we we able to finish all the training, rather then take the gamble on climbing and sit in a tent for another day. A hard decision to make, but one that we feel was right.
Thanks for following along this week.
Best,
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Solveig Waterfall, Jenny Konway and the RMI Shuksan Seminar crew
Greg and Jr. Looks amazing. Stay safe and have a great time. Your buddy Eric
Posted by: Eric Estebanez on 2/2/2016 at 6:00 pm
Gregory have fun!
Wishing everyone a safe and successful climb.
Josie (Gregory’s mom)
Posted by: Josie on 1/31/2016 at 7:11 pm
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