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Posted by: Mark Tucker, JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Today was a perfect day in big mountains! After yet another tasty breakfast in our dinning hut we set off for a solid 4-hour training climb. It was cold enough last night that we all put on crampons to help with traction. This was great training for the team, they did their homework and are physically prepared. We turned around just below 15,000’. This was a new altitude record for some of the team. Then we were back to camp for lunch a bit of a rest. Right now, we are waiting for dinner, and watching the colorful sunset on the dramatic huge mountains in all directions. This evening we meet to go over climbing equipment and tactics.
Team is in fine shape and glad to be here!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team
Posted by: Brent Okita, Bryan Mazaika
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guide Brent Okita led the Four Day Summit Climb July 1 - 4, 2017 to the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Brent reported clear skies with moderate winds and nice climbing conditions. The team spent some time on the summit enjoying the views and celebrating the 520th summit of Mt. Rainier for Brent Okita. The team will return to Camp Muir and continue their descent to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratuions to today's Summit Climb Team and to RMI Guide Brent Okita!
You remember the feast of yesterday, add some sweet watermelon and that was the start of yet another clear sunny day. A bit breezy as we headed along a ridge for a good part of the day so the shorts people had to succumb to pants. The typical fantastic views all day as we climbed to well over 14,500ft before the descent into Barranco Camp. Camp is at about 13,000ft. The spectacular of tomorrow's goal, the great Barranco Wall, looms over head. We are all settled in doing well. Aware of the challenges ahead, but as we say in Swahili, "Hakuna matata" (no problem) for this team.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams reached the top at 8:00 a.m. With clear skies, calm winds, and a bit on the chilly side, the team began their descent at 9:30. High fives and cheers will commence at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Congrats team!!! You did it! Looking forward to hearing from you once you make it down! You are all Rock Stars!!!
Love,
Nick and Lisa
Posted by: Nick and Lisa Fohl on 9/4/2016 at 7:11 pm
Hey everyone this is JJ Justman and Christina. We are at Pampa de Las Lenas, our first trekking camp. Today, was one heck of an adventure. Everything's great, the team is great. Everyone's doing well. But the rain fall and the snow accumulation that they had in this area was definitely prevalent today. There was a lot of water that we never encountered here before. Typically you can step across these tiny little creeks and today we had to full on wade through them almost to our waists. it was actually a lot of fun, but it was a big surprise and it took a little longer than normal. We had a great asado dinner with the cowboys here and we're enjoying the first evening out on the trail. It's a beautiful evening. As I mentioned the entire team is doing really great and having a lot of fun. So stay tuned tomorrow. We're going to see what's in store for us. I hope it's not as interesting as it was today. But, if it is, that's why we're here to have a great adventure. So stay tuned, and we'll see how things go tomorrow. Take care from Argentina. Bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman checks in after reaching Pampa de Las Lenas at 9,000 ft en route to Aconcagua Base Camp.
On The Map
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Hi all from Huaraz,
The team arrived last night form our expedition. Everybody is real well, and despite the challenges faced on this climb, we're happy with the hard work and patience that we had to exercise. One note, we got to within 100m from the top, not 800 as my voice dispatch made it sound... we got so close!!! But safety is number one priority, and bailing after 10 hours of climbing, while a hard decision, is a great lesson to put things in perspective. We're now headed to the Lima airport, in great spirits and ready to think of the next adventure. Thanks to Fatima, Todd, Kirk and David for their incredible hard work and doing so well on this trip.
RMI Guide Elias deAndres Martos & Team
Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Lucas Haaland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
We arose early this morning and fired up the stoves with the intention of packing up camp and moving up to 17,200'. At breakfast we kept an eye on the conditions on the upper mountain. The wind was blowing plumes of snow off of the upper mountain and the Buttress and we decided to pump the breaks. With a good forecast ahead of us, and plenty of food and fuel, we decided not to push it by moving up into stormy weather. We decided to wait it out down here at 14k where we are comfortable and are getting stronger.
Our team will remain on standby and hopefully tomorrow's weather will allow us to move up to high camp. Currently it is snowing lightly here at camp and we are resting, hydrating, and eating. We'll be ready when the opportunity presents itself.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Hi Guys, Great progress! Waiting for the photo on the top.
Posted by: Lei W on 5/17/2017 at 7:50 pm
And just like that, RMI Aconcagua Expedition, led by Mark Tucker and Pepper Dee, is off! We enjoyed our last breakfast in civilization this morning, and then before we knew it we were piling out of the van at the Vacas Valley trailhead and heading uphill under the blazing Argentine sun. We wound our way up the valley for about five hours, taking breaks to hydrate and generously apply sunscreen. Having settled in to our first camp at Las Leñas, tonight we were treated to a mouth watering traditional asado dinner by our support team of mule drivers. The team is adjusting rapidly and successfully to the demands of life on the trail, and look forward to tackling another stretch tomorrow.
Stay tuned for more climbing (and more steak!).
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Wonderful to get the updates. Enjoy every moment because the eventual homeward return may be more challenging…the dogs have happily taken over your place in bed, Mr. Monnet.
Happy climbing. Lots of love, the gang.
Posted by: Carolyn on 1/10/2017 at 12:38 pm
Looks so inviting, that valley!!
“Ah, yes, ‘generously amounts of sunscreen,‘“notes Mom.
Posted by: Elizabeth Tompkin on 1/10/2017 at 11:35 am
We had another clear night on Kilimanjaro with cold temperatures. There was just a little noise at midnight, most teams were content to be getting some shut eye instead of celebrating. We had a leisurely morning knowing that our next camp, Karanga,at just over 13,000 ft would take about three hours climbing time. It also allowed the bulk of other groups a head start to give us less traffic on the first part of todays ascent, the Barranco Wall. We had lots of fun and took many photos for the team during the half hour of rock scramble. We all did it with style and grace. A nice hot lunch upon arrival at camp was a welcomed meal. We spent the next hour going over details to prepare us for the upcoming summit push, tomorrow night! It is raining pretty hard right now, let's get that out of the way right here. The team continues to do well, and is in great shape.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Hello again everyone:
Today we had a very nice hike to help with our acclimatization on a nearby peak called Pichincha. It is one of the many local peaks that is situated above Quito and is used by many climbers to help adjust to the higher altitude here in Ecuador. We made use of the gondolas to help us gain access to around 13,000ft then hiked the additional 2,500ft to the summit. It took our team roughly three hours to gain the top after a little scrambling up the final bit to reach our high point thus far. It was a personal high point for a few of us, and the entire team did a fantastic job. After spending a bit of time on the summit and getting our photos, we descended all the way back to our hotel for a brief nap before dinner.
Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Sounded like a great day!!
Posted by: Carol on 12/2/2015 at 9:26 pm
pasta bolognese on kilamanjaro !!
way to go Brooke , TRob and Team !!
Go team :~] !!
Posted by: joan megan john katherine mike on 9/9/2016 at 11:13 am
Go team, go!!!!!!! Hugs and kisses to Brooke and TRob
Posted by: Susie on 9/9/2016 at 6:55 am
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