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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

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 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

Thursday, January 21, 2016 We are all enjoying our day off today. After getting some well deserved sleep most of the team spent the day drinking coffee, eating various types of mole sauce, and taking in the beautiful sights of this historic city. Tonight we will gather for dinner and discuss the logistics for our departure to Tlachichuca tomorrow morning. The forecast looks great, and we are all excited about our next mountain...El Pico de Orizaba! RMI Guides Solveig Waterfall, Billy Haas, and the team

The Mount Rainier Summit Climbs, led by RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos and Jake Beren, called in at 7:38 a.m. The first teams began their descent from the crater rim at that time and the second teams followed at 7:53 a.m. The guides report a little wind from the WSW but all-in-all, good weather. Congratulations to today's summit climbers!

Today's blog is brought to you by the team: July 27, 2015: Peru, South America with a group of Americans... Our rest day today proved to bring out the restlessness in these children (yes, us). Promptly following coffee in bed and a two course breakfast, the team took to sun bathing. Once the Vitamin D production quotas were met for the day, the team selected their bathing suits and headed for the lake! A quick 20 minute hike led us to the alpine lake and picturesque view. Testosterone quickly kicked in when the team hit the rocky beach and noticed the glacier that was feeding ice into the lake. It took mere minutes for the team to jump in. Robert took a little convincing but peer pressure won the day. After an unforgettable day of bonding, we all feel blessed to have each other's company and grateful to be sharing this experience in such a majestic place. What happens on the mountain...gets posted to the blog. Oh yea, almost forgot, we rode icebergs in a glacial lake! Who else can say they did that in July?! RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and Team

Sunday, September 9, 2018 - 1:20 PM PT RMI Guide Bryan Mazaika called from the summit of Mt. Baker this afternoon. The team attempted the climb a day early to take advantage of a forecasted lull in the rainy weather. The decision proved wise as the team was able to summit 100% in dry weather! They will make their way downhill to camp where they will pack up and exit the program a day early to beat the coming rain and snow. Congratulations team!

The Four Day Summit Climb August 19 - 22 led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Andy Bond reached the summit of Mt. Rainier right around 7 AM today. Brent reported a nice day overall with 5-10 mph winds but very smokey skies. The teams will spend a bit of time on the summit before starting their descent. Once back at Camp Muir they will repack and then continue down to Paradise. Congratulations to today's climbers!

Monday, June 25, 2018 - 12:14 AM PT This is Mike, checking in from 11,000' Camp as the team continues their descent to the airstrip. We woke at 17,000' Camp this morning after a long summit day. The team packed up and headed down the West Buttress with spectacular views of the Alaska Range. Once on the fixed lines we baking in the mid day sun and were looking forward to getting our cache sorted and headed to 11,000 Camp for some dinner and rest. We got water and high fives from the other RMI Teams and turned in for some rest, not sleep. We'll plan on hitting the road at 2 am in hopes of getting an early flight to Talkeetna. The weather isn't promising so an extra night or 2 at the airstrip might be in our future. RMI Guide Mike King

It was a beautiful morning on the northern flanks of Ecuador's "jewel mountain" when we awoke from our fist night at Cotopaxi's Refugio. This newly remodeled hut sits just under 16,000 feet and offers a full service kitchen along with indoor and outdoor toilets. This isn't exactly roughing it but no matter how swanky the accommodations, waking up at this altitude always feels like a self inflicted hangover without the fun stories from the evening before. After coffee, a traditional Ecuadorean breakfast and a few Ibuprofen, we were ready for a fun day of training. Just as we began packing for the day, a group of Germans arrived looking haggered and shell shocked after having come down from the summit. It was their first ever mountain climb and they said the route was beautiful, steep and challenging but well worth the effort. This provided promising news and gave us good optimism for tonight's climb. Once out the door, a steep 45 minute climb took us to a perfect training location on the glacier where we set up a top rope for ice climbing, a fixed line and fun crevasse rescue station. The weather remained nice so our attitudes stayed really positive as we all took turns doing each activity. From above we were amazed at the hundreds of people coming and going from the hut below. The remodel has sparked new interest from locals in visiting one the this countries coolest tourist attractions. Now it is five o clock and we are resting and preparing for the climb to come. The route is shorter than Cayambe so we have high hopes for all of us making the top. We will report tomorrow after the ascent. RMI Guide Adam Knoff

On The Map

RMI Guide Mike Walter led his team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning! The left the crater rim on their descent at 7:30 a.m. Mike reported sun, smoke from the eastside of Washington and moderate winds.