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Today we started the day off with an ascent of Muir Peak while practicing proper cramponing. We concluded with some safety skills with self and team arrest. The team is enjoying the views in the sunshine and it is slowly warming up. Next on the agenda is teaching rope travel and glacial travel principles. JJ, Dan and Team

Monday, May 24, 2021 - 10:24 pm PT

We're finally fully moved into 11,000' Camp. After a four hour lap to pick up our cache at 9,400 we have all our food and fuel with us. To celebrate to had pudding for dessert after a tasty meal of rice and curry. The weather looks good for tomorrow and we are hoping to carry some gear up to Windy Corner.

RMI Guide Eric Frank

RMI Guides Brent Okita & Mike Haugen reported a perfect day of climbing on Mt. Rainier today.  The Four Day Climb June 18 - 21 reached the summit around 7 am and enjoyed some time in the crater before starting their descent.  The teams started their descent from the crater rim just after 8 am and will return to Camp Muir.  After a short break the teams will continue the final 4.5 miles to Paradise and be transferred back to Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Sam Hoffman reached the summit of Mt. Rainier on Friday Morning. The team took advantage of the cooler temperatures which made for good climbing on the route. They spent the night at Camp Muir sharing stories and soaking in their success and all the views. The team will descend to Paradise in the early afternoon today.

Congratulations team! 

Hello from Ama Dablam Base Camp! Are you unsuccessful when you don't reach the summit of one of your objectives? Well, I think that if you have carefully prepared for it and put yourself in the best position for it, despite little odds in our favor according to the forecast, and you make the decision to head down because the one thing you can't control is totally out of control, then yes, you're successful. It was windy when we arrived at our High Camp, it was windy throughout our short stay, and it was like a freight train when it was time to go. There's no way we could fight on the steep, cold and dangerous slopes of Ama's southeast ridge what "Eolus" had in store for us. So the only thing we could do, knowing that we had waited until the very last day, was to be smart and head down. Undefeated, because in the mountains what counts is telling the story. But sure disappointed to not to have been able to climb just a bit more. But oh well, we're now back to the safety of our lodge at Base Camp, and we'll stay our descent tomorrow, eager for thicker air and why not, to start closing up our Himalayan adventure. RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

Since the earthquake I have been mostly holed up at Annapurna Base Camp. After the quake I couldn't let go of my desire to finish what I've started with Annapurna. I'd put in so much focus and taken on so much risk to be in a position to make a nO's ascent, especially as a team of one. But the reports of the destruction and hardship kept flooding in. Then one morning I could feel myself having let go of Annapurna and my interest shifted to seeing if I could get out of here to assist the people of Nepal. So that's it, my Annapurna expedition is finished. Yesterday I went back up on the mountain to pull my cached equipment at Camp 1. I have another cache at Camp 3, but it's unsafe to go that high on the mountain now, so I'll be abandoning that cache. I've teamed up with a few other Americans here in Nepal to work with a NGO affiliated with the UN. The plan is to meet up in Pokhara, then head out from there with equipment and jeeps supplied by the NGO. My first hurdle is it get out of base camp and down to Pokhara; which is easier said than done. Naturally, the government here has commandeered all the helicopters for rescue efforts. But we flew into base camp in helicopters for a reason, the trek out is sketchy. The US embassy has offered to airlift Americans out of remote areas, but I'm fit and able so I intend to walk out on my own. Tomorrow morning I and some others from the Annapurna Base Camp will be attempting this trek. We're headed for Pokhara. Once we arrive there, I'll meet up with the other American climbers. Our current directive from the NGO is to access some of the remote villages in this region and to report back on their situation, conditions, and immediate needs. Hopefully this will help expedite resources to the people in need. RMI Guide Alex Barber

This morning started with a pounding rain through the night that magically let off just as the sun rose across Lake Titicaca. Once the sun peaked out, everything quickly dried up and we had perfect weather for a visit to the Isla del Sol. A beautiful boat ride along the banks of Copacabana and Lake Titicaca took us to the island of the sun; the famous home of the fountain of the youth. This mountainous island is steeped in ancient history dating back long before the Incas unified the Andean Plateau. We found ourselves walking in the same steps and drinking from the same spring as generations of pilgrims before us. I must say the fountain gave the group a special spring in our step as we climbed to the top of the island and took in the gorgeous surroundings of Peru, Bolivia and the massive lake between them. After that, all that was left was to descend to the shore for a lunch of delicious Andean food overlooking the water. We returned back to Copacabana well fed, a little better educated about the history of this amazing area, and for some maybe just a touch younger! RMI Guide Caleb Ladue

The mules are loaded and the team is ready to go. Today we start the adventure on Aconcagua with our approach up the Vacas valley. Clear skies, pleasant temps and a healthy team all sound like a great way to begin an expedition. Talk to ya'll from the mountain. RMI Guide Jake Beren

Hey this is Dave Hahn calling from Everest Base Camp. Today was another difficult day dealing with the tragedies from yesterday. The team members stayed in Base Camp today, it was cloudy, a little snowy, a little cold. Three of our Sherpa team, Tshering, Lam Babu and Pemba helicoptered up, with others, to the accident site to continue the difficult and dangerous work that some of us were engaged in yesterday of well, body retrieval at this point. There are still three missing, is my understanding, and they were not able to find those three. But they did a great job in going up and working hard and trying to make a difference and we are very proud of them. The team is well, obviously, it is a difficult situation, everything is somewhat in limbo. There is word of a number of teams that are pulling the plug and are not going to climb. But we will see how these next couple of days play out. I told my climbers to be ready for anything. We will keep you informed. Bye now. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

We spent our day in a collapsed volcano.  Ngorongoro Crater didn’t disappoint.  It was a clear morning at our hotel but it was cold and there was still a little cloud hanging around the rim of the caldera (which is at around 10,000 ft).  We did an hour of the usual rough roads to get to the descent road into the crater.  Then we saw two of the “Big Five” species before we’d even made it to the floor of the crater.  There was a big bull elephant with enormous tusks and not too far away there was a sleeping male lion.  Before long we were seeing thousands of zebra, wildebeest, gazelles, Cape buffalo and warthogs.  There were tons of hippos.  The highlights were reckoned to be the Caracal we spied (a medium sized cat with big pointy ears… rarely seen in Ngorongoro) and the pack of hyenas ripping up a Cape Buffalo carcass.  After another great picnic lunch in the field, we went back up to the crater rim to visit a Maasai village.  We watched (and joined in) traditional dances.  We saw the men make fire and throw spears, then we got a tour of the homes within a protective brush enclosure. 

Then we had another 90 minutes of bouncing over dirt roads before we got back to the ultra comfortable Plantation Lodge for the evening. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn