Our Five Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide Andy Bond reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They enjoyed calm winds and clear skies during their climb. The team will descend to Camp Muir, rest and pack their bags, before continuing their descent to Paradise. Once at BaseCamp they will gather for a presentation of certificates before concluding their program.
Congratulations to today's Five Day Summit Climb team!
Everyone, Thanks for an awesome trip up to the top of Mount Rainier. I could not have been more pleased with everything. Thanks for helping to make dreams come true. Mac
Today we left the comforts of Base Camp and moved to Camp One! Our whole team did great on the way up, and we are excited to be making upward progress on the mountain.
Our journey today was mostly on rocky trails that wove through moraine material, and finished with walking up a big snowy hill the last hour before camp. The view from here is stunning. We can't see the summit, but we can see shape-shifting clouds rip over it. Looking downhill we can see the warm multi-colored mountains that make the far side of the Vacas Valley. Dinner tonight was not three courses, and it's cold and windy and we no longer have well maintained outhouses... And this is exactly what we came here to do! Everyone is in high spirits.
And now the game of chess begins. We're expecting strong winds over night and tomorrow, but we'll see what happens. Wind permitting, our plan for tomorrow is to walk to at least 17,000 feet for acclimatization. Meanwhile, a couple of us guides will move some group food as close to camp two as we can get to set the group up for success if we end up having to make a quick move to camp two in the coming days.
As the moon wanes the stars are becoming increasingly more spectacular through this dry and thin air. If it wasn't so cold it would be easy to stay mesmerized all night! Wish us mellow winds and dissipating headaches...
RMI Guide Steve Gately and Team
We woke to a calm and clear morning down at Machame Camp. The sun hit around 7:30 AM, just in time for breakfast. Before we got on the trail, Freddy -our lead guide, introduced some of the key personnel on his forty five person staff and we had a round of jambos and handshakes.
We were walking by 8:20 and sweating by about 8:30 as the initial route involved some serious uphill on big rock steps through the heather. The big hazard in our first few hours was that the views were so spectacular I worried that the team wouldn't watch their steps. There was plenty to look at as giant Mount Meru -the 16,000 ft volcano back next to Arusha, was standing tall above a sea of clouds to our west. That sea of brilliant white clouds extended in every direction, beneath us. We had great views of Kibo, Kilimanjaro's main peak, and the rugged heights of Shira, its western satellite. We got to see our first Lobelias and Scenecios as we reached the upper limits of the heather. By then we were traversing left and negotiating small steep lava walls on our way out to the Shira Plateau. We were in our newest camp by 1PM. This one is quite a change from the last as we are now well out of the forest. Kibo never did cloud up today so we got to look at it all afternoon as we rested at 12,600 ft. We'll head straight toward it tomorrow for a closer look at our ultimate goal.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Way to get after it, Team! Onward and Upward!! Thanks for the map too. Gives a great perspective on the days ahead.
Rest well, Stay Strong, Mary #HarshStrong
Posted by: Bill and Kathy Harshbarger (Mary's Parents) on 8/24/2016 at 4:59 pm
Sounds like you could clearly see your goal and had beautiful views all day long. Here’s to a peaceful night and another spectacular day tomorrow.
Posted by: Jen Potter (Jason's Sister) on 8/24/2016 at 3:03 pm
Sometimes you get thrown a total curveball, which was the case with our Mt. Elbrus expedition today. Apparently there has been a stomach bug simmering in the group, and it reached its boiling point last night. With most of the team suffering and feeling less than 100%, it was an easy decision to stay put and rest and recover today. That ended up lining up well with the forecast, as the next couple of days look better than today or tonight. So with that positive note, we'll get a good night's sleep so that we wake up ready to get back to work.
Best,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, JM Gorum, and team
Saturday, May 14th - 3:32pm PST
We put our intention to move to 11,000' on hold today and decided that after a couple of big days with big loads, a rest day was in order. A leisurely wake up and breakfast led to naps and lunch, which led to more naps, photography sessions, and dinner. All together, the perfect rest day. Tomorrow, we'll wake, pack up this lovely camp, and make the move to 11,000'. This has been a great home but everyone is excited to move on and check out some new scenery. We'll check in tomorrow.
Best,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Robby Young, Jess Matthews, and team
Well, we are closing out another great day on safari. The main difference today is that we are all going home instead of staying in a hotel.
It's been a marvelous trip made exceptional with a very successful Kilimanjaro Climb and Safari. We had great animal viewing everyday and today we were up close with more elephants, giraffes and two female lions. It's just been non stop action for almost two weeks.
We will be having one last meal together before leaving for the airport in about an hour and a half. Then it's a long set of flights for everyone on our way back to the US.
Both of my Kilimanjaro climbs and safaris have been really special which is 100% due to the fun folks that joined RMI, and to the Dik Dik staff that goes way above what you could expect out of an in-country outfitter.
Thanks everyone!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
RMI Guides Billy Nugent and Eric Frank led their Four Day Summit Climbs to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Billy reported lots of climbers on the route and light winds. The teams are enjoying some time on the summit before beginning their descent. We look forward to seeing the teams in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons team led by RMI Guide Andy Bond reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Andy and team worked their way up the to the summit via the Emmons Glacier and were standing on Columbia crest. The team will enjoy the views from the top before starting their descent. They will spend more time training at Camp Schurman and return to Ashford Basecamp tomorrow!
Congratulations to the Emmons Team!
Hey, this is Dave Hahn with the RMI Kilimanjaro team from Utah. We're on the summit. It's 9 a.m. and we are on the highest point in Africa, Uhuru (Peak) 19,341 feet. It's a beautiful day up here, just a little breeze on top. We're all enjoying ourselves, taking a couple of pictures and will send you a dispatch from camp tonight to let you know that we've all got down safe. Everything's going really well. Thanks for following along. Bye for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls from the summit of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
19,341…! Congrats to all and cheers! Looking forward to raising a glass of the finest beverage of choice upon your return! You guys “rock”...... get it, “rock” !
Posted by: Lee & Susie on 2/6/2018 at 4:45 pm
Congrats to all!!! So excited for each of you…such an accomplishment! Can’t wait to hear all about it. Continue your safe travels.
Today our team is continuing to acclimate by enjoying a rest day at Camp 1. We had lighter wind last night when combined with the carry day made for a better night's sleep for everyone. The forecast is looking good for a summit attempt on the 5th. The team is doing great, feeling well rested and excited to continue moving up the mountain tomorrow. Until then, we continue to enjoy the amazing scenery and calm weather.
RMI Guide Mike King
Bless you all. Be safe on your decent.
Posted by: Donna Bolger on 6/28/2017 at 2:36 pm
Everyone, Thanks for an awesome trip up to the top of Mount Rainier. I could not have been more pleased with everything. Thanks for helping to make dreams come true. Mac
Posted by: William Mcneil on 6/28/2017 at 7:39 am
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