Good morning. This is Eric and John calling from the summit of Mount Shuksan. It's about 10:45 here. We had a great climb on the Upper Curtis this morning to the Southeast Rib of Mount Shuksan. Right now we are just looking out over a whole sky of smoke unfortunately. We're taking in the scents of the bonfire that's currently in southern British Columbia, which has blown in a bunch of smoke in, which looks a lot like clouds. So right now we just see the tops of the peaks around us but down below there's really heavy coverage from the smoke that has blown in. We're going to descend down through the smoke, potentially move a little lower to try to avoid it and get down where some trees can filter it out for us. Tomorrow continue our descent all the way out to the car and the end of our climb. Thanks for following along. We'll see everyone soon.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank calls in from the Mt. Shuksan summit.
RMI Guide Mike King called from the summit of Ixtaccihuatl (17,340') at 6:15 am PT today. His team was taking photos and enjoying the views from the summit. They will descend to High Camp, pack their gear and continue their descent from the mountain. The team will travel to Puebla later today.
Congratulations to the team!
Sipping tea on the porch of our luxury tents, watching the bush wake up around Tarangire National Park is pretty darn peaceful. Before heading back to the Dik Dik Lodge, we spent some more time game viewing in the park. If you've never been to Tarangire, some day try and get there; you won't be disappointed! After our game drive, we made a quick stop in town for a few last minute gifts, some might even have your name on them! Back at the Dik Dik, we had one last fine meal before saying our good byes. The next stop for the team is Kilimanjaro International Airport to begin flights home. This trip has been filled with great experiences that have created memories to last a lifetime. I'm going to miss everyone...until our next trip together!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Thank you, Mark, for taking care of our loved ones on what I know was an awesome experience. It was so great to have your blog so we could keep up with you all on the trip.
Posted by: Odette Hankins on 7/22/2016 at 11:39 am
June 12, 2016 - 11:35 am PDT
Good Evening,
Today was a very productive rest day for the Upper West Rib team here at 14k camp. We slept in, had a slow breakfast of eggs and hash browns with lots of coffee and then relaxed. At around noon we started building snow walls to fortify our camp. The team was unstoppable! These guys worked for hours and even when I told them to take a break, they would be back at it 5 minutes later. We are planing to cache some food and file up on the Rib tomorrow, weather permitting.
Thanks again for following along,
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and The UWR Team
Great Job ! Happy Monday morning to you all. The view looks spectacular !!!! Have a great day today !
Posted by: David on 6/13/2016 at 7:17 am
Ben, sounds like you are with the perfect team - always moving and pushing ahead! Do the walls make good forts for a snowball fight? Have a great day! Love, Uncle Marc and Elyse
Posted by: Uncle Marc and Elyse on 6/12/2016 at 12:50 pm
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Tyler Jones and Ben Liken reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver before winds and weather forced them to turn. Tyler reported several inches of fresh snow on the upper mountain. The team is back at Camp Muir and will be starting their descent to Paradise shortly.
Congratulations to today's Team!
January 3, 2016 5:25 am PT
All is well here at Mweka Camp at 10,000 ft. Climb went like clock work. Left for the summit just after midnight under clear skies and light wind. Par for the course, a bit chilly. The team did a fine job all day climbing in good style and working well together. Right now we are enjoying peanuts and popcorn awaiting an early dinner, the sooner we can get in our sleeping bags the better. Early hike in the morning to the park gate.
January 2, 2016 10:15 pm PT
Mark Tucker here checking in from the the top of Kilimanjaro! Looks like I've got the whole team standing here with me. Great day. Fantastic job coming up the hill and our stellar stand out, Tess, crushed it! We are all doing well. Going to make our way down the hill back to high camp and could sweep on into Mweka Camp. We will check in later. All is good in the hood. Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guide Mark Tucker calls from the Kilimanjaro summit.
Thank you, Mark, for the GOOD NEWS, about safe arrival AT THE TOP -
and cheers for Tess the Crusher ! love to all - we’re so proud of you -
and thank you, Mark, for all your help.
Sure has been a Happy New Year ! love, T
Please tell the Notre Dame rooters that Muffet McGraw won 800th coaching game
today as the Irish gals won !
Posted by: Terry Seidler (mother of Bob & Tom & grandmothe on 1/3/2016 at 4:50 pm
Way to go Tess, Kristen, Monica, Josie, Robert, Tomas and Tuck! We love the updates and can’t wait to hear more about your awesome adventure! Sleep well and steady hike out to the gate tomorrow!
XO The Gates
Hello Everyone,
All is well here in Ecuador especially after a wonderful night of rest. The team did a fantastic job on Cayambe yesterday and really deserved it. We spent last night in the oldest Hacienda in Ecuador called Guachala, which dates back to the 16th century, and isn't too far from the mountain.
After a relaxing morning at the Hacienda we loaded up our gear and headed south for five hours to reach our next climbing objective, Chimborazo. We are spending the night in another newer hacienda, not far from Chimborazo, built about 20 years ago by a German mountain guide that's full of climbing memorabilia. Our plan is to have another good night's rest here, then hike up to a high camp tomorrow afternoon to help shorten our climb. If all goes according to plan we'll be settled in camp by 5pm and hopefully get a little more rest before starting our climb around 11-12pm.
Everyone enjoyed the drive and the beautiful views we had today. We are all excited for tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
With all due modesty, we crushed day one. We were out of our hotel and on the bus and on the road just after eight. Out on the highway, our driver Said had the windshield wipers on as the clouds were low and gray and leaking a little rain. But ninety minutes later, as we passed in to Kilimanjaro National Park at the 6,000 ft Machame Gate, it wasn’t raining. As is normal, it took a bit of time to get the group registered for the climb and to get the staffing and loads sorted out, but then, at 10:40 we started walking. Freddy, of our local guide staff, set a “pole pole” pace... nice and slow and steady and we fell into a good rhythm behind him. James, our lead guide, and Frank, Phillibet, and Naiman brought up the rear. The trail, which can be muddy and slippery, was actually in pretty good shape today. The clouds stayed with us for the first half of the day and we got a hint of wet mist and sprinkles before things cleared out a bit in the afternoon. We could even see our shadows from time to time as the sun came and went. The team walked well and seemed to have little difficulty with the steady gain in altitude. We went from hours deep within the rain forest, to a final half hour in a transition to the “Heather and Mooreland” zone and finally walked into Machame Camp at 10,000 ft in a respectable five and a half hours after our start. Our staff had not only beat us to camp, they’d built the camp. Everything was perfectly set up and welcoming for our team to move in. We did afternoon tea with popcorn and then followed that up with one of Chef Tosha’s magnificent dinners. We spent a few minutes looking up at the night sky before turning in... Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars were putting on a show and the milky way was trying hard to outshine them.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
This morning the Five-Day Mt. Rainier Summit Climb, led by RMI Guide Jenny Konway, reached the summit. The team spent two nights on the mountain in spectacular clear skies before they began their ascent. Presently they are on their descent back to Camp Muir and then will continue on to Paradise.
A thunderstorm skirted us late last night as we fell asleep to the occasional flash of lightning and clap of thunder. Luckily, it was short lived and we dozed off listening to the tapping of heavy, wet snow hitting the tent late into the night. As the sun hit camp this morning, we crawled out excited to see all of Camp 1 and the slopes above us coated in a couple inches of fresh snow - quite the refreshing contrast to the myriad of browns, tans and grays up to this point. The team enjoyed a long, leisurely breakfast and hot drinks to start off the rest day with some quesadillas to follow for lunch. Sometimes rest days can be just as tough, testing one's patience a bit, but everyone is doing a great job taking advantage of today to continue getting stronger for our next big push to Camp 2. We'll be keeping our eye on the weather which looks to have more snow in store for us, but in the meantime we're taking full advantage of some really beautiful, calm days here at Camp 1. Hopefully the next time you hear from us we'll be settled in at Camp 2 with a hot drink in hand, feeling accomplished, but still aware of the effort that lies before us high up on the Stone Sentinel.
RMI Guide Mike King
Hello boss, we are following along back here! Hope the progress keeps moving upward and that the hands are staying warm!!
- Team CRS
Posted by: Team CRS on 1/10/2018 at 4:30 pm
My 1st born son Virgil - hope you are feeling good and having fun. Your bro and l would not have liked the thunder and lightening - the snow he could handle. We think of you everyday - maybe more like every minute of everyday for me. Miss you. Love Mom❤️
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Thank you, Mark, for taking care of our loved ones on what I know was an awesome experience. It was so great to have your blog so we could keep up with you all on the trip.
Posted by: Odette Hankins on 7/22/2016 at 11:39 am
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