Hey, everybody. This is Casey Grom calling in from Cayambe and Chimborazo climb corn here in Ecuador. We're doing great down here today. We had a nice relaxing morning at Casa de Sol. We then headed into the center of Otavalo, close to where we are staying. Otavalo is one of the largest open air markets in all of South America. The team spent a little over an hour practicing their bartering skills and doing a lot of sightseeing all the local artisan goods they have for sale. After we felt like we had enough shopping done, we got in our van and we went out to lunch just a few miles down the road. Then we headed up a long and winding road that leads up the mountain where we hit Cayambe. There's two huts up here. There's a big one and a smaller one. Thankfully for us our outfitter was able to secure the smaller hut, which is nice. It sleeps about ten. The big hut is full tonight and sleeps about 40 to 50 people, so we are pretty thankful that we got the smaller hut. We just finished our dinner, and we're settling in for the night at the base of Cayambe. Everybody's doing well. We will give a check in sometime tomorrow afternoon and let you know the game plan for the summit. See you tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Sending all my best to Danny, and fearless leader Casey Grom and team. I took a quick peak at the weather and looks like there may be some heavy snow in your area, especially Monday night. Hope all is well and you will be able to stay on schedule. Everyone looks they have been enjoying themselves in the pictures. Stay strong for yourselves and each other! -Virginia
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
Hey, this is Seth. We are all headed to the airport to catch our flights home. We've had a great trip and today was no exception. In the morning, as we returned through Tarangire National Park, we got very lucky and saw two leopards . It was a great cap on what had already been a wonderful trip. Everyone is excited to go home but we all wish we could be on safari forever!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
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.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise led by RMI Guide Mike Haugen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Mike said that it is a "BEAUTIFUL day" on the summit of Mt. Rainier. Mike also reported that 100% of the team reached the summit. The team began their descent before 8:00 a.m. PDT. We are excited to see them in Ashford this afternoon and hear stories of their adventure!
Congratulations climbers!!
June 13, 2016 - 7:09 pm PT
After a big day caching at 16,400' on the rib we slept in this morning. Eventually folks started to rise and trickle into the kitchen where Steve was make breakfast burritos and fresh coffee, we relaxed, ate and drank our fill until around noon. Then we got geared up for a short walk over to the Edge of the World. Today was a perfect day for it with mostly clear skies and no wind. We spent an hour taking pictures and enjoying the view of the Alaska Range before heading back to camp. We did a little bit of fixed line and running belay training and then chilled for the afternoon. Tonight we will be exploring some exotic cuisine from India and sipping tea before bed. It is looking like the next couple of days will bring snow and high winds to the upper mountain so we will most likely have a couple more rest days at 14 before it breaks later in the week. The weather days are actually a blessing in disguise, it allows us to be fully rested and better acclimatize. Everyone is in good spirits and enjoying some down time.
Thanks for following along with us,
The Upper West Rib team
Jim and Team, Ry and I are following you everyday. The pictures are absolutely amazing. We’re excited to watch this story unfold. Can’t wait to see you and hear the stories.
Mac & Ry
Posted by: Mac Hawley on 6/15/2016 at 9:14 am
Ben,
As I sit here suffering through shin splints from a 5 mile run, I can’t help but marvel at the undertaking you have taken on. May the force of a thousand Spartan’s guide your way safely and swiftly. This goes for Jim too (and the rest of the team of course). Keep at it bruh. We are all super proud and super stoked. We are beers ready, glittered up.
We awoke yesterday from our odd "hut" at the base of Ixtaccihuatl (a hut for sure, but surrounded by a peculiar number of antennae) to clear skies and a perfect view of our lady and her fuming lover, Popo. These two volcanoes picked up a dusting of new snow with the weather of the last few days and could not look more beautiful in their fresh duds.
With a possible closing of this weather window the team launched towards high camp on Ixta, accompanied by grumbles from Popo as huge plumes of ash and steam spewed from the angry mountain. Ixta remained calm and welcoming to her respectful visitors. We made our camp and turned in for our first night up high on our host and awoke to perfect climbing conditions.
As we climbed this anthropomorphic mountain, up and down the anatomy of a passionate princess of the past, we eventually found ourselves on the unsupported summit at sunrise. We can only assume that Popo admired our approach as he belched approval on our descent.
It was quite a day and as we returned to the land of mortals in beautiful Puebla, a fresh blanket of clouds covered our hostess. We are grateful for the hospitality and look forward to resting in the lowlands of Puebla for a day. Perhaps Pico de Orizaba will shun the blanket for us mountain lovers from the North in a few days time. Put in a word for us will you?
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Hello from Kikoti Camp. We have just finished a wonderful evening around the fire pit complete with Maasai dancing and a BBQ dinner. Kikoti is am amazing place to finish our trip. Today we toured Tarangire National Park and it didn't disappoint. We were extremely close to elephants and giraffes and we got lucky and spotted a pride of lions lounging in the shade if a tree. The best thing about Tarangire though us the sheer number of animals. It was pretty much non stop the whole time. The talk at dinner was about how much fun the trip has been and that's because this group has really made it non stop laughs the whole time.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall & Team
RMI Guide Mike Walter and team were on the summit of Forbidden Peak at 1:34 PM PT today. Mike reported light snow and not much visibility. The team will return to camp for their final night on the mountain. Tomorrow they will complete the trek out to the trail head.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Everyone and everything made it through. Through Amsterdam, through immigration, through customs, through the baggage carousels. We've got a climbing team ready to begin the Kilimanjaro odyssey. These folks all know one another... a good number are related... and absolutely everybody was ready to sleep at midnight when dinner broke up. Long flights and lots of movies, miles and time zones between Taos, New Mexico, USA and Usa River, Tanzania. We'll dive into the details of getting set to climb -tomorrow.
Best,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Sending all my best to Danny, and fearless leader Casey Grom and team. I took a quick peak at the weather and looks like there may be some heavy snow in your area, especially Monday night. Hope all is well and you will be able to stay on schedule. Everyone looks they have been enjoying themselves in the pictures. Stay strong for yourselves and each other! -Virginia
Posted by: Virginia N. on 12/13/2015 at 3:12 pm
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