The city life is nice, but it's back to the mountains for your ESS-Peru champions. We're back at it again, climbing from 10,500' to 15,000' on our approach to Copa Base Camp. The views here at camp are otherworldly. The looming south face of Copa dominates our view up the hill, fluted with spines of snow and ice as the western glacier spills over the summit plateau into space. Our views back down to the valley are just beginning to glow red and pink as the sun begins its descent on our day. We're going to get a great night of sleep tonight, planning to sleep in to best prepare ourselves for our move to high camp at 16,400' tomorrow afternoon. We can't contain our excitement. We'll keep you informed. Keep following along and send us good vibes for the biggest climbing of our trip.
RMI Guides Robby, Steve, William, and your ESS-Peru team
I am jealous! What an incredible experience! Collectively, we are keeping fingers crossed for the team to reach the ambitious 6,000+ m peak goal! Stay strong! You can do it!
Hilda, the one that “EATS MOUNTAINS FOR BREAKFAST” will be having a big feast tomorrow morning!
Posted by: Martina Kalusova on 7/12/2017 at 7:53 am
RMI Guides Christina Dale & Bryan Mazaika led their Four Day Summit Climb Teams (August 16 - 19) to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Teams were reaching the crater rim around 7:30 AM PT. Christina reported a beautiful and warm day. The teams will return to Camp Muir and continue down to Paradise. They will end their program with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Well it took until mid-morning, but we finally had our whole team, with gear, in one place. Ten climbers and one RMI guide meeting at the hotel in Usa River on the outskirts of Arusha, Tanzania. Folks are jet-lagged, but today was actually an easy day of discussing the plan of attack, conducting gear checks and getting things packed and ordered for going on the mountain. That didn’t take the whole day, and so there was plenty of time for napping and strolling the gardens of the Arumeru River Lodge. Kilimanjaro was visible from the viewing tower on the grounds and was looking magnificent with all of the recent snow up high. We got together for dinner and talked climbing (naturally) but also chatted about running and biking and careers and pretty places.
We’ll get on the road in the morning for Kilimanjaro.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Our team spent the rest day wandering around the beautiful streets and churches of Puebla today. We saw some beautiful churches, community parks, ceramic studios, and street musicians. Everyone feels tired after our Ixta climb but in great spirits to go climb Pico de Orizaba on Saturday. We all talked over a delicious dinner about what we learned climbing Ixta and are excited for the next challenge. We are enjoying our time in the mountains and towns of Mexico. Fingers crossed for clear sky's on Orizaba!
RMI Guide Christina Dale
Day two is behind us! It flew quick, marveled by the wonders of the lower Santa Cruz Valley, which is one of the prime trekking destinations in Peru by itself. We also flew quick, and bypassed the standard camp, gaining an hour for tomorrow's arrival to Base Camp. Everybody is doing fantastic, and we're currently enjoying an outstanding dinner at our dining tent (squash soup, trout and fruit cup is being served). We look forward to a good night of sleep here at Icchi Coccha camp and to tomorrow's move to Base Camp.
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team.
June 5, 2016 - 11:33 p.m. PDT
After a late night walking the lower Kahiltna Glacier we decided to sleep in. We had coffee and brunch around 10:30 and then waited to see if the weather would improve before breaking camp. We passed by Jake's crew and woke them from an afternoon nap, and then on towards Ski Hill. With a heavy pack and sled, there is no way to make the climb up ski enjoyable. The team did a great job gritting their teeth as we slowly made our way up Ski Hill. As we made our way above 9,000' the light snow we had become accustomed to picked up with the wind so we found a flat place around 9,500' and settled in for the night. After pesto tortellini and a hot drink, we crawled into our sleeping bags. Everyone is doing very well and having fun despite the mediocre weather.
Thanks for following along, more tomorrow.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and the UWR Team
Hey there, this is Seth checking in from the Kikoti Camp way out on the far side of Tarangire National Park. We had a good day on safari again. Within the first half hour of entering the Park, we saw lions and elephants. The elephants kept going all day long. We had lunch, a little late lunch, around 2 o'clock and right before we pulled into our picnic site, we saw about 25 mother elephants with their babies. We got some really good close-up shots of some more on the way out so the Garden of Elephants, Tarangire National Park, was sure living up to its name. It is our last night on safari and everybody is pretty psyched to get home and see their loved ones. We do have some more fun stuff planned for tomorrow before everyone catches their flights home and a few folks are going on to Zanzibar and keep going on their vacation. It's been a great climb and safari. We'll say goodbye to this group and then I'll meet the next RMI group that will be checking-in in a couple of days. Ciao.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall checks in from Tarangire National Park.
So glad the weather was in your favor for safari. You certainly deserve it. Safe travels home. We can’t wait to hear from you, Derek and Karen, when you return. XO
Posted by: Delta and Peter Fuller on 1/21/2016 at 2:34 pm
I'm not sure what it was about Casa de Sol, but my head hit the pillow at 11 and didn't move until the sun broke through our window at 6:30 am. When I asked everyone else how the night went, it was clear the sand man wasn't as generous to others in the group. Oblivious to the world, it was revealed to me at breakfast that the neighbor dogs got a bit vocal right outside most of the rooms. I apologized for not trying to help but then just blamed things on Nick, so after much strong coffee and delicious eggs, the team was at full force.
After leaving Casa de Sol, damage free for both bus and garage, we were off to Otavalo to visit Ecuador's largest crafts and goods market. Here sensory overload is impossible to avoid but with good self control the team managed not to sink the ship with souvenirs and we made it out in good fashion.
After lunch we all piled into the bus once again and began our upward push toward the Cayambe hut sitting nicely at 15,300 feet. After two hours of driving up roads that make the pot holes of New York look like ice cream dishes, the bus could go no further. With all bags loaded into a jeep we walked the final 30 minutes to the hut.
We were greeted by our local guide, David, and moved right in to our private hut just below the main Refugio. It was perfect timing because 20 minutes after arriving, the skies opened up and a soaking rain doused the mountain around us. With all things dry we practiced knots for a bit, had a great dinner and are now tucked in ready to listen to my bedtime stories.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's update.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff and team Ecuador out.
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
I am jealous! What an incredible experience! Collectively, we are keeping fingers crossed for the team to reach the ambitious 6,000+ m peak goal! Stay strong! You can do it!
Hilda, the one that “EATS MOUNTAINS FOR BREAKFAST” will be having a big feast tomorrow morning!
Posted by: Martina Kalusova on 7/12/2017 at 7:53 am
View All Comments