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Posted by: Steve Gately, Hannah McGowan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,200'
Yet another rest day! Today the team just chilled... all day. It was a windy night so most people made up for the lack of sleep by taking naps. Walks around camp, reading, taking pictures and talking took up the the rest of the day.
The assistant guides made it up to Camp 2 and back to cache almost all of the group food for the rest of the climb. This should help lessen the load for our team's move to Camp 2 tomorrow.
The wind died down this evening (woohoo!) so we enjoyed a comfortable quesadilla-making session outside as part of or dinner. Bellies are full and everyone is excited to continue moving up the mountain tomorrow.
Thanks for tuning in!
RMI Guides Steve Gately & Hannah McGowan
On The Map
Posted by: Steve Gately, Hannah McGowan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
The team enjoyed one last breakfast in civilization this morning before stepping outside to blue skies and calm winds. The walk to our first camp, Las Lénas, in the Vacas Valley went perfectly. The valley can often times be extremely hot when there is no wind or extremely frustrating if there is a lot and we were gifted with the perfect amount to keep us cool and enjoy the trek. The team did great on their first day of trekking and enjoyed getting into the high country and working up an appetite for our carne asado tonight. The asados in the Vacas Valley our one of my favorite parts of the trip. The Arriaros make a fire and cook large cuts of beef and whole vegetables over an open fire. Everyone sits around the fire and is served family style. It's a wonderful bit of Argentinian mountain culture and a true highlight of the trip. Tomorrow we will continue our journey up the Vacas to our second camp "Casa de Piedra" (11,000 ft) and we'll finally get our first view of Aconcagua! That's all for now, thanks for following!
RMI Guide Steve Gately & Team
Praying for safety in your trek. Wishing my brother, Rob, the best!!!
Posted by: Marg on 12/15/2016 at 6:15 pm
Have fun and don’t f*** it up! (See Bob that statement works for more than rugby!) Cheering y’all on!
Posted by: Kat Roche on 12/15/2016 at 10:48 am
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
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
On The Map
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.
Posted by: Spiros Botos on 6/14/2016 at 7:19 pm
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
RMI Guide Casey Grom checks in from Cayambe.
On The Map
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
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo from Africa everyone!
We have had an exciting last two days as we made our way to Tarangire National Park, known for their abundance of elephants, in fact, they have more elephants per square kilometer than any other place on earth.
Yesterday we spent about four hours driving through the park, which is mostly a savannah with a river running through it. We saw hundreds of elephants, zebra, wildebeest, Impala, Élan and plenty of other wildlife too.
We spent the night out in the African bush in a remote tented camp called Kikoti that overlooks Tarangire Park. We arrived to watch the beautiful sunset one last time and then enjoyed yet another wonderful meal.
Today we finished our safari with our drive back through Tarangire where we had hoped to see a leopard or cheetah, but sadly it wasn't to be. We have all enjoyed our last few days here in Africa and everyone is looking forward to getting back to the Dik Dik Hotel for one last shower before heading to the airport.
Missing all of our families and most of our friends ;)
Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy crew
I am happy to announce that our team reached the summit of Cayambe today at 7:45 this morning. Much like the driving challenges we have faced in the last few days, the mountain played the same game. With unusually high snow falls lately the mountains have been seeing few ascents. Cayambe has not seen a successful summit since before the new year. So we knew our chances were 50 50 at best.
With an 11 pm wake up call, we hit the snooze only once and soon got motivated to power down instant coffee, white bread with Nutella and some weird cheese I don’t eat if I can help it. The morning was clear and warm so our psyche was high. We left the hut at 12:15 am with hopes to make the glacier by 1:30. Walking was smooth and efficient, so we made good time on the first two stretches. It was around 17,500’ things began to change. The solid supportable crust layer which had made walking so easy down lower began to turn more into punchy post-holing making climbing extremely taxing. By 18,000’ we were literally on the fence on whether to go down or not. The temps were well below freezing and it was clear some storm clouds were building over the mountain.
With a long discussion between the guides and the mountain gods, we decide to press on. Pedro, or Peter in English, our Peruvian local guide, who’s legs are like giant pistons, broke trail up the 50 degree headwall landing us on the summit ridge just as the wind started to howl and the snow began to blow. 15 minutes after reaching the summit ridge we stood happily on top.
The descent was fairly uneventful with the storm clouds offering welcomed shade from the intense sun that can cook your nose in a matter of minutes if you let it.
By noon we were loading the trucks and making our way down to the warmth and comforts of Hacienda Guachala. Ecuador’s oldest operating hotel.
Tonight, we will enjoy a nice meal, get some clothes washed and prepare for our next adventure which begins tomorrow. Wish us luck as we move to 16,000’ on the flanks of Cotopaxi.
Buenas Noches….
RMI Guide Adam Knoff & Team
Sweet adventure, congrats on summit. Thank God for Pedro Piston pumps! (Loved that description)
Posted by: Patrick on 1/6/2018 at 8:39 am
Amazing! Bravo! I hope Cotopaxi goes well! Great blog update! Thanks!
Posted by: Susan Mulvey on 1/6/2018 at 7:47 am
RMI Guide Mike King checked in from Mexico. Today the team made their summit attempt from High Camp but were forced to turn around at 16,000' on Ixta due to a major electrical storm on the horizon. The team descended and returned to the Altzomoni Hut where they packed up their gear, loaded vehicles and continued their descent. They will travel to Puebla today as scheduled and explore this beautiful colonial city.
We look forward hearing more from them soon.
RMI Office
On The Map
Hola from Mexico City!
The team and I did some last minute shopping today in town to support our adventure ahead. It's a perfect summer day at 7,200 ft, which is a good altitude to start at. It's not too busy here in the Zona Roza area. People are enjoying life all around.
We are going after three big hills on this trip and will be filming along the way. This will be a fun!
More news tomorrow,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Good luck Adam we love you!!!
Posted by: Alexis on 8/11/2015 at 3:54 pm
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
We left the comforts of Mendoza following the windy Mendoza River to Penitentes. The landscape is red, rocky, Martian looking land with bright green trees here and there. Before we arrive we make a mandatory empanada stop so we have the energy to get down to business when we arrive. It's a sea of duffels and gear as we sort through our belongings making a pile that will go straight to basecamp and one that will follow us up the valley on the mules. Excitement is growing bigger as we finish packing. Tomorrow we hit the trail. As for tonight we will enjoy a delicious dinner and our last night sleeping in beds.
Talk to you all next on the trail,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
There was plenty of debate last night as to whether the tent fabric of our accommodations at Balloon Camp would keep out leopards and lions. But nobody showed up for breakfast this morning with visible scarring. In fact, we each slept quite well in the deep quiet of Tarangire National Park at night. We got going at first light today, with Francis and Ibrahim taking the Toyotas down by the giant marsh on the Eastern border of Tarangire. We covered a lot of ground along the edge of the wetlands. At times, there were no animals apparent and we had to settle for the physical beauty of the place itself. At other times, we bumped into four hundred skittish Cape Buffalo, galloping along -raising a dust cloud- and looking warily about for whatever might be chasing them. We saw plenty of good eagles and even a fascinating set of Eagle/Owls -a mom and her offspring- eating their breakfast on a tree branch. We looked everywhere for big cats but failed miserably at that, having to content ourselves with wall to wall elephants and giraffes, wildebeest and zebra along with majestic baobab trees. We’d made our way to the main gate of the park by 11:15 AM and had to tear ourselves away from Tarangire and get on the road back toward Arusha. We stopped at the city’s edge to check out the cultural heritage museum and shop before cruising through Sunday traffic to the Arumeru River Lodge. There was time then for showers and repacking and a pleasant early dinner before we boarded a bus for the airport. Most of the team started their journey homeward tonight. We said fond farewells as we diverged. I -for one- am sticking around for round 2, another climb and another safari, but that will all begin soon. For now I’m still thinking of the adventure and the challenges of the past two weeks and the fine team we became in enduring (and enjoying) it all.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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Merry Christmas Hannah and the rest of the team! Maybe way up there where the air is thin you’ll have a clear sighting of Sant, Rudolf and all the reindeer!
Sending you all much love, warmth and admiration,
Hannah’s Mom, Lisa
Posted by: Hannah's mom on 12/23/2016 at 5:41 pm
The pictures really are unbelievable. What an amazing opportunity?!?!?!?! Can’t wait to hear all the stories and see more pictures when you get back.
Posted by: Rowan and Sawyer on 12/22/2016 at 4:23 pm
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