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After lucking out with weather our team spent the contingency weather day hanging out in Cheget. Rumors from the mountain were that most teams were turned around before the summit this morning due to bad weather finally coming in. The drizzle hardly dampened our spirits after our perfect conditions yesterday and we spent the day walking around town, luncheoning, ATV renting, nearly getting run over by a horse on the loose, drinking coffee, telling lies, and eventually drinking beer. Right now we're all hanging in the hotel lobby before heading out to a celebratory dinner with the entire team including our Russian staff. Hopefully we'll survive the vodka associated with a traditional Russian celebration well enough to make tomorrow's early departure for the airport bearable. All for now! RMI Guide Billy Nugent

June 27, 2016 - 11:08 pm PT Another murky day, weatherwise. It was snowing lightly when we checked things at 6:45 AM, but it was calm and there were hints of clearing in some of the cloud layers stacked above us. We got up and had a slow and substantial breakfast as we watched the skies. With a few patches of blue showing, the decision was made to go on up for our carry. We left camp at about 10:15 and were promptly surrounded again by calm and listless clouds. It was a relief to be spending a day without our sleds and to be in crampons instead of snowshoes. The terrain, beginning with "Motorcycle hill" right out of camp, was steeper than any of the ground we'd covered to date, but that was nice too. We all felt a bit more like climbers with ice axes in our hands at last. The team wound up and across "Squirrel hill" to get to the lesser angled "Polo fields" below the end of Denali's West Buttress. At least we think those were the granite walls of the Buttress... we couldn't really see very far up it in the clouds. Conditions stayed windless though, so we pushed on to Windy Corner. Nobody seemed disappointed that it wasn't living up to its well-earned reputation. We cached the provisions we'd been carrying there at about 13,300ft, digging a big hole and burying it all to keep the ravens from attacking. Then it was an easy and uneventful hour back to camp with light packs and still not much for views. We were down by 4PM and taking naps and sipping water by about 4:30. Tomorrow is a rest day, so we are less concerned than usual by the continued light snow and ever-present murk. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

RMI Guide Eric Frank led the Four Day Summit Climb August 23 - 26 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Eric reported windy conditions and cloud cap forming on the mountain. A low marine layer is sitting below Camp Muir. The team began their descent from the crater rim at 8:40 AM PT. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today. Congratulations to today's Summit Climbers!

We heard the groundhog said it would be six more weeks of summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere. The Team is taking a rest day at 18,000' to prepare for our last four big days of our Aconcagua expedition. Tomorrow we will move camp to 19,000'. Our summit day should be the 5th followed by two big days getting off the mountain and out to the road. The Team is feeling well acclimated and is in good spirits. Today all we need to do is sleep, eat and embrace the down time, a quality that a few in the group mastered while on Denali. We continue to enjoy the grand vistas of the Andes and warm tents. RMI Guide Mike King

On The Map

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons, led by Mike King, is back at camp after their summit day. The team walked into a cloud cap as they began their ascent. Winds sustained at 40 mph with gusts of 50 mph. Now back at Camp Schurman, the winds are dying down and the cap is slowly diminishing. Other than that, not a cloud in the sky. Tomorrow they will descend from Camp Schurman and drive back to Ashford where they will celebrate their week on Mt. Rainier!

This was the perfect day for climbing to the top of Africa. There wasn't a puff of wind -from the time we woke (11:30PM) to the time we left high camp (12:45AM) to the time we summited (7:55AM) or came back to high camp (11:15AM). There wasn't any high cloud and the low clouds just minded their own business all day. We did have a little cumulus roll in once we were back at 15,000 ft Barafu Camp, but by then we didn't so much care about the weather. The team made steady progress up -it seemed we had a lucky crowd free zone for the most part. As is normal, there were hundreds of other folks on the route, but through good luck, we didn't have much "traffic" around us. Sunrise was spectacular from close to 19,000 ft, but some on the team believed that last night's sunset at Barafu was even more spectacular. Our local guides, camp staff and porters helped us in every way possible today -which certainly made our success possible -and fun. After our return to Barafu, we enjoyed lunch, packed up and hit the trail for Mweka Camp. It took us just under four hours to drop a vertical mile. We got stronger as we descended -but we also got tired and were quite pleased to arrive at our camp in the trees. One last night on the hill... and we each expect to sleep right through it -which hasn't happened much lately with jet lag, altitude and that alpine start. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Tyler Reid and Ben Liken reached to summit of Mt. Rainier at 5:20 am this morning. Tyler reported clear skies, calm winds and warm temperatures on the top. The team has started their descent and are en route back to Camp Muir. Congratulations to today's team!

After falling asleep to a gentle rain last night, our team woke up to to star filled skies. The clouds had dropped a few inches of snow up high and the glaciers suspended above camp glistened in the light of the moon. After a hasty 5:30am breakfast we shouldered our packs and climbed uphill three hours to the base of the Ishinca Glacier. The new snow made the hard glacial ice a bit more forgiving, and we used the terrain to train on basic mountaineering techniques such as rope travel, crampon technique and ice axe arrest. After taking a break for lunch and admiring our beautiful surroundings, we got into more advanced techniques like ice screw placement and V-thread anchors. Tonight was the current group favorite dinner- Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian mix with beef, french fries, rice and tomatoes. Delicious! RMI Guides Robby Young and Eric Frank

Today is another rest day at base camp. Yes, I would love to make this dispatch invigorating, full of excitement. However, I'm not a magician. I'm a mountain guide. JM and I treated the team to our world famous Aconcagua Egg Hash Scramble this morning. Now, we are chilling, reading magazines and Kindles, and snacking more on fresh fruit. It's a lazy day in camp and we are enjoying it before we move up to camp one tomorrow. Stay tuned! RMI Guides JJ Justman and JM Gorum and team

On The Map

Hello again everyone All is well here in Ecuador. Today the team spent the morning relaxing a bit and enjoying the beautiful surroundings and practicing some technical rope work that will hopefully come in handy tomorrow. Then a few folks went on a horseback ride while the rest of us relaxed around the hacienda. We wrapped the afternoon with a little more training and good conversations. Our plan is to head to bed soon and get up around 5am to start our climb which is just a few miles down the road. If the weather continues we hope to summit and make our way back to Quito by mid to late afternoon. It's sad to think our adventure is nearly over, but I am sure everyone is excited to return to their loved ones. We'll check in again tomorrow. That's all for today. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew