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February 5th, 9:30 am PT
We finished our successful summit day with the descent to high camp. What started out as a beautiful day has turned into a snow storm. The Team is currently resting in their tents and the only remaining task is to pack up and carry everything to
base camp tomorrow. We have some porters assisting with that as the group is beat and the weather isn't supposed to be all that nice. There are countless stories from summit day, so I'll let your loved ones tell them to you when they're back in the land of phone/internet or preferably over a nice meal on their return.
RMI Guide Mike King
After a spending a rest and acclimation day at Camp Muir, the
Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide
Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team had clear skies all the way to the summit.
Congratulations to today's team!
Chillin' at Casa del Sol...
Well, we enjoyed another great day down here in Ecuador with a nice hike, good weather and good company. After meeting our local alpine guide David and an early departure from Quito we made our way to the north towards our acclimatization objective
Cerro Fuya Fuya, but also Otavalo, and most notably Cayambe. While the clouds prevented us from peeping Cayambe while on Fuya Fuya, we were still able to enjoy views from the summit of the surrounding volcanic caldera and the large lake below. The whole team moved well and enjoyed the day out and about. We're now posted up at a beautiful guesthouse up above the city of Otavalo called Casa del Sol, enjoying a beer and waiting for dinner. Tomorrow, however, the real adventure begins as we make our way up towards Cayambe...
More to come!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
If you asked the team yesterday if they were ready to climb another 18,000-foot mountain tonight, I'm sure the answer would've been a chorus of "No!", but after a good night's sleep at Hacienda Gualchalá, everyone woke up with a spring in their step, a smile on their face, and determination to get back out there and tackle another peak. It's hard to understate the value of a relaxing evening and a lazy morning, but its effect on us is clear: our sore muscles and tired minds are a thing of the past!
After a delicious breakfast out in the morning sun, we began the now familiar process of repacking the bus with all of our climbing gear, and we hit the road towards
Antisana, our next objective. En route we stopped at a mall for some last minute grocery shopping and Kentucky Fried Chicken (seriously!) before heading up the long bumpy roads towards base camp.
Upon arriving at camp just after 4pm today, we set about pitching tents and making dinner. This was done in short order and the team is now "in bed", resting for tonight's climb. (The ironic air quotes here are a nod towards the difficulty of getting any real sleep when you need to get up in five hours and the sun still hasn't even set.) The climb is a bit more challenging than
Cayambe, but everyone is ready to give it a shot.
The bags are packed and we're ready to go! Stay tuned for an update when we return from our climb!
RMI Guides
Nick Hunt and
Adam Knoff
I can't remember the last time I woke up in a room of ten other people and everyone felt hungover. Come to think of it, it was probably the last time I was here. I hope all of you in the blogosphere don't think I am telling all the climbers on my team that chugging beer is a good idea before spending our first night above 15,000 feet. Quite the contrary actually but no matter how many preventative measures we take, the first night sleeping this high always produces hangover-like symptoms the next morning.
Fortunately these symptoms are more easily combated and by 8:30 a.m. the team was feeling much better.
Out hut sits at 15,300 feet on a beautiful rocky ridge. We were blessed this morning with glorious views of Antisana, our next major objective and Cotopaxi, Ecuador's most famous mountain. Sadly she is suffering from a bit of indigestion and burps up large amounts of lava and ash. Not good for climbers wanting to look into her crater.
Anyway,
Cayambe is in great shape so making good use of our expedition's best morning, we pack our things and hiked a solid hour to the glacier. Here we reviewed basic skills then got into a fun crevasse rescue scenario. Our high point for today was almost 16,500', a new altitude record for many on the team. We knew time was getting close to head down, not when the dark clouds began to threaten rain but when a large local family arrived on the glacier next to us in tennis shoes and began taking their clothes off. At one point I was trying to review how to tie a friction hitch when a large man began screaming for a photo while doing jumping jacks in a speedo. Most likely the weirdest thing I've ever seen on a glacier.
Once down we all rested and then packed for our big night tonight. We plan to "wake up" at 11:00 p.m. to begin our climb.
Wish us luck! It is raining now so think dry thoughts as well.
Hasta Manana,
RMI Guide Adam Knoff and team
RMI Guide Mike King and the
Four Day Summit Climb August 31 - 3 September reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They spent about 30 minutes in the crater before starting their descent. Mike reported a cold and windy morning on the mountain. Once back at Camp Muir they will pack up and continue to Paradise. They will conclude their program with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
After a full day at Camp Muir adjusting to the altitude, taking in the views of the surrounding glaciers and neighboring mountains
The Five Day Summit Climb Team led by RMI Guide Jenny Konway reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Jenny reported great climbing conditions and beautiful weather. The team has started their descent and are headed back to Camp Muir, and will be back at Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's team!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the entire
Four Day Summit Climb team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. On the summit, the team experienced a Mt. Rainier cloud cap with snow, low visibility and 25 m.p.h. winds. The team began their descent around 7:15 a.m. PDT. We look forward to seeing them at
Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Way to climb!
The team enjoyed a nice night at the Chuquiragua Lodge where we were able to dry out, get a good night's sleep, and even practice some anchor equalization and crevasse rescue in the courtyard. Victor, our driver, showed up around noon to join us for lunch and we'll be heading out soon for a night at
Estrella de Chimborazo before starting up on the mountain in earnest tomorrow...
All for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
We had a fantastic day on safari! We made a group decision to get up early and get going - it was definitely the right choice. Our new favorite home for now the Plantation lodge, just outside of Karatu, packed us a to go breakfast that was amazing. After the normal registration and fees at the park entrance. We locked in the 4 wheel drive hubs and descended the 1500+ feet into one of the most perfectly formed and probably the most spectacular calderas on the planet, the Ngorongoro Crater. The initial sightings of game woke us right up and prepared us for the adventure ahead. A quick stop at a designated picnic area where we consumed more of the fresh bill of fare until we finally decided we had to continue our duty to "Safari on dude!"
We watched some lions literally napping in the shade of our Land Cruiser. We saw three Rhinos and I must add that we had perfect weather, when normally clouds an cool temperatures are to be expected.
On our way back to the lodge we stopped to visit a local
Maasai village, a pastoral people who tend their herds of cattle, sheep and goats and live a peaceful co-existence with the wildlife. All this brought us back for beverages back at the pool of the Plantation Lodge.
We are looking forward to another exciting day on safari tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
CONGRATULATIONS, Bob, Grassy, Sandra, and Steve!!! Save downclimbing and hope to hear more about your climb soon.
Jim W.
Posted by: Jim Wilder on 2/6/2018 at 10:57 am
Yeah!! Great job Dawn and the team!!!!! We can’t wait to hear all about it in person!:)
Posted by: Kim on 2/6/2018 at 7:37 am
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