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Today the weather redeemed itself with perfect conditions on Cotopaxi. 100% of the team reached the summit in calm conditions just after sunrise. It could not have been a nicer day. We now can all go home having summited a big mountain and with a story to tell from Cayambe.
A huge shoutout to this team for embracing the team aspect of climbing. All members supported another member at some point during both of the climbs. It was impressive to see the group show genuine care towards people who were strangers just days earlier. On numerous occasions we spent two hours or more at a meal sharing stories, laughing and learning about each other.
Also a shoutout to our Ecuadorian guides who continue to show their professionalism in the mountains, this expedition would not be possible without their local knowledge and high level of skill.
Finally, thanks to friends and family who have been following along with this trip. It’s encouraging to know you’re out there supporting us and we always enjoy getting a comment from Farmer Dave!
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
Elevation: 21,300'
Dave Hahn calls in from Everest Advanced Basecamp.
On The Map
Happy Birthday Mark!
Posted by: Kent Tucker on 5/21/2013 at 9:46 am
such hard news to hear. may you lead your team safely to the summit and back to camp. wishing you well.
best regards,
michelle
Posted by: michelle on 5/20/2013 at 5:48 pm
Posted by: James Bealer, Abby Westling, George Hedreen, Brian Walters
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
RMI Guides Abby Westling, James Bealer, and teams stood atop Mt. Baker yesterday. After waiting out the rain all night, they departed camp in the morning and enjoyed the daylight during their ascent. The teams made it back to camp yesterday evening to enjoy dinner and some well-deserved rest. They will walk out of camp today.
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
Mark, Your updates are very insightful and amusing. Sounds as if you are great at your job and enjoy it. Malamo Pono… Susie
Posted by: Susie Ellison on 4/24/2011 at 9:12 am
Happy birthday uncle Bill! Is it hard going with out menchi’s for 1 month? Hope to see you soon!
Posted by: sophie on 4/24/2011 at 8:15 am
Posted by: Christina Dale, Nikki Champion, Cal Smith, David Price, Nathan Delmar, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb July 20 - 23 reached the 14,410' summit of Mt. Rainier led by RMI Guides Christina Dale and Nikki Champion. Blue skies but chilly temps and winds around 20 mph accompanied them on their climb. After enjoying the views from the summit of Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and the Cascade range, the teams began their descent from the crater rim around 6:45 am. Once they reach Camp Muir they will repack and continue their descent to Paradise (5,400').
Nice work climbers and congratulations!
Fantastic climb and amazing guides! So happy to be a part of this journey.
Posted by: Brandon Holper on 7/24/2021 at 8:10 am
After an early morning and quick breakfast the team was off again. Our first stop, Amecameca, to grab food, water, and of course the street food.
When we get to the entrance of the national park, we generally like to walk the rest of the way. It’s a bumpy, unpleasant road to get to La Joyalita and it’s nice to stretch our legs after a long day of driving. Perfect weather once again with the only clouds being the ones in the valley below us. The business starts here though as we prepare for our climb of Ixta with a thorough gear check, packing demo, and refresher on tent setup. We’ll eat a hearty dinner and try to sleep as best we can at 13,000 ft. We start our first big climb tomorrow and the team is excited and ready for the challenge.
Wish us luck!
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Mount Rainier
Hi Mike, Looks like your team is enjoying a lot more snow than last years team. I hope that you don,t have any long stays anywhere on denali. Good-luck to all of you. Ken Young “Denali team 2011”
Posted by: Ken Young on 5/20/2012 at 1:38 pm
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Taylor Bickford, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,310'
Thursday, June 9, 2022 9:42pm PT
RMI Guide Nikki Champion let us know that their Denali Team was 100% on the summit! They are back at camp resting and will give us full details of their climb soon!
Congratulations Team!
Jeff-Rob! What a tremendous accomplishment to be proud of! Wishing you and all your team a safe descent.
Lynn
Posted by: Lynn on 6/11/2022 at 7:04 pm
Congratulations Erik! Awesome job, now come back to work!
Posted by: Marc Taylor on 6/10/2022 at 4:39 pm
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from Camp 2.
On The Map
I’ll be thinking about you guys, be safe.
Posted by: Cesar Armestar on 5/22/2012 at 9:02 am
Dave and Melissa:
Just heard the news of crowding in the death zone and subsequent loss of life this past weekend. So glad to read the blog and to be assured all is well with you both. Have fun and be safe. Can’t wait to read about your successful return.
Cheers,
Jo
Posted by: Josephine Johnson on 5/22/2012 at 8:06 am
Our climb kept pushing us as we descended from our high camp at Barafu (15,200') all the way to Mweka Camp (10,000'). The feet and knees were talking to us and what they were saying would be inappropriate for the ears of young children.
But we all made it, in part to the fantastic pizza our chef Tosha made us for lunch. Pizza, at 15,200'! On a two burner stove, no less.. Incredible!
At Mweka the gods were smiling down on us, granting a rare sunny day at this place that exists on the edge of the rain forest where clouds always seem to hang. Of course, Tosha beat us to Camp to prepare another wonderful dinner.
Last night brought everyone a night's sleep they haven't had since they were bouncing about in diapers. 10+ hours of solid sleep was had by all, just the right medicine for our tired bodies. It was amazing to see a bunch of mostly middle aged men bounce back from an intense 13-14 hour day and trot down a slick, slightly muddy trail to the Park gate at 6000'. In fact, they even beat many of our porters down. A first!
At the Mweka gate we were greeted by our outfitter and the busses and enjoyed our last meal 'on the mountain.' This time cold drinks were available, and many bottles of the local brew were consumed. The gift shop was happy to provide some the chance to get something special to bring home.
The highlight of this time was certainly the singing and dancing our mountain crew did celebrating our week together. The joy and kindness these hard-working individuals shared with us all week was distilled into a few minutes, and really reminded us of how special this trip was.
Yes, the mountain was fantastic, but it was the people we shared this time with that proved to be the most special part of the climb. These people, who lack so much in material things compared to us Westerners, are so rich in spirit and generosity that we as a team were all moved and reminded of what's really important in life.
And in the end, there was this team of climbers that came together to climb a mountain and left as friends, sharing an amazing story that will never be forgotten.
Hope to see you all again!
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Happy Birthday, Geo! Congrats on reaching the summit. We’re still standing here for now. See you soon!
- The Sales Pod
Posted by: Kourtni Kesler on 7/26/2022 at 6:53 am
I have tears in my eyes from reading this. Congratulations to all of you! So inspiring!
Posted by: Andrea Murphy on 7/25/2022 at 11:53 am
Congrats to You Dustin and all the Team!!! I love the pictures from a sunny summit!! Now I know what it looks like without snow and ice fog!! :) I agree it is so cool how complete strangers become best of friends in a day or so when in the mountains!!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 12/11/2021 at 3:13 am
I am a gringo who lives in Ecuador… I am looking just for a guide for Chimborazo the weekend of Jan 22-23… Any recommendations on a good local?
Posted by: Spencer Chiaro on 12/10/2021 at 1:32 pm
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