RMI Expeditions Blog
October 31, 2022
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,696'
Today was the real first step of the adventure. We woke up early to catch one of the first rides on the gondola and we’re glad we did. The team enjoyed beautiful views of the surrounding volcanoes, Rucu Pichincha itself, and the cityscape of Quito to start our morning up in the hills. The weather out here in Ecuador is notoriously unpredictable though. Shortly after we set out, we were surrounded by clouds and a breeze that chilled us for the remainder of the climb. Still thankful for no rain, we climbed on and reached the summit in style. The best part of the climb? Well of course it was the coffee and donuts that awaited us at the top of the gondola. The Euro-style café there has sprawling views of Quito and coffee that tastes extra good after a hard day’s work. The team is headed back to Quito for our last night here before we head out to our next peak, Fuya Fuya.
October 31, 2022
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 9,350'
Sunday, October 30, 2022 - 7:08 pm PT
The members of the team arrived safely in Quito with all our luggage. Today, we ventured out into Quito for a city tour. At an elevation of over 9,000 ft, this was the perfect acclimatization activity for Day 1. The first (and generally favorite) stop on the tour was at the Mitad del Mundo museum, which means "middle of the world". This museum is located on the equatorial line and the tour guides show us some cool demonstrations along with some interesting history of the region. We balanced an egg on a nail, got our passports stamped and went off to tour Old-Town Quito to see the historic churches and buildings the city had to offer. Tomorrow we are looking forward to a warm-up hike on Rucu Pichincha!
Hope all is well. Miss my walks with you. Be safe ❤️ Jane Marlana Nicole Gazzy and Calum
Posted by: Gazzy on 11/4/2022 at 1:08 pm
Go Joe Go !!
Posted by: Daryl on 11/2/2022 at 7:37 pm
September 26, 2022
Posted by: Matias Francis, Sam Marjerison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 9,131'
The Fisher Chimneys climb led by RMI Guides Matias Francis and Sam Marjerison had beautiful summit weather yesterday. They reported great route conditions and enjoyed the SE Ridge to the top. The team spent last night on the mountain and will be descending this morning. They expect to be back at the cars in the early afternoon. They will conclude their program with a celebratory meal and wrap up!
September 25, 2022
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Dominic Cifelli, JT Schmitt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches
Hey,
This year, the monsoon has not been kind to the climbers on Manaslu. Snow, rain, and more snow have prevented most climbers from going higher than Camp 3 (22,000’). Fortunately, we were able to fit our second rotation in between two storm fronts and have some beneficial days on the mountain. Though our plan for rotation 2 was to cache gear at Camp 4 (24,000’) in preparation for our summit push, we were happy and fortunate to reach Camp 3 in good weather.
Two long nights were spent sleeping at 21,000’. We saw every hour come, and every hour go. Getting a good night's rest becomes more difficult as you go up the mountain, but it’s all part of the process. We have to let our bodies adjust to the new altitudes we’re asking it to rest at, which often involves climbing higher than we sleep at night. Climbing without supplemental oxygen takes more time and patience than climbing with. The body is highly stressed; it needs more time to acclimate and more time to recover. We’re trusting the process and our bodies as we prepare for the summit push.
We’re back down at basecamp resting, playing cards, Backgammon and seeing how much caffeine the human body can handle. We’re hopeful for a weather window opening up towards the end of September/early October. The summit awaits. Wish us luck!
RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli, Dustin Wittmier, and JT Schmitt
Hey Dustin! I am sending big pressure breaths and thoughts of a good nights sleep!!!
All the BEST to you guys!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 9/30/2022 at 9:41 am
I hope the team is OK and safe at Base Camp and no one was caught in the avalanche.
Posted by: Mitch Green on 9/26/2022 at 7:34 am
September 23, 2022
Posted by: Joe Hoch, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 9,131'
The Mt. Shuksan Sulphide Glacier Team led by RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Dan May reached the summit on Thursday, September 22, 2022. The team had great weather, smoke free skies, and a great climbing route. With incoming rain, the team descended a day early to beat the deteriorating forecast.
Congratulations Team!
Hello everyone,
Today we headed to Tarangire National Park known for its abundant animals and plentiful elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many elephants we saw, probably several hundred at the least. It wouldn’t seem like we could get tired of seeing elephants, but there were so many that eventually we had to keep driving so we could see other animals. There were lots of giraffes, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many others. One of the highlights was seeing a male Lion up close, only about 30 feet away. He was just relaxing under a big tree with some shade and a nice breeze, hardly seemed to notice us.
We are spending our last night here in Africa at Lolkisale Camp, which has beautiful, tented rooms with screen windows to allow the sounds of the African night in. Everyone is doing great and hoping to see a few more big cats on our way out tomorrow. Then it will be back to our main lodge near Arusha for a quick shower before catching our evening flights home.
Come join us for an adventure sometime!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari Crew
Hello again everyone,
Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is home to more than 25,000 animals that reside here year round, as its one of the few places that has natural springs. We started early with hopes of catching a few big cats before the heat of the day sent them in search of shade.
We saw many hyenas, jackles, ostrich, plus countless other huge birds, and even managed to get close to a large pride of lions with very full bellies. There was a Black Rhino spotted not to far off of the road also which was a highlight.
We wrapped up the day with a visit to a Maasai village not far from the crater's rim. The Maasai people are a semi-nomadic tribe that exist almost entirely off of their cattle. The team spent time asking questions and enjoyed being shown around their small and simple village.
We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the plantation lodge and the team is off to bed after a long, but very rewarding day on safari.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the safari crew
September 21, 2022
Posted by: Matias Francis, Seth Burns, Henry Coppolillo, Roland Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir September 16 - 21 led by RMI Guides Matias Francis and Seth Burns have wrapped up an excellent week of training at Camp Muir. The team enjoyed stellar weather and were able to complete their seminar training, ice climbing up to AI6+, alpine bouldering and candy bar snow protection tests (you will have to ask them) and more. The team will descend from Camp Muir today and return to Rainier BaseCamp for a final celebration. Nice work everyone!
Photo: Matias Francis
September 20, 2022
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Leif Bergstrom, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
RMI Guide Hannah Smith checked from the Summit of Mt. Baker at 12:04 pm PDT today. The team successfully reached the summit via the Easton Glacier Route. Hannah let us know, that the team is stoked and had a beautiful day of climbing. The team will descend to the trailhead tomorrow.
Congratulations Team!
Hannah, Lief and Nick - you did great work with our group. You were consummate professionals and excellent company as well. I look forward to joining you again on a future journey. James
Posted by: James Coley on 10/8/2022 at 4:38 am
Safari time!
Today was the first day of safari for us and we headed west to visit Lake Manyara, which is known for its tree climbing lions, and vast species of birds. We didn't manage to see any of those famous lions, but we had a very close encounter with a few elephants. Nothing dangerous, but they passed close enough that we could have almost touched them.
It was a pretty hot day here in Africa, so I'm sure that keep many of the animals hiding in the shade. We did manage to see a few zebras, Cape buffalo, giraffe, hippos, baboons, impalas and so many birds I lost count. It was a pretty nice introduction to the incredible bio-diversity that Africa has, and everyone enjoyed the day riding around in our safari vehicles.
We finished the day spending a few hours relaxing and exploring the grounds of our amazing lodge.
That's all for now,
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari Crew
Just do it! Happy trails!
Posted by: Ruby on 11/4/2022 at 1:39 pm
Go Joe Go !!
Daryl
Posted by: Daryl on 11/2/2022 at 7:36 pm
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