Yesterday we had a wonderful albeit long day climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro.
The team woke at the enjoyable hour of 11:30 to thankfully clear skies after a very cloudy evening that had us wondering what lay ahead. We had a quick midnight breakfast of porridge, tea and coffee before hitting the trail at 12:30.
We climbed in hour increments with 10-15 breaks in between, which we've been doing every day thus far. The weather was very calm allowing us to take our time and not feel too cold which we were very thankful for. The climb took about 7 1/2 hours to reach the top, and thankfully the sun had risen shortly before reaching the top to help warm us and boost morale after climbing through the night. Once there, we hugged each other, enjoyed the view and took plenty of pictures while we waited in line to get our photos of the sign that adorns the summit.
It was a true test of endurance for most of the crew, and I'm really proud of everyone. We descended back to high camp, had a quick lunch, repacked and continued further down the mountain to our final camp on the mountain, where we had dinner and then headed to bed for some well deserved sleep.
Today we woke at 7:00 feeling good, had breakfast, then enjoyed a goodbye song and dance from our gracious crew of porters, cooks, and local guides numbering 50. We finished the little celebration by handing out their well deserved tips and then hit the trail one last time.
It took a little over three hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch then hopped aboard our awaiting bus for the ride back to the lodge.
Finally we are all safe and sound, and a little cleaner after an amazing seven-day journey up and down Kilimanjaro.
The team is currently relaxing and looking forward to Safari which starts tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy Kilimanjaro crew
RMI Guide Casey Grom called from Tanzania on Saturday night at 10:49 pm PT to report that 100% of his team was on the summit of the "Roof of Africa", Kilimanjaro. Casey reported that the team climbed well and everyone was doing great. They had begun their descent back to High Camp. Once there they would take a short stop to rest and repack then continue down to Mweka Camp at 10,000' with thicker air. This is where the team will spend their last night on the mountain.
Congratulations to the team!
Hi everybody. Casey Grom checking in from the Kilimanjaro expedition. Just wanted to let you know that everything's going great today. We finally woke to a clear sky and we're able to hike almost all day in full sunshine, which was a real treat considering all the clouds and rains and sprinkles that we've had this whole week. Everybody's in great spirits right now. We left our Karanga Camp, which is about 13,000 feet, and slowly made our way up hill up on to a ridge line where our high camp is. It's called Barafu, and it sits about 15,000 feet. Everybody did fantastic today. They are doing well up here at the new altitude. We just had another amazing meal provided by our cook, Tosha. He's been taking great care of us. We just had our little summit talk when we went over the game plan for tonight. What time we're leaving and what to wear, what to bring, all that good stuff. If the weather continues like it is, the game plan is to get up around 11:30, have something to eat, and then start walking about 12:30 tonight. It should take us somewhere between about six and eight hours to reach the summit. If all goes according to plan, I've got a SAT phone that I've been checking in on and I'm going to do my best to let all the team members give a call home. If you're following the blog sometime around 7 a.m. Tanzanian time, that's anywhere from about eight to eleven hour difference ahead of the U.S., we're going to give you a call. If you see a strange number on your phone, realize it may be us calling to say hello from the summit of Kilimanjaro. Anyway, that's all for now. Wish us luck. We're going to head to bed and try to get a couple hours of sleep before we we take off. Thanks.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom calls in from Kilimanjaro's High Camp.
Jay and Mary…hope you guys are having a climb of a lifetime! Have fun and be safe!
Posted by: Swayts on 1/14/2018 at 5:08 pm
This might be a little late but at the summit, reach for the stars and shake Grandpa’s hand. He would be so proud of you just as all of us are. Again be safe there’s lots of love back home.
Love mom.
Posted by: Caralee (Alex’s mom) on 1/14/2018 at 10:50 am
Hello, everybody. This is Casey Grom checking in from the Kilimanjaro Expedition. It is day four and finally we woke to a little bit of nice weather. There was a little bit of sunshine and some broken clouds. Before the clouds came back in, we finished our little camp luckily without having to wear Gore-tex today. That was super exciting for everybody. Today our first obstacle, which was the technical crux of this whole climb is the Barranco Wall and it was only about 20 minutes outside of camp where we start the ascent up the 1,000-foot rock wall. Luckily for us and everybody else, it is a nice broken pitch system that meanders and weaves it's way up this wall. It's still trekking but in a few places where we got to use our hands and baby steps through the trail. Today is a reasonably short day, only about four hours on the trail before we pulled into camp, which was once again fully set up and waiting on us. So we're being spoiled here by our staff and and taken well care of. Currently the sky has cleared and I am looking up and seeing stars in all directions, so fingers crossed that it will stay this way and we have full sun tomorrow. On another note, we got to celebrate one of our team member's birthdays up here. Happy birthday Scott! Everybody's in good spirits and looking forward to moving up to high camp tomorrow. That's all for tonight, and I will check in again tomorrow when we reach our high camp. Thanks a lot.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom calls in from Karanga Camp on Kilimanjaro.
Cindi Bent: Wow what a fantastic opportunity, I bet the scenery is breathtaking!
Posted by: Lisa Leyva on 1/12/2018 at 11:15 am
Hey Tom, G, Alex, & Justin,
I been thinking about how amazing this trip must be for you all, I hope you are meditating and focusing on what your next journey will be. I am sending my love and pray for your safe return.
We cant wait to see you all soon! keep each other safe.
Love you all and sending a virtual hug!
Yours truly
Lisa Leyva aka “Mrs. Mialto” (Alex) hehe!
Hey, Everybody! Casey Grom checking in again here on day 3 Kilimanjaro. Well, today was very similar to yesterday we started off and mostly clear skies we got about two 2 1/2 hours up the trail before the rains came back in. Luckily today's rains were bit shorter than yesterday's. We we're able to get all of our Gore-Tex on and umbrellas out and expedite our selves here to camp, which was pretty necessary considering all our stuff was already a little bit damp. Things are going pretty well. I'm sitting in my tent right now, I'm not sure if you can hear the rain coming down? It's still raining hard. Our crew has been fantastic, the porters that is. They have been able to get on the trail ahead of us, and get to our camp by the time we get there, and we've been able to have everything already set up and ready for us to dive into and get out of the rain! So a little bit like yesterday and we are hoping tomorrow will be dry. They are taking great care of it here, and we're all doing well. We're just a little tired of the rain right now, but we're going to take a little break, we're going to have some soup to warm ourselves up. It sounds like we're going to have a little cribbage tournament here in a little bit.
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Casey Grom & Team
Casey Grom Calling in from Shira Plateau on Kilimanjaro
Wow! We looked at the blog for day 4! It does look like you will be at the top of the world. All is going Aok & no one is sick. We are having exceptional warm weather in the valley. Sumit or Bust! Ken, Kathy & Ayla.
Hello Everyone.
This is Casey Grom checking in on RMI's 2018 Kilimanjaro Climb.
All is well here in Tanzania as most of the team arrived late last night after some very long flights. It was a short and uneventful ride to our Lodge that is tucked in between Arusha and Moshi and not so far from the base of Kilimanjaro. The team had a quick but wonderful dinner and headed for bed as the time change has us all feeling just a little off.
We had a leisurely morning and had our first official meeting at 10:00 where we did a round of introductions and then discussed the program for the coming days ahead.
We spent the remainder of the day getting our gear packed up, exploring the grounds of our Lodge, which is incredibly peaceful and has monkeys and Dik Dik running around.
We wrapped up the evening with another delicious meal and plenty of friendly conversations.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
The Four Day Summit Climb September 27 - 30, 2017 was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today due to weather and route conditions. RMI Guides Casey Grom & Chase Nelson led the teams to 11,400' before deciding to turn around. The teams will return to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
What a fantastic experience.. can’t wait to see the photos and hear the stories! Cheers to Muzzy and the “devil’s cut”. Thanks for keeping the group safe!
Posted by: Stacey on 9/30/2017 at 4:43 pm
It’s the journey, not the destination that counts!!! Better safe than sorry!
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Robby Young, turned due to snow and route conditions. The team was back to Camp Muir at 7:55 a.m. They will spend about an hour there and then begin their descent to Paradise.
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team climbed into a cap with some light precipitation and winds of about 15 - 20 mph. They spent a short time on top before starting their descent.
Congratulations to today's team!
The Four Day Summit Climb September 6 - 9 teams led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Robby Young reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The guides reported winds along the crater rim but calm conditions for the lower elevations. The teams starter their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 am en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
Tom, Gagan, & Alex,
I am so proud of you all, what an accomplishment! We are going to celebrate upon your return! Miss you guys! Take care!
Here are some comments from our team:
Sandy: HOLY COW! I’m so glad they were able to stick with it until the end.
Andrew P: Looks like an incredible view. Great going guys!
Manuel K: Awesome!!! Congrats Guys!
Christine M: Wow! What an experience; looks like an amazing adventure. Be safe Guys!
Posted by: Lisa Leyva on 1/15/2018 at 9:50 am
Great JOB Team Our Team arrives this coming Sunday and away “we” go to summit also!
Posted by: Stan Golovac on 1/15/2018 at 4:59 am
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