After a calm night under the stars the Team woke and began breaking camp. We had approximately nine miles to cover, mostly rolling terrain and the Vacas Valley continues to widen. Today was a little cooler then yesterday but honestly the song remained the same. This camp isn't remarkable except for the old stone building built into a giant erratic boulder, which is the namesake. Everyone is trying to beat the heat, some in their tents and some down by the river.
We got to see Aconcagua for the first time and there is a lot of snow up high. Tomorrow we will arrive at Aconcagua Base Camp, there the climb begins in earnest.
RMI Guide Mike King
Keep up the good works guys. I enjoy looking at the blog everyday and seeing new progress. No worries Dave I’m keeping everyone posted at the gym. Your like a rockstar everyone keeps asking where your at on the mountain.
Posted by: Kevin Durbon on 1/26/2018 at 7:08 am
I also included Jericho but his name didn’t appear on last comment. Have a great day Dawn and team. Love, Dad and mom
We spent the day walking up the Vacas Valley, the terrain is rocky and filled with various shades of red, brown and greens. Due to heavy snow fall up high and the rain showers lower down the happy desert plants are blooming with yellows and purples. The Team is doing great despite some really hot sections today. We'll spend the remainder of the afternoon relaxing in the cool breeze, watching a fox inquire about camp and eat the most amazing Argentinean asado (BBQ for those who don't speak Spanish). The meat and cooking display by the Mule Drivers has become legendary. Guides wax poetic about the "scent of Leñas" that fills your clothing for days, weeks or even years to come. Ruth Chris doesn't even compare to the quality of steak cooked and served near the soot stained brick building...muy authentico! Listen to the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain", really listen to the lyrics and you'll only get a glimpse of how sleeping under the stars at Leñas is. Milky Way dust for nights on end. Until tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike King
The Team is currently relaxing next to a fireplace worthy of GOT in a unique ski lodge in Los Penitentes. There isn't any winter snow here, so the area serves as an outfitting station for climbers getting ready to head into the park. We spent the afternoon packing and sorting gear for the mules. We'll continue sport eating our way through Argentina this evening and have a casual start in the AM. Our trek to base camp is up the Vacas Valley, an arid high desert landscape filled with rocks, shrubs, mules and rich colored soil that resembles a Bob Ross painting. Thanks for following along!
RMI Guide Mike King
The Team is all assembled with bags in tow here in Mendoza. We broke the ice with a meeting that was followed by gear check and permit registration. Since we are here to attempt Aconcagua the team opted for dinner and an early night to get caught up on sleep from the two days travel instead of a night out on the town. Tomorrow we will head to Los Penitentes to pack for mules and the trek into base camp. We have a great group with a varied collection of personalities, experiences and mountains under their belts. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
Have a fun and safe trip. It looks very beautiful there.
Love you much Mom
Posted by: melinda widmer on 1/23/2018 at 6:11 pm
Justin, have a great climb. Are you over half way to the summit yet? Sounds as if the group is eating well! Take care and stay safe! Think of you every day, Mom and Dad
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!
Congratulations Chris and Claire! How very cool! We can’t wait to hear all about it! Love, Mom and Dad
Posted by: Anne/Jim Newman on 7/26/2017 at 4:23 pm
WOOOOHOOOO! I’m assuming, Claire and Chris, that this is YOUR TEAM!!!!! I am SO PROUD of you! And I take some credit for your success because I was up all night, praying for you!!! Love, Momma
The Five Day Summit Climb July 6 - 10, 2017 enjoyed beautiful weather during their time on Mt. Rainier. Their five day program concludes today with them reaching the summit of Mt. Rainier. They will return to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon for a bit of celebration.
Congratulations to the Five Day Summit Climb team!
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Christina Dale & Robby Young, reached the summit at 5:50 a.m. The guides reported calm winds and warm temperatures. After spending an hour on the summit and crossing the crater rim, the teams began their descent at 6:50 a.m.
Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
Awesome & challenging experience — standing at the summit was pretty amazing. RMI is extremely organized, experienced, & disciplined. Jenny & Robby were awesome guides — and I’d recommend them to anyone who’s thinking about doing Rainier!
Posted by: Charlie Wärendh on 6/26/2017 at 3:48 pm
Awesome experience. Really appreciate you guys leading us up and down safely. The team was great—Thanks to everyone who made this is a great journey.
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Jenny Konway and Matt Rosenberg led the Four Day Summit Climb of Mt. Rainier June 17 - 20, 2017. The team arrived at Camp Muir yesterday afternoon. They began their alpine start around midnight and climbed to 13,500' before deteriorating weather and poor visibility forced them to turn around. The team will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
Special thanks to RMI Guide Jenny Konway for providing photos of today's climbers!
We last gave a shout from 7,600’ at the base of Ski Hill on our descent. It was a long day, beginning with the sun hitting 17 Camp, where we packed up all of our belongings, and headed back down the West Buttress. Conditions couldn’t have been better, and before long we were shedding layers as quickly as we could as we walked into the heat of 14 Camp. An hour of repacking and grabbing more of our gear that we had cached there as well as visiting with RMI Guide Tyler Jones’ team had us ready to move out again. By 11, the air felt thick and the temps were even warmer. RMI Guide Jake Beren and team had been nice enough to dig up our cache, so once more we repacked, adjusted our sleds, traded crampons for snowshoes, and kept beat footing our way down the mountain. We rolled into 7,600 at 10 pm, and though there was a lot of discussion of just continuing on to Base Camp, we decided to throw up the tents for a few hours. We were rewarded with spectacular light as the sun dipped behind the surrounding peaks, and it was a special last night on the glacier. By 4 am we were up and walking again. The few hours of sleep had added some spring to everyones’ step and we flew down glacier, reaching Base Camp in 2.5 hours. We parked next to the runway just as the sun hit. At 9 am on the dot, our good friends from K2 Aviation showed up in three Otters to pick up ourselves and Mike Walter’s team, and by 10 we were in flip-flops back in Talkeetna. Everyone enjoyed the ensuing leisurely day of sorting gear, showers, ice cream, coffee, a celebratory dinner, and a few hours in the classic Fairview Inn. Everyone has split now, finishing plane journey’s back home to loved ones.
Thanks so much to our team. They climbed in great style, were equal to the task when things got difficult, put up with a lot of tent time and waiting, and ultimately were able to power through a move to 17 and a summit day without having carried there. We summited an hour or so after Mike Walter’s group (the first guide service summit of the year), on the first viable summit day that had presented itself during our entire stint on the mountain. We were rewarded with incredibly clear views, warm temps, and an overall fantastic day. The views on the way out were pretty stunning as well. Thanks also to all of you for following along. Sore feet and legs are fading away but folks are already talking of their next climbs to come. We look forward to it!
Best,
RMI Guides Pete, Jess, and Jenny.
Congrats for making it to the summit Rachel ! :) Pallavi.
Posted by: Pallavi Chahal on 6/8/2017 at 12:46 am
Congratulations Rachel Calvert, Pete and team! Have been following the blog and was so pleased to hear all made the summit safely and saw the beautiful Alaska range on a clear sunny day.
Rachel - will have to catch up with you and see your photos when you are back in Australia.
Renee Duvoisin (2015 summit team)
June 2, 2017
This is Pete Van Deventer calling from Denali. It's been a long day, we have been on the move for a while. We left 17,000' Camp at about 10:50 this morning and have been on the move ever since. We went down through from the thin air up there to 14,000' Camp and saw Brent Okita and Tyler Jones there and then through 11,000' Camp and saw Jake Beren there. Now we are down in the thick, warm air of 9,600 feet the Base of Ski Hill. So we're going to stop here for the evening and eat some dinner and throw the tents up for a little bit and sleep for a few hours. Then we'll get back on the trail and get back to Base Camp for what we hope to be early morning flight 8 or 9 o'clock Saturday morning. With any luck will be back in Talkeetna before we know it. Everybody's been hanging in there really well, it's a lot of walking but the further we go down the better we all feel as they air gets thicker and temps warmer. The cold on the way in feels pretty balmy at this point after sitting what we have sat through and being as high as we have been. We're looking up at the sunshine on the summit of Denali and still lighting up the Orient Express and the Messnar Couloir some of the classic faces of the upper mountain above 14,000' and really couldn't imagine a more perfect setting than where we are right now. So, we will enjoy one more night on the Kahiltna Glacier and look forward to being in town soon.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer checks in from 9,600 ft on their descent.
Keep up the good works guys. I enjoy looking at the blog everyday and seeing new progress. No worries Dave I’m keeping everyone posted at the gym. Your like a rockstar everyone keeps asking where your at on the mountain.
Posted by: Kevin Durbon on 1/26/2018 at 7:08 am
I also included Jericho but his name didn’t appear on last comment. Have a great day Dawn and team. Love, Dad and mom
Posted by: Lori Golding on 1/25/2018 at 9:28 am
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