Greetings everyone back home. This is Casey Grom checking in from the RMI Ecuador Volcanoes expedition. Just wanted to let you know that everyone's doing fantastic. We are up here at the Refugio or the hut this sits at the base of glacier on Cayambe. We just finished dinner and packed our bags for tomorrow's climb. We took the day to get up early and go for a nice hike up to the glacier to do a little climbing review. Everyone did fantastic. The weather is looking pretty good. It was incredibly nice today; sunny almost all day. A little bit of clouds now but the forecast is pretty good. So we are going to be getting up about 11 PM and hopefully walking a little after midnight. We'll do our best to check in from the summit. I'm anticipating is is going to take us about seven hours to reach the summit. Sorry we are having some technology difficulties with charging some of our iPhones up here but will hopefully have some pictures sent tomorrow when we descend after our climb and we get cell reception or Wi-Fi access. Everything's great and looking forward to sending some pictures to you guys. Thanks.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Hi Everyone!
We are enjoying a relaxing evening here at the beautiful La Casa Sol near the city of Otavalo.
We left the comforts of Quito this morning and headed into the mountains (where many of us actually feel more comfortable!) for our second acclimatization hike. As we watched the city disappear in the rear view mirror we traded well paved roads for cobblestones and washboard. The van bumped along, and our driver skillfully negotiated the hazards of rural driving... while we all fought the urge to hold our breath and cross our fingers. Maybe we should have, because our luck soon ran out and Friday the 13th delivered us a logistical sucker punch.
With a loud crack, our vehicle let us know it was done going uphill for the day. A dislodged cobblestone had broken the axel and stopped us, quite suddenly, in our tracks.
Fortunately, our group has the perfect easy going attitude, and after getting the baggage and van transfer sorted out, we shouldered our daypacks and set off for some slightly more oxygenated exercise. Nearly three hours and five miles later we arrived at the trailhead!
One of our local guides, Esteban (nicknamed Topo), had been busy reorganizing our logistics while we strolled, and he and a few others arrived to our rescue shortly thereafter in shining Toyota Hilux's.
Delivered safely to our hacienda we enjoyed a delicious dinner and are now all busy packing our gear and getting organized and prepared to tackle our first big objective. Wish us luck as we travel towards Cayambe tomorrow!
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall
Hello again everyone
Today we had a very nice hike to help with our acclimatization on a nearby peak called Pichincha. It is one of the many local peaks that is situated above Quito and is used by many climbers to help adjust to the higher altitude here in Ecuador. We made use of the gondolas to help us gain access to around 12,500 ft then hiked the additional 2,500 ft to the summit. It took our team roughly 3 hours to gain the top after a little scrambling up the final bit to reach our high point thus far. It was a personal high point for a few of us, and the entire team did a fantastic job. After spending a bit of time on the summit and getting are photos we descended all the back to our hotel for a brief nap before dinner.
Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew.
Hello from Quito everyone!
After some very long flights the team has arrived safe and sound here in Ecuador. We started our day with a group meeting where we shared a little about each other and discussed the plans for our expedition. We then headed out on a city tour which was mostly spent visiting the colonial old town and it's many churches built in the 17th century. We also visited the Virgin de Quito, which is a statue that overlooks the entire city and is similar in importance to our Statue of Liberty.
After our tour we headed back to our hotel to allow the team some time to rest before meeting and discussing the gear needed for our upcoming climbs. After making sure everyone was well equipped with the essentials we took a short walk to a nearby restaurant and patiently waited for all of our food to arrive. The food was delicious and everyone left with smiles on their faces.
It looks like a great group of people and everyone is looking forward to stretching their legs tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
We are back from the mountain safe and sound. It was a wild morning and it kept rolling throughout the early morning. First, we woke up to a constant rain at the hut. Solveig and I stayed up and kept checking the weather for improvements. And alas at 2 am the weather cleared. The team was so excited to climb.
We donned our packs and began our ascent. It was a beautiful early morning on Orizaba. As we inched our way up to the lower glacier I began to notice the snow underneath me doing something unusual. It was settling with a giant whoomph. A clear indication of snow instability. Solveig and I conducted a few snow stability tests and it wasn't looking good. As a matter of fact the snow settling under my feet was the worst I felt.
We contemplated a bit and it was an easy decision. Orizaba was not safe to climb. It can be disappointing not making the summit but with what the team experienced they all understood. Safety is number One. And as Sr. Reyes mentioned as he picked us up...Orizaba isn't going anywhere. We will climb it another day.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Hi Everyone,
The team is at Sr. Reyes and we are all set to go. The sun is shining and we enjoyed great views of Orizaba on the drive in. We will now drive a 4x4 vehicle up to the hut, set up camp and prepare for our summit day tomorrow.
Wish us bueno suerte!
JJ, Solveig & Team
It is a day to explore the city of Puebla. The team is enjoying a day of rest and there's no better place to do that than in this colorful city. Some of the teammates are on the search for cowboy boots. Some of us are going to partake in a culinary class to learn how to make Puebla's signature dish...Mole Poblano! And of course, we will be sampling all the authentic cuisine we can.
The weather is improving so don't go too far. Tomorrow we begin our adventure on Orizaba!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Good luck tomorrow team, may you have great weather!
-Brad and Lori
Posted by: Brad & Lori Briggs on 10/24/2013 at 7:13 pm
Greeting from Massachusetts.
Phil’s favorite sister here. My big task on Wednesday was payroll. I’m tires just reading about your day. Hahaha
Can’t wait to see the pictures.
XO Jackie
Hey everyone this is JJ and Solveig with the Mexico team here on Ixta. First we do want to let everyone know that everyone here on the team is safe and sound and second, we haven't heard any news but we hope that everyone in Acapulco and the coast land of Mexico is ok with that hurricane. Here on Ixta at High Camp at 14,700', we have received the inland storm, I believe the remnants of what happened with that hurricane. We received over a foot of snow last night, heavy winds and no visibility. The winds have died down, it is not snowing any more. We still don't have good visibility. But everyone is still in good spirits. Needless to say, the mountain certainly said no to us for going to the top today but this is a day that is pretty obvious that the mountains are to be enjoyed and not conquered. We are making the best of it, everyone is in great spirits, having fun and smiling. Now our focus is packing up and getting down off of Ixta and into Puebla. Everyone says hello on the team and thanks for following along. We will definitely show you some of the sites and sounds from Puebla, Mexico and maybe some of what it looked like yesterday getting up to high camp. Everyone is doing great and we will touch base soon. Our next objective is Orizaba and we are definitely keeping our fingers crossed for better weather. Take care everyone. Bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman checks in from high camp on Ixtaccihuatl.
We are camped in tents at 14,700' high camp on Ixta. We have had clear mornings, then some clouds, and light precipitation in the evenings. Our forecast remains fine- 70% chance of rain diminishing in a couple of days. The hurricane in the area is not affecting us. Tomorrow is our summit day. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman checks in from Ixta High Camp.
John P., I hope you have fully recovered and are feeling good! Your classes are behaving fairly well for the substitute. Tell Dave his class enjoyed the exam.
Love,
Sarah
Posted by: Sarah Reznikoff on 10/23/2013 at 1:06 pm
Good luck today Peter - enjoy & be safe! Love & miss you. Xxx
It feels good to be in the mountains! Our team is nestled in the Altzomoni Hut near 12,000 feet! Of course we enjoyed a great breakfast fit for Kings and Queens before we arrived here. After a brief stop to do some last minute food shopping we arrived at camp early afternoon.
The rest of our day was filled with final packing preparations for our endeavor to make high camp on Ixta tomorrow. Everyone is doing fantastic. The weather is a little dreary but it's not stopping us from having fun! And just because we are in the mountains doesn't mean we have to act like it. Instead of freeze dried food, Solveig and I prepared a fresh Mexican carne asada dinner for the team. The fresh guacamole was a hit. It was devoured in seconds!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Solveig Waterfall
Brian,
Safe travels my friend and I wish I was with you! Enjoy the views for me!
Klay
Posted by: Klay on 12/16/2013 at 11:43 am
HI Brian
have a safe and fun time! We missed you at the Easterday family Christmas gathering!
Marcia and Dave send their best!
xo
Posted by: Kim on 12/14/2013 at 7:50 pm
View All Comments