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Posts from 01/2012

Ecuador Volcanoes: Cayambe Summit!

Posted by: Jake Beren | January 16, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 18,997'

Good morning, this is Jake Beren and the RMI Ecuador team standing on top of Cayambe.  Everybody did super well today.  We had a beautiful day to climb and now we are perched pretty high above the clouds surrounded by some pretty large volcanoes.  It was just about as good today as I have ever seen out here.  It was a real pleasure to be here with such a good team. So, I guess that’s it. I’ll be in touch when we get further down.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Aconcagua Expedition: The Team Back from a Successful Carry to Camp 2

Posted by: Gabriel Barral | January 15, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,200'

Hello again from Camp 1 on Aconcagua. We had a successful carry to Camp 2 today. It was very busy leaving camp this morning, about 60 climbers heading up. The weather was great, sunny and warm with a fresh breeze. We got 4 inches of snow last night, so the mountain is beautiful right now. The whole crew did great on the carry today. Camp 2 at 18,000’ was a new high point for a lot of folks. We are now back at Camp 1 resting and diverting a fast flowing river that is trying to submerge our tents. We are resting tomorrow before we move higher on the mountain. Hope this dispatch finds everyone doing well and enjoying the new year.

You’ll will be hearing from us soon,
The Aconcagua team

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Ready for Summit Bid Tonight

Posted by: Jake Beren | January 15, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 15,300'

Our team woke to a beautiful morning after our first night at 15,300’ Refugio Cayambe. Inspiring views of the glaciers and rugged landscape made our day of mountaineering skills amazing. The team is strong and we’re all looking forward to a great summit day. We’re hoping for good weather and climbing conditions as we make our summit push tonight.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Team visits Otavalo Market

Posted by: Jake Beren | January 14, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 15,300'

Waking at the lovely Hacienda San Luis, we soon found ourselves in the midst of the Saturday Otavalo market.  Full of local crafts, raw chickens, entire cooked pigs and about anything you could imagine. We wandered around the vibrant market doing a bit of shopping and a lot of looking around. 

After a fun morning of exploring the market we traveled to the Cayambe hut making it most of the way on wheels before finishing up the approach on foot.  Here at the hut we celebrated Brad’s birthday and turned in to get some rest before our training day tomorrow.  A fun day for sure and great to get to the base of our first big climb.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Aconcagua Expedition: Team Arrives at Camp 1

Posted by: Gabriel Barral | January 14, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,200'

Hi there,
Team Aconcagua checking in from Camp 1 (16,200’). We arrived at camp around 3 pm today. It took almost 5 hours for us to complete the move to our new home (we are planing to spend 3 nights here).
It started to snow right after we set the tents and it hasn’t stop since (3 hours), the accumulation is just 2 inches so far.
We are ready to have dinner and relax for the evening and recover from our move.  Tomorrow, if the weather is good and everyone is feeling well, we plan to make our carry up toward Camp 2.

We will check in tomorrow when we are return to Camp.  Thanks for all the comments on the RMI blog, keep sending them.
Cheers,
Team Aconcagua

On The Map

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Mt. Rainier: First Winter Seminar of 2012

Posted by: Adam Knoff | January 13, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,000'

Hello Everyone,

The Winter Skills Seminar is down safe and sound from a week of good training and climbing on Mt. Rainier. We made a solid summit attempt on Thursday with the team climbing strongly to 13,000’ before wind, cold, and firm conditions had us turn around. The week saw high points for some of the team, lots of new knowledge gained, and many climbers hankering to come back for more. Congratulations and thanks to the team for a great week!

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Acclimating Hike on Cerro Fuya Fuya

Posted by: Jake Beren | January 13, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 14,000'

Buenos Dias!  Today we loaded up our gear and left Quito, driving North on the Pan-American Highway to our next acclimatization hike on Cerro Fuya Fuya. Again in the clouds, we had openings on our way up that provided great views of Lago Fuya Fuya and Cerro Negra. Hiking through the mountain grasses, we ascended quickly as we followed a little steeper trail than yesterday. Again the team did well, standing on top of the volcanic remnants in a few hours, feeling strong at 14,000 feet above sea level.

After walking down the mountain and reloading the vehicles we rejoined the highway and made our way to the Hacienda San Luis, a beautiful hacienda to relax and prepare for our trip to the hut on Cayambe, our first big objective. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for continued luck here in the Mountains of Ecuador.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Aconcagua Expedition: Resting at Base Camp

Posted by: Gabriel Barral, Anne Gilbert Chase, Pete Van Deventer | January 13, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800'

Hey all,

This is the Aconcagua crew checking in from Base Camp. It’s been a beautiful rest day here with crystal blue skies most of the morning. It was a great day to sit outside, enjoy the sun, and visit with other teams here. Several folks were even warm enough to take showers via nalgene bottles.

It hasn’t been all play though, as each team member had to sort through gear and decide what is going to make the move with us and what will stay here at base camp. It’s an important task, since from here on out, every extra thing we bring adds weight to our packs. We will enjoy a last gourmet dinner from our outfitter, Grajales, before our big move to Camp 1 tomorrow. As I write, clouds are building, and it looks like we may get a touch of snow to brighten the landscape tonight.

All the best, and we’ll check in from 16,000’ tomorrow!

Ciao,

RMI Guides Pete, Gabi, Gilbert, and team

On The Map

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: First Acclimatization Hike

Posted by: Jake Beren | January 12, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 15,700'

Today was a great day. After an early breakfast, we left the hotel and headed to the morning opening of the teleferico, the gondola that launches from Quito and lands at 13,500 feet on the old volcano of Rucu Pinchincha. Quite a leap in elevation and great for an acclimatization hike.

The team did a great job ascending the grassy ridges that led to a rocky scramble to the cloudy summit of Pinchincha. Our maiden voyage was a success, climbing to around 15,700 feet in an afternoon and even getting enough of a clearing to see both Cayambe and Cotopaxi rising high above Quito.

Tomorrow we head out for another altitude mission, but this one was tough to beat.
RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Aconcagua Expedition: Carry to Camp 1

Posted by: Pete Van Deventer | January 12, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 14,000'

Hello everyone! We are back at basecamp after a very successful carry to, and cache at Camp 1! The group did very well today, and now all of our upper mountain gear and food is staged for us. The next step: REST. Today was the first day of the trip with heavy packs, and for many of the group a new personal altitude record. Tomorrow we will spend the day at base, eating food, napping, and recovering tired muscles. If all goes according to plan, we will move our camp to 16,000 feet the day after tomorrow, and continue the process of acclimating and moving our gear up the mountain. Everyone is excited to have completed our first big day, and sends their best!

All for now.

Cheers,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Gilbert Chase, Gabriel Barral, and team

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