Entries By robby young

Greetings, A beautiful rain-free day was finally had here in the Cordillera Blanca. The sun came out and stayed out today, which was perfect for an acclimatization day here at Base Camp at 14,200’. We got up and attempted early this morning to take a quick walk up to the Tocllacoccha overlook (Lake Toclla) to admire the beautiful glaciers pouring off of Tocllaraju into the sparkling bluish green lake below. It stressed our bodies just enough and took us to 15,300’ as we continue our acclimatization process. The afternoon was quite chill, as we took some siestas, and reviewed all of our knots and hitches for our climbs ahead. On top of all our fun today, the culinary adventure continued. Today, our cook, Emilio, prepared for us Cornish hen eggs and hash browns, potatoes, green beans and avocado salads, popcorn, beef and rice, chickpea soup, and quinoa pudding. All in one delicious day of eats. We’re living so large with our food up here that people down in town would be jealous. Tomorrow, our process continues as we hope to head to 16,200’, to the toe of the Ishinca Glacier to do some more acclimatizing and and training. We’ll let you know how the views are! Until then, good night! RMI Guide Robby Young and Team ‘Well Fed’

Hello from the Ishinca Valley in the beautiful Cordillera Blanca! Oh boy, what a treat it is to finally be in the mountains after 4 days in and around town. It is a beautiful setting here at Ishinca Base Camp, nestled between massive snow and ice covered giants at 14,400’. The peaks around us soar up to 20,000’ and it’s a sight to behold. It took us about 4 hours to make the move here from the trail head. We donned day packs after leaving the bulk of our weight with the donkeys and arrieros, and enjoyed a light weight walk all the way in under sunny skies. Soon after setting up camp, the afternoon rains reared their ugly heads, but luckily we were already warm and dry in our tents. Tonight, believe it or not, we were treated to a trout dinner with baby potatoes, chicken soup, and jello. We live our best lives here in Peru, and our cook Emilio is a huge part of that. Tomorrow, we’ll take’er easy. A little walking, a little technical training, and maybe even some napping. We’ll fill you in tomorrow. Until then, thanks for following along! RMI Guide Robby Young and Team ‘Trucha’ PS - Spanish word of the day is Sombra (Shade)

Greetings! Another beautiful day here in Huaraz City! We woke up early this morning with one final acclimatization day scheduled here in town. We took it up a notch, however, and we shuttled up to the Lake Churup Trailhead at the foot of some of the higher peaks outside of Huaraz. A couple hours later, we were relaxing lakeside at one of the most beautiful lakes in the Range. Words don’t do it justice, so we sent pics! This afternoon, we were back in town putting the finishing touches on our packing and our normal lives before we head into the mountains for a week. First stop, the Ishinca Valley. We have some training planned, as well as a couple climbs...not to mention some delicious eating from our cooks up there! We’ll keep you posted. RMI Guide Robby Young and Team ‘No Swimming’

Hello all, Life is great here in Huaraz! Hotel Andino is one the my all time favorite places to wake up due to the incredible sunrise views and the delicious breakfast buffet, both of which our team indulged in this morning. After our leisurely start, we spent some time checking over our climbing gear in advance of our upcoming trips into the mountains. We also took the opportunity in the afternoon to stimulate some acclimatization by going for a hike above town to ‘Puca Ventana’, or Red Window. The views of Huaraz from this high plateau are spectacular! And after two days of sedentary travel, getting outside and working the legs and lungs was just what this team needed. Cafe Andino did the trick for a big post-hike lunch and we were off to enjoy the city for the rest of our afternoon. Living our best lives down here in Huaraz. Tomorrow, we’ll take our hiking legs a little bit higher to Lake Churup at an altitude over 14,000’. We’ll send pics! RMI Guide Robby Young and Team Porch Life

Greetings all, The gangs all here and our adventure in Peru is officially underway! The first hurdle of the trip has passed; which is to make it to Peru with all of our climbers and all of their bags. We even made it out of the big chaotic city of Lima in excellent time yesterday morning and set our sites on the beautiful town of Huaraz. It took us about 8 hours to get here, but the ocean views, and then the mountain views keep us entertained for the long bus ride. As soon as we crest Conococha Pass at 12,600’, we’re treated to some incredible views of the glaciated peaks of the southern Cordillera Blanca as well as the Cordillera Huayhuash. What a site to get us pumped for some climbing! We’re now in Huaraz at my absolute favorite hotel in the world, Hotel Andino. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner here last night and got a great nights sleep. Today, it’s all about gear, an acclimatization hike above town, and some good eating. We’ll tell you all about it later. Thanks for checking in. RMI Guide Robby Young and Team Alpaca Steaks

The Four Day Climb July 7 - 10 was unable to climb today due to weather. RMI Guide Robby Young reported rain and high winds prevented the group from leaving Camp Muir to make their summit attempt. Winds continued to blow this morning at Camp Muir. The team plans to descent this morning to Paradise.

Saturday, June 15, 2019 - 9:17 AM PT Greetings all, And just like that, we’re back in civilization. Just two days ago, we were standing on top of North America, at 20,310’, after a long and demanding effort over the course of two weeks. And now, green grass, crowded Talkeetna streets and restaurants, and the comforts (and burdens) of modern technology and bustling civilization. It’s quite a shock to the system. But here we are, tired after finishing our walk out to Base Camp Friday morning, celebrating our expedition and our success here in Talkeetna. We enjoyed a wonderful celebratory dinner at the Wildflower Cafe with fresh seafood as the fare of choice, and reminisced about all the experiences we’ve shared over the last few weeks. It’s been an incredible couple weeks, and all the Team should be incredibly proud of their accomplishment! We’re headed back to Anchorage this morning to put the final steps of a great adventure in place, and head back to our friends and family. Thanks for following along all these weeks! RMI Guides Robby Young, Nick Scott, Joe Hoch and Team Homeward Bound

Thursday, June 13, 2019 - 9:32 PM PT We’re back down here in the thick air of 11,000’! We were so excited to wake up to another beautiful day at 17 Camp this morning, and we were still ecstatic from a fantastic summit day yesterday. Despite some crunchy, achy bodies this morning, we were up and attem as early as reasonable to start making our way back down to the airstrip, and eventually home. We’ve paused our descent for just a few hours here at 11 Camp to get some rest and recovery, and we’ll then continue our way to the airstrip tonight around midnight, when the lower Kahiltna Glacier is firmed up overnight. Hopefully the weather allows for a flight off the glacier first thing in the morning. Wish us luck, and hopefully see all you friends and family soon! RMI Guides Robby Young, Joe Hoch, Nick Scott and Team Homeward Bound

On The Map

Wednesday, June 12, 2019 - 10:00 PM PT Greetings Loyal RMI Blog Followers! Today, at approximately 2:20pm, our entire team stood on top of North America! This team put in a heck of an effort and were rewarded with an amazing summit day! We wanted to call from the summit, but the only wind we had all day was the top 20’ of this climb. Despite the cold, the team spent a good joyful 20 minutes on top before making our descent back to 17,000' Camp. I couldn’t be more proud of this team today, digging deep and climbing hard! Tomorrow, we begin our long descent back to civilization. Ideally, we’ll be sleeping at 11,000’ camp tomorrow night in the thick air we miss so dearly. The weather looks like it may cooperate for the next couple days so wish us luck! RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe, and Team Summit!

On The Map

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 - 9:47 PM PT Greetings from 17,000' Camp! We made great time during a beautiful sunny day moving from 14,200’ to our High Camp here at 17,200’. The team did exceptionally well, and made quick work of building camp in the old confines of JM’s Denali Team. Some afternoon rest was had and some dehydrated high mountain food was tolerated. We’ve got a decent forecast for tomorrow...but we know that this mountain will have the final say tomorrow when we wake up. We’re hopeful for some calm winds and hopeful to make an honest go at the summit tomorrow. The team has put a ton of work into this expedition thus far, and we’re all ecstatic to be in the position we are here at 17 Camp. We’ll let you know how it goes! RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe, and Team Prepped’n Ready

On The Map