Entries from Expedition Dispatches
The
Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz led by RMI Guide
Casey Grom reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Kautz route early this morning. Casey reported that the Kautz route is in great shape and it was a beautiful day of climbing for the team. They will spend another night on the mountain training before returning to Ashford.
Congratulations to today's team!
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides
Billy Nugent and
Paul Rachele reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Billy reported beautiful skies above the marine layer that has been hanging around the lower elevations. The teams have started their descent and will be back here at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
June 29, 2016 - 11:04 pm PT
As is the way with climbing, we barely had time to dwell on our summit success before it was time to start thinking about getting off the hill safely. We woke up after a frigid night at 17K and immediately began packing up to head downhill. Our descent took us down the
West Buttress proper, and by the time we started down the fixed lines the late morning solar energy had most of the team roasting in single layers. Talk about freeze or fry! We took a brief break at 14 camp to pick up cached gear, and then began the long march down to 11 camp with sleds in tow. Along the way, we had the pleasure of crossing paths with Dave Hahn and company on their way to 14. For now, we are tucked in to bed at 11 camp, where we hope to catch a few hours of sleep before starting the long walk back to the airstrip.
Buenas noches,
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
June 29, 2016 - 11:03 pm PT
After an evening of snowfall and a lot of talk of stormy weather on the way, we were just a bit surprised and pleased to wake up at 11,000ft to cloudless blue skies. But we knew just what to do with such an opportunity... pack up and head for 14K. It was a great day of climbing on the way. Even though we'd come much of the way on our carry two days back, the team hadn't yet seen the scenery. It was all out and spectacular today, especially when we got around windless Windy Corner and could see the lower Kahiltna Glacier -our world from a few days back- far below. Mounts Foraker and Hunter were gigantic and beautiful as well -again, made more spectacular because our team hadn't seen much besides clouds for a few days. We made pretty decent time, reaching
Genet Basin and 14 Camp in six hours. It was a treat to meet up with Mike Haugen's victorious RMI team just below 14. They'd obviously done quite well and were moving lower with big smiles on their faces. We reached our new home at 4 PM and began the now familiar routine of digging in, building tents and getting a kitchen going. Dinner in the spacious dining room (read -snow pit with snow benches and a snow table) we inherited was quite comfortable. The entire team seems happy to have arrived at the foot of the real mountain... the approach is nearly over. Tomorrow morning we'll drop down to recover our windy corner cache.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
We did it! 100% to the top of
Mt. Elbrus. We basically squeaked in the summit right between a couple of storms. We hopped out of bed at 11:45 PM last night and were loaded up in a snowcat by 1 AM. After a 45 minute ride we started our climb under starry skies.
The whole crew stayed together as we made our way up the ever steepening slopes to the summit. Good footwork and breathing techniques were mandatory as the trail was pretty much non existent due to the recent snow. We made great time to the summit and the views of the Caucasus were amazing. We were also the first group of the day so we had the summit all to ourselves. Bonus!
No less than 10 minutes after we began our descent it began snowing and the visibility decreased considerably. Our timing was perfect and that was primarily due to our excellent Russian guide Yuri. Thanks partner!
We are packing now and we'll hop on the gondolas when we are all set. Hotel rooms and kebabs for us tonight.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
And our first full day in the Ishinca Valley just went by...
Sunny skies woke us up this morning, and we took advantage of them by doing a thorough session of hardware function and familiarization, as well as rope work. After a good lunch from our chef, Emilio, and we were ready for the afternoon acclimatization hike to "Tocllacocha" a glacial lake at 15,200' on the northwestern flanks of impressive Tocllaraju.
Tea and another superb dinner followed upon our return.
Tomorrow we're headed to the glacier for our full-day mountaineering school, as well as a new dose of altitude and acclimatization exercise. Stay tuned!
Our Spanish climbing word of the day is ballestrinque which means
clove hitch.
RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos and Robby Young
Our Ecuador Volcanoes expedition is underway! Everyone (and their luggage) arrived yesterday and the team met for breakfast this morning at our hotel’s café. Today’s agenda involved an
informational tour of the historic areas of Quito, Ecuador’s capitol. Angel, our local city tour guide, led us through colonial Quito, and taught us about the history of various churches, the presidential palace, independence plaza, and the large statue of the Virgin of Quito, overlooking the city. The weather was beautiful and we even snuck in partial views of some of our climbing objectives, Cayambe and Rucu Pichincha. Cotopaxi (which is closed to climbing due to recent volcanic activity) also came into view.
Next we jumped in our van and headed north to the equator, or “mitad del mundo”, where we visited an ethnographic museum and learned about various indigenous cultures of Ecuador. We straddled the equator, with one leg in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern, as we watched some demonstrations of Coriolis Effect and our position on the equator.
We’re off now to sample some Ecuadorian cuisine for dinner!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
The
Five Day Summit Climb Team led by RMI Guide
Mike Uchal reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Yesterday in preparation for their summit attempt Mike and the team enjoyed a short hike to Ingraham Flats. They have had great weather while on the mountain and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise from the top today!
Congratulations to today's team!
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides
Peter Whittaker,
Ed Viesturs reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Peter reported a very beautiful morning with clear skies and calm winds. The team has started their descent and are en route back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's Teams!
Hi from High Camp on
Mt. Elbrus. The weather forecast is looking pretty good for a summit bid tonight! We'll be up around midnight, shooting for a 1:00 AM departure.
Today was pretty relaxing with a late breakfast followed by some avalanche transceiver training. Once that was complete we went for a short hike before lunch. After lunch we took a break and then prepped our gear for the summit push.
If everything goes as planned we should be on the summit between 6 and 7 AM our time. Hopefully I'll be calling from the top for my next check in.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
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Congratulations to Michael and Anna for reaching the summit! :) And to the whole rest of the team too.
Posted by: Lynn on 6/30/2016 at 9:29 am
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