Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Late Thursday afternoon we made final preparations to our climbing kit and sat inside the Tambopaxi dining room watching a light rain fall across the plains surrounding Cotopaxi. We had an early dinner and retired to our bunk rooms at dusk for a few hours of rest before the evening summit departure.
At 10:00 pm we woke and ate a light breakfast in the dark dining room before loading our gear into Victor's bus and taking it up the rocky road to the base of the Refugio. We hiked in relative silence through a misty cloud to the glacier, put on our crampons and roped up. A little new snow had fallen but the climbing route was still visible and we began our climb at 16,300'.
Hour after hour we climbed the unrelenting steep slopes, pausing for breaks where we could find a relatively flat place. At 8:00 am we surpassed the final steeps and stood atop the 19,348' volcano. It was a taxing climb for the team with many altitude records achieved and much to be proud of.
Tonight we enjoyed each others company over dinner and drinks at La Cienega and in the morning we will sleep in and explore this beautiful and historic Hosteria before returning to Quito for the anniversary fiesta of its founding. Good night from a very tired and happy Ecuador team.
RMI Guides Leon Davis & Casey Grom
On The Map
We were fresh out of good weather today. Ran out sometime during the night. By morning, the high peaks were capped with wind-sculpted clouds and things had a decidedly unstable look. We procrastinated...ate breakfast and watched the progression of cloud formations. We got a weather forecast from Vinson Basecamp around noon, and decided to go for a walk. The thinking was that we'd be climbing in relative calm for several hours, in which time the day could turn sparkly and fine. That isn't what happened though. After a couple of hours and perhaps 1,300 feet of vertical gain, we were in wind and cloud... The times when we were granted better visibility, we could see more wind and cloud up higher. Ultimately, the decision was made that -with the "normal" cold temperatures (-15 to -20 F) we were enjoying, we couldn't fight against very much wind. We turned back to high camp, intent on waiting out this non-storm. The gang cut snow blocks to beef up the tent walls and we dug in just in case a real storm shows up. We are hopeful that morning will bring better things.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
G. Barber, to think all this time Bruce has been carrying your stuff. What?!?! Cute chics, rum, penguins - craziness (I thought it was the intrinsic value of climbing that allured you.) Enjoying the trip reports and comments from loved ones. Remember: when in doubt, build snow blocks. Patience. Hang in there team!
Posted by: Kerry on 12/5/2014 at 7:59 pm
Hi Greg, sounded like a tough day, but the team made a good call. You have good time - stay safe, buddy.
All the best,
Bruce and Joyce
Posted by: Bruce Tocher on 12/5/2014 at 3:48 pm
Posted by: Casey Grom, Leon Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Thursday, December 4, 2014 3:25 pm PST
Buenos tardes (good evening) everyone!
Today the team spent the day resting in preparation for tonight's climb. The day was mostly filled with reading, waiting on the wifi, exploring the grounds near the hacienda, and a world championship of cribbage, where Leon and Topo were crowned. We also took a ride to visit a ancient pre-Incan ruin, and a beautiful hidden spring.
We spent the afternoon discussing our plan for tonight's climb and have everything squared away. The team is very excited and looking forward to tomorrow, or perhaps I should say tonight, as we'll be getting up very early.
On another note, we had a trivia challenge today and the winner will receive a free one minute satellite phone call from the summit if all goes well. So for those of you out there following our blog, keep your phones handy tomorrow morning!
Wish us luck!
RMI Guides Casey Grom, Leon Davis, and crew
Was up a 2am sending good thoughts toward Cotopaxi. Hope you all summit and that Richard won the trivia contest!
Posted by: Stacey Cost on 12/5/2014 at 4:02 am
Topo and Leon? This team has the BEST guides! Good luck team!
Posted by: Meredith on 12/4/2014 at 10:07 pm
Today we inched our way closer to the base of Cotopaxi with a short drive to Tambopaxi and then up the primitive roads to the lower flanks of the mountain. Our mission today was to get onto the lower glacier for some basic skills review and a little more acclimatization. Under some very atypical clear skies we hiked the scree fields to the new Refugio at 16,000' and then a little further to the glacier. We were joined by our Ecuadorian guides Topo and Joaquin for a brief climbing school and a glimpse of the lower route. By early afternoon we were relaxing in the Tambopaxi Lodge for some Cribbage and another great team dinner. Things are going very well for us here and the team is enjoying every minute in a most spectacular mountain arena. Looking forward to every day here on the Equator!
RMI Guide Leon Davis
Good luck with your ascent in a few hours Brian. Glad you’ve enjoyed the experience so far. Can’t wait to hear about it and see pics!
Posted by: Craig Mohr on 12/4/2014 at 6:08 pm
KIRK MAN, HANG TEN BRO! CH
Posted by: CHARLES HOLLIMAN on 12/4/2014 at 4:47 pm
Our luck with the weather continues. It was another perfectly calm, blue-sky, sunny day on Mount Vinson. We took full advantage, moving up from Low Camp to High Camp. It is plenty of work to break camp and hit the trail in this cold environment. This "morning" it took us about 2.5 hours. We were walking by 1:45 PM. We had the advantage today that we were all familiar with the route and the fixed ropes -thanks to our carry on the same terrain two days ago. This time we shaved about forty five minutes off, reaching 12,150 ft High Camp in five hours and fifteen minutes. We set to building camp and digging in, which took a few more hours of hard work, but eventually we were all sitting face to face in a freshly excavated dining room. We talked over exactly how summit day might work out for tomorrow. After dinner, the team pitched in to build some snow-block walls, just in case the wind comes up. Then folks wandered about a hundred feet west to look over the edge. It is a stunning view, peering over this dramatic and abrupt escarpment to see almost every footstep we've made to date. In the distance, the Nimitz Glacier is prominent and beyond that it seems that we can see forever on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The team went to bed ready to go for the top, we'll see if our weather luck holds.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Peter/Dad and Team—we’re thinking positive thoughts about the weather and hope for a successful day today/tomorrow!
Posted by: Nathaniel and Allidah on 12/4/2014 at 8:13 pm
Good luck in your summit bid Mr. Barber and Team!!!
Posted by: The Pages on 12/4/2014 at 12:21 pm
Posted by: Linden Mallory
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
We had a mellow morning at Base Camp today, enjoying the extra time we had to brew up fresh coffee and watch the sun creep across the glacier and bring with it warming temperatures. Not content to hang around for too long, we pulled on our ski boots and headed out for some touring above Vinson Base Camp. The rolling ridge-lines descending from the Massif offer phenomenal skiing and we took full advantage to get out and play. We climbed a couple thousand feet above Base Camp to a small summit and found spectacular views of the surrounding terrain before setting our sights back downhill and skiing some great light Antarctic snow back to camp.
As we were relaxing in the evening we received the call we'd been waiting for: the plane from Union Glacier was on its way to get us. We packed up camp and as we closed the last bag the Twin Otter came in with a soft and smooth landing on the glacier. We said goodbye to Vinson and were soon airborne on our way back to Union Glacier camp, our eyes glued to the windows as we watched the massive landscape of snow, ice, and rock flow by beneath us.
We're now back at Union Glacier, enjoying the warmth of their large mess tent and keeping our fingers crossed that an Ilyushin flight can come into tomorrow evening to give us a lift back to South America. We're hoping to spend a few hours checking out the mountains around camp in the morning before getting a weather check about the flight tomorrow midday.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory & Team
On The Map
After yesterday's summit push we were content to lie in the tent a bit longer this morning at High Camp before finally stirring. We brewed up some coffee, that while no match for a good espresso, was a very pleasant touch to the cold but otherwise clear morning, and then set about breaking camp. With all of our gear loaded into our packs, we began descending from High Camp. We reached the top of the fixed lines and spent the next hour working our way down the massive face, carefully transitioning past anchor points until the Branscomb Glacier, once a small ribbon of white below lay underfoot. The descent was uneventful and smooth - just as one would hope when descending an exposed face like that - and another half hour of crossing brought us into Low Camp where Dave Hahn and the other RMI Team were enjoying a rest day.
Dave and JJ were kind enough to brew us up a hot drink and we traded was stories from our trips while we repacked our backpacks and sleds with the gear we had left at Low Camp. With our mugs empty and our packs and sleds full, we wished Dave's team good luck and warm temperatures on their summit bid and set off down the glacier toward Base Camp. The gradual downhill pitch of the Branscomb and cold hard snow made for a fast descent on skis and we caught ourselves hooting and hollering at times as we cruised down the glacier (which, for anyone familiar with the pain of hauling a fully laden pack and sled down a glacier at the end of an expedition, is highly unusual). By early evening we had navigated the final crevasse field of the Branscomb and were pulling into Base Camp, relieve to be dropping our packs for the last time. After almost a week of moving up and down the mountain we have gotten quite good at setting up camp and within a few minutes we had our tents pitched and our camp shoes on. Tonight we treated ourselves to a special post summit dinner: cheeseburgers which we flew in with us from South America and have kept frozen for this very evening. To top it off, the rangers at Base Camp shared a few beers with us for our meal. Burgers and beer at foot of the Vinson Massif - we truly couldn't have asked for anything more.
Tomorrow we will look at the flight schedule and weather forecasts to see what our options are for beginning the trek home. We are still a long ways from anywhere and the challenges of getting ourselves out of the middle of Antarctica are not inconsequential. Nevertheless, we're happy to be down here and hoping for more good luck on the next leg of our journey.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory & Team
On The Map
Glad that everyone is down and enjoying a burger on the ice beach. We have sauce waiting for you. Howie
Posted by: howie mallory on 12/4/2014 at 7:13 am
Love it. Burgers and beer. I know Penn’s happy!
Posted by: Kir on 12/3/2014 at 6:02 am
It was just as cold in the final hour before the sun hit this morning, but somehow that didn't matter as much since we didn't have to get up. It was a rest day at 9,000 ft on Mount Vinson. We eventually assembled the team in the POSH tent for an early afternoon, four course breakfast. After three good and long days moving food and fuel and gear around, it was very nice to just kick back and take it easy. It fits well with our acclimatization plan as well, to have worked up high yesterday and now to be resting at "low" altitude. RMI Guide Linden Mallory and his climbers came through in mid-afternoon on their way to Basecamp and it was good to hear of their summit day. The weather was perfect again today and so the sun and lack of wind had us forgetting what the actual temperature was. We napped, drank water, read, chatted, and snacked the day away. Finally it was time for dinner and tall tales in the strong evening sunshine. All are feeling healthy and ready to move up the mountain.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Way to go team Glasenapp! I’m enjoying seeing your progress on this blog. Looks chilly!
Posted by: Twila Bing on 12/3/2014 at 2:45 pm
Hi Tom! Hi Haldis!
Best of luck to you and your team for a successful and safe summit!
Will give mom and dad an update on mom’s birthday over Chinese food!
(Oh, and Dave/JJ, if Tom doesn’t answer to Tom, he answers to “Hey Bob!” too!)
Stay safe and good luck!
Posted by: Monica Glasenapp on 12/3/2014 at 10:49 am
December 2, 2014 - 6:08 pm
Today the team said goodbye to the hustle and bustle of Quito and headed south early in the morning. Once outside the city we made our way through the rural countryside and headed for our next acclimatizing hike on the Illiniza's. They are the remnants of an old volcano that erupted long ago and left two nearly twin peaks. Our goal was not to climb them, but reach the saddle that separates the two beautiful mountains. The team made good time up to the saddle where we took a short break in the climbers hut and had some well deserved hot tea. After our short break we made our way back down the mountain to our waiting bus and quickly headed to the wonderful Chilcabamba hacienda. The team made good use of the hot showers and enjoyed sporting around in the ponchos provided by the hacienda. We wrapped up the evening with a wonderful meal, plenty of good stories, and one amazing view of Cotopaxi.
Everyone is doing great and enjoying the Ecuadorean hospitality.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
The team here in Ecuador got their first taste of altitude today, on the hills that surround Quito. This morning we rode the teleferico to 13,000 feet and began our trek up Pichincha on the rutted trails that wind up to its rocky 15,000 ft summit. It was a day to pressure our bodies into absorbing the thin atmosphere and although the typical afternoon clouds obscured our view from the top, we were able to stretch our legs and lungs in the mountains.
This evening our team met with our Ecuadorian guide, Jaime, and he took us to a new Ecuadorian restaurant where we enjoyed a fantastic dinner of local cuisine. Tonight is our last night in Quito as we depart for the Illinizas early in the morning.
RMI Guide Leon Davis
On The Map
Go Team Leonard!!!! We are thinking about all of you and Good Luck taking on the Summit! Love to all, Donna & Girls
Posted by: Donna Leonard on 12/3/2014 at 4:24 pm
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So happy you achieved your goal Richard and team. Can’t wait to see you!
Posted by: Stacey Cost on 12/6/2014 at 10:00 am
Richard and team, Congratulations on your spectacular achievement! Jenny
Posted by: jenny cooper on 12/6/2014 at 7:35 am
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