Entries from Expedition Dispatches
We experienced some thin air on our first acclimatization hike today, as we climbed
Rucu Pichincha, a volcano that sits just to the west of Quito. At 15,413', it was certainly a new altitude record for some climbers on our team. Everyone did well on the climb. Tomorrow we will leave Quito and head south for our next acclimatization hike going up to the climbers' hut on the Illiniza mountains. We'll be in touch with our progress...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
The gang is all here in beautiful Moscow. It is a long, tiring flight to get here but we made it and it's nice just to relax in our comfortable hotel near
Red Square. A good night's sleep is needed before we partake in our first objective...a city tour of this giant world city.
Stay tuned for a great video dispatch tomorrow to see what we explore!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Our
Cotopaxi Express trip is under way! Today was the first official day of the trip, and we started it off with an introductory team meeting over breakfast. We spent the rest of the day enjoying an informative and educational City Tour of colonial Quito, visiting various churches and parks, the Presidential Palace and the Virgin of Quito (a large statue situated on a hill above Quito). Our local tour guide, Jorge, is very well versed in the history and culture of Ecuador, and we had great time seeing the city.
We also visited an ethnographic museum located on the equator, where we learned about the different indigenous cultures of Ecuador. We also got a photo of our team straddling the equator, some of us in the northern hemisphere and some of us in the southern hemisphere!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Adam Knoff and Rob Montague reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team spent about an hour on the summit before starting their descent back to Camp Muir. While on the summit, the team experienced a dense cloud cap, decreasing visibility to about 100ft. Summit winds were 20-30 mph and the temperature is warm.
We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
Sunday, June 30, 2013
After waking up at 2 in the morning and making a massive push to get to the landing strip, we are stuck in freezing rain with no hope for a flight today.
Peter- Cannot wait to see my loving wife and daughter Maggie. Had a great trip!
Grasshopper- Dream realized. Love to everyone!
Cindy- Thanks for all of the great comments! Maija, the Internet code is Zootrubie :)
Sandra- Cant wait for Thanksgiving in Hawaii!
Quinn- Save my seat on the couch. Give everyone a hug! See you all soon.
Lance- Cannot wait to see my three girls! Kisses to all.
Steve- To Bill and Lisa, where are the gluten free Pop Tarts? Tania, can't wait to see you as soon as possible my darling!
Uchal- family : I love you all so much and thank you for the understanding and support. I can't wait to see everyone when I get back. I have decided to leave NC this winter so I can spend more time in Roc City. Keep the couches open - I am coming home.
Katie- To Mom and Dad, love you and miss you. See you soon!
Haugen- Love you Amber, Paris, Paige, Brigitte, Jack, Alex! I love you mom and dad and I for sure owe you a Halibut dinner!! Thank you all for the blog comments!
On The Map
Sunday, June 30, 2013
What a perfect day
for a rest day! The day dawned calm, but with frequent clouds blotting out the sun. We had a nice, leisurely breakfast, with lots of story telling, chatting, and coffee, and a great afternoon siesta. Then, right on que, the winds and snow that were forecasted to start, rolled into camp. All the work on our snow walls paid off, and we are happily sitting in our protected tents, listening to the freight train roar on the buttress above. It wouldn't be Alaska without some weather, and we are happy to be sitting at 14k rather than 17k! With all our preparations made, we'll sit here and patiently wait this out until the mountain and weather say it's our turn to go.
Best from here,
RMI Guides Pete, Geoff, Robby, and crew
On The Map
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Another Denali day, another camp built. We slept in until three this morning and then sprang into action. It doesn't get dark in this part of Alaska in late June, but it gets shadowy, which can be a beautiful thing, even with a storm moving in. It was pretty plain, as we ate breakfast and then knocked down our tents at 9500 ft, that the forecasts were correct and that it wouldn't be long before weather deteriorated. But we felt we still had a little time. As we were getting ready, we enjoyed seeing Mike Haugen's victorious climbing team passing through on their descent. We exchanged handshakes, hugs, route information and then wished each other well. We were out of the old camp and on the site of our new one at 11,000 ft in just over three hours, which meant that we were sitting pretty a few hours after that when things began to get nasty. It rained a bit through the afternoon, which is not so typical this high up Denali, but by evening it was the more typical onslaught of wind and snow. By then we were well dug in and ready for it.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Sunday, June 30th, 2013
Greetings!
After spending some time resting and recuperating at 14K Camp, we jumped on the tiger today, aka the fixed lines, and climbed to 16,700' to cache gear and food at Washburn's Thumb. The steep and often exposed climbing was some of first of the expedition, and the team performed exceptionally. The hard work of the day was rewarded with a team favorite meal consisting of Annie's Mac and Cheese with bacon. Tomorrow will be spent resting back in the comfort of 14K Camp while we wait on a favorable weather forecast to begin our final move up to
Denali's high camp.
Best,
RMI Guides
Robby,
Pete,
Geoff and Team
On The Map
Saturday, June 29th, 2013
After a good sleep, we woke up and started packing. The goal for the day was to get as low and as far as possible to set us up for flying off the mountain tomorrow. The crux of the walk out is timing the walk out on the lower
Kahiltna Glacier. We have to walk across this part while the snow bridges over the crevasses are frozen. This means a late night/early morning walk to the air strip. We made it all the way to 11k Camp so we are set up to walk the glacier at the right time...as long as we only sleep for two hours!
Wish us luck and good weather so we can fly tomorrow!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and the
RMI Summit Team 6
P.S. Grasshopper wants to thank Annie and Rose for the support and sacrifices!
On The Map
Saturday, June 29th, 2013
Conditions at 4:45 AM were perfect for moving from 8,000' on the Kahiltna Glacier to 9,600 ft. So we did. We'd gotten up at 2:00 a.m. to have a hot breakfast and we could see scattered clouds overhead and a cap above
Denali's summit but there was no wind. Our route up Ski Hill was blissfully free of dicey crevasse crossings and the snow surface had frozen up enough to make walking and sled pulling a bit easier than yesterday. Even so, Ski Hill was long, slow, and uphill. We were up to 9,600' in just over three and a half hours. Already by this point, digging in and building a new camp in a beautiful place was becoming routine. Clouds cleared down valley so that we had unobstructed views of nearly the entire length of the Kahiltna while we worked. The sun became brutally intense by midday, but by then we were sheltered in the tents, napping, drinking water and reading.
We got together for dinner in the evening as things cooled down. We talked strategy for our move to 11,000', secured camp for the night and turned in early once again.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
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Hey JJ- heard you have extra company from Richmond- Hi to all. Good intro to Russia with the flight delay. I know you all will have fun on what might be parallel climbs!! best-
Posted by: Elsie on 7/2/2013 at 4:06 pm
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