Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo!
Our team has arrived in Tanzania. We had our first team meeting this morning after breakfast at the beautiful Dik Dik Hotel.
After that we spread out gear and checked that everyone brought the necessary items. The team took the equipment list to heart and everyone is thoroughly prepared for our adventure.
the temperature is in the 70s with clear skies. We are enjoying a relaxing afternoon and recovering from our long flights and the new time zone. Some folks spent some time lounging by the pool.
We had a nice team dinner and everyone has headed to their cabanas to do some final trip prep.
In the morning we will load the vans and drive to the trail head of Kilimanjaro. After so many months of preparing for our Kilimanjaro, the time is finally here. Tomorrow we start the climb!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
We have left the creature comforts of Moscow and are now enjoying the creature comforts of Cheget. It is nice to be in this quaint little mountain town.
Our staff here at our hotel were happy to see us once again and they prepared a celebration dinner for our arrival. Celebrating what you may ask...well, for enjoying the good life in the mountains.
After dinner we are going to go for a stroll around town and we will have some photos and video of our day tomorrow. Our plan is to hike to the summit of Peak Cheget to acclimatize.
Stay tuned...
RMI Guide J.J. Justman
On The Map
Congrats on your summit climb. Looking forward to photos and adventure tales.
Lots of Love.
Posted by: Rita on 7/29/2012 at 9:27 pm
The Four Day Summit Climb July 20 - 23 led by RMI Guide Casey Grom reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 7:30 a.m. PT. The teams reported sunny skies but cold temperatures and extreme winds. The teams will return to Camp Muir and then make their final descent to Paradise later today.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Good for you!
Love Mom
Posted by: Jeanne baugh on 7/23/2012 at 8:35 am
Posted by: JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Hello fellow mountaineers! A picture speaks a thousand words and a video speaks millions! So please enjoy our team's video from today.
We covered a lot of ground and our team soaked up the sights, sounds and even smells of Moscow. Our city guide was the famous Nina who bombarded us with all the interesting facts and history of this famous area.
Red square, Kremlin, theaters, KGB, Lenins Tomb and heck...even Sbarro pizza! There is so much to see you simply have to see it for yourself.
Our team had a fantastic dinner tonight and "Mo", one of our climbers was adventurous enough to see the Swan Lake Ballet. I forgot my tutu so instead, I am writing this dispatch.
The highlight for me was the changing of the guards of the unknown soldier. It is featured in the video. If our team marches as well as the guards, we will summit for sure!
We will touch base tomorrow from our tiny little mountain town at the base of Mt. Elbrus.
RMI Guide J.J. Justman
The Kremlin has never looked so good and your report was great!
На саммите в Санкт-Эльбрус!
Posted by: David + Mitchells on 7/25/2012 at 8:14 pm
Elsie- you have a career in broadcasting. Loved the video and good to see you and Charlotte finally. Been checking the website for days. Looks warm there in Moscow. Can’t wait to see you all on the mountain. Kathryn
Posted by: Kathryn LeBey on 7/23/2012 at 9:32 am
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall radioed in at 7:44 this morning reporting that both Four Day Summit Climb teams were on the summit of Mt. Rainier. Seth reported high cirrus clouds, low valley fog, 35 mph SW winds, and good climbing conditions. The teams spent around a bit of time on the summit before leaving the crater rim just after 8:00am.
They will descend to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's summit climb teams!
Posted by: JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Hello from Moscow!
It is official, our Elbrus expedition has officially started. Well...not quite. However, everyone has arrived gear and all minus one late comer who will meet us tomorrow for dinner.
We spent the evening discussing our itinerary but more importantly we just kicked back and got to know one another. Some of the team have climbed together while others are meeting for the first time.
Tomorrow we will spend the day touring the city of Moscow and arguing about which fantastic restaurant we will have dinner. Tonight's choice was Italian and it did not disappoint.
It's a rough life getting started on Mount Elbrus but we are somehow managing. Dessert cappuccinos are in their way...gotta go!
Please check back tomorrow for an in depth look at some of the magnificent sites we explore...
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Hi Neal,
Glad you arrived safely. Seeing Moscow brings back memories. Much success to you and your team. Our thoughts and prayers are witth you.
God Bless,
Pat and. Dan
Posted by: Pat and. Dan. Nolan on 7/22/2012 at 7:56 pm
Posted by: Mike Walter, Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Our Four Day Summit Climb teams led by Mike Walter and Elias de Andres Martos reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at about 8 o'clock this morning. The teams had clear skies with a cloud deck at about 8,000' and moderate winds. They got to spend some time on the summit and are now making their way back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Also, Nana says "hi" to Nora.
Kelley, We have never known anyone to make this climb—you are amazing! We can’t wait to see your pictures! Love, Sue and Don
Posted by: Don and Sue Pieper on 7/24/2012 at 10:10 am
way to go Kelley and the rest of the team! I cannot wait to hear all about it! Barbie
Posted by: Barbie Smith on 7/23/2012 at 9:06 am
Posted by: Win Whittaker, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,060'
The Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by RMI Guides Win Whittaker and Pete Van Deventer were unable to make their summit attempt due to lightening strikes and rain throughout the night. The teams stayed safely tucked in at Camp Muir. They will begin their descent to Paradise later this morning.
Posted by: Alex Van Steen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Carstensz Pyramid
As we descended the path leading to the Moni tribal village Ugimba, two men - wearing only traditional kotekas (penis gourds) and tribal markings and wielding large bow and arrow sets - stepped out of the bush and onto the path, raising their weapons toward us as they did so. Our hearts stopped, but just for a breath. A moment later two pairs of young women also stepped into our path. Equally modestly dressed in grass skirts and colorful jog bras – I guess that’s what I should call their tops – also with a variety of facial paintings and tribal markings, the women began a series of repetitive calls that sounded very much like an old style emergency alert siren. The sound that issued from them rang amazingly loud and clear and others, further toward the village, responded in kind, setting up a sort of path of sonic bread crumbs for us to follow. We were being treated to an entirely genuine and traditional village welcome ceremony, complete with dance and song.
The welcome committee, now growing rapidly as additional warriors, women and children joined in, guided us patiently toward Ugimba. Running ahead about fifty feet, then stopping to dance as we caught up, and all the while calling out, the six of us were soon engulfed in a small sea of Moni tribes-peoples. In the distance, even from entirely across the valley and opening meadows, we could see all eyes on us.
I asked Sara, one of the two teens on our trip - and a stalwart kid at that! - if she would like to lead. I was afraid that perhaps she was not able to see some of the traditional welcome ceremony as I was walking in front and blocking her view. I wanted for her to experience this as fully as possible since this was by far a most unexpected and exceptional experience. She responded, a bit reservedly, “Oh, I’m experiencing this!” And we were.
What a fantastic climax to our day of trekking through the heat, humidity and wetness of the jungle. We knew we had a lot to look forward to on this trip as we were engaged on an excellent adventure via a route that has seen few western travelers, with a two-fold goal: first, safely reach and return from the summit of Carstensz Pyramid and second, build relationships with indigenous people which would respectfully balance our visit with their way of life. This excursion represented our inaugural effort and we were full of hope that we might attain our goals.
The village of Ugimba lies in the heart of Moni land in Papua, deep in the jungles of New Guinea. It is the deepest of the tribal villages; only immensely dense jungle and the high marshes and limestone plateau’s of the Sudirman mountain range lie further afield. We would travel this road less traveled en route to Carstensz Pyramid, the jutting high point of the Australasian continental mass (or the high point of Oceania as some call it.)
Six days of arduous trekking eventually led us to our Carstensz Base Camp at 13,900 feet alongside a pair of sky blue alpine lakes known as the Peacock Pools. Rising all around and above camp, amazing rock ridges and towers fought for our attention. If this were the U.S. Rockies or Cascades, the place would be inundated with routes. Here, however, only the most significant line of weakness on the highest peak – the original route – remained the solitary choice for climbers. (Sadly, we knew others had travelled here as plenty of garbage had been left strewn about Base Camp. We have since begun an initiative to help clean this beautiful area, and look forward to working cooperatively with locals and visiting climbers in the future.)
The climbing of Carstensz Pyramid is rather spectacular, with rock that just won’t let you go, even when it runs with rain water (and it rains every day.) The route initially climbs a series of 4th and low 5th class rock gullies before traversing along the narrow summit ridge and over several small notches, toward the summit. The climbing involves mostly scrambling, with dramatic exposure and a few short sections of mid 5th class climbing. Fixed lines and a Tyrolean traverse bypass many of the difficulties. Even with rain, fog and a bit of snowfall, and the altitude, it remains an imminently do-able adventure.
After a long day of effort, two of us - including 17-year old Sara - reached the summit, and all of us returned tired but unscathed. Still some distance from the summit, with the lateness of hour and deteriorating weather on our shoulders, Tuck and I, as guides, made the choice to split the team: Sara and I headed for the summit, with the expectation that we would catch the remainder of the team just before the Tyrolean, and rejoin to complete the descent. Even with more than two hundred high altitude peaks between the two of us, guiding thousands of climbers on hundreds and hundreds of climbs, decisions like this remind us that professional mountain guiding is a most serious profession.
Sara’s dad, Bill (who climbed phenomenally well), and I plan to return to Ugimba in the following six months to help the Ugimba Moni explore options for healthy community development. Bill and I were both strongly and positively impacted by the Ugimba people who helped make this adventure a reality for our team. As we continue to support the development of local enterprise and promote the rights of indigenous peoples both to develop tourism and maintain their traditional lifestyles and customs, we invite you to follow us. I will be posting monthly at http://climbcarstensz.wordpress.com.
RMI Guide Alex Van Steen
I have seen the above comments that others has given and read the comments that describes about Carstensz Pyramid Expedition. I congrats you for proving the such a wonderful information.
Posted by: Climb Carstensz Pyramid on 5/16/2014 at 4:26 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
The last guided climb of the Denali 2012 season is done and down. Safe. But, without a summit, which happens sometimes. We got together in Talkeetna way back at the end of June—eight climbers and four guides—and we talked strategy and packed gear and we were issued permits. And, since the weather was a little sloppy, we didn’t fly immediately. Instead, we ate some more and drank some more and talked a bit more strategy. But on the 29th of June, we did get to fly into the Alaska Range and of course it was worth the wait.
As is always the case in late season, we’d been concerned as to how well put-together the lower glacier might be, but a few minutes flight over the Kahiltna in a de Havilland Otter convinced us it had been a good year for snow. Once on the ground (7,200 feet on the Southest Fork of the Kahiltna) we reviewed glacier travel techniques and waited for the middle of the night so as to allow the glacier surface to freeze solid. It did just that and we moved out early the next morning. We made pretty decent progress those first days… camp at 7,800 feet, move to 9,500 feet, migrate on up to 11,000 feet. As always, we started doing “carries” at 11,000 feet… climbing high and sleeping low so as to let our bodies catch up to the altitude. The gang was healthy and doing great and the weather was workable… if not stable. It was snowy and cloudy somewhere each and every day… just not exactly on top of us, and so we were able to make good use of the days.
The mountain got a lot more interesting as we left the valleys and ventured up onto the ridges on our move to Genet Basin at 14,200 feet. We “caught up” to about a dozen guide parties from other companies there and everybody was still optimistic about climbing high and making the top. We’d been on the mountain for a week at that point. But it started snowing. And then it seriously started snowing. Teams began to run out of food and fuel and quit the mountain. Then it snowed about two feet in 24 hours and we had an avalanche problem. The problem was that we believed there was instability on the steep slopes we needed to climb up in order to make any progress and there was no solution but to wait for stability. Which didn’t come.
We needed hot, sunny days to settle the problem and instead we got day after day of a little more cloud, snow and wind. Teams quit and descended… one after another. Finally, we teamed up with the last two guided parties on the hill to bust trail and evaluate hazard and perhaps find a way to the “fixed ropes” leading to the crest of the West Buttress. The mission took all day and required some dicey belays across “whumping” snow, but it resulted in a workable and safe track to the ropes… we were back in business. Until it snowed that night and the next morning.
Back at square one with a new hazard and no track. The other guided teams quit the mountain that day and we stayed another two days in a last attempt at getting some sort of good luck. But that didn’t come, just more snow and more clouds and more predictions for snow and clouds. We spent about 12 days at 14,200 feet and then we turned our backs on the summit and started busting trail down through the powder. Things got easier as we got lower on the mountain and we were at the SE Fork again by morning of our 19th day on the hill. And the weather cleared magnificently then… allowing a view of the summit we hadn’t reached, but also making the flight off possible.
Showers and dinners and drinks and beds in Talkeetna were pretty good, even without a summit. We’ll get it next time.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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Rob, Jodie, & Ashlynn - We are holding down the fort here and are very excited to follow your trip there! Be careful and safe and have a great trip!
Posted by: Cheryl and Dee on 7/25/2012 at 5:57 am
Scotty Boy! Have fun! Mary Donna is sad, but we will follow your progress as we sit on the beach in St Thomas.
Ang.
Posted by: angela on 7/24/2012 at 6:28 pm
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