Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Hello from Camp 2 on Mt. Elbrus,
Our plan for today was to wake up early to get a head start and try to get to
Camp 2 before the potential afternoon weather moved in. Well, this morning was not like the last three mornings. It was snowing pretty hard at camp, so we once again had a weather delay. This time though, our delay worked. By 9:30 the snow had stopped and most of the clouds had dissipated and we could actually see the twin summits. We were walking shortly after and made it to camp with beautiful weather. The clouds that did remain worked with the sun to create a perfect solar oven. The walk up was very hot and there was literally no escaping the heat until we reached camp.
We set up camp in the lower Lenz Rocks, 3000' above Camp 1. Fortunately, the weather cooperated while we established a camp that was ready for the windy reputation of Lenz Rocks.
If the weather continues to improve, tomorrow should be our summit day. We are all packed and the team is strong, healthy, and ready for our attempt.
We are now tucked into our tents just as the sun is setting over the western flanks of the mountain. The views just get better and better.
RMI Guides Jeff Martin and Pete Van Deventer and the Northside Team
On The Map
RMI Guide JJ Justman led the
Four Day Summit Climb Team to the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team reported beautiful weather and great route conditions. The team was climbing to raise money for
Washington's National Park Fund, what a great way to honor our National Parks.
Congratulations Team!
We had a nice relaxed departure from Karanga camp this morning. After just a few short hours on the trail we found our selves at our high camp on
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Barafu Camp. We are moving well today and the same steady tight team pulled into camp. We already emptied our packs and adjusted the load to ready for our summit attempt tonight.
We have our food packed for the summit and enjoyed a hot lunch at camp. We are relaxing this afternoon and taking a rest before an early dinner. After dinner we will try to get a few hours of sleep before our midnight wake up call and game on! The weather continues to stay nice, just a few low clouds now and again but no complaints here. The local support staff has yet to miss a beat and we really appreciate the help. Go team Go. Will try and call you from the top.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Greetings once again from
Camp 1. We woke up this morning to a bit of a mixed bag, with a large cloud cap spinning up high, but clear, sunny skies over camp. After dragging our feet over breakfast and watching the clouds, it seemed that things were moving in the right direction and dissipating. Once we decided the move was a go, the team did a fantastic job of crashing camp and getting packed for the move. Just as fast if not faster however, was the change in the weather trend. The clouds that had been dissipating rebuilt ever stronger, and we began to rethink our decision. After some more staring at the clouds, scuffing of feet, and sighing, we decided the prudent decision was to reset camp and take a rest day. Prudent that decision turned out to be: not long after the tents were back up, our wintry mix began to fall again, and within an hour or two, a repeat of our thunder and lightning storm from yesterday.
With a lot of tent time today, and weather persisting this evening, we decided to treat ourselves to a delicious
pasta dinner cooked by the camp cook, Olga. It was a nice break from the tents to share a meal, stories, and jokes around a table with a roof over our heads. With full bellies, we are retiring, with hopes that we wake up to a better scene tomorrow, and can continue our upward progress.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Jeff Martin, and team
On The Map
Come on baby! A couple more nice weather days for us and it can storm all it wants up here in the high country of Tanzania. It all boils down to needing a bit of luck when climbing big peaks like Kilimanjaro; when the mountain says no you need to listen. Even on climbs when you do not get to the top of are filled with events and memories that stick with you. I have great confidence that this entire team will stand on the roof of Africa, with safety leading the way. It is such a unique thing we do up high, to be allowed to stand on the summit is really icing on the cake. We take away an immense feeling of satisfaction on all climbs. The team has checked off all the prerequisite to get this done.
When we leave
Karanga Camp tomorrow morning, our summit push begins. We'll take a bit of a break at Barafu, the high camp, then up up and away! Man, this is exciting. All the prep work that has gone into this, the great support by all involved back home, is all making this last bunch of hours a reality. We promise to make you proud of what we do, impressed on how we did it, and thank for this beautiful mountain in supplying us this adventure. All is well at 13,000' on Kilimanjaro. We will check in with you tomorrow!
RMI Guide
Mark Tucker
On The Map
RMI Guides Billy Nugent and Lindsay Fixmer, along with the
Four Day Summit Climb, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Billy reported calm and beautiful conditions on the summit. The teams are descending to Camp Muir where they will spend some time before continuing on to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them back in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations!
We just wrapped up our 5 day
North Cascades Custom Climb in Boston Basin. Dan, Augie, and I took advantage of the excellent weather to get some serious climbing done on Sharkfin Tower, Sahale Mountain, and the West Ridge of Forbidden Peak. Special thanks to Dan and Augie for coming out to the Pacific Northwest to push their comfort zone with real alpine adventures and wild terrain. Let's do it again next year!
RMI Guide
Mike Walter
In the North Cascades of Washington, RMI Guide
Jake Beren and team reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan via the
Fisher Chimneys this morning. The team is back at high camp for the night and has been enjoying sunny, warm, and perfect weather.
Congratulations Climbers!
Hello from 3800 Assault Camp (as our Russian friends call it). Since we were reunited with all of our gear yesterday and had some time to contemplate the piles, today was the perfect day to once again bump up a portion of that gear to our next camp at
Lenz Rocks (about 15k). We woke to brilliant azure skies and cooler temps: perfect climbing weather. By 9 am we were donning harnesses and crampons, and clipping in to the climbing rope for the first time of the trip. The terrain below Lenz was our first snow climbing of the trip, and the conditions were perfect for cramponing. The group moved very well through the first stretch, but it began to feel like we were racing the weather a bit. First, a few errant clouds drifted across our climbing route on a light breeze, temporarily reducing our visibility. Then, just as we neared our destination, there was a distant rumble of thunder. At Lenz we didn't rush with our cache, using the time at a new altitude to help our acclimatization, but we didn't linger either. With our gear stored, we headed down into very low visibility and a couple of more distant rumbles. We moved very well downhill with light packs and some motivation, ultimately beating the weather to camp. Not long after we were tucked into tents snacking, the first flash of lightning alerted us that the storm had arrived. We sat, counting the seconds between flashes and cracks, listening to the tattoo of hail and graupel on the tent walls. By dinner time things had calmed down, and we ate dessert while watching spectacular colors play on the clouds as the sun set. We are hoping that our luck with the weather continues, and that tomorrow will give us the opportunity to move camp once again. We'll be in touch tomorrow.
RMI Guide
Pete Van Deventer,
Jeff Martin, and Crew
Yet another nice day. A bit breezy as we approached our high point of the trip so far. Altitude records for most, than a couple thousand feet descent into
Barranco Camp home for the night. The team continues to do just what they should to move smooth and efficient. We pulled into camp nice and early, so much so that we even took a short hike to a waterfall and the base of the Barranco Wall, the first part of our climb tomorrow. Mixed in the team is a couple of families; fathers, daughters and sons, even an uncle. Great to see them out in the hills and having a gas. A few clouds have moved in obscuring a view of the upper mountain but we may get lucky in the next hour to get a few photos of the peak in the beautiful alpine glow condition we can be rewarded with for such an effort put forth.
RMI Guide
Mark Tucker & Team
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Hi rob. I am praying for safety for you and team. I am so proud of you. Stay strong. Love you so much
Posted by: brendie on 8/12/2014 at 4:18 am
Climb strong Team Elbrus…..almost there…...
Posted by: LD Carani on 8/11/2014 at 8:47 pm
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