Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Hello from Mt. Kilimanjaro.
It was a great day for our team and a good start to our climb. We had a smooth departure from the lowlands of Arusha as we left the Dik Dik Hotel and headed to the mountain. Our local mountain staff and climbing team gathered at the Machame Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park (5,900') to register our climb and begin our ascent. We started climbing with low clouds above which remained for the majority of the day. It did not rain but we had our rain gear close just in case. We arrived at Camp One, Machame Camp, 9,800' and have finished dinner. We also had a special celebration for team member Brian's birthday. Our staff sang a fine version happy birthday and we all enjoyed a bit of cake.
It is nice to get on the trail, get our feet underneath us and start our mountain adventure. We are looking forward to more tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Hello everyone, this is Elias and the Alpamayo Climbing team Thursday the 24th. It is 9:45 local time and we are calling from Camp 2. Guess what? We just summited this morning. We didn't have a chance to call from the summit, it's a pretty gnarly ridge, pretty exposed and there were some winds. We were a six person team, all the climbers Tony, Kenzie, Parker and Peter made it up. So pulling the sat phone out was a little bit out of the question. But we are psyched. We had an awesome climb. These guys were super strong and climbed really, really quick and efficient. Like I said we are back at camp, safe and sound.
We are looking forward to starting our descent. The plan is now to take a couple hours rest here and pack it up and initiate our descent to base camp where our cook, Emile, we hopefully be waiting with a nice meal, really well earned.
That is pretty much it for now. As an antidote, we would like to share that, we had a chance, to high five reknown Swiss climber Ueli Steck who was climbing here in the Cordillera Blanca and happened to climb Alpamayo today. It was pretty nice to see him climb next to us and, of course, smoked us on the way up. But hey, he's a different league, and we feel pretty satisfied with the job done. We were the first one's out of camp, the first one's on the summit and the first one's down back to camp.
We are reporting incredible weather, incredible views and everybody is psyched.
And if you stay tuned we will be checking in tonight when we arrive back at Base Camp, out of the glacier and ready to return to Huaraz tomorrow. That's it from me right now and thanks to all of you who have been following us. We will check in tonight when we are out of the mountains.
RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos checks in after reaching the summit of Alpamayo.
The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Zeb Blais and Jake Beren were unable to make a summit attempt of Mt. Rainier this morning due to weather conditions. Jake reported steady winds of 50 mph overnight with gusts to 70 mph. As of 7:30 am conditions had improved slightly with decreased winds and partial clearing. Snow accumulation at Muir was estimated at 6-10 inches.
The teams will depart Camp Muir around 9:15 en route to Paradise and then continue down to Rainier BaseCamp in Ashford.
Hello from Mt. Elbrus! Our team awoke from a good nights sleep to a beautiful, clear sunny day. After a great Russian breakfast with great American Starbucks coffee we threw our spikes on and went for a walk.
The higher you get the slower things become. As our team approached 15,000 feet many of us began to feel the air getting just a bit thinner. However, we accomplished the goal and the high altitude was a great welcome for us to become stronger for summit day.
Everyone did a great job and even though towards the end it got a little tougher, everyone is having fun and in good spirits. However, no one is still laughing at any of my jokes!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
Hi Everyone,
Yesterday we hiked past Lake Ann and climbed 3rd and 4th class terrain to our bivy site at 5700'. The weather was generally cooperative, with light to moderate rain showers coming in and out.
The weather today is less accommodating; after a pleasantly dry breakfast we got back in our tents as heavy rain moved in. So, we're taking advantage of some down time to rest and hopefully we'll have a crack at climbing tomorrow.
This rain event is very unusual for July in the Cascades, and we're hopeful that we'll get back to the standard fare of sunshine.
RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Our team has gathered in Arusha, Tanzania and we are sorting our gear, weighing our mountain duffels and getting ready to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro! We also took a little time for golfing and goofing around. We need to get away from this lap of luxury we find ourselves in and start climbing, we are eating way to much.
Tomorrow we will wake early, enjoy our last restaurant meal for a while and then take a drive to the Machame Gate. Here we will register our team with the Kilimanjaro National Park, don our packs and begin our climb toward the Roof of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Way to go Brian & Christy. Anxious to see pictures.
Posted by: Jeff & Anita Sheridan on 7/25/2014 at 3:59 pm
Happy belated birthday, Brian! Enjoy it all!
Posted by: Karen Easterday on 7/24/2014 at 8:13 pm
Hello this is the Alpamayo climbing team and the word is we are climbing tonight. It is Wednesday. 3:00 PM local time and we decide to take a rest day today as we arrived yesterday up here. And all is well, we're pretty excited. Tony, Parker, Kenzie, and Pete are really strong, healthy, and ready to go. So we will hopefully keep you updated from the summit tomorrow sometime in the early morning and... yeah. You can probably hear our voice from the top of Alpamayo. We'll initiate soon afterwards our descent and the goal we be to actually make it to base camp but that is yet to be seen. [Broken] Hopefully we'll have good news for you. That's all for now, we're going to go to bed pretty soon here and we'll check in tomorrow. Bye.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos checks in from high camp on Alpamayo.
We just got word that you successfully summited! Way to go team. We are in awe of this magical experience. Can’t wait to celebrate over Face-time with you. Now focus on getting down safely.
Posted by: Rhea Campbell & Alex Lickerman on 7/24/2014 at 10:05 am
Hello -
We are checking in live from the huts on Mt. Elbrus at a grand altitude of 12,001 feet. We have settled into our cozy home with gear and clothing splayed out all over!
The team took a hike up to 13,104 feet today and we returned for a great lunch made by our Executive Chef Masha. I'm not lying when I say we had caviar...we did.
We are slowly adjusting to the new altitude. After doing this adventure year after year after year I firmly believe the reason why our teams do so well is our relaxed itinerary. Everyone is doing great and we are soaking in the beautiful mountain views.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
I am glad you are having a great time Damian! Mmm, caviar.. I am so jealous! Good luck and have fun!
Posted by: Leona Partridge on 7/23/2014 at 9:28 pm
It looks like an amazing day was had by all. Have a great adventure Damian.
Posted by: Melann Partridge on 7/23/2014 at 8:03 pm
Posted by: Win Whittaker, Tyler Reid
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,060'
The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Win Whittaker and Geoff Schellens were unable to make a summit attempt of Mt. Rainier due to poor weather. The teams experienced high winds, hail, rain and lightening overnight, fortunately they remained safely tucked in a Camp Muir.
The teams will start their descent from Camp Muir later this morning and will arrive at Paradise in the early afternoon.
Tyler Reid and the Expedition Skills Seminar Team - Emmons called from Camp Schurman. All is well with the group. They dressed to climb during a small weather window @ 2am this morning but were shut down by hail and lightning. They have around 4 inches of wet snow at Schurman. I estimated about a foot of new up high on the mountain and Tyler says it is probably more.
They are training intermittently today and will head down tomorrow morning.
Good Afternoon,
This is the Alpamayo Climbing Team calling from Camp 2. We had a really good climb to here this morning. We arrived a couple of hours ago. It is 4:00pm local time, everybody is enjoying some resting time in the tent. We are melting water right now; you can probably hear the stoves. The weather is really good - stable. We are looking at the face, we might be climbing tonight, but we are going to see how it goes through the afternoon before we make a decision before we go tonight. Or we might take a rest and do it the next day. We will keep you posted.
Everybody is doing well. That’s if for now, Elias’ is out. We will call again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Elias deAndres Martos & Team
Elias and Team Checking in from Camp 2 on Alpamayo
Thanks for the check in. We’re following your progress closely and hoping the weather continues to be good. Sounds like the team is strong and well. Enjoy the climb and we want to hear all about it!
Posted by: Rhea Campbell on 7/23/2014 at 1:08 pm
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Hi Lil one. Do you have vodka? When in Rome…
Posted by: Stacy on 7/25/2014 at 10:34 am
Hey sis…...proud of you keep up the good work. Just and FYI I will be one of the 50 closest friend of Kristina that will be at the all night kegger
.......don’t tell Kristina because she does not know…....shhhh!! Talk to you soon. Call when you can. I will inform dad of your progress.
Sandy
Posted by: Sandy on 7/24/2014 at 7:12 pm
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