Entries from Expedition Dispatches
The
Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by
RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Seth reported clear skies above with moderate winds and cool temperature. There is a cloud deck below at approximately 7,500'. The teams began their descent from the crater rim at 7 am en route to Camp Muir. The teams will continue their descent to Paradise and we look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Hello everyone!
Today has been a day of a little work and a lot of rest. We woke up to a delightful breakfast of bagels with cream cheese and bacon and after some casual conversation it was time to go retrieve our 10,000' cache. All was well except for a minor raven attack......thankfully the only casualty was a bag of ramen noodles. It was a 3 hour round trip and before long folks were back to relaxing and drinking glacier fresh water. Our plan for the rest of the day is to keep hydrating and get ready to carry a load to
13,500 ft tomorrow. Stay tuned as we continue our slow but steady climb up this giant pile of rock and ice.
RMI Guide Ben Liken
On The Map
We had a very nice and relaxing stay at the Hacienda Chilcabamba, enjoying excellent food, great views of
Cotopaxi, magnificent star gazing, and warmth from wood stoves.
Well fed and rested, now we're headed to the climbers' hut on
Cotopaxi where we'll review climbing techniques and prepare for our summit bid. Hopefully the weather cooperates; so far it hasn't disappointed.
We'll check in again tomorrow to keep everyone up to date.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
RMI Guide Tyler Jones radioed at 7 am with his Four Day Summit Climb on their descent after reaching the summit of Mt. Rainier earlier this morning. Tyler reported moderate winds and a cloud cap on the summit. As the teams descended they were reaching the base of the clouds. The second Four Day Summit Climb team led by Geoff Schellens was also descending with Tyler.
The
Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer reached the crater rim around 7:30 am. The team was going to spend to a few minutes on top before starting their descent. They will return to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Good morning from Club Andino Hotel in Huaraz!
Well, here we are, loading the bus and onto the trailhead. A 1 1/2 hour drive and a 4 to 5 hour hike await for us today. In our minds, the
Ishinca Valley Base Camp. Everybody is doing well, the minor headaches from arriving to Huaraz (10,000ft) are gone, and excietment is palpable in everyone.
We'll be checking again from our tents the next time. Best regards from Huaraz.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
July 2, 2014 - 12:09 am PT
Thank you for all of the blog comments. It is great to hear from everyone back home and it is always reinvigorating.
Today we got to sleep in and then scurried down to our cache above
Windy Corner. It was nice to be reunited with our food, clean underwear and base layers that we left buried in the snow for a few days. We then spent the afternoon doing some kitchen redesign, fixed line training and more sorting of food.
Tomorrow is an exciting day! We will get to see some more challenging and exciting terrain-- carrying to the top of the fixed lines!
RMI Guide Adam Knoff and Team
On The Map
July 1, 2014 - 11:13 pm PT
Today was a relatively easy move for the team. We were walking out of our 9,000' camp at 7 AM when things were crisp and cold. The track was in pretty good condition due to the number of teams that had been over it in the preceding 24 hours and our loads were light. We began in clear conditions but by the time we reached the big right hand turn at
Kahiltna Pass, we were in cloud. Passing our cached gear at 10,000', we began the more serious hills leading to 11 camp. The team rolled into camp at around 11:30 AM and set to smoothing out tent platforms. Right about then it began to snow, just as had been predicted. There are at least a half dozen other guided teams in camp, a few more than we expected to see, but most are staffed by friends and acquaintances. The team took a well-earned rest for the afternoon.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
The
Alpamayo team had another great day. Early this morning we caught a bus, along with the
Peru - Expedition Skills Seminar, an hour out of town and went for an acclimatization hike to just over 14,000'. The scenery was stunning and sporadic hail from passing clouds added spice to the walk. After a few hours we found ourselves next to an alpine lake at the base of a snow covered face. Incredible! This evening we ventured into the heart of Huaraz to buy a few last minute items, and indulge in locally caught trout on the main plaza.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Buenas tardes from Huaraz!
What a day we had! We were greeted by a sunny morning in
Huaraz, with excellent views of the Huascaran and Copa mountains right from our hotel. After breakfast, we headed without hesitation to the "Laguna Churup" trailhead for a morning stroll (which by the way, felt really good after two days of flying and riding a bus.) It was the perfect acclimatization hike, since we were taken from 0' to 10,000' by a bus, so exercising a bit at this elevation we found very beneficial. From the trailhead at 13,000' we hiked a good 2 1/2 hours towards this glacial lake at around 14,400' (oddly enough, similar height of
Mount Rainier) and we all got a better chance to start getting to know each other a bit better. Governed by "Nevado Churup", a small but steep peak on the southern end of the Cordillera Blanca, the turquoise of its waters, inspired the better picture moments of the day. After a short snack, we began our descent to the trailhead. Once back in town, we run the logistics of buying some extra snack food, a couple gear items and final arrangements with our outfitter to hit the trail towards Ishinca Valley tomorrow at 8am sharp.
Our next dispatch will be from Base Camp and from our satphone. Best regards to everyone back home!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
We had another great day today, hiking up to the climbers' hut on the Ilinizas at an altitude of 15,500'. The weather, once again, was very cooperative and we had great views of Cotopaxi and the
Ilinizas. Afternoon clouds produced some showers, but not until we were already back at our van and driving down from the trail head. Now we're headed to the beautiful Hacienda Chilcabamba to rest for the night. We'll be in touch again tomorrow.
RMI Guide
Mike Walter & Team
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Congratulations my family goes tomorrow, Mom from South Carolina
Posted by: Beverly on 7/4/2014 at 11:43 am
What a feat. Looking forward to hearing all about it. Big hug - Banana (haha UJ!)
Posted by: Ann on 7/4/2014 at 12:55 am
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