Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'
An easy and slightly surreal day for the team, after so much walking and dealing with discomfort... to be thoroughly inactive, waited upon and flat out comfortable in the luxurious dining tent at Union Glacier.
The team wasn't visibly anxious to be missing out on exercise, nor did anyone seem worried over whether the Ilyushin airplane would fly on time. We sat, we ate, we concurred. Life is good. There was a persistent and slight breeze blowing all day long at the Union Glacier camp, but the air temperature is so warm (compared to anywhere on Vinson) that we routinely walked from tent to tent without gloves or jackets, crunching along on well-packed snow.
If all goes well, the plane will fly from Punta Arenas tomorrow and the RMI Vinson team will head back to South America and a victory feast with Seth Waterfall. I'll stay in to greet the next RMI Vinson team and get started on a new adventure. Many thanks to those who have followed our trip for the past two weeks. Your comments were passed on to us (we don't surf the web, but we exchange email with RMI headquarters) and produced many smiles on twelve sunburned faces.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Hi RMI,
We gathered with about 30 other climbers this morning for our pre-trip briefing with ALE. Mike Sharp, one of the owners, gave a very detailed presentation about what is going to happen over the next few days. As you might imagine, logistics for getting to the "bottom of the world" are complex. Even though we have already traveled thousands of miles to get to Punta Arenas, we have about 2,000 more miles to fly and two different airplane types to go before we get to Vinson Basecamp. Covering everything from flight plans to arial maps of Union Glacier and the climbing route to ways for dealing with the extreme cold, it is critical information to know before we fly out of here and land in the middle of Antarctica.
After the meeting, we weighed our bags and sent them off to the airplane so they can be loaded and ready for our flight.
Weather permitting, we are planning for an early flight tomorrow, with the airport transfer scheduled for 7:00 am. Next dispatch will hopefully be from Union Glacier.
All the best,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
Hello, this is Eric Frank and the Ecuador crew checking in from climber's hut here on Cayambe at 15,300'. The sun's just gone down and we had a pretty restful day. We slept late this morning, had a big breakfast, and then climbed for about an hour and a half to get up to the toe of the glacier. We trained for a couple hours, talked about the climb and then came back to have a big dinner. We're hoping to be in bed in the next thirty minutes. And we'll be getting up in the middle of the night to make our attempt to climb Cayambe. So check back tomorrow, hopefully will be giving a call down sometime in the mid morning to early afternoon to let everyone know how things are going. Have a great night.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank checks in from Cayambe.
Looks like Kristen and Chris made it. It looks beautiful. Glad to see everyone is OK. Love to all and stay safe.
Posted by: SaSa on 12/17/2012 at 8:30 pm
Hi Scott & Kelly,
looks like you have a great team and leader to take on the summit. I am so glad the weather has been good. Excited to see the pics from the summit. Keep on treking…
Keith
Posted by: Keith Kite on 12/17/2012 at 6:37 am
Posted by: JJ Justman, Geoff Schellens
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000'
Hey all, this is Geoff and JJ with Aconcagua Team One. We are currently back at Camp Two after an acclimatization hike up to 20,000' today. Moderate winds, a cloud cap pretty heavy this morning, breaking up this afternoon, pretty clear now with still some winds hanging in there. We are all doing well and everybody's happy and we are just waiting for a good weather forecast come our way, which would be great. That's all for now, bye.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens with today's update.
Good Luck to the whole team and if I don’t get back to you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS…from the Olympia Branch of the Mountaineers….Be safe Have fun take lots of pictures!!!
Posted by: Jamer Lange on 12/16/2012 at 4:39 pm
Hello again from Ecuador. Today we are greeted with a beautifully, clear sky and amazing views of Cayambe looming far above us. We packed up all of our climbing gear, and loaded up the vehicles and headed into the town of Otavalo. Otavalo is home to one of the largest open-air markets in all of South America. The team spent about 2 hours shopping and trying out our bargaining skills with the locals. From the sounds of it, some of us did better than others. After town we started our two-hour drive through the beautiful countryside of Cayambe. The road slowly climbs up the ridge line that allows us access to this massive mountain. Due to the tough conditions of the road, we hiked the last little bit, which helped out with our acclimatization process. We are currently relaxing in the Cayambe's climbers hut at about 15,300' that overlooks a lot of the many glaciers here. The team is doing great and everyone's ready to go to bed after an enjoyable dinner of pasta, vegetables and chicken. To top it all off, we were treated to an amazing sunset tonight that reminded me of the sunsets in central Oregon. Buenes noches and we look forward to checking in with you guys tomorrow. Have a good night.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Casey Grom checks in the Cayambe Hut.
On The Map
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'
There was a wind blowing in the night at high camp. It was just a few miles per hour, but it was steady and we'd been exceedingly lucky in not having any wind for four days up high, so it was a worry. But a needless worry, since by morning it was gone. We ate, we packed and by ten in the morning we were walking downhill with great big packs. Everybody was thinking about getting those big packs down the steep fixed ropes... the last real obstacle to our safety, but we caught those ropes and slopes in perfect condition. They were still in shadow and the tracks of teams that had descended several days earlier were still in perfect condition and useful as stairs. We made it to our old digs at low camp in just a few hours, packed and repacked there and then plodded down the Branscomb Glacier toward Basecamp. Cresting the final hill, we saw two Twin Otter airplanes sitting patiently and waiting to take us away. This was a pleasant surprise as we hadn't really discussed an exit strategy yet with ALE, our logistics company. At Basecamp by four in the afternoon, we shuffled duffels and boarded the planes. Some of us were treated to a magnificent scenic flight as the pilot performed a mountain reconnaissance for future climbs on our way back to Union Glacier. The Twin spiraled around one Matterhorn after another and dove through tight v-shaped passes. A smooth landing at Union got us in just in time for dinner. A wonderful dinner, whilst sitting in chairs, with backs. True luxury. We caught up with fellow climbers from the mountain (who we hadn't seen for days) and with the wonderful staff at ALE. Life is considerably warmer and easier at Union Glacier, and the team is excited about being a step closer to home, but we're all still buzzing over the mountain that we lived on for the last nine days. And climbed.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
HW: Great to know you are be step closer to home. Hope you will be ale to fly to Punta Arenas soon. We had a lot of fun at the birthday party. Love, -Fan
Posted by: Fan on 12/16/2012 at 6:22 pm
Sterling, The plane ride sounded like it might have been another highlight of this trip. We hope to see you New Years Day. Have a great trip home.
Posted by: Dave & Shirley on 12/16/2012 at 10:43 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
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Our second Vinson trip of the season has officially started. After some fairly long flights and a few delays, we all arrived in Punta Arenas yesterday. Fortunately all our gear has also arrived.
With all the excitement of a new adventure starting and the fact that it does not get dark here until almost 11:00 pm, it was well after midnight before we decided to call it a day.
Since there was not a whole lot on the agenda today, we took full advantage of this by sleeping in and having a late breakfast.
We finished up the last of our equipment needs by checking out a few of the local gear shops and a stop at the grocery store to buy some additional snack food. At the same time we able to explore a little bit of this neat little town.
With our bags more or less packed up, we headed out for a nice dinner at La Marmita. The food is incredible here and it is no wonder why it sits at the top of the restaurant list for Punta Arenas.
Tomorrow we will have our briefing with ALE (Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions), to go over the details of our flight to Vinson and the rules of climbing in such a remote and pristine environment.
Will check-in tomorrow.
All the best,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
Posted by: JJ Justman, Geoff Schellens
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000'
Hello everyone at the RMI blog site for Team One here on Aconcagua. Wanted to give you a little bit of an update as far as what we are up to. First of all the team is doing absolutely great. We actually moved our camp to Camp Two at 18,000' and we are nestled in, tents are up. We've already had a round of hot drinks and now we are just resting and relaxing. We always want to be optimistic, but to let you know a little bit of the weather forecast that we have. It is not looking that great. The winds are picking up, there is a big lenticular right now over the summit, and they are calling for incredibly strong winds for the next 4 to 5 days. However, you never know if those forecasts are wrong so we are hunkered down here, our tents are nice and solid. So, the winds are not as strong down here as they are up high. So everyone is doing great, but this is part of big mountain expedition climbing. Little bit of a waiting game and that's what we need to do is just kind of see what Mother Nature gives us, so we've got high hopes. And we'll basically give a call tomorrow and get a little more updates on the weather and see what's happening. But for right now. Everyone's doing great, and we'll check back in tomorrow and let you know what we're up to. Most likely maybe a walk up towards high camp. And a little more resting and recovery. So take care everyone. Will talk again soon. Ciao from Argentina.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
JJ Justman check in from Guanacos Camp, 18,000' on Aconcagua
On The Map
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Elevation: 16,067'
Back to perfect weather. We made the summit of Mt. Vinson one more time today. Just a small rope team to get the final climber -who rested yesterday- up to see the sights. And there were unlimited sights to be seen. The entire Ellsworth chain was visible from end to end and beyond, at least two hundred miles of jagged peaks and endless ice. There wasn't any wind at all on the summit today, so it was the most comfortable -30 C one is ever likely to see. We made the top in 6 hours and 45 minutes, spent a half hour up there saying "wow" over and over, and descended to high camp in two hours. Seth Waterfall and the rest of the team took things easy at high camp throughout a nice long sunny day, snacking and catching up on hydration. Tomorrow we'll all drop back down the mountain and begin the journey home.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
CONGRATULATIONS RMI TEAM!
Posted by: Fred Klingbeil on 12/15/2012 at 3:21 pm
HW: Very happy for the whole team to reach 100% success rate. I hope you have taken many pictures at high camp today. Wish for good weather so you can come down and fly out soon. Kudos to Dave for going up the summit two days in a row to make sure everyone could summit! Over here, we had a fun birthday party for M today with 10 kids coming. Please stay safe. Love, -Fan
Posted by: Fan on 12/15/2012 at 12:14 pm
Things are winding down for the night here at the beautiful Hacienda San Luis -
The team had a big day. By 8am we had eaten breakfast and loaded our duffels into the bus transporting us for the day. A two hour bus ride brought us north of Quito to our second acclimatization climb on Cerro Negro, 13,976 feet. Despite being lower then our previous days climb, the team found the terrain quite challenging. The trail led us up some slippery, nearly vertical sections of grass and short bits of rock climbing before the summit cone. On top we were treated with clear skies and stunning views of a nearby lake. We all felt that we had put in a hard days work by the time we returned to the bus 3.5 hours later.
After stopping for some roadside refreshments, we arrived at Hacienda San Luis, a working Ecuadorian ranch that also boasts modern amenities. We spent the afternoon relaxing, getting gear in order and catching up with the outside world.
We hope all is well and appreciate everyone who is following along on our adventure.
RMI Guide Eric Frank and the Ecuador Team.
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Thanks to you Dave & Seth and the whole RMI team. Sterling had a wonderful experience.
Sue
Posted by: Sue Foreman on 12/17/2012 at 9:39 pm
Dear Dave & Seth: Thank you very much for taking the time to write all those informative blogs every day after a hard day of climbing in extreme cold. They were the first things I checked for in the morning and last things I read at night. They made me feel like part of the expedition (albeit in the comfort of our home), living the ups and downs of our loved ones through your postings. Thanks for guiding another successful climb! Happy Holidays! -Fan
Posted by: Fan on 12/17/2012 at 7:46 pm
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