Hi!
Not much to report today, folks. We took a rest day at Base Camp, in preparation of tomorrow's move. Packing food and gear, and rigging our ascension hardware took most of the morning. After another great lunch from our cooks, the afternoon was spent resting to tea and snacks, and even some ventured to the shower tent for the first time. The plan is to move to Depot Camp tomorrow morning and spend the night there, and then carry and move to Camp 1... the excitement is on!!!
Stay tuned for our first news from the glacier,
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team.
Hello, this is Eric Frank checking in from the bivouac below Winnie's Slide on the Fisher Chimneys Route of Mt. Shuksan. After all the rain of last week, the skies have turned blue and we climbed up the Chimneys under a full sun today. Thanks for following and expect a call from the top tomorrow.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
It is safari time!
Starting at about 2:00 a.m., the team went in many directions - Europe, Kenya, the Serengeti, and here to the lovely Plantation Lodge. After a delicious breakfast at the Dik Dik, we traveled to Lake Manyara National Park. What a perfect introduction to the wonderful world of game viewing?! It took a little over an hour from the town of Arusha before we popped the tops on our Land Cruisers and let nature engulf us. We only about 2,000 pictures in our four hours of exploring this magical area. Just before we left the park our mascot, the dik dik (the third smallest of the antelope family), made an appearance and brought us and brought us to our photo quota for the day.
The eighth wonder of the world is top on the list for tomorrow...Ngorongoro Crater. We are positioned just outside of the crater here at Plantation Lodge. I am sure we will have an amazing day of game viewing. It hardly seems that we were standing atop Kilimanjaro a few days go! can't wait!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
And the progress uphill has started! We made a carry today to Depot Camp, right at the edge of the glacier, where we deposited some hardware, gas, tents, boots...Our goal is to have our kit in position where we need it, without having to carry it every time. As expected, the first venture into the 6000m vicinity was exhausting, and the "morrainy" terrain contributes to it. However making progress, laying eyes on the route, and continuing with the acclimating process is all a great payback.
Our strong Sherpa team continued until close to Camp 1 (they are the first ones to set foot on Shishapangma this season) and had success finding a good passage through the massive penitentes field that we have to cross just after Depot Camp. Imagine a moon-like area that presents some of the most intricate climbing of our route, that is what we will have to cross shortly after leaving Depot Camp.
We're now enjoying a rest while our cooks Purna and Aital finish preparing our dinner. With our yak drivers gone until our departure in a month, only another small team of 3 French and 1 Australian (with their couple Sherpa and cooks) are issued to climb here this season here. It's definitely an off the beaten path mountain!
Wishing you all well,
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
Art, this must surely be the climb of all climbs for you. I am practically holding my breath reading this and looking forward to the team’s daily progress. Go team!
Posted by: Betty (Art's sister) on 9/14/2016 at 5:07 am
Jarrett:
Excited to hear of your progress to the glacier. Can’t wait to hear more! The “assault” on Bonneville was mixed. We beat the old G/CPRO record but the car’s ignition system broke up at 7500 in fifth gear on the return run. Better luck on your attempt
Posted by: Rick Deerwester on 9/14/2016 at 3:37 am
Another day of perfect weather on Kilimanjaro. A bit of a tired team to get going this morning but with the finish line in sight, rally we did. After a great breakfast, we had a nice group celebration for the local crew. We made a quick 4,000-foot descent to the exit gate and then another couple hours to lap of luxury here at the Dik Dik Hotel. Excellent celebration banquet brought us to the late hours and packing for the safari start tomorrow, which is our next adventure. All is well, full bellies, rosy-red cheeks, lots of fond memories, a bed, and a shower, what more could you want.
We are so lucky.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Good evening from Shishapangma Base Camp! What a day... beautiful blue skies, no winds and a bright sun seemed like the prize we were awarded for yesterday's journey on not-such-fun conditions. A somewhat restless night (it was our first of many nights at 5,600m) gave way to excitement building up as our Sherpa team started to get our puja altar together for a nice morning ceremony. Climbing in the Himalaya without an offering or asking permission to the divine, is considered a sacrilege. The rest of the day was dedicated to getting acquainted at Base Camp, organizing gear, and receiving the second yak load (we have so much gear, that some of our kit had to wait yesterday.) We're heading to dinner as we speak. Tomorrow we're taking a walk to the so called "crampon point" or Depot Camp, in order to cache some gear and continue to build on our acclimatization process. Everyone is doing well, and eager to start climbing!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Hi, this is Eric Frank calling from the summit of Mount Shuksan. We had a cold and windy, but enjoyable, morning climbing up here today. It is gorgeous! We can see into southern Canada, over the city of Vancouver, out at Mount Baker, and even down all the way to Mount Rainier. We feel pretty fortunate to have the views that we have today. We will talk to everyone soon.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank calls in from the Mount Shuksan summit.
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb, led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Nick Hunt, made a successful summit at around 7:30 this morning. Dave reported cold conditions with 10mph winds blowing from the north. With favorable weather, the teams were able to spend an hour on the summit prior to starting their descent.
This week’s Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir headed up the snowfield this morning. They will spend the week learning many expedition skills and finishing with a summit bid later in the week.
And we're at base camp!
Long day we had today through the plains of Tibet, but it was worth it. After two days acclimating at Driver's Camp, and the preceding three days driving across this vast land, being finally at Shishapangma Base Camp seems like an accomplishment already... And we haven't even started!!! At any rate, the 12 miles over 17,000ft we covered provided incredible views of rustic terrain, but also some headaches and a fight against grapple at mid day. An inch of snow coveted camp upon our arrival, and the light of the moon reflecting on the now cloud free slopes of Shishapangma, seems to also light our desire to climb.
Everyone is in bed now, enjoying a well deserved rest. We're having our puja tomorrow, and we'll dedicate to rest and get used to the new elevation.
Stay tuned,
RMI Guide ElÃas and team
September 11, 2016 - 11:06 am PT
Summit day or I should say night was greeted with clear and breezy weather. It all begins around midnight and as we climbed for a few hours the cold had set in and we were layered in most the clothing we'd brought. When the sun rose, we were at the crater rim looking up to see the high point, Uhuru Peak, across from us and part way around the rim. Down behind us we could see the monster of a mountain we had just climbed. We made it to the summit and hung out there taking pics and enjoying the scenery. I tell all my climbers, it's not the summit, but the journey that is the reward. And I believe that to be true. But the feeling of reaching the summit is sure the cherry on top and this one was no exception. It's a gift and we were all thrilled to have the time to take in the view and our own accomplishments. It was a great effort by all, as we left the crater rim and made the descent to our last mountain camp, Mweka at 10,000'. Sleep tonight was earned. It's now 24 hours since I last closed my eyes. All is well. Good night.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
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GO JARRETT! We’re all routing for you and the entire TEAM!
Posted by: kea capel on 9/15/2016 at 9:31 am
Hello, grettings from Spain!
Goog luck to al the team members!
Posted by: Martin de Andres on 9/15/2016 at 7:53 am
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