Entries from Expedition Dispatches
100% on top!
Everyone reached the highest point of Europe.
The team did a wonderful job of taking care of themselves and climbed strong all day. We summitted just after 7am in pretty good weather with views of the Caucasus Mountains.
After everyone returned to camp, we had a quick lunch and then packed up to head down valley to our hotel at the base of the mountain.
Everyone is in high spirits and feeling great after some much needed hot showers.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the summit team!
On The Map
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Alex Halliday
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Mike Haugen and Alex Halliday reached the summit this morning at 8:45 a.m. The guides quoted, "It was a beautiful day to climb Mt. Rainier!" The team will spend some time on top before starting their descent back down to Paradise.
After a breezy start to last night the wind stop and a million stars made for an great view. Same clear skies this morning affording the glaciers and ice fields hanging at impossible angles overhead. We started a bit later giving some extra rest and a chance for some of the other teams to get ahead of us on the main challenge for the day- right out of camp the Barranco Wall. Most of it feels like steep hiking but a few places require the use of hands to help us ascend. After pulling through one set of ledgers to another, making for great photos, we were on top. A few more hours of hiking some and then some downhill had us here at our next camp, Karanga. This camp is a couple hundred feet higher than last camp. A beautiful spot that overlooks the valley it is named after. The team is in great shape and high spirits.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Thanks for the photos! They help me know what’s ahead of me. So much for this being just an easy walk! Great job guys!
Posted by: Mary Crafts on 7/20/2019 at 11:21 pm
Love the updates! So happy for you all! I hope you’re having an amazing time! ❤️
Posted by: KERI LEHMAN on 7/20/2019 at 4:29 pm
Good morning everyone.
Guess what? We're at high camp! We traveled at night today to take advantage of the colder temps and to avoid the thawing ice that, when hit by the sun, might naturally shed some pieces.
Climbing the "Canaleta" (gully) at night, with a heavy pack is no joke. We're talking steeper and harder terrain than the standard route on Denali, with no fixed lines and at Aconcagua height!!! Our team is kicking butt.
We're now camped and settled in for the day, in hopes of good weather tonight to go for the 900 meters that separate us from the top of the Highest Glaciated Peak in the western Hemisphere.
Follow along!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Good luck!!! Way to go to get to high camp!
Wish I was there!
Kim K.
Posted by: Kim k on 7/20/2019 at 1:14 pm
WOO HOOO! That’s incredible! Thank you Elias!
Posted by: Laura Bryson on 7/20/2019 at 11:34 am
Hello. This is Eric Frank calling from the summit of Mt. Khuiten in Mongolia. It's 9:30 in the morning and I'm happy to report that this is our third summit of the week and everyone made it to the top of Khuiten. We are having a pretty wonderful day. We're going to head down from here to our high camp and continue on to base camp later this afternoon. We are looking forward to a round of feasting and a good night's sleep tonight. Thanks for following along. We'll check in soon. Bye.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank calls in from the Mt. Khuiten summit!
Hello world,
Some good hard rewarding work went into our day today. We pushed our bodies up to a new altitude of 16,300’, with acclimatization in mind, as well as a goal to access some glaciated terrain to get our crampon and rope skills game on. We did a lot of breathing and a lot of moving around after an early start, with the intention of getting back to Base Camp by mid afternoon. A siesta was certainly in order because tonight, finally, we’re going for a summit (weather permitting)!! We’re excited the time has finally come, a week into our Peruvian adventure, that we can put the hard work and acclimatization to work. Ishinca has an 18,143’ summit and the route looked like a bunch of fun from our training site today. We’re getting up in the middle of the night tonight, but we’ll check in tomorrow and tell you all about it. For now, a hot dinner is on the table as usual, so we’re out!
RMI Guide Robby Young and Team ‘No tengo hambre’
Hope the weaher held so you all could get to the summit. Good luck!!
Posted by: Phyllis Craig on 7/20/2019 at 5:20 pm
Today we had a long day out of the Salkantay Valley and into the Inca Trail. We enjoyed our first sunny weather and warmed up as we descended into the archeological site of Paucarcancha. Our horseman left us at Wayllabamba and our porter team loaded up the supplies and took off in a healthy jog to show off how fit they are. We spent the next three hours hiking into a more dense forest and dogging the rain showers that have followed us since day one. We got into some Incan stairs and rocky trail. The Team is doing well and enjoying some rest in their tents. The trip has been amazing and we are all looking forward to the next few days as we get closer to Machu Picchu.
RMI Guide Mike King
Hello! Huascaran team checking from Camp 1. We left Moraine Camp this morning, and after an hour of steep climbing over the naked granite slabs that the receding ice is leaving uncovered, we ventured another 1,000ft of elevation up glacier.
Seeking camp was tricky, as there's no flat areas, and there's not much snow either to make them at will; digging into the glacial ice at 17,200ft is no fun.
We're cooking dinner now, and soon we will be horizontal, as we're planning on going up early to Camp 2.
Stay tuned for more,
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team
The team is excited for tonight! Summit time.
We had an early morning training session to prep us for tomorrow by reviewing a few climbing techniques with our crampons and ice axe.
Dasha has done a great job of keep us healthy and satisfied with plenty of good old home cooked Russian food, which includes borsch and plenty of soups and salads. This afternoon the team had a through discussion about tonight's upcoming climb and everyone is packed up and ready. The game plan is to be up at 1am and after a quick breakfast hop on the snowcat to give us a bump a little further up the mountain. This will shorten our climb a little and increase our chance of reaching the highest point in Europe.
The weather continues to be erratic, the forecast looks good for tomorrow.
Keep your fingers crossed for us!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
On The Map
Another sparkling and clear start to the day. Mt. Meru, our 15,000ft neighbor to the west, stood out like an island in the sea of clouds that cover anywhere below 10,000ft. Great views above of the summit as well. Our usual large fresh breakfast then off we went up a nice smooth gentle but steady ascent to the famous Lava Tower outcropping situated at 15,000ft. Snacks and a lot of breathing then down we went. Two thousand feet lower has us tucked into another beautiful camp called Barranco. The team is a bit tired after what ended up being about an eight-hour day. All is well and looking forward to dinner.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Sounds like everything is going well so far. Banx is being a good boy but I’m sure he misses you (Charlie and Sara), because we miss you. Keep it up! Love you. Mom and Dad.
Posted by: Deb on 7/19/2019 at 3:52 pm
“Thinking of and talking about you from a hospital room at rehab!” -Uncle Terry
We love you guys!!!! Uncle Terry said he’ll do it again with you next year!
Posted by: Casey Kluttz on 7/19/2019 at 12:47 pm
95degrees here in Ohio! Stay safe! Love the pictures
Posted by: Barbara beckner on 7/21/2019 at 10:54 am
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