Entries from Expedition Dispatches
RMI Guides Peter Whittaker and
Mike Uchal led their
Four Day Climb Teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Peter reported light winds and a great route. The teams enjoyed some time in the summit crater before starting their descent around 8 AM PT.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Greetings from base camp!
We have enjoyed our time off from climbing today, after our quick and uneventful descent (aside from the astonishing views) from Yanapacha high camp yesterday.
We're ready to go for
Chopicalqui now, and so, we have spent some time repacking for our move to Camp 1 tomorrow. Everyone's excited, doing well and ready for the next objective!
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team
RMI Guide Ben Liken called from Camp Schurman on the
Emmons Route. The team left at 4am this morning breaking trail as well as shoveling their way to 13,300'. Due to the length of day and high winds, they chose to make 13,300' the high point for the day. It is currently raining at Camp Schurman. They are going to do some crevasse rescue this afternoon and plan to descend back to the trailhead in the morning.
This morning we had our standard breakfast of oatmeal and eggs at our standard time of 8 am. We then suited up for our walk up to
15,000 feet on Mt. Elbrus. The weather was pretty marginal, but it was a great opportunity to test out our various layering systems.
We spent about five hours out in the wind and snow today, made it up to 15,000 feet, and only got blown over once or twice. The views were minimal, but we had fun. That’s all for now.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
On The Map
The
Four Day Climbs led by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Josh McDowell got a late start out of Camp Muir this morning as the teams waited out some poor weather. The late start coupled with some patience paid off for the teams as they reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning!
Walter and
Josh reported sunny skies and breezy conditions on the upper mountain. The teams are on their descent and will return to Ashford later today.
Congratulations climbers!
The team is officially on the mountain! We’re living our best lives, as they say, up here at
12,600 feet. We took advantage of a series of gondolas to get us here, but we did have to haul our duffels the last 100 feet to our doorsteps. Working smarter, not harder.
We took a short break after moving in, and then went for an exploratory jaunt above camp. After we walked as far as we felt like walking, we turned around. We did spend some time practicing our footwork and balance on steeper snow. Some team members took to boot skiing like they were born for it. Others...not. Ultimately we all found our style, and descended with class and grace back to the huts in time for lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, mingling with other climbers, people watching, and story telling.
Now the sun has set, and there’s no reason to be outside anymore, so we’re going to bed. We’ll check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
On The Map
The
Four Day Climb July 7 - 10 was unable to climb today due to weather.
RMI Guide Robby Young reported rain and high winds prevented the group from leaving Camp Muir to make their summit attempt. Winds continued to blow this morning at Camp Muir. The team plans to descent this morning to Paradise.
Moscow is cool and all, but it’s nice to wake up in the mountains.
Cheget is a quiet little place, and there isn’t much going on in the morning hours. We had a casual start to our day, with an 8 am breakfast being the first item on the agenda. Breakfast was pretty normal fare. Eggs, toast, oatmeal. I usually can’t stand oatmeal, but here it’s basically soaked in cream and butter, so I can’t really complain about that. The team did a great job fueling up for our late-morning chairlift ride. I believe that everyone left breakfast on the edge of being uncomfortably full, which is really the sweet spot.
From the hotel it’s about a five minute walk to the bottom of our chairlift. We hopped on, and skimmed the tops of the trees for about fifteen minutes. It really was quite a stylish ascent. We had butterflies, wildflowers, and chirping birds below us, and nothing but blue skies above us. We unloaded at the midway station, and walked to the top of the next lift. At around 10,000 feet we hung out, took some photos, discussed the climb, and soaked up some sun. I think about 1/3 of the team have earned nicknames at this point. Some not suitable for print.
After we were satisfied with our day’s exercise, we rode the chairlift back down, more or less onto the deck of our lunch cafe, ate again, and then spent the rest of the day exploring town or relaxing. Tomorrow we’ll head up onto the mountain and stay there through the weekend. I think we’re all looking forward to it.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
Good evening again from Yanapacha moraine camp. We're turning into our sleeping bags after an incredibly successful day. We turned our acclimatization day into a summit; weather was good, and spirits were high, so after our training session on the glacier, we decided to put things into practice right away.
Yanapacha provided a short but steep glacier that definitely challenged the team this early into the stages of acclimatization, but now that it's under our belt, and with another night here, at its high camp, we're sure to get the most out of this rotation. Every one did an outstanding job, and the views from the summit are the new favorite for this guide. We'll descend tomorrow to base camp to the food of our cook and the rest that the thicker air will deliver. Stay tuned for more!
ElÃas and team
Our last day in
St. Petersburg! The team had a great final day here in Russia. We visited the very famous Hermitage Museum, where we saw paintings and sculptures by many well known artists including Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and even Da Vinci. It's one of Russia's great treasures and houses several thousand pieces of art collected over the last few hundred years. The Hermitage consists of 5 buildings, each with 3 floors, and has hundreds of rooms. The team did their best to take in the highlights in a little over 2 hours. We took a quick lunch before stopping by the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, that's decorated almost entirely with Mosaics/ We then wrapped up the day with a wonderful evening boat cruise to see this amazing city by water. It's been a wonderful adventure here in Russia, but it's time to say our goodbyes and return to our family and loved ones. Thanks for following.
Casey and comrades
great great fun hugs!!!you are the best1ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-GRACE
Nice work, Hun! We love you! Have a safe drive home. Call when you can. -Cory
Posted by: Cory Hatch and Grace Hatch on 7/12/2019 at 3:51 pm
Woo Hoo!!! Way to go, all, and big hugs to Amy.
Posted by: Nancy on 7/12/2019 at 1:59 pm
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