Hola Amigos!
All is well here in Ecuador.
Today we had a very early start to try our luck climbing Illiniza Norte. We left our hacienda just after 3am and after a short ride to the trailhead, the team was hiking uphill just before 4am. We hiked for about three hrs to reach the Refugio or climbers hut that sits in the saddle between the two mountains where we ducked inside for a little hot tea and coffee.
Unfortunately the weather made a turn for the worse while we were relaxing inside. However, we suited up in our climbing gear and made a valiant effort to see if we could push through anyway. But today the mountain won as the snow falling only thickened as we made our way uphill. We reached about 16,000' before calling it good.
The team quickly descended back to our hacienda were we packed up and headed for a nice warm lunch.
We are currently relaxing in another wonderful hacienda close to Cotopaxi called Chilcabamba.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Tuesday, June 11, 2019 - 5:56 PM PT
We woke up and it was cold! Our bodies aren’t accustomed to the colder temps of 14,200’ but that will change as we take a few rest days. The views of Mt Hunter and Foraker have been exceptional. Several teams moved up to 17,200’ this morning and a few are scheduled to head up tomorrow. The weather has continued to hold and looks to be improving over the weekend. We enjoyed a late breakfast of cream cheese and bacon bagels. Everyone is having some lunch in their tents and hopefully a nap to best utilize this active rest day. This evening we will build some snow walls to reinforce our camp should the weather take a turn for the worse. Not much happening at 14 Camp and that’s just fine with us.
RMI Guide Mike King
The chill sounds great! 93° here in Portland for high, and 79° right now with a starry sky and 3/4 moon. Beautiful night. But, y’all must have amazing vistas up there. Lucky you! Photos are too perfect.
Posted by: Susan Moore on 6/11/2019 at 11:34 pm
The views look amazing! I hope you’re having a fun time Birkan! The kitten and I miss you! Can’t wait to hear all about it!
RMI Guides Brent Okita and Chase Nelson lead their Five Day Climb Teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Brent reported a clear and beautiful morning with winds around 20 mph on the crater. The teams were beginning their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 AM PT. Once back at Camp Muir, they will pack up their gear where they have spent the last two nights and complete their descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbing teams!
Congratulations to those Flatlanders from Mn. on summiting. Mission accomplished ! Thankful that
that the teams had good weather. And thanks to the guides Brent & Chase for what they do. Climb on.
Monday, June 10, 2019 - 9:38 PM PT
On the thirteenth day, Team ‘No Leftovers’ rested. And boy did we enjoy it. It was another beautiful day here at 14,000' Camp. We’ve been in a cycle of morning sun and afternoon clouds for the last few days, so we planned accordingly. We woke in the shade for some early morning coffee, and then made our way to the Edge of the World for some unbelievable morning views of the Alaska Range. This perch is located at the edge of Genet Basin and looks down approximately 6,000’ below onto the Kahiltna Glacier. We followed that up with a big brunch of eggs and hash brown burritos that stretched us until 1pm. Naps and packing took the rest of our day before another delicious veggie curry dinner. Needless to say, no leftovers were had. This team is now batting 1.000 when it comes to finishing every bit of every meal. A truly impressive feat on any expedition. We’re tucked in now, turning all that food into fuel, ready for a move to 17,200’, if the mother mountain Denali allows, of course. We’ll let you know. Wish us luck and good weather vibes!
RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe and Team ‘No Leftovers’
Sounds like a gourmet food trip
So far so good
Hope this continues
Prayers and good wishes for all
Steve we will make eggplant parmigiana when u get home
On our way to Graces bday party
Can’t wait until you get home
Posted by: John Zabinski on 6/12/2019 at 2:55 pm
Woohoo! Good luck! God speed! Good vibes! And all that jazz! Safe travels to 17!
Posted by: Annie Kawasaki on 6/11/2019 at 10:48 pm
Monday, June 10, 2019 - 8:05 PM PT
We broke down camp quickly this morning. As quickly as anything happens at 17,000 ft. We’re in our tents at 11,000 feet now. It’s a long, hot day getting down here with all of our gear, but we’re one step closer to the airstrip. We’ll take a quick nap here, wake up around midnight, and then walk the rest of the way in the morning, hopefully landing us in position for a flight out around 8am.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
Our utmost appreciation and gratitude to JM, JT and Dustin for successfully and safely guiding the team up and down Denali! The blog posts and pictures were awesome! Thank you from the Adams family and all Brit’s supporters!
Monday, June 10, 2019 - 6:58 PM PT
The good weather train continues to roll on Denali. If your looking at the forecast, it’s been inaccurate aside from the calm wind speeds. The Team got a good workout today as we packed up camp and moved to 14,200’ and while we did well, the higher altitude, calm air and insane heat reflecting off the glaciers gave us a good challenge. We have been moving gear, food and fuel uphill for 6 straight days and tomorrow will be no different. We will sleep in, eat a big breakfast and then need to descend 800’ and retrieve our cache. Now that we are at “Denali City” there are lots of climbers, great views of the West Buttress and the greater Alaska Range. We’ve been eating good, burritos, buffalo chicken wraps, salmon cream cheese bagels, etc. Everyone is feeling some minor aches and pains from the hard work but they are smiling and happy to be at 14 Camp to begin the climbing above here once our bodies acclimate and the weather and mountain give us the thumbs up to headed to High Camp. Thanks for following along, more from Genet Basin and the 14 Camp hang to follow.
RMI Guide Mike King
Hello Everyone,
We had a nice relaxing morning here in Ecuador today, leaving the hotel just after 10am. After loading all of our duffels on our bus we slowly made our way through the traffic of Quito and headed south along the Pan-American highway.
Our goal for the day was to reach the base of the Illiniza’s, two extinct volcanoes not too far from Cotopaxi. We stopped along the way for a really nice lunch at “Cafe de la Vaca” cafe of the cows, where most of us had hamburgers and fresh juices that they are known for. We continued driving just a little further to reach our quaint little hacienda tucked in the hills not too far from the mountain. We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring around the hacienda and discussing tomorrow’s game plan for climbing Illiniza Norte.
Everyone is doing well and excited about stretching our legs again early in the morning.
Casey and crew
Greetings all!
Onward and upward! We had an absolute beautiful day on the mountain today. Sunny skies and warm temps allowed to get up and attem early for a 9am departure from 14,000' Camp. We made it all the way to the base of the Washburn Thumb at 16,700’, where we cached some food, fuel, and gear for our future move to 17,000’. It was great to stretch the legs and set some new altitude records for some of our team members. The views from that height were exceptional today...a true highlight of the trip for some. We could see all the way down the Kahiltna Glacier and the neighboring Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter in all their glory. A truly great day to go climbing in the Alaska Range. We’re planning a rest day for tomorrow so maybe some views from ‘Edge of the World’ are in order. We’ll let you know how it looks! Until then, night y’all.
RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe and Team Feast
Hello again everyone
Today we had a very beautiful hike to help with our acclimatization on a nearby peak called Pichincha. It is one of the many local peaks that is situated above Quito and is used by many climbers to help adjust to the higher altitude here in Ecuador. We made use of the gondolas to help us gain access to around 13,000' then hiked the additional 2,500' to the summit. It took our team roughly three hours to gain the top after a little scrambling up the final bit to reach our high point thus far. It was a personal high point for a few of us, and the entire team did a fantastic job. After spending a bit of time on the summit and getting some photos we descended all the way back to our hotel for a brief nap before dinner.
Along the way we ran into an old friend Carla Perez! A real mountain superwoman, as she is 1 of only 7 women to have summitted Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen.
Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew.
UPDATE:
Sunday, June 9, 2019 - 8:27 PM PT
The team is all safely back at high camp. Everyone did an excellent job on the way down. - JM
Sunday, June 9, 2019 - 5:24 PM PT
This is John Michael Gorum, calling from the summit of Denali believe it or not, at long last and multiple attempts, we made it! Beautiful day, climbing in light layers and light gloves. [We are] taking photos and some snacks on top and about to head back down. I will send an email update when we get back to camp. All right, you'll hear from us later.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
Congrats to you for a long, challenging and incredibly successful climb!
We could not be any more happy for you and the other climbers.
GREAT JOB!!
Tom and Becky
Posted by: Tom and Becky on 6/11/2019 at 8:29 am
Congratulations to all the team quite an achievement ;;well done beautiful photos beautiful clear skies ;my French man is right behind you guys they did a gear climb to camp 5 return to camp 4 .monday 10 th June ;so maybey a summit attempt in the next few days ; his satellite connection is not great so i have been following you guys ;;nice job;;;
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Good luck crew getting to the summit. Sending you blessings and a safe return journey. Go conquer it Thaddius.
Posted by: Kristen Hutton on 6/12/2019 at 5:00 pm
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