Entries from Expedition Dispatches
At 3:30 this morning I was startled awake by what I thought was the rumbling of a distant avalanche. Perhaps my mountain senses have an automatic alertness to these deep thunderous roars that will pull me from the deepest sleep. As I poked my head out of the tent door, I remembered where we are.
Two days ago I broke the news to the team that a serious storm was brewing and the risk of staying at high camp, in my opinion, outweighed the reward of a potential summit. Going for the top on Monday or Tuesday would put our total time there at eight or nine days, well beyond anyone's preference. So we packed camp with heavy hearts and set off on our descent.
We moved efficiently down to eleven thousand feet where we rested for six hours. The alarm went off at 5:00 am to no one's delight and we headed toward
basecamp at 7:30. By 3:00 pm we were drinking MGD and relaxing in the sun. K2 aviation was optimistic about flying us off so morale, all things considered, was high. That was until one hour later the clouds moved in and it began to to snow. That was more than 24 hours ago.
Now as I write this at 4 pm on Sunday, we have received two feet of snow. Welcome to
Mt. McKinley! We have all just come in for lunch after two solid hours stomping down the runway so if the storm does abate, planes might fly. This is all we hope for now, the high pitch sound of propellers and don't think twice about those avalanches in the distance.
This is
Adam Knoff signing out.
On The Map
We spent the day visiting the heart of Moscow today, walking through places familiar from a lifetime of hearing their names but only witnessing for the first time - Red Square, Kremlin, Bolshoy...
We left the hotel this morning and crossed the two bridges spanning the Moscow River and walked along the walls of the Kremlin until we reached Red Square. After wandering through the area for a bit we met our Tour Guide, Nina, for a tour of the city. In fluent English tinted by a distinct Russian accent, she spent the next three hours recounting stories, history, and significances of the many places we bounced between. First walking around
St. Basil's Cathedral, the ornately decorated church on the south side of Red Square, we then passed through the GUM Department Store, the beautiful former Soviet State Store now turned luxury shopping mall. Between the stores full of familiar Western brands - Levi's, Prada, Jaques Cartier - she also recounted her personal experiences transitioning from Communist Russia to life in Moscow today, explaining the differences in food choices to retirement.
Across from the Bolshoy theater we descended into Moscow's subway system, hopping trains between several of the impressively ornate underground stations, many covered with mosaics, frescos, and hanging crystal chandeliers, before emerging into the sunlight back at the entrance to the Kremlin. We then walked beneath the thick red brick walls into the center of the Kremlin, passing throughout the churches and monuments in the heart of the Russian Government.
By late afternoon we returned to the hotel and spent a few hours of down time before dinner, trying to shake the last of the jet lag. Tomorrow we leave Moscow and fly to the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains to reach the foot of
Mt. Elbrus. The team enjoyed Moscow and we are excited to head into the mountains and begin the climbing.
We will check in tomorrow from our hotel in the Baksan Valley.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
The
Four Day Summit Climb teams led by Brent Okita and Andres Marin reached the summit this morning in beautiful skies… and strong winds. Brent said, “It’s windy but best day of the year so far.” Clouds started to form on the summit as the teams began their descent to Camp Muir.
Check out the
Mt. Rainier live webcams on our website.
Mountain Guides can be a superstitious bunch. So as we did a little bit of training including rope travel, self arrest and cramponing in our second day of gorgeous weather. My superstitious side is coming out.
Tomorrow is our summit day on
Elbrus and we are knocking on wood that the weather stays beautiful. But if I may ask all of you (because this worked for me before), please leave a comment on this post wishing our team luck. The more posts we get from you the better the weather will be. And that means great photos and video to share with all of you when we get safely down.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
The weather forecast was right on this time... A day of snow. It was a little bit like the inside of a milk bottle for most of the time. There were a few hours when the clouds were thinner and the sun's heat could be felt through the storm, but the snowflakes never quit falling. It was not going to be a climbing day for our team and so we turned it into a fine rest day.
Solveig Waterfall taught an excellent course in avalanche beacon use.
Tim Hardin and
Cody Doolan built the mother of all snow kitchens. The team listened patiently to old guide stories and chatted over the current events we could pick up from the Anchorage FM stations. We had a few sessions of cutting snow blocks and building walls around the tents. Mostly this was done for exercise and to get warm, since as yet this particular storm hasn't come with the wind which would necessitate walls. We are happy for that and are somewhat resigned to another day or two of this same system.
Best,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Adam Knoff called into the office just before 6PM. With a storm expected, the team was hoping to make it to basecamp in order to fly off in front of the storm. The weather didn't quite hold and it began to snow in the last hour upon reaching
basecamp. The team's plan to unwind in Talkeetna has been thwarted until further notice.
On The Map
Dobrye Veycher from Moscow! The
RMI Mt. Elbrus Team arrived into Moscow throughout the day today, making the hour long drive from the airport to our hotel in the heart of the city, across the Moscow River from the Kremlin. With climbers coming in from all over the globe, it has been a long couple of days of traveling for the team and we had a mellow evening, finding dinner in a small restaurant down the street from the hotel.
This far north, it is still daylight at 10:30pm as we turn in for the evening. We are excited to be here and looking forward to exploring Moscow tomorrow, visiting the city's most famous sites - from Red Square to St. Basil's Cathedral to the Kremlin. We will check in tomorrow after our city tour.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
The
summit climb teams reported 100% to the top today! They climbed into a cap with 25 – 30 mph winds, but otherwise conditions were not too bad according to Lead Guide
Mike Haugen. The teams will spend a bit of time on the summit today and head back down to Camp Muir shortly.
Congratulations to today’s teams!
Today the team awoke to a gorgeous sunrise in the mountains. Typically the weather can be sunny in the morning and then the clouds engulf the surrounding mountains including
Elbrus. However, today the mountain has been out in all its glory.
After an early breakfast we threw the rucksacks over our shoulders, strapped crampons to our boots and we went for a four-hour acclimatization hike. We made it to 15,000 feet and enjoyed the views as they only got prettier the higher we went.
We are back at camp, after a nice lunch (Albina makes the tastiest soups) we are resting in our hut. As a matter of fact, I hear the movie Dumb & Dumber playing on someone's iPad. Gotta go...
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
Hello All,
We have just finished a fun dinner after returning to Timika late this afternoon. Admittedly though, the dinner, as delicious as it was, paled in comparison to a shower after all these days in the humid & muddy jungle!
This trip has been demanding in so many ways that the whole adventure is just that much sweeter now that it has ended.
Mark Tucker and I are off to Bali for a day of body surfing (oh how I hate my job!) and then back to the U.S.
Thanks for following along.
All the best,
RMI Guide
Alex Van Steen
On The Map
Thnx to all for your comments & thoughts—it meant alot to us all up there.
Even though we didn’t summit, we all had an epic time—great guides, climbing buds & I know The West Rib & The Fairview Inn will not soon forget us that “last night” in Talkeetna.
For the record, I played & sang a couple of songs at “open mic tues”—DG & Uch witnessed the “trainwreck” the extra nite we stayed.
Again, what a time…and Joe H—the cache ate your snowshoes—it wasn’t Mike’s fault!
Tim
Posted by: tim mclaughlin on 7/12/2012 at 7:20 pm
Tim, glad to hear you are all well. Look forward to your return to Wenatchee. Bart
Posted by: Bart Miller on 7/12/2012 at 10:08 am
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