RMI Guide Kel Rossiter and team just called from the summit of Mt. Baker after a successful climb. They reported good weather and softening snow conditions. After a celebration on the summit, the team will begin their over 5,000' of vertical ski descent off the top. Once back in camp, the team will rest, pack, and hike off of the mountain for a well deserved meal in town.
RMI Guide Kel Rossiter calls in after the team wraps up their Mt. Baker Summit and Ski Descent
We had another great day on the lower Kahiltna. Our goal was to carry a load of food and fuel to around 10,200', just shy of 11K Camp. We had a sneaking hope that we might move well enough and everyone would feel good enough to carry the load all the way to 11,000', eliminating the need for a back carry. After 3 good stretches of walking, we were just below the usual cache site with plenty of time to spare and everyone in good spirits, so we decided to push on. It was a great effort by the whole group, and now most of our food is waiting for us at our next camp. Tomorrow we'll pack up camp at the bottom of Ski Hill and make the move to 11, where the cycle will continue.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb team led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Jenny Konway walked into the summit crater at 8:00 am this morning. The team reported wind speeds of about 5 mph, excellent weather, and excellent route conditions. They have begun their descent from the summit and will be back at Camp Muir.
Our first day in Talkeetna was packed with mountain prep fun. After breakfast we listened to Pat, a Denali climbing ranger, introduce climbing safely and keeping Denali clean during our climb. Then we hustled to the airplane hangar to sort and pack gear. The hardest part of the day was trying to decide what food to bring and what items to leave behind. Twenty pounds of food is a lot but it seems to pile up quickly. We are ready to fly into the glacier tomorrow at 9am, so now we are working hard on relaxing and enjoying the beautiful Alaska weather.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
The team woke to blue skies and firm snow. The smiles grew even more as they devoured Bagel Bacon sandwiches for breakfast. They are hard not to love when the crisp texture of bacon and lightly, toasted bagel has been cooked to perfection by our leader Christina. We suited up and headed out on firm snow in boots under the tower which cast a shadow and gave us a delightful coolness from the beating sun. We traversed under a few seracs before we donned crampons on the hard-packed snow up to the top of Radio Tower. With sweeping views we visually inspected and learned about the intricacies of the phenomenon of Glaciers and Mountains. We descended under some growing clouds to a spectacular basecamp where we are now lounging in the sun and sipping on La Croix. The team is so strong and impressed us all by climbing a peak like this on day 2. We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and were proud that everyone climbed so well.
RMI Guide Lucas Haaland
Hello, this is day 2 of the Mount Baker Climb & Ski program. Today was an excellent training day. We woke up with a sunrise, had some breakfast, and got out on the glacier for some firm snow ski, uphill travel techniques: ski cramponing, boot cramponing, roped travel, and a variety of other skills. Then we ripped skins and had a delightful 1,300-foot descent back to camp. In the afternoon we covered avalanche rescue techniques and crevasse rescue techniques as well. We rolled into dinner, cooked up some great food, put the finishing touches on our packs and getting set for a successful summit bid on Baker tomorrow or tomorrow morning. Bye. Bye.
RMI Guide Kel Rossiter
Saturday, May 26, 2018 - 4:39 PM PT
Our first night sleeping at 14,200' on Denali was chilly but restful. After a leisurely wake up and breakfast, we booted up and headed down to retrieve our cache at ~13,600', just this side of Windy Corner. Now, back in camp, we are relaxing and resting, hydrating and eating.
Our plan is to rest and acclimate this afternoon and also tomorrow. We will spend some time tomorrow fortifying camp by building walls and also practicing fixed rope travel for climbing on the headwall above camp.
The next step for us is to establish a cache for our high camp. If all goes well, we'll get that done on Monday.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The honking horns had subsided and the streets were nearly bare this morning at 5 am, when fellow guide And Bond and I got up to make the chilly trip up to El Alto Airport at 13,400' on the Bolivia Altiplano. Three out of our six climbers arrived on the same flight, and after clearing immigration had piled their duffel bags next to an airport coffee shop, awaiting our arrival.
After a quick round of hand shakes and high fives, we grabbed a cup of coffee each and headed outside to hail taxis into the city. The soft beds at Hotel Ritz provided a few hours of rest before we had a late morning meeting to discuss the plan for the day.
The point of today, along with the next few days, is to play tourist and allow our bodies time to acclimate. After leaving the hotel, we visited several neighborhoods by using the new citywide teleferiquo system, a series of gondola lines that crisscross the city. The views of Huayna Potosi and Illimani from the gondola cars were incredible.
On the walk back to the hotel we were serenaded by loud music from a passing parade. This weekend is the Fiesta del Gran Poder (festival of the great power) which is one of the largest festivals in Bolivia. We watched thousands upon thousands of dancers, marching bands and people in traditional costumes stream by.
Tomorrow morning we launch north toward Lake Titicaca and Isla de Sol.
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Andy Bond & Team
The Four Day Summit Climb Team led by RMI Guides Steve Gately and Bryan Mazaika were standing on Columbia Crest, the very top of Mt. Rainier at 7:30 am this morning. The team climbed above the clouds and have clear beautiful skies. They have started their descent and are en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's Teams!
We finally made some big moves! Weather was perfect this morning, so we ate our first mountain breakfast and worked on getting our ropes, sleds, and packs rigged for travel. The first morning always takes a bit, between organizing things for the first time, breaking down camp, and all of the other chores like digging cache that have to get done. By noon we were walking, and from there, things couldn't have gone more smoothly. We made excellent time, rolling in to camp with tons of daylight left. We move into a nice camp that had been left, retrofitted it a bit, and then settled in to the mountain routine: making water, dinner, and then more water. Our goal is to cache a load of food and fuel higher up tomorrow, probably just below 11,000', putting us in place to move camp up there the next day.
We'll let you know how it goes!
RMI Guides Pete, Jess, Taylor, and Team
Go John Go! Go Raj Go! Hope you can feel the Pom Poms
Posted by: Sue Mamer on 5/27/2018 at 4:34 pm
Magnus! Awesome to read that you are on your way and that the weather is on your side!
Sending you lots of strength and hope you and the team will take you all the way up to the top.
Be safe and know we are following your progress! Björn reminds you! In Sweden blue skies and +25C every day :)
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Way to push through! Sounds like a strong team!
Love you and stay safe Rich
Posted by: Susie and the Kids on 5/31/2018 at 5:27 pm
Go Magnus! Awesome to read that you are on your way. Thinking of you every day. Can´t even imagine what you are doing.
Don´t forget…Safety first!
Sending you lots of strength, some Swedish “pannben” and hope you and the team will take you all the way up to the top.
Anna-Carin
Posted by: Anna-Carin on 5/30/2018 at 8:04 am
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