Well... and our trip came to an end! Today the group departed Peru and most of our climbers will be arriving home, with the memories of two weeks in the Andes. Behind are the quebradas (valleys) the cochas (glacial lakes) and of course, the rajus (snow covered mountains) that had been home and playground during our climbing seminar in the Cordillera Blanca, the CAPITAL of Andean climbing, without a doubt.
We had an incredibly successful trip with motivated-to-learn and dedicated-to-perform climbers. Nevados Urus East, Ishinca and Copa proved a great progression for folks, while implementing expedition skills, culminated a trip that served as learning grounds for alpine climbing in the greatest ranges of the world. We leave you here some pictures while we already look forward to next year's editions of our RMI Peru program!
Thanks for following along,
RMI Guides ElÃas deAndres Martos, Robby Young and team
Another day of nice weather...YEAH! A few hours of hiking and here we are at Barafu Camp at 15,000 ft. The team got busy upon arrival preparing for the early morning departure from here toward the summit, sorting through the stay and go gear since we will come back thru this camp on our way down from the summit. We all pooled together our favorite treats and made up some tasty looking lunches. We took a short hike up to get familiar with the start of the climb that will confront us with our alpine start from High Camp to the summit of Kilimanjaro.
It's nap time now before our early dinner then we will take another short rest before starting our summit attempt. The team continues to do well, wish us luck!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Sid Pattison and the Moondance Adventures Team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team was walking off the Crater Rim at 8:35 am. Pete & Sid reported light winds and light snow as they moved through the cloud cap at the top of the mountain.
Congratulations to today's team!
July 11, 2015 7:58 pm PST
All enjoyed the "low" altitude sleep at 11,000 ft last night. Such a relief from the past few days at higher and colder locales. As was always the plan, we chose to stay in place today in order to get on a night-time schedule for exiting the lower Kahiltna Glacier. It was a fine day for resting, even as the weather seemed to deteriorate around us. Our hope was that clear skies and a cool night would make travel safer (from a crevasse standpoint) and easier. That might not happen tonight as there is still plenty of cloud, but we'll get up at midnight and head for our pickup point anyway. As usual, we'll need good luck and good weather to get down and off the mountain.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
CONGRATULATIONS! Thanks to Dave Hahn and his assistants for the successful climb to the summit. Job well done by all. We deeply enjoyed the daily reports, Dave. Thank you. Gary, your Dad & I have been getting into shape to climb next year with Dave next year. Keep in mind we didn’t say which Dave. Looking forward seeing you in St.Louis. Come home safe. Hugs and Lots of Love.
CONGRATULATIONS! Thanks to Dave Hahn and his assistant making the climb a success for the team. Gary, we are super proud of your success. Dad & I are practicing the hill in Ohio, getting in shape to be on Dave’s team next year. Keep in mind we didn’t say which Dave. Looking forward to seeing our son in St. Louis. Hugs & Lots of Love.
Posted by: Dad & Mom ROSS on 7/13/2015 at 1:24 pm
Gary/Team Hahn: Absolute CONGRATULATIONS. Enjoy the moments of VICTORY!!!!!!!
Hello from Russia! Most of the team is here and we will be meeting the rest in a couple of days. I am excited as ever to visit this great place once again!
In the Moscow streets I saw the typical herds of tour buses visiting this beautiful city. I saw brides and grooms holding hands placing their lock of committed love on the bridge of trees. I made dinner reservations at my favorite restaurant where neither of us could understand each other and we all smiled and laughed.
This is one of my favorite adventures! We are tourists. And we are welcome with open arms to the wonderful people of this country. We just finished dinner and yes those that know me, I had beef carpaccio and pasta with truffles finished with a double espresso. Yes, the life of a mountain guide!
Tomorrow we will enjoy a beautiful city tour where we continue to learn the deep history and culture of Russia. I like to rely on heavy images and videos. After all, who wants to read my incoherent ramblings. A picture speaks a thousand words. So stay tuned and enjoy our adventure!
RMI Guide JJ Justman and the team
Can we have a couple more beautiful days please?! I don't like to beg but if we can continue with weather like this we would greatly appreciate it.
A nice lazy start to the day was our plan in order to miss the traffic while climbing the Barranco Wall. The Barranco Wall is a series of rock bands just out of camp that gets your attention and requires your hands from time to time. At the top of the Wall we took some photos and gave each other some high fives before continuing on our way. We then traversed below the upper mountain for a couple hours to end up at Karanga Camp (13,160') for the night. Camp is situated on a bit of a slope but our staff did a fine job of finding some pretty flat ground for the tents.
We continue to adjust both mentally and physically to this extreme environment; we're meeting the challenges head on. This team did there homework, taking training to heart prior to the climb and the investment is paying off. What a great group to climb with on Kilimanjaro!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Tyler Jones and Mike Uchal reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 5:45 this morning. The teams spend about an hour on the summit before beginning their descent. Tyler reported colder temperatures and breezy conditions on the summit. The teams are currently descending through warmer temperatures and clouds that reach down to around 12,000’. We look forward to seeing the teams when they return to Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations Climbers!
Saturday, July 11, 2015 - 2:50 am PT
What a difference 24 hours makes. Yet again, we all worked late, yet again it is 1:30 AM. But we've got plenty to show for our labor. We began the day at 17,000 ft, blessed again with perfect weather. We are ending the day down at 11,000 ft in the clouds. It was tough work and we had plenty of dangerous steps to get just right, but we negotiated each of them safely. There was the airy walk along the crest of the West Buttress, the steep and strenuous fixed ropes, the awkward side hill of Windy Corner, the new snow to plod through on the Polo Field and Squirrel Hill and a few well disguised crevasses to sidestep on Motorcycle Hill. Done. Almost. Now for some rest and a cruise out the lower glacier.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Friday, July 10, 2015 - 2:14 am PT
Hey, This is Dave Hahn calling from 17,000 feet on Mt. McKinley. It's about 10 minutes after 1 in the morning. We had a big day yesterday, on the 9th of July. We summitted Mount McKinley! It was a beautiful day, start to finish, nice and calm and sunny, clouds down below. It was perfect climbing conditions, but it was hard climbing conditions, we had to break trail. We shared that work with a few of the other guided teams that were up here. That made all the difference; breaking trail through new snow and being able to trade off that job. But it still took a long time, I think we were out for 14 hours today. We were on the the top at 6:45 until 7:15. It was beautiful up there, really wonderful day, and all of our team made it. I believe that means that RMI is 100% for this season; all of the RMI summit teams have made it. That's just about it for the Denali season, the groups that we were going to the top with today were some of the last. I think there's maybe one more team that is a day from being in position. So far so good for us, we're up at 17k for now and we'll head off the West Buttress tomorrow. But, it really turned around, turned nice for us in these last couple days and we're very appreciative.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls from 17 Camp after reaching the summit of Mt. McKinley.
Hooray for everyone on Team Hahn. Impressive on any day, but especially digging new trail. What an accomplishment. Peter you rock!
Posted by: Laura Taft Paulsen on 7/11/2015 at 2:39 pm
CONGRATULATIONS to Gary and Team Hahn! Very glad your summit day was so beautiful. Can’t wait to heat the stories Gary. Hope your trek back is beautiful too. - Rob
It was a BIG day, but not so enormous for this tough team. We woke up early and put in a solid six hours of climbing in good style. At one point on the trail we reached just under 15,000 ft, our current trip high point. We are now at 13,030 ft at the Barranco Camp. The plan of climbing high and sleeping low is in place for acclimatization and seems to be working well; everybody is in good shape. The upper mountain towers above us at this camp and the beautiful weather will make for a fantastic sunset tonight.
Tomorrow we tackle the Barranco Wall as we continue our ascent of Kilimanjaro. We will check-in and let you know how that goes.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Whoo Hoo! 13,000 ft and climbing so excited for you all can’t wait to see the summit photo. Go team go! Xox
Posted by: Diane on 7/11/2015 at 7:00 am
Go team go!!! Everyone is doing great!! Sounds as if ya’ll are having great weather. Stay strong and know that ya’ll are all loved very much!!!
Edi and Tim
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Well done. Have a great safari. Love to all. Jen.
Posted by: Jennifer Wright on 7/13/2015 at 2:10 pm
Congratulations to all of the Rogers clan! We are so proud of you all. Have a safe journey down the mountain. xo Carl and Allison
Posted by: Allison Muller on 7/13/2015 at 2:09 pm
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