Ready to launch!
We're all set to tackle our first objective tomorrow, Ishinca. We spent the day today training on the glacier, in the 16,300 ft vicinity. Everybody had a blast, performed well, and is excited to begin what soon will be (with permission of the mountain gods) the opening summit. Hoping to check tomorrow from "la cumbre", that's it for now.
RMI Guide Elías and team
Thursday, July 2, 2015 - 3:15 pm PT
RMI Guide Mike King called the RMI Office from high camp at 17,200 ft on Mt. McKinley. The team spend a snowy and windy night at camp last night. Today they spent the day resting and drying their gear. The team has received the forecast for tomorrow and are hoping the weather will allow them to make a summit attempt. If the weather permits, they will be heading up hill.
We wish the team luck!
We had a successful day today, with everyone climbing strong to reach the summit of Rucu Pichincha (~15,700 ft) on our first acclimatization climb in country. We had great weather with perfect temperatures for climbing, and good views throughout the day.
After a quick cab ride from our hotel, we rode the gondola to ~13,500 ft and then began climbing up the flanks of Rucu. The well graded trail eventually gave way to some steeper switchbacks and then some 3rd class scrambling to the summit.
It was a high altitude record for many of our climbers. We hope to keep breaking those records over the next few days once we get onto Cayambe and Cotopaxi.
Tomorrow morning we’ll pack up and leave Quito, heading north for another acclimatization climb up the ancient volcano Fuya Fuya.
Thanks for checking in. We’ll keep you up to date.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Eric Frank and Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The teams enjoyed clear blue skies and warm temperatures. RMI Guide Kel Rossiter led the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons to the summit via the Emmons Glacier route.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
July 2, 2015 12:36 am PST
This day didn't start out all that bad, but then it didn't waste too much time getting bad. It got snowing about an inch an hour by mid morning. That didn't stop some of our neighbors from picking up and moving to 14K anyway, but it stopped us. We didn't want to risk getting caught at Windy Corner when the wind started. So it was a quiet day for us, sitting in our tents listening to the snow. Just about right in the middle of a nice dinner in our beloved POSH tent, a cannon shot of wind hit and ripped the shelter nearly in half. We sat for a few minutes more anyway, chowing down, looking out the big new vent and wondering who'd be first to abandon ship. Then it was a mass exodus back to the tents for what promised to be a windy, snowy, stormy night on Denali. We'll figure out a different plan for our cooking and dining shelter needs.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
July 1, 2015 6:25 pm PST
Hey, it's Billy here checking in from 17,200' on Denali. We are back in camp after our foray up the Autobahn and around the corner on Denali Pass but it was quite windy. The wind along with zero visibility and blowing snow and some wind slab instability conspired to shut down our summit attempt. So we turned tail at just above 18,500 feet and everyone is back down in camp, in one piece safe and sound. We're trying to regroup and figure out what the future holds for us. We'll check in tomorrow and let you know we're up to you.
All for now.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in from 17,200 ft on Mt. McKinley
Good evening from Base Camp in the Ishinca Valley! We're settling in for the night, an early bed time, as tomorrow we'll have our first semi alpine start of the program. Today was spent reviewing the fitting and use of our equipment (the name of the game has been proclaimed as "we'll be the most pro-looking team on the mountain") followed by a thorough review of the knots and hitches we'll use on this trip. A gourmet lunch by our cook Emilio, (fresh trout and quinoa soup) gave us the energy we needed to take a stroll to "Ishinca Cocha", the glacial lake perched 1,000 ft above camp, and to continue to stimulate our bodies in the acclimatization process. Stay tuned for more!
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team.
Our Ecuador Volcanoes team has all arrived in Ecuador without complications. We started our first morning in country with a team breakfast and then departed on a city tour of the historic, colonial are of Quito and a trip to Mitad del Mundo (literally the middle of the world), or the Equator.
We had good views of our climbing objectives, Cotopaxi and Cayambe, from El Panecillo, a hill in southern Quito that looks out over the city. From there we toured around “old town” Quito, visiting churches, parks, and the presidential palace, all while learning about the rich cultural history of Ecuador.
The last stop on our trip was to the equator, where we visited an ethnographic museum. In addition to information and exhibits about the many different cultures of Ecuador, we stood on the equatorial line, with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern.
We’re headed out for a team dinner before getting some rest in preparation for our first acclimatization hike of the volcano Rucu Pichincha, which sits on the flanks of Quito. We’ll check in tomorrow to let you know how our first venture into very high altitude goes. Thanks for checking in!
RMI Guide Mike Walter and Team
Greetings from the Ishinca Valley! We're writing from our base camp, at 14,400ft, right at the foothills of our first two objectives; Nevados Ishinca and Urus. We left our hotel this morning in Huaraz, and an uneventful bus ride took us to the sunny village of Pashpa, where we met our pack of donkeys and their gentle drivers. Four hours of hiking through a forest of quenuales (the Andean staple tree) took us to the open meadow where camp sits. Everyone hiked in pretty good style! Our first day of training starts tomorrow, and everyone is looking forward to move further uphill soon!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Our Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guides Adam Knoff and Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning under clear skies, with warm temperatures and a light breeze. The teams enjoyed some time on the summit before starting their descent from the crater rim just after 7 am PST.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz led by RMI Guide Geoff Schellens made a sunset climb last night and reached the crater with 100% of their team.
All three teams will descend to Paradise today and return to Ashford to conclude their programs.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
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The mountains are calling, hope all have a great first summit experience on Ishinca!
Posted by: Laura Voisinet on 7/3/2015 at 5:14 am
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