Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Dave Hahn here. I'm at Union Glacier. Today we started out at high camp on Vinson (12,300'). We climbed six hours down to base camp, and 30 minutes later we were on an airplane bound for Union Glacier and arrived just in time for dinner. And now we are just a couple hours away from a flight to South America on the Iluyshin. So everything's happening pretty quickly for us. And if it keeps happening this way, we will be in Punta Arenas in southern Chile by tomorrow morning, mid morning or so. But we will catch you up a later and so far so good.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn calls in from Union Glacier.
Once again clouds hungover Base Camp this morning and the moisture and cold temps covered camp in a thin layer of frost. We broke down camp and packed up our gear in the cold early morning shadows, stopping now and again to warm our hands while brushing frost off of the tents and packing them away.
The first rays of morning sunshine found us climbing out of Base Camp on our way to Camp 1. The rest and added acclimatization from yesterday paid off as we moved up the trail, making switchback after switchback up the rocky slope. By midday we reached Camp 1 and taking advantage of the good weather quickly set up our tents. Camp sits on a gentle slope at 16,600', just above a series of spires and cliff faces that roll off below us. The slope meant we had to put in some work rearranging rocks and flattening the platforms but before long we had everything set up and tied down in case the winds picked up.
The rest of the afternoon passed building rock walls for wind protection and retreating to the tents when occasional squalls of snow blew through. Thankfully nothing major came about and by early evening the clouds lifted a bit, giving us amazing views of the glaciers and peaks above Base Camp while we had dinner.
We're tucked into the tents and heading to bed to get some rest before tomorrow. Our plan is to make another carry to Camp 2, getting more supplies up there for when we move the following day. It's great to be out of Base Camp an up on the mountain. Tom and Thomas continue to climb very well and we are all adjusting to the altitude smoothly. Buenas noches from Campo Uno!
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Posted by: Casey Grom, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000'
After almost two days of rest at the lovely Chilcabamba the team is feeling refreshed and excited for Cotopaxi. We had a leisurely breakfast and then finished our packing before loading up the van and heading uphill to reach the parking lot that allows us easy access to the mountain. The parking lot sits at about 15,000' and the climbers hut is just about a 1,000' above that. Our timing was perfect today as we hiked to the hut just after a small snow squall and shortly before the weather came back in. Lucky for us!
Our plan tonight is to get up around 11pm again and hopefully be climbing shortly after midnight. I'm expecting the climb take us around 7 hours if all goes according to plan.
Keep your phones nearby tomorrow morning. A lucky winner will make a summit phone call if the weather allows.
Wish us luck
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
On The Map
We awoke from our first night under the stars to another beautiful day in Valle de Vacas. The early morning light brought the return of our mules, who patiently awaited our heavy loads. Fortunately for us, and the mules, the weather quickly changed to scattered clouds and some reprieve from the scorching sun that successfully torched a few of us yesterday.
We had a great day walking to Casa de Piedra (11,000 ft) and we were able to catch our first glimpse of Aconcagua, or more correctly, parts of the mountain as it poked through the clouds.
Everyone is doing great and we are all looking forward to pulling into base camp tomorrow since life is so rough down here. Too much steak and packs that are way too light!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Happy trekking today! Can’t wait to hear about today’s adventure. Have fun! Josh we are so proud of you.
Jess
Posted by: Jessica on 12/19/2013 at 6:36 am
Wish I could enjoy your quesadillas! Safe climbing.
Posted by: Elsie Bemiss on 12/19/2013 at 5:52 am
It was still cloudy at high camp this morning, despite predictions for clearing. But looking up at the summit of Mt Shinn or the higher ridges of Vinson (the summit is not visible from high camp) it was obvious that no wind was in the mix. We decided to go for the top. We were out of camp by 9:15 AM. The cloud cover actually kept us from overheating in the first few hours. The team made steady progress- everybody was strong and using their best energy saving techniques. We all found the summit ridge to be a magical place. We had no big views, since by that point we were in the cloud tops, but that meant we concentrated our attention on the close in views of rock and snow formations. We hit the top at 4:30 PM and were quite surprised at how comfortable it was to sit up there, with zero wind and strong sun shining on the clouds around us.
We enjoyed a half hour on top and then began our careful descent, reaching high camp at 7:25 PM. This allowed us to eat dinner and get to bed at a respectable hour (which has been rare). Good sleep is what we need now to make tomorrow's descent to Basecamp manageable and safe.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Congratulations on yet another successful summit!!! We have enjoyed following the blog and thinking of all of you!!! Best wishes! Love, Amy and Harry
Posted by: Amy Eubanks on 12/18/2013 at 6:10 pm
Larry and team
Very neat!
Congratulations ... and thank you for reminding us that setting, pursuing and achieving loft goals is possible and very worthwhile!
Fred K
Posted by: Fred Klingbeil on 12/18/2013 at 10:04 am
Posted by: Casey Grom, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 12,000'
We all enjoyed a restful, relaxing, and rejuvenating day off at the Chilcabama Eco Lodge just outside the Cotopaxi National Park. The Hacienda sits at about 12,000', which after our summit on Cayambe feels like sea level!
Our team took advantage of the thicker air with a variety of afternoon activities. Some of us participated in a cribbage tournament, some took naps, a few motivated folks went for a scenic jog, and we all spent time wandering the property taking in the beautiful plants and wildlife.
During the pre-dinner hours we discussed packing strategy and the game plan for Cotopaxi, and are excited and prepared to tackle our next objective tomorrow.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guides Casey Grom and Solveig Waterfall
On The Map
Today was everything you could ask for on a rest day during a mountaineering expedition: we stayed burrowed into our sleeping bags until the sun hit the tents at Base Camp and then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, speculating about the outcome of the weekend's games that we missed and drawing out our meal well into the mid-morning. Taking advantage of the perfect weather, we spent a few hours spreading out our equipment and once again going through our gear, culling the unnecessary items and making sure that we had everything we needed for tomorrow's move to Camp 1. In the afternoon we wandered across the moraine to an old hotel built decades ago. Now boarded up, the stone and wood structure sits awkwardly in the middle of the landscape of rocks, glaciers, and snowfields. Despite its current state of neglect, it offers phenomenal views of Aconcagua's west side and while we stood there we were fortunate to have not a cloud in sight. By late afternoon the long shadows crept back over Base Camp and the temperature immediately began to fall as we wrapped up dinner. Base Camp's 14,400' elevation is starting to feel less challenging and we are feeling well rested and ready to move up the mountain. Tomorrow we will climb to Camp 1 at 16,600' and set up camp. While we've enjoyed being at Base Camp, we are ready to move onto the next portion of the climb, we'll check in tomorrow evening from higher up!
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Pampa de Lenas is at an altitude of 2,800 meters. And that is where we are sitting right now. It's our first day trekking and we had a beautiful day walking into camp.
The scenery towers above you as the condors soar high above. Pretty poetic huh? Okay, I'll stop. The team had a fun day stretching our legs. We'd like to lie and tell you it was arduous but after a picnic lunch of sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit, cheese, olives and cookies we all wobbled into camp.
There is no setting up tents here! Are you kidding! You will never see stars like these in your life. So we are all sleeping under the stars tonight. I'm just trying to remember who sang the song, "Southern Cross?" So help me out RMI fans!!
We are relaxing in camp and excited for dinner, which is being cooked over an open fire. Living don't get no better than this!!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Leah Fisher
On The Map
Crosby, Stills and Nash wrote “Southern Cross”....great tune!
Posted by: Randy Christofferson on 12/18/2013 at 11:10 am
Wow!!! What an awesome experience sleeping! Sounds like you’ve had a great day of trekking. Love reading the updates. Can’t wait to hear what tomorrow brings. Love ya Josh
Posted by: Jessica on 12/17/2013 at 4:43 pm
Update at 2:45 pm PST:
Dave called with a quick update: The team is back safe at High Camp and doing very well.
11:36 am PST:
Hey, this is Dave Hahn, lucky enough to be on top of the Vinson Massif, highest point in Antarctica- 16,067 ft with the entire team! We've got Larry Seaton. We've got Fatima Williamson. We've got Bill and Sara McGahan. So all of us are up here. We we can't believe our luck. We've got perfect conditions. No wind. I'm going to give you a yell either by voice dispatch or a written dispatch when we get back to camp to let you know we are safe. But right now everything is going extremely well. Everybody's feeling good. Everybody's very happy. All for now. Thank you.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls in from the Vinson Massif summit!
On The Map
YAY! Congratulations to the whole team. We cannot wait to hear all of the stories!
Safe travels back down the mountain.
We love and miss you and cannot wait to see you!
Lisa/Mom
Posted by: Lisa McGahan on 12/17/2013 at 5:36 pm
Congratulations everyone! Incredibly proud of you and incredibly happy for you! Stay safe and come home soon. Miss you, Sara and Bill!
Posted by: Martin on 12/17/2013 at 4:02 pm
At low camp, we woke to another thoroughly cloudy day. But it wasn't as cold as yesterday and there wasn't any wind up above that we could detect. We ate our usual late breakfast and checked in with Vinson Basecamp via the radio to hear the latest forecast (the same folks at Union Glacier who try to find weather windows for the Ilyushin also take a stab at mountain weather predictions). The forecast was just plain good. Clouds diminishing, no significant winds. We packed up low camp and headed for high camp. It was 2 PM by the time we were roped up and walking toward the fixed lines. We climbed in a murky world of cloud, between murky layers of other clouds down low and up high. But we made good and steady progress, reaching high camp at 12,300 ft by 8:30 PM. We worked to get a camp built and a kitchen going. At 10 PM we got our first sunshine of the day, which, thankfully kept on beaming down through clearing skies to make dinner and going to bed a lot easier. Tomorrow could be our big day... Depending, of course on how the weather shapes up and how the climbing team looks at breakfast.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Congratulations on making high camp! Fingers crossed that the weather holds for a successful summit! Much love.
Posted by: Mom/Grandma on 12/17/2013 at 7:31 am
I will pray to the weather Gods for awesome weather for a beautiful summit. Wishin y’all the best. Cheers!!!
Posted by: Mary on 12/17/2013 at 4:25 am
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God’s speed! Safe climbing!
Love you Brian M
Posted by: Duane Mycroft on 12/19/2013 at 5:20 am
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