Yesterday we all met at the Anchorage Airport, drove to Wasilla and bought some food before reaching our final destination of the day, Talkeetna. Once we arrived and settled in, the group had the opportunity to check out Talkeetna and enjoy their great food.
Today we have a super busy day ahead of us. Breakfast, check in with the National Park Service, pack our gear, and if weather permits, fly onto the Kahiltna Glacier and set up camp. Sounds simple but believe me it is a lot! We are all very excited for the flight to the glacier. In my opinion, it is one of the many highlights of climbing in the Alaska Range.
We will be checking in later on.
All best,
RMI Guide Andres Marin and the Alaska Expedition Seminar
Have fun, be safe and come back in one piece Tyson! Love you :)
Posted by: Katherine on 5/15/2013 at 9:21 am
Be safe and enjoy the adventure! Hope the weather breaks a bit - Dan, springtime has finally arrived as we are enjoying some beautiful sunny 80 degree days here in Chicago! Be strong be healthy climbers - onwards and upwards! Love you Dan xoxo
Hello again from the 11k camp on Denali!
We decided to take another day to rest and acclimate to the altitude. We spent most of the day lounging around, reading, listening music, napping, and telling lies, all the while getting stronger for our forays up higher.
The weather was cloudy, cooler, and windier today, and a trace of snow fell overnight. But as I lie in my sleeping bag typing this dispatch, a cloudless sky sits above us. We're hoping for good weather tomorrow so we can carry supplies up to around 13,600'. We'll stay in touch.
RMI Guide Mike Walter & team
We took advantage of a beautiful morning for a day of tough competition around the horseshoe pit. After some close games, lots of fun and prizes for all, we awarded our winners. Congratulations to Dave & Pranav - our 2013 RMI Expeditions Horseshoe Tournament Winners! We also played an inter camp Sherpa Tourney which was won by Jeta. Thanks to all the participants for a fun day of friendly competition.
There were a few more teams that reached the summit of Mt. Everest today. The weather is still a bit unpredictable but a few strong and smart teams have reached the top. There are many teams leaving from Base Camp today and heading to higher camps. This will put them in position for their summit bids later this week. We are sitting tight at Base Camp for a bit longer as the weather forecasts are showing some heavy snow arriving soon. We are continuing to watch the weather patterns and predictions and will move up hill when the timing looks good for us.
As the afternoon clouds rolled in the snow began to fall at Base Camp. We will keep you posted.
Cheers,
RMI Guide & Everest Base Camp Manager Mark Tucker
Well, the summit buzz is starting here at Everest Base Camp. A few teams had planned on heading up this morning but a pulse of snow in the early morning hours shut most of them down. Everyone has been milling about camp trying to piece together what the other teams are doing. It's all pretty exciting.
The main focus for everyone is on the weather forecast. There is a tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal and that could mean a lot of snow if it comes our way. Everyone is hoping that it dissipates over the next several days of course.
As for us we're not rushing up the mountain just yet. We're still healing up a bit and being in the first big wave if summiteers was never in our plan. Better for us to hang back a few days, wait for a solid forecast and hopefully get the summit without a big crowd.
So its at least a few more days of Base Camp life for us.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Hey guys you all look pumped! We are extremely proud of your achievement’s thus far! Stay strong for your summit and we look forward to your safe arrival home. Dan you really are a “Mountain Man”. :-)
Posted by: Ann, Jerry & Michelle on 5/15/2013 at 3:54 pm
Hey Dan, nice beard. Brenda & I hope your feeling strong. Sounds like your getting close. All the luck brah. Paul and I are going to open your pool on Saturday so when you get home you can fall right in.
We've been enjoying good weather on the Kahiltna Glacier, and today was no different. After a trace of new snow overnight, we awoke to partly sunny skies. A breakfast of smoked salmon with bagels and cream cheese started off our day. After breakfast, we packed up camp and began the climb up towards Kahiltna Pass, en route to the 11k camp. We're taking advantage of the good weather and making good progress so far. Tomorrow we'll sleep in and take a rest day and prepare a cache of supplies to carry up around Windy Corner.
We'll keep you posted on our next move. Until then, we'll be resting...we've earned it.
Mike & team
Happy helmet-wearing! Glad the weather’s cooperating. I think 42 down is “summit”. xoxo, K2
Posted by: K2 Weller on 5/13/2013 at 7:09 pm
Mike…Best wishes for a great climb…Thx for all your support at Rainier last Sept…I return in four weeks - Summit this time hopefully !...Maybe see you…Godspeed…Walter…Hello to Kara if that’s who I saw in pic.
Another quiet but interesting day at Basecamp. Everything seems a little different now with the news that climbers made the top yesterday... And indeed, a few more went there today if the radio grapevine is correct. The mountain is not impossible. But we do hope those most recent summit climbers got down fast, since by late afternoon we've experienced a thunderstorm and a few inches of quick new snow. And that roar is back... The one that sounds like Niagara Falls as a ribbon of the jet stream does battle with the parts of these mountains that dare to stand out and in the way.
We are all watching weather and weather forecasts now and there is plenty of interest in the calendar. Many climbers are still down-valley taking a vacation, but they are starting to trickle back by helicopter and by foot with summit dates in mind. Some are packing bags and heading up in the next day or two.
We are biding our time. Waiting out the cough. Hiking and exploring and playing games in camp. We'll have to pick summit departure days soon enough, but for now it just isn't right for our team. We get a little anxious to know that the route is open, but we also know that it wouldn't be a bad thing to let a few hundred other climbers have their way with it first. Things get a little warmer with each passing day in May and we hold out hope that calmer days materialize. And we cross our fingers that cyclone O1B -spinning menacingly down in the Bay of Bengal- fizzles out and finds a place to go that doesn't interfere with climbers... or with humanity in general.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
I love keeping updated on the climb. Keep up the great work boys.
Posted by: Tyler on 5/13/2013 at 4:28 am
We are all “climbing Everest with you,” vicariously of course. But none-the-less,truly enjoying your posts and certainly rooting for your success and safety. Meteorology and your knowledge in that area will keep you safe as well as successful. You are now in the time frame of saying “yes” or “no” and we all know how difficult that can be. Bill Bussey
Greetings from the Kahiltna Glacier. We had a great day yesterday, as we flew into Kahiltna Basecamp in the morning, prepped our gear, and started climbing. The weather was beautiful and the snow conditions were perfect for efficient travel. We took all of our gear to our first camp, at the confluence of the Kahiltna Glacier and the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, at the base of Ski Hill.
We started this morning with bagels & cream cheese, with bacon, before we packed up and started climbing. Leaving camp, Ski Hill provided the first (of many) up hills of our journey. We climbed once again with great weather and snow conditions, hauling our heavy expedition loads on sleds and in our backpacks. With tired legs, sore shoulders, and tender hips, we arrived at our Camp 2, 9,400' on the Kahiltna Glacier. A hearty dinner of Indian food filled our stomachs, along with plenty of hot drinks to rehydrate.
We're in our tents now, looking forward to a restful night's sleep. It's snowing lightly, with no wind. We're hoping for good weather tomorrow, and moving up to Camp 3, at 11,200'. We'll be in touch again soon with an update.
RMI Guide Mike Walter and team
After our beautiful bluebird day on Mount Frances we went to bed satisfied with our climbing. We spent our last full day dialing in rescue techniques and ice climbing in crevasses.
Yesterday we woke up early for our flight back to Talkeetna and enjoyed a celebratory toast. A sweet success! Everybody left for home with lots of knowledge on modern climbing techniques and as more experienced climbers.
Thank you very much team for the great times in the Alaska Range and I'm already looking forward to next year's Alpine Seminar.
All best,
RMI Guide Andres Marin
Hello,
Mark Tucker here, calling from Everest Base Camp. Fourscore and 23 years ago, I stood on top of Mt. Everest with the International Peace climb led by Jim Whittaker. And what a day it was and what a day here today - May 10th. We now have a group of Sherpa on top of Mount Everest, so the floodgates are now open. The (Sherpa) team did a great job. Sounds like conditions were very favorable for an ascent as of now. People are starting to rally, lots of teams are looking at the weather of course, as well as us. Making some plans to the start the movement uphill. The Lhotse and Nuptse Teams have gotten very far along in the progress of fixing the ropes. We are not quite sure on the status of those, but it won't be long now for those mountains to see some summitters. It's a crazy place here right now and we are enjoying some good weather. It looks like there is some wind up high with the jet stream around. Hopefully some people will get started taking advantage of the opportunity to make their summit attempt and get on top this season. Our Sherpa team is resting well. And they are ready to give us the support that we're going to need in the near future and Dave Hahn, he's the best in the business, so we will have a great attack coming up here pretty soon. So, we will keep you posted when we can.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guide and Everest Base Camp Manager Mark Tucker checks in with an update on route.
We're squarely in the middle of the waiting game here at Everest Basecamp. The big teams have assembled a few strong guys who are working on fixing the ropes to the summit today and tomorrow. Once those are in then it's all a matter of time until we get a good weather window for the summit bid.
As for us we're healing up and feeling rested for the push for the top. We're giving the weather forecast more and more scrutiny every day and the tick marks on the calendar are starting to add up. It shouldn't be too much longer now.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
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Have fun, be safe and come back in one piece Tyson! Love you :)
Posted by: Katherine on 5/15/2013 at 9:21 am
Be safe and enjoy the adventure! Hope the weather breaks a bit - Dan, springtime has finally arrived as we are enjoying some beautiful sunny 80 degree days here in Chicago! Be strong be healthy climbers - onwards and upwards! Love you Dan xoxo
Posted by: Kirsten Weber on 5/15/2013 at 8:27 am
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