Entries from Expedition Dispatches

Our team just finished an amazing feast and celebration at the Dik Dik Lodge after a very special seven-day adventure. Easy hike out of the 10,000ft Mweka Camp this morning under clear skies and nice, dry trail conditions. My team didn't need me for any coaching or inspiration, these hardened mountaineers were horses heading to the barn. Had to stop at the park gate about 6,000ft, pick up a whole bunch of summit certificates, then sign out to mark the the team as officially down and clear of the mountain. Game viewing of some of the finest parks in all of Africa starts tomorrow. Sleep is sounding pretty good right now. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

Mt. Rainier: Unstable Route Conditions Turn Summit Climb Teams

September 26, 2016

Posted by: JJ Justman, Mike King

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 11,700'

RMI Guides JJ Justman, Mike King with their summit climb teams reached the nose of the Cleaver this morning. Due to route conditions, this was their high point for the climb. Both teams began their descent from Camp Muir at 8:30 a.m.

Shishapangma: Team Resting Up for Their Summit Push

September 25, 2016

Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Adam Knoff, Robby Young

Elevation: 18,500'

Greetings all! We've certainly settled back in to life at our 18,500' Base Camp with a second consecutive rest day in the books; all in preparation for our upcoming summit push. Naps were taken. Dining tent discussion came and went throughout the day. The Tootsie Roll jar certainly took a hit. And the sun poked through off and on, giving us our first warming by the sun in a few days. With the sun, a few team members took advantage of some creature comforts with our Base Camp shower setup. (Yes you read that right!) Tomorrow we'll indulge in much of the same as we wait for our weather window to begin our climb to the summit. Until then, thanks for following along, and thank you for all your blog responses and words of encouragement! RMI Guides Robby, Elias, Adam, and the Shishapamgma Team

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Hi Jarrett,

As I wait for the presidential debate to begin, I find myself kind of envying you, 18,500 feet up there, breathing like an emphysema patient and mostly cut off from the stupidity of the outside world. Despite my fear of heights, I may have to consider spending the next election in the Himalayas. 1/2 to 1/3 of the oxygen at sea level in exchange for a month with no Drumpf, Hillary, Kardashians or other oxygen thieves? I’d take that deal right about now.

Seriously, though, good luck on the summit push. Remember to wear your crampons on the midnight wee trip at the higher camps, observe your turnaround time and maybe by the time you get home, I’ll have taught Mom and Dad how to pronounce the name of the mountain you climbed. I tried it the other night with Dad after the anniversary party. Big mistake.

See you soon,
Jayme

Posted by: Jayme on 9/26/2016 at 5:34 pm

Always in my thoughts and prayers. Climb strong.

Posted by: Jane Knoff on 9/26/2016 at 12:59 pm

Mt. Rainier: Avalanche Assessment Keeps Teams from the Summit

September 25, 2016

Posted by: Casey Grom, Nick Hunt

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 11,200'

The Mt. Rainier Summit Climbs, led by Casey Grom and Nick Hunt, watched the sunrise from Ingraham Flats this morning before heading back to Camp Muir. The guides assessed unfavorable avalanche conditions, which kept them from the upper mountain. Both teams are back at Rainier Basecamp, safe and sound.

Kilimanjaro: Tucker & Team Summit!

September 25, 2016

Posted by: Mark Tucker

Elevation: 19,340'

Jambo! Mark Tucker checking in from Uhuru Peak, the top of Africa. Under perfect conditions, we have a group of intrepid mountaineers on the summit. A great climb. I couldn't keep up with these guys. Everybody on top. We are doing great, having a gas, looking forward to getting down to the low camp. All is well, everybody sends their best. I don't know how many pictures we can take, but we're doing it, so we'll check in later. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

RMI Guide Mark Tucker calls from Uhuru Peak, the Roof of Africa.

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Congratulations from Chicago!

Posted by: Tricia on 9/26/2016 at 4:04 am

Congratulations!!!!
Have a safe descent.

Posted by: Evan and Grace on 9/25/2016 at 2:01 pm

Shishapangma: Day of Rest at Base Camp

September 24, 2016

Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Adam Knoff, Robby Young

Elevation: 18,400'

A well earned day of rest. We have come to the point now in this expedition where things are now earned instead of deserved. Granted we all worked hard on our last rotation. A storm came in and bullied us into coming down a day early. The wind beat us like a naughty pet and kept camp two, our primary objective out of reach. Despite the storm, everyone did great handling themselves and proved they are ready for the final push. Now we must really focus on staying positive and healthy. Our bodies are wearing down even here at Base Camp. The mountain, letting us touch and feel a little bit is hiding no secrets and will demand our strongest effort yet to gain her summit slopes even though our physical selves aren't as tip top as they were two weeks ago. So now we earn it. Nothing will come easy. From here until the end we must become more adept and graceful at dealing with the hardships. The want to come home and hug our loved ones and eat fresh food and enjoy a warm shower is growing stronger everyday. All of us must embrace the spirit of climbing this mountain and believe that working hard, suffering well and giving everything we have both physically and emotionally will earn us a chance to stand on top. These next few rest days will all blend together. Sleep, eat, drink, sleep, cards, read and so on. I personally spiced things up today when I crawled into the Gamov bag just to see what it was like and 15 minutes later had a claustrophobic panic attack and had to be let out before hyperventilating. This provided a touch of humor but all in all we now must rest and wait. We all understand what these next two weeks will bring. We came here to climb Shishapangma and we will give her our finest effort. Even during days of rest. More on that tomorrow. RMI Adam Knoff

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Hi Cowie!

I hope you are having a nice time resting at base camp for a few days…but really, isn’t every day a rest day for you? It must be nice always being carried up the mountains! You better be keeping everyone in good spirits, but if you need some help, tell Mark that Jack got a B on his chemistry test yahoo!! He must really be scared of what is going to happen when you get home. Remind Mark to take some good pictures, the frames in the living room need an update : )

Be safe and make good choices!

xo EJW

Posted by: Elizabeth Wilkins on 9/25/2016 at 6:22 pm

Soup Ready!
Nice work up there boys. Stay safe

Posted by: Geoff on 9/25/2016 at 5:16 pm

Kilimanjaro: Team Moves to High Camp

September 24, 2016

Posted by: Mark Tucker

Elevation: 15,000'

Hello from High Camp, Barafu, at 15,000' on Kilimanjaro - A left camp and made our way up hill to our High Camp. There are a few clouds above us but we aren't going to worry about that for now. We are settling in to camp and getting ourselves ready for summit day. The creature comforts provided by our great local outfitter The Dik Dik Lodge continues to help make life a bit more manageable. We will have an early dinner before checking our gear and re-packing one more time before we try to get a few hours of sleep before our summit attempt. Wind, clouds and cool temps is the report for now but it's not unusual to wake up to a clear, calm night for the climb. The team continues to do an awesome job and are all in great shape for the push tonight. Wish us luck! We will check in soon from our summit attempt! RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Nicole & the team have a successful & great adventure to the summit… All my thoughts are with you… Lou

Posted by: Lou Walter on 9/25/2016 at 8:54 am

Good luck team, go Jen!

Posted by: Allan on 9/24/2016 at 10:26 pm

Shishapangma: Elias & Team Finish Second Rotation

September 23, 2016

Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Adam Knoff, Robby Young

Elevation: 18,500'

And... the winds brought us back to Shishapangma Base Camp. We had an incredibly rough night at Camp 1. The storm that unleashed upon finishing our well accomplished tasks above Camp 1 the previous day, was so fierce, that continued this morning with even more determination to make us cut our rotation one day short. After fighting the winds securing our camp, and managing to make breakfast, it was clear we weren't going to get a break. We descended towards Base Camp fully bundled in our warm equipment, knowing though that our well spent time up there is going to pay dividends soon. Now we go to enjoy some more rest in anticipation of our next move. Spirits are high and we look forward to good weather soon! Best regards from Base Camp, RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Sorry we missed your call to us this morning with the happy anniversary wishes, but we really appreciated your message and expression of affection. The diner and after party last night was a smash success (or so I’m told). As you might have expected, in keeping with my careful allocation of excess consumption occasions, I duly allocated last night’s affair as my one such occasion for 2016. And as I’d expected, today was a total loss, dedicated exclusively to aspirin, antacids, rehydration and horizontal recovery! Hopefully your retreat to Base camp was uneventful and the rest there today fulfilling and complete - and even better than mine!. Wishing you and the team nothing but fair skies and calm air from here on!
Love from us both.

Posted by: Rick Deerwester on 9/24/2016 at 4:32 pm

Go go go! Enjoy and good luck :)

Posted by: Carlos on 9/24/2016 at 2:38 pm

Kilimanjaro: Tucker & Team Climb to Barranco Camp

September 22, 2016

Posted by: Mark Tucker

Elevation: 12,800'

It was breezy all night and thru out the climb as we traversed along the west side of the mountain today. Dramatic clouds below on the Shira Plateau stayed around until the wind died down. We were hiking thru the highland desert zone among large volcanic boulders up to well over 14,500' when we began the big descent into tonight's camp Barranco at 13,030'. The south side of the mountain begins to unveil the dramatic upper mountain and a scattering of the beautiful giant groundsel tree not found many places on this planet is making an appearance. The team worked hard to get here and are glad to be sitting at the dinner table getting ready to begin another great mountain meal together. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Wooohooo!!!!!!

You are almost to the top. Keep up the hard work, Grace and I are rooting for you from RPI. I want to hear those pressure breaths from the other side of the globe!

Posted by: Evan and Grace on 9/23/2016 at 5:16 pm

Sounds like an amazing adventure! Can’t wait to hear about it in person. Also, congrats on the personal altitude record Mom!

Sending lots of love from Somerville :)

Posted by: Alexander and Hoagie on 9/22/2016 at 6:30 pm

Shishapangma: Team Remains at Camp 1 for Acclimatization

September 22, 2016

Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Adam Knoff, Robby Young

Elevation: 20,990'

Good evening from Camp 1. Gnarly day we had today folks, as we're currently waiting out a nasty wind storm. The morning went well, with our Sherpa team plus guides Robby and Elías making it to Camp 2, in the vicinity of 7,000m, breaking trail with more than a one foot of soft snow. Meanwhile the climbing team, under the directions of guide Knoff, made an acclimating stroll around Camp 1. Everyone is doing well, and the effects of the altitude at this elevation are barely noticeable now. We'll keep you posted on our upcoming plan. Time to go rest now! RMI Guide Elías de Martos and team.

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Sounds like a great day of progress! I can only imagine what the wind is like up at that altitude. Stay safe and best of luck tomorrow!

Posted by: Trish on 9/23/2016 at 6:03 am

Glad all is going well. Love seeing photos!

Posted by: Betty (Art's sister) on 9/23/2016 at 5:29 am