Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Adam Knoff, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Shishapangma
Good evening!
We're on the move to Camp 1, spending the night at Depot Camp at the moment. It is hard to describe how small we feel, at the feet of this colossal peak, within a stone throw of its northwest glacier, flanked by huge penitentes of disproportionate dimensions, which we'll have to cross tomorrow. The winds stopped shortly after dinner, and the plumes from the summit disappeared, allowing us to get a glimpse of the top, right before we crawled into our sleeping bags.
Two of our Sherpa just came by, descending from setting up Camp 1 and reporting good snow conditions, while the other three will remain there for the night, hoping to reach Camp 2 tomorrow while we climb to Camp 1. The plan is to all sleep together at 1, and descend to Base Camp the following day. As you can imagine, with this first rotation, we're all in "game on" mode, and the anticipation is getting us semi-ecstatic.
More tomorrow from Camp 1,
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and the Shishapangma crew
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Another good day of African hospitality. We ate so many crepes at breakfast I figured the Land Cruisers were going to have a tough time hauling this load of intrepid bush game viewers in and out of the Ngorongoro Crater. The clouds engulfed the crater rim all morning making for a cool game drive to start. Also creating a surreal atmospheric event of tumbling clouds down the walls and dissipating before reaching the valley floor. It looked so much like Jaws Maui Hawaii breaking on a 200 foot day. I was longing for my what surfers call a "Rhino chaser" surfboard, specially made for large swell waves. I can't believe I didn't pack some wax. How ironic, for in fact that was the main focus of today the elusive Black Rhino. During the hunt for the Rhino so many other creatures got in the way that camera batteries were getting drained quick. Thank goodness for the back up battery. We returned to the lovely Plantation Lodge in the early evening to enjoy the fabulous grounds we call home for one more night. No crepes tonight but another four courses of fine dining will have to do. Maybe waffles in the morning to mix it up before we head to our next National Park, Tarangire. All is well with the team. Having a gas, wish you were here.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Hi!
Not much to report today, folks. We took a rest day at Base Camp, in preparation of tomorrow's move. Packing food and gear, and rigging our ascension hardware took most of the morning. After another great lunch from our cooks, the afternoon was spent resting to tea and snacks, and even some ventured to the shower tent for the first time. The plan is to move to Depot Camp tomorrow morning and spend the night there, and then carry and move to Camp 1... the excitement is on!!!
Stay tuned for our first news from the glacier,
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team.
GO JARRETT! We’re all routing for you and the entire TEAM!
Posted by: kea capel on 9/15/2016 at 9:31 am
Hello, grettings from Spain!
Goog luck to al the team members!
Posted by: Martin de Andres on 9/15/2016 at 7:53 am
Posted by: Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Hello, this is Eric Frank checking in from the bivouac below Winnie's Slide on the Fisher Chimneys Route of Mt. Shuksan. After all the rain of last week, the skies have turned blue and we climbed up the Chimneys under a full sun today. Thanks for following and expect a call from the top tomorrow.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
It is safari time!
Starting at about 2:00 a.m., the team went in many directions - Europe, Kenya, the Serengeti, and here to the lovely Plantation Lodge. After a delicious breakfast at the Dik Dik, we traveled to Lake Manyara National Park. What a perfect introduction to the wonderful world of game viewing?! It took a little over an hour from the town of Arusha before we popped the tops on our Land Cruisers and let nature engulf us. We only about 2,000 pictures in our four hours of exploring this magical area. Just before we left the park our mascot, the dik dik (the third smallest of the antelope family), made an appearance and brought us and brought us to our photo quota for the day.
The eighth wonder of the world is top on the list for tomorrow...Ngorongoro Crater. We are positioned just outside of the crater here at Plantation Lodge. I am sure we will have an amazing day of game viewing. It hardly seems that we were standing atop Kilimanjaro a few days go! can't wait!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Adam Knoff, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Shishapangma
Elevation: 19,350'
And the progress uphill has started! We made a carry today to Depot Camp, right at the edge of the glacier, where we deposited some hardware, gas, tents, boots...Our goal is to have our kit in position where we need it, without having to carry it every time. As expected, the first venture into the 6000m vicinity was exhausting, and the "morrainy" terrain contributes to it. However making progress, laying eyes on the route, and continuing with the acclimating process is all a great payback.
Our strong Sherpa team continued until close to Camp 1 (they are the first ones to set foot on Shishapangma this season) and had success finding a good passage through the massive penitentes field that we have to cross just after Depot Camp. Imagine a moon-like area that presents some of the most intricate climbing of our route, that is what we will have to cross shortly after leaving Depot Camp.
We're now enjoying a rest while our cooks Purna and Aital finish preparing our dinner. With our yak drivers gone until our departure in a month, only another small team of 3 French and 1 Australian (with their couple Sherpa and cooks) are issued to climb here this season here. It's definitely an off the beaten path mountain!
Wishing you all well,
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
Art, this must surely be the climb of all climbs for you. I am practically holding my breath reading this and looking forward to the team’s daily progress. Go team!
Posted by: Betty (Art's sister) on 9/14/2016 at 5:07 am
Jarrett:
Excited to hear of your progress to the glacier. Can’t wait to hear more! The “assault” on Bonneville was mixed. We beat the old G/CPRO record but the car’s ignition system broke up at 7500 in fifth gear on the return run. Better luck on your attempt
Posted by: Rick Deerwester on 9/14/2016 at 3:37 am
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Another day of perfect weather on Kilimanjaro. A bit of a tired team to get going this morning but with the finish line in sight, rally we did. After a great breakfast, we had a nice group celebration for the local crew. We made a quick 4,000-foot descent to the exit gate and then another couple hours to lap of luxury here at the Dik Dik Hotel. Excellent celebration banquet brought us to the late hours and packing for the safari start tomorrow, which is our next adventure. All is well, full bellies, rosy-red cheeks, lots of fond memories, a bed, and a shower, what more could you want.
We are so lucky.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Adam Knoff, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Shishapangma
Elevation: 18,400'
Good evening from Shishapangma Base Camp! What a day... beautiful blue skies, no winds and a bright sun seemed like the prize we were awarded for yesterday's journey on not-such-fun conditions. A somewhat restless night (it was our first of many nights at 5,600m) gave way to excitement building up as our Sherpa team started to get our puja altar together for a nice morning ceremony. Climbing in the Himalaya without an offering or asking permission to the divine, is considered a sacrilege. The rest of the day was dedicated to getting acquainted at Base Camp, organizing gear, and receiving the second yak load (we have so much gear, that some of our kit had to wait yesterday.) We're heading to dinner as we speak. Tomorrow we're taking a walk to the so called "crampon point" or Depot Camp, in order to cache some gear and continue to build on our acclimatization process. Everyone is doing well, and eager to start climbing!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Can’t wait to hear about the ceremony. Well, for sure, you “aren’t in Kansas anymore”!!
Posted by: Betty (Art's sister) on 9/13/2016 at 5:07 am
Go, Galina, go!
Happy Acclimatization to all of the team members!
Posted by: Zhanar on 9/13/2016 at 2:27 am
Hi, this is Eric Frank calling from the summit of Mount Shuksan. We had a cold and windy, but enjoyable, morning climbing up here today. It is gorgeous! We can see into southern Canada, over the city of Vancouver, out at Mount Baker, and even down all the way to Mount Rainier. We feel pretty fortunate to have the views that we have today. We will talk to everyone soon.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank calls in from the Mount Shuksan summit.
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb, led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Nick Hunt, made a successful summit at around 7:30 this morning. Dave reported cold conditions with 10mph winds blowing from the north. With favorable weather, the teams were able to spend an hour on the summit prior to starting their descent.
This week’s Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir headed up the snowfield this morning. They will spend the week learning many expedition skills and finishing with a summit bid later in the week.
How many climbers in the hut 10,060?
Posted by: Pat on 9/14/2016 at 11:54 pm
So proud of you Jennamarie. You are literally the coolest.
Posted by: Ash on 9/12/2016 at 4:58 pm
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Okay, I love the updates, but I had to look up penitentes on-line :). Good luck to the team!
Posted by: Rick Deerwester on 9/16/2016 at 10:30 am
I can only imagine the butterflies in the stomach are beginning! Can’t wait to read more.
Posted by: Betty (Art's sister) on 9/16/2016 at 5:24 am
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