Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Hi Everyone!! First, the entire team wants to say hello to family and friends back home. Today we spent all day traveling to St. Petersburg, the coolest city in
Russia. Needless to say, we are tired. However, the team is going to celebrate our first night here by going to one of my favorite restaurants, Jerome’s, a “French-ish” restaurant. Yes, French! We have eaten plenty of authentic Russian cuisine. Tonight, the team is going to kick back, relax and enjoy the “white lights” of St. Petes!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
This morning
RMI Guide Brent Okita led his team to the
Mt. Rainier summit. With a forecasted freezing level over 15,000' and sunny skies, the team began their ascent from Camp Muir in the early morning hours. After spending some time on the top, the team began their descent at 6:40 a.m.
Congratulations to Brent and his team!
Good evening, the
Alpamayo teams had a great day today starting with coffee in our tents and then an outstanding breakfast of eggs toast and oat meal. We then casually packed up some gear to carry up to Moraine Camp and began hiking just after 10am. The light breeze kept the hike comfortable as the team made good time to 16,000' where we cached our climbing gear and supplies for our climb. We relaxed here for a bit and soaked in the amazing views of the Cordillera Blanca before descending back to BC. We were greeted back in camp by tea, soup and a great lunch followed by a siesta. Then this evening we ate another incredible dinner of soup, potatoes and chicken and a beautifully presented cake. Our cook, Hilario, is truly a master in his element. After our three-course meal we relaxed and watched a movie on the iPad before retiring to our tents for bed. Everyone is doing very well and spirits are high. Tomorrow we take a well deserved rest day after three days of solid effort.
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
Hello everyone.
All is well here in
Moscow. Most of the team arrived yesterday evening after some very long flights. As most of us are still adjusting to the massive time change we keep things simple with a little round of introductions and stepped out for a short walk and a nice dinner.
Today we meet with our local tour guide and had an outstanding tour of the nearby Red Square, Kremlin as well as visiting several churches including the iconic St. Basil's.
We took a short break and then headed out once again for dinner and a nice walk.
Everyone is doing great and looking forward to heading to the mountains tomorrow.
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
The
Mount Rainier Summit Climb, led by Mike Walter and Solveig Waterfall, successfully summited this morning. The teams were leaving the crater rim at 7:15 a.m., reporting light winds and blue skies.
Congratulations team!
It has been an adventure full of adversity. The weather on
Elbrus has been so finicky. We didn't even see the mountain until a day ago! This morning the winds were still howling but certainly not as much as the last few days. Today was our last hope at making the summit. We awoke and headed out at 4AM and the climbing was tough with moderate winds. The winds stayed steady at 35mph and the team simply did an amazing job. It's not easy climbing in less than ideal conditions. At 9:15AM we reached the summit of
Mount Elbrus. It has been a long day and we are all very happy to be safely down in Cheget. Tonight certainly calls for a celebration.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
After a very good night sleep we woke shortly after the sun kissed our tents and had an elegant breakfast of coffee, quinoa porridge, pancakes, and toast. Once we had had our fill we packed up camp, and started off for the day's hike. A light breeze kept the temps comfortable as we continued up the Santa Cruz Valley this morning. Shortly before noon we broke off the main trail and headed up a series of switchbacks to gain the high valley where base camp was waiting for us. Here we also caught our first glimpse of
Alpamayo. We arrived into BC and settled into our tents and relaxed for the afternoon before tea time and then dinner. Our cook Hilario, is fantastic, every meal is better than the last, the team is becoming spoiled. It will be a sad day when we have to eat our freeze-dried dinners.
Everyone is doing great, staying healthy and happy.
Thanks for following along, more tomorrow.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
This is your
ESS-Peru team checking in from our hotel in Huaraz. We awoke early this morning to yet another amazing breakfast of scrambled eggs, garlic toast, and espresso from our cooks Emilio and Franklin. It proved to be just what we needed after a long day climbing to almost 19,000' yesterday, to make the descent from Pisco Base Camp to the trailhead to catch our bus back to civilization. We're spending the afternoon here in the hotel cleaning up and prepping for a celebratory dinner, to relive the amazing adventure we've had over the past two weeks in the Cordillera Blanca. It's been an incredible journey in arguably one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world. Tomorrow, we begin the drive back towards the ocean, and onto planes in Lima, back to our loved ones in the States. Until then, buenos noches.
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank, Edwin, and your ESS-Peru Team
The Four Day Summit Climb July 20 - 23, 2016 led by
RMI Guides Mike King and Kel Rossiter reached the summit of
Mt. Rainier this morning with clear skies and winds around 15 mph. The team began their descent from the crater rim just before 8 am.
We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
After a great day of acclimatizing to 15,000 feet on
Mt. Elbrus our team has decided to take a day of rest. So today will be filled with reading, playing cards and watching Tommy Boy for the 102nd time. We will also get out and play in the snow refreshing our mountaineering skills.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
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Fantastic life rewards! Best wishes Brent! Your friend Spud
Posted by: James Spodobalski on 12/15/2016 at 10:16 pm
Congratulations!!! That is awesome. It’s must have been beautiful at the top. Such a thrill!
Posted by: Dana Coletti on 7/25/2016 at 4:48 pm
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