Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Hola! We are back at base camp safe and sound, tired but happy. A frigid, clear dawn kept us in our tents a bit longer this morning. With the first rays of sun peeking over the southwest face of Alpamayo, we knew our descent had to happen. We needed to be off the glacier before any ascending climbers reached the bergschrund over the col, otherwise we would be stuck waiting for the bottleneck to clear. We packed, and started our descent. An uneventful journey brought us to the warmth of the meadow where our cook Raúl was waiting for us with lunch ready to eat. After a couple nights of freeze dried food at our high camp; sweet potato fries, quinoa soup and a local dish "causa;" never tasted so good! Even at 14,000'. We spent the afternoon packing for tomorrow's departure towards town, and finished the day with a jump into the river for some needed hygiene (Yeap, these guys are classy, even in the mountains!). Our next post will be tomorrow from our hotel in Huaraz.
Best regards,
ElÃas and team.
Posted by: Geoff Schellens
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
This morning we gathered for breakfast, drank our fill of coffee, and then hopped on our van for a 45 minute bumpy ride out of Huaraz. Once at our trail head we dawned our light packs and began hiking. Soon the rolling grass hills gave way to steeper rock steps and eventually Laguna Churup. Laguna Churup is a stunning alpine lake at 14,200' with fantastic views of the central Cordillera Blanca. Under perfectly blue skies and a light wind we had lunch and soon everyone stretched out on the rocks for a little nap. After a little siesta we started our descent back to the TH and then on to the hotel. The whole team did a great job today, I had to rein them in a few times as the excitement cranked up the pace.
We are resting and doing some shopping this afternoon before dinner. Spirits are high and we are all excited to get on the trail tomorrow.
Thanks for following along,
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens & Team
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Right now I'm watching a gigantic, large tusked elephant tearing apart an acacia tree just a few feet away from the porch of my stilted tent platform in the full moon light. Funny how a creature that large could literally sneak up on our digs for the night here at Kikoti camp, just outside Tarangire National Park. It has been another perfect weather day with just enough clouds and breeze to keep the bush land from being too hot. After an hour of driving we stopped for a tour of a Masai Boma. It's very interesting and always amazing to see the hearty souls living in the traditional style. Another hour put us in the park where we enjoyed just amazing landscape and crazy plant life. If that wasn't enough throw a couple thousand animals in the mix. We ended the day with a most flavorful bounty back at camp. Tomorrow we have another half day on safari in Tarangire as we make our way back to the Dik Dik.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team
Wow! What a night and what a day for Team Russia. I have been guiding here since 2002 and I haven't seen weather quite like this. The winds are very strong still. However, the thunder and lightening has moved away. Instead of acclimatizing towards 15,000 feet, the team was forced to stay put. So today was a rest day and we did manage to go for a short walk and do some skills training. Tomorrow we will give it another try in climbing up towards 15,000 feet, weather permitting.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Posted by: Brent Okita, Zeb Blais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb Led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Zeb Blais reached the summit of Mt. Rainier Early this morning. The team climbed into a cap with 30 mph winds. They spent a brief time on the top before starting their descent.
Congratulations to today's team!
Way to go, Jim!! Can’t wait to hear all about it!! Love You, Myra, Darby & Aidan
Posted by: Myra, Darby & Aidan on 7/21/2016 at 10:18 am
Our RMI Alpamayo July 19th team has arrived. Late last and into the wee hours of the morning the team arrived in Lima and headed for our hotel. We met for breakfast and then loaded our van and began our 8 hour journey to Huaraz. We were all sound asleep before the van had left the busy streets of Lima. We traveled north along to coast for four hours before stopping for lunch. In the afternoon we started climbing up the narrow mountain road and eventually descended into the town of Huaraz. Huaraz is like the Chamonix of Peru, this beautiful town is at 10,000' and offers some amazing views of the central Cordillera Blanca.
After settling into our very nice hotel we met our local guide, William, who showed us around the town and soon found ourselves at the Cafe Andino, the climbers Mecca in Huaraz, so we stopped in for dinner. We are all still tired and jet lagged so we are heading to bed early. Tomorrow we will go for a nice day hike to stretch the legs a bit. Everyone is doing great and the excitement is high. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 15,400'
Greetings loyal RMI Blog Followers,
Today, our team had the privilege of driving up the Quebrada Llanganuco. It is surely one of the most beautiful places in the world. Laguna (Lake) Llanganuco is the centerpiece, a massive alpine lake right along the road, with the most vibrant turquoise color any of our team members have ever seen. From one of the switchbacks in the road, we met our donkeys and their drivers, and made quick moves up to 15,400' to Pisco Base Camp. From here, the highest peaks of the cordillera are on display, including Huascaran, Chopicalqui, Chacraaju, the Huandoy massif, and our objective, Pisco Oeste. Tonight's dinner of Chifa (Peruvian Chinese dish) nourished our bodies as we prepare for a move to our 16,200' high camp tomorrow. Stay tuned for more! Our highest summit attempt of the trip is only 2 days away!
Todo es tranquilo. Buenos Noches,
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank, and your Peru Seminar Crew
PS - Spanish climbing word of the day is "guantes" which means gloves.
Posted by: Nick Hunt, Christina Dale, Blake Votilla, Jordan Cargill
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,800'
RMI Guide Nick Hunt and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons team completed their week of training today. Yesterday, the team made a summit attempt via the Emmons Glacier route on Mt. Rainier. The team was forced to call 12,800' their high point due to poor route conditions. Despite not reaching the summit, the team had a great climb complete with steep alpine climbing. All in all, the team enjoyed a great week of training and climbing on the Emmons Glacier.
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Original Post | July 20, 2016 - 11:38 a.m. PDT
Hello! This is Elias and the Alpamayo team we are on top! A great crew - some excitement out there. We got to the top here in four hours and a half. We keep beating the time every year! So, the RMI Alpamayo Climb is getting better and better every year! Peter, I, and the guys here are pretty psyched. We're going to enjoy the views a little longer and then start our descent. We'll give you a shout later on tonight from camp. We will head for base camp tomorrow. That's it for now!
Update | July 20, 2016 - 3:16 p.m. PDT
And we did it! Everybody reached the summit of Alpamayo today. We were on the fence about climbing and almost didn't leave camp. Starting around 11:00 p.m., we experienced unusually strong winds which lasted pretty much all night and all morning. We dragged our feet, and decided to give it a go after a delayed breakfast. With no one on the wall, we could have the luxury of climbing this surreal face without headlamps.
With better conditions than usual, the plethora of of nevé provided pure joy on our steep upward progression. By 19,000', crystal ice demanded more focus and conscious delivery of every swing with our ice tools. With the incredible training and preparation by the team, we reached the airy summit a mere four and a half hour after departure. We celebrated on the summit and started our descent. Eight 60 meter rappels brought us to the overhanging bergschrund and deposited us back on the glacier, a stones throw to our tents.
Now we're enjoying dinner at our high camp. Our two porters, Leoncio and Miguel, greeted with a huge smile and bows of soup. We climb hard, and we climb in style. We'll be checking in from Base Camp tomorrow!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
Elias de Andres Martos & Team on Summit of Alpamayo July 20, 2016
Awesome work guys. Way to set an impossible bar for next year’s group!
Posted by: Brian P on 7/21/2016 at 9:05 pm
Phenomenal job everyone - well done!!!!!!
Posted by: John Horgan on 7/20/2016 at 4:42 pm
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
From huge elephants to tiny chameleons, the Ngorongoro Crater was a game viewers paradise. We kept to the timeline and made our way to the crater nice and early. So did a bunch of other folk, it was all good, spending time at the visitors center enjoying exhibits and baboons around the truck made waiting for the permitting process to enter the park easy. Happy to do anything to help keep this amazing place well managed. We descended a couple thousand feet into the crater to brisk but clear weather. Herds of zebra, gazelle, wildebeest, cape buffalo, to name a few, were in all directions. Some big game spotting of lions, huge elephants and a couple of rhinos made great additions to our camera rolls. Another delicious lunch in the bush by the hippo pool rounded out the day nicely. We are now back at the Plantation Lodge being pampered one last night. We move on to our final park tomorrow.
Bye for now,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
It all sounds amazing and thrilling. I can’t wait to see all the pictures.
Odette, Taylor’s mom
Posted by: Odette Hankins on 7/20/2016 at 1:48 pm
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Hi Bob, these blogs are THRILLING!
Posted by: Pat Pritz on 7/22/2016 at 5:51 am
I love and miss you Daddy. Can’t wait to see you soon.
Posted by: Kate Stainton on 7/21/2016 at 9:27 pm
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