Entries from Expedition Dispatches
The first step of having a great
mountaineering trip is having a complete team with all our bags and I am happy to report that both our team members and all our bags arrived today in great shape. Once in town we were all able to buy last minute items here in Mendoza while enjoying an unseasonable cool but sunny day. Great summer weather. After a quick meet and greet we talked about what will happen over the next few weeks both on and off the mountain then headed out to one of the great eateries close to our hotel. We all shared the first, of what I am sure will be many funny, stories with each other and with bellies full of Argentina beef we all crashed at the hotel ready for another great day tomorrow.
RMI Guides Walter Hailes, Ben Liken & Stoney Molina
Today was another rest day at
Aconcagua Basecamp and we could not have picked a better day! The wind is howling, the sky is obsolete shrouded in clouds. But! And it's a big But! The team is doing great! We are sleeping, reading, eating quesadillas and simply enjoying being in the mountains. After all, isn't that what it's all about?!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Well...there's a first for everything. And going on 22
Aconcagua expeditions here, I had a first today. Our team awoke early, had a good breakfast and then we loaded our packs and made our way uphill. Everyone did a great job today and we are all well. Except...a little bit of windburn! Man o Man was it blowing strong today! The wind was so strong we were unable to make it to Camp 1 at 16,200 feet. Instead we thought wiser and we cached our gear lower at 15,700 feet. And the team did great! Adversity is part of every climbing adventure and we all handled it very very well. The winds are supposed to be close to the same so base camp is looking very appealing for tomorrow.
Go Packers!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Greetings all!
Last night was clear and cold with the freezing level hanging just below our new home here at
14,000ft. Today is all about relaxing though and the team enjoyed a leisurely morning and some of JJ's famous scrambled egg breakfast.
Our agenda tomorrow has us carrying a load of gear to cache at Camp I (16,400ft) What this means is that we will ferry a load of gear higher on the mountain and then return back to basecamp to sleep. This will allow the team to better acclimatize while moving much needed food and gear higher on the mountain and consequently making our move day loads lighter. So this afternoon will be spent organizing and packing gear for an early start tomorrow. The team is looking forward to the challenge of heavy packs and higher elevation. Morale is high, the weather is good and we couldn't be happier!
RMI Guide
Steve Gately & Team
Our last day in Antarctica was pleasantly routine. The team strolled into the dining tent at
Union Glacier Basecamp to enjoy breakfast and the news that the Ilyushin 76 would be "on deck" by mid-afternoon. We packed our gear and collapsed the tents one more time, then passed the time playing chess and chatting with other climbers. Sure enough, the big plane touched down at 2:45 PM. We were on board and lifting off by 5 PM. Landing in Punta Arenas was smooth and easy 4.5 hours later. We had to work quickly to get checked in, showered and out to dinner before closing, but all of that was quite enjoyable "work". The trip ended with an excellent midnight dinner in Patagonia.
Thank You for following along.
Until next climb,
RMI Guide
Dave Hahn & Team
Greetings from Aconcagua's Basecamp!
Started the morning with an early, very cold, stream crossing to head up the Relinchos Valley from Casa de Piedra. Today was the first day with views largely dominated by the mountain, and finally entering the high alpine environment. Strolling into
Plaza Argentina Basecamp for the first time is quite an amazing sight, between the camp and the surrounding cirque. The team is getting settled in, and everyone is looking forward to a well-deserved rest day tomorrow!
RMI Guide Chase Nelson
On The Map
100% on the
Cotopaxi summit! Everyone is safe back at the hacienda. Once we are back in Quito, we'll check in again.
Congratulations team!
RMI Guide Casey Grom
On The Map
Now we feel lucky. It was another perfect day at
Vinson. We were out of the tents at high camp by 8 AM and out of camp itself by 10. There wasn't even a hint of wind to distract us from the hard work of descending the fixed ropes with heavy packs. We made it down to low camp, took off the crampons and repacked for hauling sleds. Snow conditions were ideal for walking and there were rumors of aircraft anxiously anticipating our basecamp arrival and so we didn't waste too much time in transit. Arriving at VBC at 3:20, we had to then hurry in yet another gear sorting extravaganza to be ready for flight. The Twin Otter came in, we loaded up and took off into the cloudless sky. Exiting the plane at Union Glacier then seemed like a walk in the park compared to life back in the big mountains. True, it is still a snowy park, and we had to put up tents one more time, but we also got to sit at tables and eat excellent "real" food that we didn't need to start stoves or melt snow to produce. Life is easier at Union. Before the evening was out, all the teams had caught their own flights and the dining tent filled up with happy and successful climbers and adventurers. We are all right on schedule for tomorrow's Ilyushin flight... Should the weather allow it. At the moment, most are figuring it will happen, but most are still pretty excited to be in
Antarctica.
Best Regards ,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Hello again everyone.
We've spent the last two days relaxing in Chilcabamba and are finally ready for our next climb. The team packed up this morning and headed closer to
Cotopaxi. Our home for the next few hours is another nice hacienda call Tambopaxi, and sits just a short distance from the base of Cotopaxi and will be our launching point for tonight's climb. Our plan is to wake up around 10pm, have a quick breakfast and hopefully be out the door close to 11. Then we'll hop in our bus and drive to the base of the mountain where we'll begin our climb.
Based on how well this group did on
Cayambe, I'm guessing it will take us around seven hours to reach the summit if all goes well.
Keep your fingers crossed for us!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Hello from Casa de Piedra at 11,000 feet. Team Aconcagua reporting in! The team had another great day trekking now even closer to our objective. As a matter of fact, today we received our first glance of
The Stone Sentinel. Another great highlight was seizing several giant jack rabbits during our trek. It is rather windy now in camp so we are going to sign off. Tomorrow base camp here we come!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
.jpg)
.jpg)
merry Christmas Darrin…be safe and enjoy yourself…Lutey
Posted by: shawn lutey on 12/25/2014 at 11:27 am
looks so exciting!
enjoy and take in each moment safely darrin!
Posted by: lil-meshell on 12/24/2014 at 8:39 pm
View All Comments