Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Greetings!
This morning around 9am, your ESS-Peru Team stood on top of
Nevado Urus Este! What a beautiful morning it was; light breeze, mostly sunny skies, and some high clouds over the neighboring giants made for some incredible morning light. With an unknown summit elevation somewhere between 17,600’ and 18,028’, Urus gave us a great taste of true Alpine climbing with some steep snow and a bit of rock scrambling. After a tranquil sun filled descent, we made it back to the comforts of the tents in time for lunch. We spent our afternoon eating the remaining delicacies from our cook, Raul, including pancake pizzas, more delicious soups, and the main course of Lomo Saltado and Jello. Our stomachs are full and our muscles are recovering from a weeks worth of great climbing here in the Ishinca Valley. Tomorrow morning, we bid this beautiful valley farewell and head back to the comforts of Huaraz City for a night of rest and recovery before our next Cordillera Blanca adventure.
We’ll keep you in the loop!
RMI Guides Robby,
Alan, William and Peru Team
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the
Four Day Summit Climb July 6 - 9 made it to the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Casey reported windy conditions as they began their descent from the crater rim at 7:30 AM PT. The team will descend to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb team!
Sunday, July 8, 2018 - 4:00 PM PT
Hello Loyal Blog Followers!
Peru Expedition Skills Team here, enjoying a nice sunny day here in the Ishinca Valley. We slept in today; well deserved after our big climb of Nevado Ishinca yesterday! Per usual, we feasted for four meals today. You wouldn’t believe we’re at 14,400’ in the mountains of Peru given the fact that our diet today included fresh pineapple and melon with yogurt and cereal, yellow potato salad, dried corn and charcuterie, and pork chops for dinner! Oh boy, what a treat! It wasn’t just r+r today, however. We got a second chance to hike to the overlook of Tocllacoccha (Lake Toclla), this time without the wet weather. What a sight it was; with large glaciers pouring into turquoise water below the hulking mass that is Tocllaraju. We spent some time geeking out on crevasse rescue, and even practiced rigging rappels off the big boulders here at camp. A great day indeed! Tomorrow (tonight rather), we will make an attempt on Nevado Urus. Wish us luck! We’ll let you know how it goes!
RMI Guide Robby Young,
RMI Guide Alan Davis, William and team Peru.
Saturday, July 7, 2018 - 5:17 PM PT
Ishinca Summit!
We’re happy to report that our team stood on top of
Nevado Ishinca this morning around 9 AM. At around 18,143’ high, we certainly had to put the work in, reaching the high point of our trip so far. Winds were light and skies were the brightest of blues for us today, and we sure felt lucky after some rare Cordillera Blanca snow earlier in the week. The team enjoyed pork chops tonight, and two rounds of lunch before that. We’re truly spoiled here in Peru, that’s for sure. We’re planning on resting here in the Ishinca Valley tomorrow, and getting into some crevasse rescue and a smattering of other technical skills as we continue our progression toward Nevado Urus in a few days. Thanks for following along!
RMI Guide Robby Young
Saturday, July 7, 2018 2:37 AM PST
Some days you eat the bear...
We’re down at 11,000 ft. We had lofty ambitions this morning but
Denali played hard to get. There was a mean wind blowing through much of the night and sadly right through the morning. We waited it out as long as we could but called it at mid day. Tough as it was to let go of the summit, it was pretty obvious that it was out of reach under the circumstances. We broke camp at 17 and got moving down -as did every last climber on the mountain. A storm is moving in, according to the forecasters. For that though, today was spectacular once we were on the move. There is a bunch of forest fire smoke creating a haze, but we still got great views down to the Kahiltna Glacier as we carefully walked the ridge crest, dropped down the fixed lines, dug out our sleds at 14k and pushed on around windy corner with heavy loads. We piled on down the squirrel hills and motorcycle, and came into 11,000 at 9:30 PM. Our tents went up fast and dinner wasn’t far behind. The air down here is chock full of oxygen and it isn’t nearly so cold as we’ve gotten used to. We’ll get some low altitude sleep and plot our final escape to the airstrip soon.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Tyler Jones and Christina Dale reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver today at 12,300' before route conditions and strong winds forced the team to turn. The team checked from Ingraham Flats as they were on their descent and en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to Today's Teams!
Hello all!
Another day here in the beautiful Ishinca Valley! However, unlike yesterday’s rain and snow, today was splitter and bluebird! We took advantage of the sunshine and made our way up to the toe of the Ishinca Glacier for some on-snow training. The views of the massive Ranrapalca as well tomorrow’s objective,
Ishinca, were second to none. We all got some much needed rest this afternoon, and are tucked into the tents already this evening, in anticipation of a 2am breakfast and an attempt on 18,143’ Nevada Ishinca tomorrow. Wish us luck!
RMI Guides
Robby Young,
Alan Davis and Peru Team ‘Con Gas’
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Chris Ebeling reached 13,400' before high winds and a cloud cap forced the team to turn. The team is on their descent and will be returning to Rainier Basecamp early this afternoon.
Congratulations to Today's Team!
Thursday, July 5, 2018 10:25 PM PST
Today was better weather than we expected -after a snowy and blowy night- it was crystal clear and calm at camp when the sun hit, there was a sea of clouds below. But the winds were blowing up on
Denali Pass and the South Peak until early afternoon which discouraged us from giving it a go. We’ve got reason to believe that tomorrow -Friday- will be our day. We chalked up another 17,000' rest day and hope that the extra time up high has made us more ready for success. We’re definitely feeling a little more like our old selves now compared to when we first rolled into 17k.
A short walk from camp to the big drop off and we can look down on the empty camp at 14,000'. The last groups of the season are here now and looking to take their shot tomorrow too.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Thursday, July 5, 2018 - 6:12 PM PT
Hello!
Your favorite
Expedition Skills - Perú team here, getting into sleeping bags after a beautiful day here at Ishinca Base Camp. We slept in this morning, and enjoyed omelettes and strong Peruvian coffee before we set out to review and learn some important knots and hitches for our upcoming climbs. The afternoon brought some cloud cover, but we had a chance to get out and stretch the legs for an hour on a hike above our camp. Pretty soon, the unthinkable happened here in the dry season in the Cordillera Blanca; it snowed! Luckily, our plan was to rest tent-side all afternoon anyway, and the sound of snow and rain lulled us to sleep for a well deserved siesta. After a delectable caramelized onion, chicken and rice dish, we are back in the tents, resting up for our big day up to the Ishinca Glacier for some on-snow skills tomorrow. We’ll hit yet another high point at 16,200’ if all goes according to plan. Wish us luck!
Best,
RMI Guides Robby, Alan, William, and crew
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Congrats to the entire team! Casey, Jessie and Taylor we thank you!
Tom (The Bomb)
Posted by: Tom Barbitta on 7/11/2018 at 9:16 am
Hi Team,
Congrats on your Rainier Summit, that is amazing. I am planning to go there Tuesday night and for early Wednesday for the Summit through DC route, would like to know how the route is after camp muir. Do we need to know anything about the route and any safety precautions while on the route. Was there a ladder in the route? Your response is much appreciated.
Posted by: Shashi on 7/9/2018 at 2:07 pm
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