Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 10:58 PM PT
Ahhhh. We made it to a much deserved rest day. It kept on snowing lightly through the night with some restless breezes playing through in the morning, but we didn’t care much what it did. We slept in and did a long, slow, yummy bagel breakfast in our comfortable dining tent. The day was a mix of napping, reading, and visiting with other climbers. We watched a handful of neighboring teams pick up and move to
14,000' Camp, although it looked as though they’d have to deal with higher winds on the way. Weather got gradually better through the day and by evening it was just calm, sunny and nice. At dinner we went through plans for our own big move up to 14,000' Camp tomorrow.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 8:54 PM PT
Rest days are the best days! We slept harrrd after our long day of climbing yesterday. When we finally began rustling around we enjoyed a very leisurely pancake brunch and our whole team laughed and chatted with renewed energy. The afternoon was filled with napping, organizing, stretching, snacking, and enjoying the sunshine. Yes, you read that correctly, sunshine! We finally had a full day with no precipitation! It wasn’t exactly beach weather, but we soaked it up nonetheless, and the day moved at just the perfect pace.
Spirits are high and bellies are full- and every member of the Super Crew would like to send a very warm thank you to Carol Clark for her excellent baked goods! They somehow held up very well in Craig’s pack and he was generous enough (or his pack was heavy enough
On The Map
Hello from
Alpamayo Base Camp. We finished our approach to the mountain on an almost rainy day, but the clouds decided to respect us, as now, right before dinner, skies are open and we're enjoying a nice evening.
Alpamayo, Quiraraju, Paron,
Artesonraju... only a few of these "Andean Giants" that we're able to contemplate from our tents. We're about to enjoy another dinner from our cook Emilio; vegetable soup from his very own garden as first course, and it seems that grilled fresh trout with natural mashed potato and rice with cilantro are on the menu... Yep, living large here!
More to come tomorrow.
Cheers,
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team
The
Kautz Seminar, led by
Steve Gately, was on top of Mt. Rainier at 9:45 a.m. The team is working their way back to their camp where they will stay another night and descend from the mountain tomorrow.
Congratulations to our Seminar team!
After a relaxing stay at the hacienda Chilcabamba, we are all packed up and heading for
Cotopaxi, the stunning 19,347’ stratovolcano that is our main climbing objective. We will drive a dirt road that winds through Cotopaxi National Park to an altitude above 15,000’. A 45-minute hike will lead to the climbers’ hut, which sits near the toe of the glacier just shy of 16,000’. The goal of today is to arrive at such high altitude accommodations feeling good, resting, and adjusting to the altitude. Tomorrow we will hike to the Glacier and review the climbing techniques we will employ on the climb the following morning.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Monday, June 25, 2018 - 10:31 PM PT
We woke up early to clear, cold skies. Our mission was to carry a load of gear up to our next camp at
17,200 feet. We chose to leave early to avoid the heat wave that can occur on the fixes lines when the sun is hitting them. It seems weird that we are avoiding heat while climbing a giant mountain in Alaska, but the solar radiation bouncing off of all the white snow and other light color surfaces can heat you up something fierce!
Although the conditions were sometimes less than ideal with some deep snow and some blowing wind on the ridge, the Super Crew did fantastically! We are all pretty worn out after such a big day and deserve the rest day we are taking tomorrow. Send us some sunshine vibes so we can rest in warmth!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen & the Super Crew
On The Map
Monday, June 25, 2018 - 10:52 PM PT
At six AM, things were looking positive... not much sign of wind and the upper portions of
Denali’s West Buttress were in the clear. We got up and got going slowly in order to keep an eye out for changes... and to enjoy a leisurely breakfast of bacon and eggs. We set out from camp at 9:30 in our crampons and carrying ice axes, feeling a little more like climbers. Nice to take a break from snowshoes and from sled hauling. We carried food and fuel for caching, but each of us elected to put it all on our backs and to give the sleds the day off. First up was Motorcycle Hill, a steep but short (40 minute) glacial slope, next we got on squirrel hill, which brought us to the Polo Field -the glacial basin at the foot of the West Buttress. By then we were watching dramatic clouds beginning to form atop the high mountains. Another hour brought us to Windy Corner, which was just starting to get a little breezy when we turned the corner and reached our destination at 13,500 ft. By the time we were digging a raven-proof pit in the snow to bury our supplies, things had whited out and the snow was starting to fall. We’d taken a respectable 4 hours to reach the intended cache, we spent 45 minutes there getting everything squared away and then took just a further 90 minutes to walk back down through the snowstorm to camp at 11,000. There were plenty of other guided parties from different companies on the route today but we all worked well together and there were no traffic jams. Back at camp by 3:45 we snoozed until dinner time. Several of us admitted to being a little tired after this fine day of climbing... but that is not such a bad thing. We’ve planned a rest day for tomorrow and we’ll hope the snow takes a holiday as well.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Good evening from Icchi Coccha "Small Lake", where we have pitched camp for the night on our way to
base camp, at 3800m. We had a very pleasant day, perhaps the best this guide remembers, as it is usually a pretty hot day climbing up the valley in the lower elevations. But the cloud cover provided the best temps to do the hike, so we're happy we didn't bake! We shared the trail with a few dogs, cows and of course, our donkeys. But the highlight was the curious fox that ventured into our camp. We're now about to enjoy the first of our meals from our cook, Emilo, in our dining tent. That's all for now, stay tuned for more!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
This morning we checked out of our hotel and left the urban confines of Quito, headed south toward
Cotopaxi. Our first stop today was another acclimatization hike, this time to the climbers' hut that sits in the saddle between Illinizas Norte and Sur. Our hike today took us up to ~15,400' where we enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee in the climbers' hut. The weather was pleasant for climbing today, although clouds up high obscured our views of the Illiniza peaks.
We're now resting at the rustic and peaceful hacienda Chilcabamba, where we have great views of
Cotopaxi as it dances in the clouds.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Monday June 25, 2018 - 2:11 PM PT
We woke at midnight for a 1:35 AM start down from 11K camp. What originally looked like a cloudy day in whiteout navigation mode turned into a beautiful clear morning with alpine glow on Mt Foraker’s Sultanna Ridge. We took some breaks, dug up a cache, and finally walked up ‘heart break hill’ to finish the self propelled portion of our expedition. We waited for 3 hours plus for the weather to clear between the Alaska Range and Talkeetna. Finally, K2 Aviation swooped in with the stunning Turbo Otter ski planes to whisk us back to a rainy Talkeetna. Food, beverages, showers, and sleep are in order... for some of us, in that exact order. Thanks for following along and what a great team to climb
Denali with!
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
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Hey Tom! I can hear you…“Hey Man I’m here on Denali living my dream” I can only imagine the God given beauty you all are experiencing right now. Best wishes and prayers for sunshine and light winds to the summit!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/28/2018 at 3:27 am
For David Collins - it has been wonderful getting to read your progress! So thankful that the weather has been great for you all! Be safe and have an amazing time! xoxoxo, Teresa
Posted by: Teresa on 6/27/2018 at 9:53 pm
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