Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Many miles of dusty roads brought us out of the mountains and back into civilization this afternoon. The small town of
Olgii, population 30,000, which felt like a isolated outpost last week now feels like the big city with amenities such as hot showers and the occasional strip of pavement.
For dinner we were treated to a traditional Khazak feast with a performance on the dombor, a two stringed instrument similar to a guitar. Despite a lack of physical activity today, everyone seems a bit tired and we are all headed to bed early to get ready for our flight back to Ulaanbataar tomorrow morning.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Hello!
Another day here in the
Ishinca Valley, and another summit for your ESS-Peru Team! Around 9:00am this morning, we stood on top of Urus Este, around 17,800’, after a beautiful evening of challenging climbing where the team gave it a huge effort! It’s a lean snow year here in the Cordillera Blanca and the route was bit rockier than normal, but the team managed that challenging terrain exceptionally well. The weather was so nice on top that we were able to spend almost 45 minutes enjoying the views of the surrounding peaks and turquoise blue lakes that the Cordillera is famous for. We returned back to camp midday to a wonderful lunch, as usual, and took the afternoon to rest, recuperate, and enjoy our last day here in the Ishinca Valley after a week of calling it home. Dinner is almost served this evening, and we’re looking forward to catching a night back in the comforts of our hotel in Huaraz tomorrow evening. Shortly, we’ll find ourselves headed back to the hills for a closing climb to end our program with a bang! We’ll touch base from town tomorrow, and we’ll send some pics!
RMI Guide
Robby, William, Alfie, and Team Summit!
We got up today at 3:30am, this put us in the Sun gate for the sunrise over Machu Picchu and we got a great view. There’s something about seeing glaciers from a high jungle ridge and taking in the most complex stone structures built onto the side of mountainous terrain that’s put the last 5 days into perspective.
The steep step section named the “gringo killer” didn’t slow this team of gringos down. Our group has adapted from cold and wet to hot and humid conditions exceptionally well. While this is a hiking trip, the mileage, consistent high altitude, and awkwardly placed stone steps are not for the faint of heart.
We toured
Machu Picchu for a couple of hours and took in the amazing stone work and sheer size of this important cultural site for the Quechua people. As the crowds began to swell we decided that a beer, warm shower, and burger (that was the actual order) was well overdue so we headed for our hotel.
Tomorrow we will take an early morning visit to Machu Picchu and a hike up Huayna Picchu before heading to the train and our return to Cusco. This has been a great trip through the Andes, while a little cold and wet at times we got unprecedented views of the glaciated peaks while hiking through scenic valleys and learning about one of the great civilizations and their impressive achievements.
RMI Guide
Mike King
RMI Guide
Steve Gately checked in from camp after a successful summit and descent of
Mt. Shuksan's Fisher Chimneys route. Steve reported a great route and an even better team. The team will stay overnight in camp and begin their descent back to the land of good food and cold drinks tomorrow.
Congratulations to the Fisher Chimneys crew!
RMI Guide
Mike Walter and team reached the summit of Mt. Baker via its iconic and forbidding North Ridge yesterday. Mike reported 100% team success and fantastic climbing conditions! Today, the team took in their last few views of
Mt. Baker before beginning their descent back to the Heliotrope Ridge trail head and the comforts of town.
Congratulations to today's team!
We traveled all day and have finally arrived in one of the most beautiful cities in all of Europe, St.Petersburg.
After a short ride from the airport, we got checked into our hotel and took a short break before dinner. We had dinner at a local brew pub, as the team was hungry for some burgers and beer. We then took a short but scenic stroll, which included a climb up St. Isaac’s Cathedral to take in the beautiful evening view.
Everyone is very excited to explore and see this city tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey and team.
Today we got busy getting ourselves ready for the big climb. Following another great breakfast our thoughts turned towards the mountain.
As members introduced themselves it became even more apparent what an interesting and diverse team we have. We all have special reasons why we climb, and why we chose
Kilimanjaro. It was with rapt attention that we listened to the stories behind the individuals on the trip. Inspiration was had by all as we heard these tales of life changes that led to us being here.
It was apparent that everyone had come prepared for this challenge and taken it seriously. Even more important was the great attitude folks were bringing into the climb.
An in depth review of mountain life and our upcoming time at altitude preceded a thorough review of gear we'll be bringing with us.
All that hard work was rewarded with another great lunch (curry for me), and some R&R. Some stretched the legs around hotel grounds while most of us got in some quality pool time just as the sun asserted itself enough to bake our bodies for a few hours.
We're psyched and set and ready to meet the mountain staff tomorrow morning and get underway. Next time, we'll be dispatching from Machame Camp at almost 10,000'.
Good night from the Arumeru River Lodge,
RMI Guide Brent Okita
RMI Guide
Joe Hoch and the
Five Day Climb reached the summit of Mt. Rainier shortly after 8:00 AM this morning. Steady winds did not prevent the team from spending time on the summit enjoying their accomplishment. The team will return to Camp Muir for their final night on the mountain. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford tomorrow afternoon.
The
Mt. Rainier Four-Day Summit Climb team, led by
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer, reached the summit around 8:15 a.m. The winds brought in a cap but it was above the summit when they arrived. After spending an hour on top, the team began their descent at 9:15 a.m.
BIGGGGGGG DAY!
We are all now at 10,000' after reaching the summit of
Kilimanjaro at 19,340'. Some of us are a bit more tired than others. I guess it's to be expected. We woke at 11:30 pm, powered down some porridge, hot drinks and started the climb at 12:40 AM. There were headlights well up the mountain side already, which was a pretty thing to see. A bit of a moon allowed us to travel without headlights, at times which was very enjoyable. A bit more than seven hours put us all on top. Conditions up and down were perfect, a bit cold but that's to be expected at these elevations. It was a true test of endurance for most of the crew.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
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Another summit conquerd. Congratulations Trey. Enjoy being back in civilization.
Posted by: Phyllis Craig on 7/23/2019 at 12:28 am
Love these posts! Congrats on another summit. Can’t wait to see the pics.
Posted by: Bridget on 7/22/2019 at 6:35 pm
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