Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Tuesday, June 11, 2019 - 9:47 PM PT
Greetings from 17,000' Camp!
We made great time during a beautiful sunny day moving from 14,200’ to our
High Camp here at 17,200’. The team did exceptionally well, and made quick work of building camp in the old confines of JM’s Denali Team. Some afternoon rest was had and some dehydrated high mountain food was tolerated. We’ve got a decent forecast for tomorrow...but we know that this mountain will have the final say tomorrow when we wake up. We’re hopeful for some calm winds and hopeful to make an honest go at the summit tomorrow. The team has put a ton of work into this expedition thus far, and we’re all ecstatic to be in the position we are here at 17 Camp. We’ll let you know how it goes!
RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe, and Team Prepped’n Ready
On The Map
The
Expedition Skill Seminar - Emmons June 8 - 13 team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning via the Emmons Glacier led by
RMI Guide Bryan Mazaika. After two days of training the team drove to White River Camp Ground and started their ascent. The team will return to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp tomorrow afternoon for the conclusion of their program.
Congratulations to the Emmons team!
The
Four Day Climb led by
RMI Guides Dave Hahn and
Hannah Smith reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Dave reported perfect conditions as the team was beginning their descent from the crater rim at 7:30 AM PT.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Hola Amigos!
All is well here in Ecuador.
Today we had a very early start to try our luck climbing
Illiniza Norte. We left our hacienda just after 3am and after a short ride to the trailhead, the team was hiking uphill just before 4am. We hiked for about three hrs to reach the Refugio or climbers hut that sits in the saddle between the two mountains where we ducked inside for a little hot tea and coffee.
Unfortunately the weather made a turn for the worse while we were relaxing inside. However, we suited up in our climbing gear and made a valiant effort to see if we could push through anyway. But today the mountain won as the snow falling only thickened as we made our way uphill. We reached about 16,000' before calling it good.
The team quickly descended back to our hacienda were we packed up and headed for a nice warm lunch.
We are currently relaxing in another wonderful hacienda close to Cotopaxi called Chilcabamba.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Tuesday, June 11, 2019 - 5:56 PM PT
We woke up and it was cold! Our bodies aren’t accustomed to the colder temps of 14,200’ but that will change as we take a few rest days. The views of Mt Hunter and Foraker have been exceptional. Several teams moved up to
17,200’ this morning and a few are scheduled to head up tomorrow. The weather has continued to hold and looks to be improving over the weekend. We enjoyed a late breakfast of cream cheese and bacon bagels. Everyone is having some lunch in their tents and hopefully a nap to best utilize this active rest day. This evening we will build some snow walls to reinforce our camp should the weather take a turn for the worse. Not much happening at 14 Camp and that’s just fine with us.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
RMI Guides Brent Okita and Chase Nelson lead their Five Day Climb Teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Brent reported a clear and beautiful morning with winds around 20 mph on the crater. The teams were beginning their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 AM PT. Once back at Camp Muir, they will pack up their gear where they have spent the last two nights and complete their descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbing teams!
Monday, June 10, 2019 - 9:38 PM PT
On the thirteenth day, Team ‘No Leftovers’ rested. And boy did we enjoy it. It was another beautiful day here at 14,000' Camp. We’ve been in a cycle of morning sun and afternoon clouds for the last few days, so we planned accordingly. We woke in the shade for some early morning coffee, and then made our way to the Edge of the World for some unbelievable morning views of the Alaska Range. This perch is located at the edge of Genet Basin and looks down approximately 6,000’ below onto the Kahiltna Glacier. We followed that up with a big brunch of eggs and hash brown burritos that stretched us until 1pm. Naps and packing took the rest of our day before another delicious veggie curry dinner. Needless to say, no leftovers were had. This team is now batting 1.000 when it comes to finishing every bit of every meal. A truly impressive feat on any expedition. We’re tucked in now, turning all that food into fuel, ready for a move to 17,200’, if the mother mountain Denali allows, of course. We’ll let you know. Wish us luck and good weather vibes!
RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe and Team ‘No Leftovers’
On The Map
Monday, June 10, 2019 - 8:05 PM PT
We broke down camp quickly this morning. As quickly as anything happens at
17,000 ft. We’re in our tents at 11,000 feet now. It’s a long, hot day getting down here with all of our gear, but we’re one step closer to the airstrip. We’ll take a quick nap here, wake up around midnight, and then walk the rest of the way in the morning, hopefully landing us in position for a flight out around 8am.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
Monday, June 10, 2019 - 6:58 PM PT
The good weather train continues to roll on
Denali. If your looking at the forecast, it’s been inaccurate aside from the calm wind speeds. The Team got a good workout today as we packed up camp and moved to 14,200’ and while we did well, the higher altitude, calm air and insane heat reflecting off the glaciers gave us a good challenge. We have been moving gear, food and fuel uphill for 6 straight days and tomorrow will be no different. We will sleep in, eat a big breakfast and then need to descend 800’ and retrieve our cache. Now that we are at “Denali City” there are lots of climbers, great views of the West Buttress and the greater Alaska Range. We’ve been eating good, burritos, buffalo chicken wraps, salmon cream cheese bagels, etc. Everyone is feeling some minor aches and pains from the hard work but they are smiling and happy to be at 14 Camp to begin the climbing above here once our bodies acclimate and the weather and mountain give us the thumbs up to headed to High Camp. Thanks for following along, more from Genet Basin and the 14 Camp hang to follow.
RMI Guide Mike King
Hello Everyone,
We had a nice relaxing morning here in Ecuador today, leaving the hotel just after 10am. After loading all of our duffels on our bus we slowly made our way through the traffic of Quito and headed south along the Pan-American highway.
Our goal for the day was to reach the base of the Illiniza’s, two extinct volcanoes not too far from Cotopaxi. We stopped along the way for a really nice lunch at “Cafe de la Vaca” cafe of the cows, where most of us had hamburgers and fresh juices that they are known for. We continued driving just a little further to reach our quaint little hacienda tucked in the hills not too far from the mountain. We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring around the hacienda and discussing tomorrow’s game plan for climbing
Illiniza Norte.
Everyone is doing well and excited about stretching our legs again early in the morning.
Casey and crew
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Hi z your almost there….so excited….safe climbing :)
Posted by: Jennifer Graham on 6/12/2019 at 5:32 pm
Hey Steve. Pulling for you all the way. Be safe and I hope you get to enjoy that summit view!
Keith
Posted by: Keith hoelker on 6/12/2019 at 12:27 pm
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