Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Saturday, June 2, 2018 - 7:25 pm PT
All is well on
Denali at 14,000 ft camp. We climbed for approximately five hours today after quickly breaking down camp at 11,200 feet. The air was crisp all day but we had full sunshine keeping us comfortable. This day on Denali is always tough and today was no exception. Thankfully we are all in camp now relaxing with our boots off resting up for a big tortellini dinner. I am sure it will be an early night to bed and we will enjoy a well earned late wake up in the morning
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
On The Map
Saturday, June 2, 2018 - 6:56 pm PT
We decided that the perfect weather this morning demanded that we go take a run up the fixed lines to check them out, and finally gain the
West Buttress. We're sitting through a spell of fantastic weather, warm, calm, and sunny, and the views back over camp were stunning. The fixed lines are often a point of uncertainty, nervousness, and apprehension, right up until we clip in to them and everyone realizes that's it's just the same old climbing that we are all used to. Everyone did a fantastic job and we cruised to the top, took a bit to enjoy the views and breathe some thin air, then headed back down to camp for an afternoon siesta. Tomorrow we'll take one more rest day before we look to make our move to 17K Camp and get our summit push underway.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Jess Matthews, Taylor Bickford, and team
On The Map
Saturday, June 2, 2018 - 3:23 PM PT
Early this morning we broke down camp under perfect conditions! The team climbed remarkably strong and we made great time up to our
Camp III at 11,000'. We arrived in mid morning to avoid traveling while in the heat of solar rays and overheating our engines.
The crew then built camp in short order now we’re settling in for a mid day siesta. We’re strong, happy and stoked with our performance.
Tonight we will have a feast of Annie’s Mac and cheese, then we will try to be up before the sun hits us in the morning for a short back carry to retrieve yesterday’s load of groceries, fuel, and personal luggage. That’s all for now from our new camp and currently the rest and hydration station.
Cheers,
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Brian Mazaika, and Nick Scott
On The Map
Saturday, June 2, 2018 - 2:43 PM PT
We awoke to a leisurely morning as we waited for our porters to arrive and collect some of our gear to bring to High Camp at
17,600’ on Huayna Potosi.
As with any big mountain around the world, weather plays a major role when attempting to summit a 6000 meter peak. With a deteriorating forecast in the coming days, we’ve decided to bump up our summit attempt to tonight!
Today we climbed a little over 1500’ to the Anselme Baud hut at the base of glacier. The hut feels similar to any European Chalet with a mixture of people from all over the world looking to climb. The crew did great getting to the hut allowing us ample time to enjoy tea, and food. Currently it’s cloudy, with no precipitation and winds are calm.
Our hope is to climb tonight before the weather turns with an approaching cold front. Forecasting weather in Bolivia is a challenge as clouds slowly build in the Amazon lowlands slowly building over the mountains. Some local guides use the sight of a certain beetle to tell when a storm is approaching. We remain optimistic that weather will hold off until Monday. We’ll keep our fingers crossed as we look to make our summit attempt tonight on Huayna Potosi.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Friday, June 1, 2018 - 10:30 PM PT
We're falling into the rhythm of Denali. After a big day yesterday, it seemed appropriate to take a rest day and avail ourselves of the comforts of 14,000' Camp. It was a stellar, beautiful day and we rested for most, taking a brief reprieve to practice and train for the fixed lines tomorrow. We'll take our first spin on those and everyone is excited to get on the
West Buttress and some exciting terrain!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
On The Map
The
Four Day Summit Climb May 30 - 2 June, 2018 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.
RMI Guide Steve Gately reported consistent 20 mph winds and cloudy conditions.
The team will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Friday, June 1, 2018 - 9:30 PM PT
We had our first
rest day of the trip today, and the team certainly earned it. The weather was perfect, with blue skies, and a cool breeze that kept us from baking in the tents. The day went pretty quickly, which is not always the case. We passed most of the time trading stories about our most embarrassing moments, and listening to Finnish heavy metal courtesy of our friendly neighbors. Not much else to report from the mountain today. We'll check in tomorrow, hopefully from our new home at 14,000'.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
On The Map
Friday, June 1, 2018 - 6:33 PM PT
From the top of Radio Tower to the bottom of the crevasse on the Kahiltna, your guides; Christina, Lucas, and Alex thank the Alaska Seminar team for bringing a sense of humor and awe to the 9 days spent together. We are now off the ice and onto burgers and brews.
Friday, June 1, 2018 - 6:21 PM PT
The sun warmed our tents before a majority of the team was up and about this morning. We decided to sleep late and take advantage of some well deserved rest after our climb of Pequeno Alpamayo the day before. Cups of tea and coffee, bread with honey and scrambled eggs with ham rounded out breakfast.
Today was a move day. After breakfast, we slowly packed up our camp and walked back out of the Condoriri Valley to the awaiting Land Cruisers. With our duffles loaded tightly in the trucks and above on metal racks, we quickly drove the 20 miles back out to the highway and headed south toward Zongo Pass, the basecamp for
Huayna Potosi.
The refugio here is a nice change from the tents that we have spent the last few nights sleeping in. Heated rooms, ample storage and electrical outlets seem like a real luxury.
The plan tomorrow is to move up to a hut higher on the mountain to get in position for our climb. The trail uphill is steep, but we will have porters helping with our load and expediting our progress.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Friday, June 1, 2018 - 4:58 PM PT
Today we awoke to a clear and cold morning in camp and after breakfast we began the hour long climb up
Ski Hill. Taking advantage of the brisk temperature, it allowed us to stay cool and good snow conditions had us walking in just our boots. Walking without snowshoes let us set a good pace to our cache site at 10,200 ft. At the cache, we left some group meals, extra personal food and gas that we don’t need for a few days. After burying our gear, we descended back to camp in bluebird skies, sun and incredible views of the Lower Kahiltna glacier. Soon enough however, the heat of the sun had us retreating back down to camp and into our tents for some rest and relaxation after a hard morning. The menu for tonight calls for some quesadillas, which is most often a favorite meal on the mountain! If the weather holds true tomorrow, we hope to make the ascent again tomorrow and move our camp to 11,200'.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
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Hey Tyler
With you
Posted by: D Dutro on 6/3/2018 at 8:09 pm
Hey Tyler
With you
Posted by: D Dutro on 6/3/2018 at 8:07 pm
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