We said goodbye to Elbrus Base Camp and our newly made friends yesterday morning and climbed back into the 4x4 sprinter van for the drive out to Kislovodsk, but not before putting another couple of hours into the hut, finishing the roof. What's left is some trim work and flooring. It was fun to leave knowing that we had left a small mark of our passing, and had helped in some small way.
The drive out was as exhilarating as the drive in, bouncing and grinding our way up the rough dirt track with the steep green slopes of the Caucasus just to the right of our wheels. Once we reached pavement everyone let out a collective breath and settled in. Once in Kislovodsk, we did what every climber does after a long expedition: took showers, shaved, and went looking for food and drink. Those comforts of town feel so much more pleasurable after being deprived of them for a little while. We made merry, celebrating one last night as a full team, and convincing the DJ at the restaurant to bring a little of home back by playing some Garth Brooks.
This morning we will part ways with a few of our team members as they head for home, and the rest of us head to St. Petersburg to spend a day exploring the art, architecture and culture of another great Russian city. We'll try to send some photos!
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal, and team
Good afternoon. This is Eric Frank calling in from the south side of Mount Shuksan. Just sitting in my tent here listening to the rain pitter patter on the outside. On the plus side, I would assume that most of the smoke from British Columbia has been knocked down. It's been raining here since around 11 p.m. last night. It rained hard throughout the night, well into the early afternoon today. We were able to get outside to do a little bit of training- built some anchors, did some crevasse rescue before the cold and heavy wet mist chased us back into our tents. So we have our fingers crossed that things are going to be looking up for tomorrow. Right now we're just getting prepared, doing our part to get ready to go climb Mount Shuksan in the morning. So hopefully we will be calling you mid-morning with a report from the top and hopefully some better weather. Looking forward to it then. Bye.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
The Four Day Summit Climb August 10 - 13 was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Poor weather delayed the team from leaving Camp Muir this morning. Unable to make their alpine start, the team did opt to ascend to Ingraham Flats which will be their high point today. RMI Guide Robby Young reported that the weather had improved and they were above the clouds as the reached 12,000'. The team will return to Camp Muir and descend to Paradise today.
So sad for you all that you couldn’t make it to the summit due to weather… Anthony, You have trained so hard for this and I am so proud of you!!
Xoxo
Love Kerri
Posted by: Kerri Viverito on 8/13/2017 at 12:28 pm
Hey, this is Eric Frank with the Shuksan Seminar. Just wanted to let everyone know we're doing well. We moved up to the toe of the glacier had a good day of training today, and now the weather is turned a little bit the clouds are rolling in. I think we're in for a little bit of rain. We are tucked in and we have a nice camp and we're planning to train tomorrow as much as we're able given the weather. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank checks in the Shuksan Seminar.
All is well here at Meweka Camp 10,000'. It is raining a bit but we are dry in our tents.
We had a very nice climb today. We started around midnight from Baranco Camp and reached the summit of Kilimanjaro at 7am. There was very little wind and clear skies. We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and a nice morning shadow of the mountain with clouds below. Once we returned to High Camp, we packed up quick and pushed down the remaining 5,000' of, at times, steep trail in a few hours. It's our last night on the big hill and sleep is going to come easy. Our mountain staffs preparing dinner. We have a great crew taking care of us. And I had the pleasure of leading a fine team up to the Roof of Africa today.
Audio Message from summit of Kilimanjaro:
Hey, Mr. Mark Tucker here on the top of Kilimanjaro. We left as a team from the High Camp and still on top as a team. Awesome job by the whole group here and little bit chilly, but wow very little wind so we had a very very very nice climb. So we're going to probably start heading back down here in just a minute, and we're all doing great. So we're going to head down hill and we'll get back to you a little bit later. Ciao for now.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guide Mark Tucker calls in from the summit of Kilimanjaro.
The Sahale Mountain - Quien Sabe Glacier August 10 - 13 team reached the summit of Sahale this morning. RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall checked in to let us know her team was doing well, they had reached the summit and were descending back to camp. They will spend tonight on the mountain and complete their program tomorrow after reaching the trail head.
Congratulations to the Sahale Climbers!
Another long, but amazing day out on the safari circuit for the Taos team. We had a relaxed 9 AM departure from the Plantation Lodge. Adamson and Makubi took us to a Masai village for a brief tour. We danced a little, jumped high, and got inside some small, earthen dwellings to understand how this prominent Tanzanian tribe lives without modern conveniences. Then it was on to Tarangire National Park. Before long we were deep within this immense network of winding dirt roads, baobab trees, twisting river valleys and animals animals animals. We no longer stopped for individual zebras and wildebeest, since we were seeing thousands of them. After the hundredth giraffe and the five hundredth elephant, we started reserving our picture snaps for the babies in the bunch. We covered mile after mile, exploring and watching out for wildcats, water bucks, elan, impalas and gazelles. Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater were each wonderful, but both were discreet areas with natural borders hemming them in. That isn't the case with Tarangire. We could see wildlife spread out to the horizons in all directions... the Africa we'd dreamed of. By day's end, we pulled into Balloon Camp, an excellent "tent" hotel out in the bush with armed guards to escort us from one tent to another. Those guards stood vigilant as we enjoyed an outdoor campfire and sumptuous barbecue buffet under the stars (and clouds). No lions, leopards, or cheetahs intruded on our wonderful dinner but we are still hoping they'll come for breakfast. It will be our last morning of Safari and we are still excited to see just what might be out there.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
With little to do today besides organize our gear for the next leg of our adventure, we might have wondered how we would occupy ourselves for a day in Base Camp. The Cunninghams took care of that worry, organizing a barn raising of sorts to build a hut that our outfitter has been meaning to put together. With furring strips, floor boards, and siding located, we went to work, only slightly hampered by dodgy extension cords that didn't always provide enough power from the generator to run a drill. The activity kept everyone occupied, and just as we put up the last siding on the walls and were considering the roof, the clouds moved over and the rain started falling.
We've been resting in tents, staying dry since. Chances are this storm quits soon, as each one has throughout our expedition, and we'll enjoy a last night in base camp before returning to Kislovodsk early tomorrow. From there it will be in to St. Petersburg and the finale of our trip. We're looking forwards to showers and Shashlik (the local barbeque) tomorrow.
From Russia with love,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal, and team
These updates have been great!
Good to see that the Cunninghams are doing well. Take care all, and prayers for a safe return.
Posted by: Deb Thummel on 8/13/2017 at 6:18 pm
Congratulations on a great Summit and teamwork in basecamp! Enjoy the rest of your journey and celebrate a great climb.
All good at home but look forward to Lee’s return home!! Love Ya!
The Four Day Summit Climb teams August 9-12, were unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning due to route conditions. The teams will return to Camp Muir and repack before continuing down to Paradise later today.
Hello Tim,
I am sure it has to be such an amazing adventure!!!
So very proud of you for making the effort. Proud of the leaders and all team members.
There’s always another day!!!
Look forward to hearing all about it!
Love,
Mom and dad
Posted by: Pam on 8/13/2017 at 2:26 pm
Congratulations Erika and company! WOW! This is an amazing accomplishment. I know it is not the top but the journey to get where you have gotten is something to be proud of. It is always good to work with mother nature and appreciate her messages. I am glad you all listen to that, to climb another day.
We have just pulled into high camp, Barafu Camp, located at 15,000' on Kilimanjaro. Our tent sites are on the low side of camp so I'm calling the elevation 14,900'. We have been moving as one cohesive unit which will make the climb tonight go really smooth.
There are a few clouds around making for good pictures and still allowing great views of the upper mountain.
We are up here with plenty of time to rest, fuel up and prepare for the summit push ahead tonight. Repacking our gear and making high calorie lunches in between naps is in store for us. The team is in great shape and we are all fired up and ready for our summit attempt.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
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Congratulations Robin!!!
- Amy, Lavine, and Shanty
Posted by: Amy Kabia on 8/14/2017 at 10:27 am
Thanks for the videos! Evan says, “Have fun exploring!” Did y’all get a team picture?
Posted by: The Hickmott's on 8/14/2017 at 7:59 am
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