Entries from Locations
Today we awoke to blue skies above and beautiful
views of the mountain, but as we set off on our acclimatization ski tour, the clouds followed us. We spent the majority of the day in minimal visibility - the Elbrus ping pong ball. Strong solar radiation made for uncomfortably warm temps, which combined with the whiteout was a challenge to our motivation. But we persevered, and climbed to the top of Pastukhova Rocks at 15,500'.
We "skied by braille" back down the route to our camp and were greeted by Dasha our cook with delicious soup and fried chicken. A very successful acclimatization ski, despite the clouds...
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
On The Map
June 21, 2017
Good weather has finally hit
Denali. The pressure is rising along with the temperatures....for now. We have had a good time at our 11k camp but it time to start moving up higher. Our plan is to do a carry up to 14,000 feet to cache some gear and then move up after a couple of days. If this weather holds, we will wake up early and hit the trail so we can get up to 14k before it gets too hot. Most people would think that being to hot would not be an issue while mountain climbing in Alaska, but it can be a real energy drain when the hot sun reflects off he snow like a solar oven.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen & Team
On The Map
June 21, 2017
It snowed a couple of inches overnight at 9500 ft but skies were clear by morning. A cool breeze kept us in bed for a little while, but we were on the trail by 9:30 and making slow and steady progress toward the head of the
Kahiltna Glacier. We could almost see all of its forty-seven mile length stretched out below us as we turned East at Kahiltna Pass. The cool breeze was nowhere to be found as we worked up steeper hills at midday. We made it into 11,000 ft Camp at 1 PM and were happy to see our friends on Mike Haugen's team. They kindly helped to shovel tent sites for us and gave us some "starter water" to make us feel at home. The day had turned out to be stunningly nice... Which is always a good thing on the solstice. We gazed in wonder at the bright clean angular chunks of glacier hanging all around us and at the formidable rock of the NW and West Buttresses. Camp went up smoothly and quickly and we crawled in the tents to beat the heat for a few hours. Evening was a social whirl as guides and climbers from all over the world had reunions and wished each other well as they went in opposite directions. We will take a much deserved rest day tomorrow and look forward to catching up on sleep, reading, and hydration.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
We finally got to ski on
Mt. Elbrus today! We had a nice acclimatization tour up to 14,000' in wintry snow conditions. All that rain down low has equaled nice snow quality up high, and aside from the altitude our turns felt effortless.
This morning we did the three gondola "duffel shuffle" - nothing like ski lifts for approaching High Camp (beats walking!). We've got ourselves nicely situated at our home here at 12,600'. Everyone is feeling good and in good spirits. We're psyched to go a bit higher tomorrow..
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
On The Map
The
Five Day Summit Climb June 17 - 21, 2017 led by
RMI Guides Andy Bond, Joe Hoch and Nick Scott made their summit attempt today. High winds and firm climbing conditions prevented the team from going above 13,800'. The group has spent the last two nights at Camp Muir, they will return to pack their gear and continue their descent to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
RMI Guide Ben Liken and the Four Day Summit Climb team June 17 - 21, 2017 made their summit attempt of Mt. Rainier this morning but were forced to turn around at 13,800' due to high winds and icy conditions. The team is making their way back to Camp Muir where they will take a short break and re-pack their gear before continuing their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
June 20, 2017
The alarm went off at 3 AM but we didn't leave camp until close to noon. Winds built as we ate breakfast and the thought of walking straight up into a cold and snowy down glacier breeze was unappealing. We did what we often do in such circumstances... We dragged our feet and waited to see which way the weather might trend. We got out our already packed sleeping bags and waited in the early morning shadows. When the sun came out, we were still waiting. By 11 things were not so different, but it wasn't nearly as cold. And so we packed up and made our move. As is normal, the glacier was in far better condition as we worked up
Ski Hill. We had just a handful of easy crevasses to cross before we reached the stable ice up at 9500 ft. We pulled into our unbuilt new home just before 4PM and got busy building. Clouds had built up below us, overtaking our last camp and by evening we were in light snow from the clouds just up glacier, but we still had great views of Mts Foraker and Hunter to our South. The team turned in at 8 PM. Higher and happier with each passing day.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
The
Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons Team led by RMI Guide Robby Young were turned at 13,200' on their summit attempt of Mt. Rainier via the Emmons route due to high winds and deteriorating weather. The team will be spending the afternoon learning crevasse rescue, and plan to return to Ashford Basecamp tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations team!
Last night we slept to the sound of heavy rain, and this morning we awoke to the sight of heavy rain. We decided to let it subside before heading out on our acclimatization foray. Luckily it did, and we were able to get the blood flowing above 10,000' with a little help from a chairlift. The clouds partially broke for a moment in time, and we were treated to our first glimpse of
Mt. Elbrus. We are ready to go set up shop on its lower flanks starting tomorrow, and most excitingly put skis on our feet. Stay tuned...
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
On The Map
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Jenny Konway and Matt Rosenberg led the
Four Day Summit Climb of Mt. Rainier June 17 - 20, 2017. The team arrived at Camp Muir yesterday afternoon. They began their alpine start around midnight and climbed to 13,500' before deteriorating weather and poor visibility forced them to turn around. The team will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
Special thanks to RMI Guide Jenny Konway for providing photos of today's climbers!
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Yuck whiteout. I’m having a sangria in whistler for you. Hang in there sister good stuffs coming
Posted by: Barb crone on 6/22/2017 at 12:25 pm
marginally better than studying for Boards and grading?
enjoy
Posted by: Greg Barber on 6/22/2017 at 10:58 am
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