RMI Expeditions Blog
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
And just like that... everything started moving again. The storm ended exactly on schedule. By 6:30 AM High Camp was calm and sunny and we started brewing up. We packed and dug our gear out of the snow. We shook pounds of ice and frost out of the tents before stuffing them in their sacks. With crampons on one last time, we departed at 10 AM. After seeing virtually nothing for days, the scenery today was welcome and spectacular. We made good time down the fixed ropes in the morning shadow. Lindsay led the charge, pulling the lines free of the wind slabbed snow for a good chunk of the route. At Low Camp, we re-tooled and set up for hauling sleds. No more crampons and ice axes, it was time to switch back to ski poles. By this point we’d been made aware that there were seats on an airplane out of Vinson Base just for us... provided that we got our tails down there in time. We had the lower mountain pretty much to ourselves for the next few hours of trudging through the frozen beauty of the Branscomb Glacier. There was just time enough on reaching base to hastily organize gear before the Twin Otter floated in to a perfect landing. We said our goodbyes to the mountain and the ALE staff at Vinson Base Camp and climbed aboard. Back at Union Glacier, we got out in early evening to a far easier environment... hard packed level snow, mild temps and walk-in tents with tables and chairs. We caught up to the gang of Vinson climbers we’d originally gone to the mountain with. It was a pleasant reunion with guests and staff and everybody trading notes on weather at the top of Antarctica, out at the penguins, back in the Alps or off in the Himalaya. Word is that an Ilyushin flight may be inbound for us the day after tomorrow... on the 15th. Better late than never. In any case, my team is looking forward to a low altitude night without a storm tearing at the tents. Union is certainly good enough for now.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The skies cleared overnight and we were treated to the first truly blue bird morning of the trip. Cotopaxi was out in full glory. A leisurely morning lead to another fantastic breakfast served up by our Master Chef Josè. After breakfast we took a short stroll around the area to stretch the legs. It is climber Aaron D.'s birthday today and upon our return from our walk we surprised him with a cake equipped with candles and all! Happy Birthday Aaron! After enjoying our Ecuadorian pastel we hopped onto the bus and took the short drive to Tambopaxi where we will stage for our summit climb. With the weather looking good the team is excited to tackle our last objective! Off to bed here shortly in preparation of an early wake up. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
On The Map
A well deserved rest day at Chilcabamba Lodge at the base of Cotopaxi has been enjoyed with its views, food and short walks around the property. During breakfast, Cotopaxi revealed itself from behind the clouds and was covered with a dusting of fresh snow. With a pair of binoculars from the lodge, we were able to make out the beginning of the climbing route. The rest of the day was filled with drying out our gear from Cayambe, repacking, reading and naps. The food here has been our favorite so far. The steaks for dinner were thick and cooked to perfection, some pressure breathing was required to clean our plates! Tomorrow morning will be another relaxing start to the day before we transfer up the road to Tombopaxi Hut.
RMI Guide Bryan Mazaika
Still at High Camp. True to the predictions, today was a lot like yesterday. Windy, snowy, socked-in, cold and consistently poor for going places. We passed the day in our sleeping bags, with a little more frost and snow building up in the tents each and every hour. But we are still smiling. We’re fed. We’re hydrated. Well-rested, tanned and ready for action. This evening, although we are still in murk and a ground blizzard, the peaks are out. Cloud free and shining in sunlight. The forecasters back at Union Glacier tell us we are in store for rapid clearing and calming tomorrow. In which case we’ll shake off the frost and get moving again.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Following your daily updates with high anticipation that today will be the day you are finally at lower camp…as a total mountain novice I stand at awe of your adventure and all that it brings!
Hurry home Sue…we can’t wait to hear all about it!! Yes…beers and burgers await! Or hot cocoa & soup…?!?
Love you my friend!
Posted by: Laura Thompson on 12/13/2017 at 11:13 am
Deja vu from 17 camp on Denali. I hope today turns out to be a great day for a hike. Cheeseburgers and beer on this end. Pop
Posted by: Les Zimmerman on 12/13/2017 at 7:23 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar Vinson Massif
Elevation: 12,300'
Our summit has clearly angered the mountain gods. We woke to a blizzard at 12,300 ft. Not the worst blizzard though, winds are steady at about 25 mph, visibility is barely to the neighboring tents, the air is chock full of snow -at least some of which is “falling” from the cloud we are in. Moving -even to lower and more comfortable climates and airplanes- was out of the question. Besides, on the radio at midday it sounded heinous at Low Camp, with fifty-knot gusts and busted tents. So we sat put. Our tents are holding up well, although great quantities of snow and frost seem to find their way inside. We recovered from yesterday’s climb with bed rest and hot meals and coffee and cocoa. A small price to pay for a visit to the highest point on the continent.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Good job Lindsay! Congrats! Keep hanging in there, we can’t wait to hear all about it!
-Emily, Grace, and the Henry crew
Posted by: Emily L on 12/12/2017 at 3:29 pm
People don’t climb mountains because it’s easy. People climb mountains because it’s hard. Beats the hell out of being stuck on the freeway. I’m so proud of all you guys. Mountain-forecast.com says things may calm down on Wednesday. Hang in there and stay hunkered down until it’s right. Love you girl. - Pop
Posted by: Les Z on 12/12/2017 at 5:33 am
We spent most of the evening listening to thunder clouds and the battering of hail pound our shelter. That was until I woke the team up at 10:45pm. We woke to surprisingly calm skies with even a few stars shining. The team quickly got out of bed to prepare their things for our ascent. While eating breakfast the clouds snuck back in behind our backs and filled the mountain's surroundings with a heavy mist that saturated everything that touched it. We decided to brave the mist and put on our rain shells to climb for an hour and "see how things went". The team climbed right along, ignoring the inclement weather. At the end of that hour things weren't looking much better, in fact you might have said they were worse. Taking good advantage of being able to retreat back to a warm hut if need be, we opted to continue and "see how things went" again. A few inches of wet snow had fallen over night and actually made the walking quite nice. Soon thereafter the mist lifted and we actually began to get warm and dry out! The team's spirits lifted and we kept ascending. At about 18,000ft we finally met our maker- a large glacial bowl filled with recently deposited snow from high winds. The avalanche hazard was real and quite sensitive. We opted to turn around and descend back towards the hut. During our descent we were met with an Ecuadorian sunrise above a sea of clouds and neighboring volcanoes, Antisana and Cotopaxi, in the distance. At the time there certainly wasn't much to be upset about. A quick descent gave way to another exciting 4x4 drive down to Otavalo where we would head south towards Chilcabamba on the northern flank of Cotopaxi. Tomorrow we rest and prepare for our next objective!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
We made it to the summit of Vinson today! In the nick of time as it turned out. While our time of ascent was a blazing fast seven hours, the mountain was anything but easy today. We started with blue skies, bright sun and a nagging 10 mph breeze when the stoves were fired shortly after seven this morning. That breeze made things like fastening harnesses and crampons quite cold. We roped up and got moving at 9:45 hoping to lose the wind as we got into the protection of the valley glacier that would take us to the summit. That worked a little, things were reduced to occasional gusts. Those gusts increased in frequency and force as we got up near 15,000 ft. By the time we were scrambling onto the summit ridge, it was blowing a more or less steady 30 mph. We worked pretty hard to keep each other’s faces frost free and to keep sunglasses and ultimately goggles from fogging up. Hitting the top at 4:45 was a thrill, but not at all one we could linger over. We squeezed off just a couple of photos (which we’ll post after getting back to the Wi-Fi world) but it really wasn’t the day for bare hands on the summit. We set out to get off the ridge and down to high camp. This was accomplished in about three hours, during which we watched winds increase and a storm move into the Ellsworth Mountains. At 8:00 when we pulled into camp, the sun was in the clouds and winds were rock steady at about 20 mph, moving plenty of snow around. The victory dinner was in tents as it is far from pleasant at High Camp tonight. We snuck this one in... now to get down the mountain.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Congrats Zimmerman!!Matt and I have enjoyed keeping up with your adventure!! Safe travels back down!!Can’t wait to catch up with you and hear your stories!!
Posted by: Deborah and Matt on 12/11/2017 at 5:50 pm
Congratulations! Well done. Stay safe on the descent.
Posted by: Dale on 12/11/2017 at 9:32 am
We awoke to a clear and chilly morning at the hut. The first half of the day provided views of the upper mountain and the summit of Cayambe before some snow showers moved in. Today's goal was to climb another 1,000 feet to the base of the glacier to acclimatize and review some mountaineering skills. The steep climb up to our school site gave us a great preview of the beginning of our summit day. By the end of our school, the team was looking great and ready to climb Cayambe tomorrow. We are back at the hut resting and preparing our summit packs for the morning. Wish us clear conditions like we had this morning for our summit attempt!
RMI Guide Bryan Mazaika
On The Map
Awesome experience for all of you! Dad & I are living vicariously! Our best to all of you for an awesome assent!
Posted by: Judy & dale collins on 12/10/2017 at 5:06 pm
Today was just right for moving. We were up and getting ready shortly after the ten thirty sun hit the tents. Launch time was 12:50 PM and with perfect conditions, we made steady and excellent progress. Certainly the 2,000 vertical feet of the fixed lines were still difficult with heavy packs, but we had the benefit of being on familiar ground. We cruised into High Camp at 6 PM, still feeling strong, but also noticing just how much colder it is up around 12,300 ft. We dressed up and built camp, got stoves going and sat down out in the sunshine for dinner. The views from here are other-worldly, with ice stretching beyond the visible horizon in any direction and mountains rising to ridiculously sharp summits all around. The teams we waited with at Union Glacier all hit the summit today and we greeted them each with a “congratulations” and a fist bump when they rolled into camp on their return.
Perhaps we’ll get as lucky tomorrow. We will be ready.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Hi Steve,
How cool is this that I get to write you a little note. I have been thinking about you and what an amazing experience you must be having. I’m looking forward to hearing about it when you get home. Be Safe!!! I’ll tell mom about this web sight. We love you!!! Joke: What do you call a cold ghost?
A: casp-burr!
Stay Warm!!!
Posted by: Allison Gibbons on 12/10/2017 at 9:08 pm
Steve,
We are praying for you and your team. We hope that today will be the day. Be safe and enjoy this special time. We will be anxious to see you upon your return.
Best to you. Jack and Camille
Posted by: Jack and Camille on 12/10/2017 at 5:32 am
Despite some menacing afternoon clouds we woke up again to clear beautiful skies. A late breakfast and a short drive brought us to the Otovalo Market, a huge local market full of a wide variety of textiles and food. The team spent an hour and a half exploring the markets many corners, buying gifts for loved ones before meeting for lunch at Buena Vista. From there we headed back towards the town of Cayambe to meet our transfer vehicles that would carry us and our belongings to the Cayambe Climbers Hut at 15,300ft. An hour or so of exciting driving down primitive roads perched on the side of a volcano brought us to our final destination. The team is doing a great job getting readjusted to life without so much oxygen and are patiently awaiting what will no doubt be a wonderful dinner served by the huts cook staff. Thanks for following. Tune in tomorrow for more!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
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Papa (Steve) I miss, miss, miss you, really bad papa! Glad you got to the top, hurry back - Sierra. I miss you and love you - Kira. The Grandkids helped me make fudge tonight. They are very anxious to have you back. We love you and can’t wait to see you, soon. Vickie
Posted by: Vickie Butterfield on 12/14/2017 at 8:34 pm
Thank goodness I can stop feeling guilty every time I put another chunk in the wood stove or fry a real egg or go to the kitchen to top off my coffee cup. You are probably all walking around Union Glacier in your flip flops and tank tops by now. Linz, my birthday present will be you getting safely underway back to Indiana. Congrats to all from 630’ altitude, 22 degrees F. and gentle breeze. There are still colors besides blue and white.
Dave, thanks for looking after our girl. When I tried to teach our kids that taking a little risk adds spice to life, Lindsay took me seriously.
Posted by: Les Z on 12/14/2017 at 5:24 am
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