RMI Expeditions Blog
We were greeted this morning by another beautiful Peruvian morning! Our agenda today would take us to the toe of the glacier at about 16,000ft to review and learn climbing techniques that we will use on our ascent of
Ishinca tomorrow morning. The approach takes about 2-3 hours and follows a track through old glacial moraine, remnants of when the glaciers used to flow deep down these valleys. At the toe of the glacier we all donned our climbing equipment and began the days learning. Our training site gives one massive view of the surrounding peaks and glaciers. Many of which are above 6000 meters. The team did fantastic today and we're all feeling really good about our climb tomorrow. We are all back at camp now where we'll take a short siesta before dinner and an early night in preparation for tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for following along. Tune in tomorrow for more!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
Today was a perfect day in big mountains! After yet another tasty breakfast in our dinning hut we set off for a solid 4-hour training climb. It was cold enough last night that we all put on crampons to help with traction. This was great training for the team, they did their homework and are physically prepared. We turned around just below 15,000’. This was a new altitude record for some of the team. Then we were back to camp for lunch a bit of a rest. Right now, we are waiting for dinner, and watching the colorful sunset on the dramatic huge mountains in all directions. This evening we meet to go over climbing equipment and tactics.
Team is in fine shape and glad to be here!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team
The Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guides Paul Rachele and Chase Nelson reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6:40am. Paul reported strong winds of about 50 mph and a cloud cap covering the crater rim. The team started their descent at 7:00am and are en-route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team!
Hello from 14,200'!
Life is good here in the Peruvian Andes. Acclimatization and technical training were the name of the game today. After a good night's rest, a pancake breakfast, and some warm morning sun, we dove right into knots and hitches; the foundation for some of the technical systems we'll learn later on. Chicken soup and beat+potato salad were a welcomed lunch break before a short hike to the top of the moraine at 15,200'. The views didn't disappoint. From our perch we could see all the real time glaciation on
Tocllaraju, as well as our future route up Urus Este. We're back in camp awaiting what is surely to be an incredible dinner spread in our dining tent. Life is pure, simple, and beautiful here in Peru, and our entire team is feeling great. We'll update you tomorrow from the Ishinca Glacier during our on-snow training day. Until then, hasta luego!
RMI Guide Robby Young and team
The RMI
Artesonraju team made a summit attempt yesterday, reaching 5,600 meters. Technical difficulties kept them from continuing, but the team is giving it another try tonight. Stay tuned!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
How was your 4th of July? We had a great light show last night. Lots and lots of lightning, raining hard all night but no issues. We stayed warm and dry in the wonderful lodge.
Our day started off with another four-course breakfast. The best news of the day was the lost bag from Poland has arrived. With all our bags accounted for, a quick transfer to a different set of lift systems put us at the base of
Elbrus. Three gondola lift sections had us here at our basecamp nestled at 12,500ft in some rustic but comfortable huts. A very nice local cook is taking great care of us and life is good. We did a couple hours of training and climbing after lunch, then more food, more resting, and our team meeting on mountain life and information about plans for tomorrow. Clouds in and out showed the Elbrus summit every so often; its a great life up here on the big hill.
The team is doing great and we are having a blast.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
RMI Guide Dave Hahn has checked in from Talkeetna. The team arrived at the Kahiltna airstrip early this morning and clear skies from Talkeetna allowed the K2 Aviation planes to pick up the crew and return them to Talkeenta.
Dave will send a dispatch later today on the conclusion of their expedition.
Congratulations to the
Denali June 16th Expedition!
July 4, 2017
It was the calm and sunny morning we'd been hoping for at 14,000 ft today. Which certainly made it easier to get up and get sorted for going downhill. Independence Day at 14,000' Camp was so nice that we lingered in camp until just after noon. Then it was walking down, hauling sleds around Windy (but not actually windy) Corner, across the Polo Field, down Squirrel and Motorcycle hills and into 11,000 ft. We dug up our long lost cache there and shifted gears. We swapped out crampons for snowshoes and ice axes for ski poles and the got trudging down toward the
Kahiltna Glacier. It was stunning to come around the corner and to have the entire glacier laid out below us. We dodged s few crevasses on ski hill and reached our old camp at 8,000' by 7:30. Just in time to throw up tents, enjoy a picnic dinner, watch nature's best fireworks show and to hit the hay for a few hours. We'll likely be up at 1 AM and walking by 3 in our quest for travel in cold conditions. We want the glacier well-frozen for the last bit to the airstrip.
I read the blog comments to the team at breakfast this morning (we don't surf the web up here, the comments were cut and pasted into a simple text email to us) and the crew was very happy to hear from so many great friends and loved ones.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer led his
Four Day Summit Climb July 2-5, 2017 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team had good route conditions and blue skies until a cloud cap engulfed the summit. The team began their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 am. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Team!
The
Five Day Summit Climb July 1 - 5, 2017 team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today.
RMI Guide Andy Bond said the route is in great shape. The team will spend some time at Camp Muir before descending to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Five Day Summit Climb Team!
Congratulations! The picture is stunning. Safe hiking down to Paradise. Thank you for this post.
Posted by: Nancy Madru on 7/6/2017 at 9:04 am
View All Comments