Our Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz June 30 - 5 July has enjoyed sunshine and clear skies during their time on Mt. Rainier. Today they made their summit attempt via the Kautz Glacier and stood on the summit of Mt. Rainier around 7:30 am. RMI Guide Jake Beren reported good conditions and light winds. The team will return to their High Camp today and spend a final night on the mountain. Tomorrow they will pack up camp and descend to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Kautz Seminar Team!
Huaraz City, second to none when it comes to stunning mountain dwellings. Today, we dialed in our gear and took an acclimatization hike to 12,000', a perch called Puca Ventana (Red Window). Views of Huaraz City, and the highest massif in the range, Huascaran, were our rewards. After our hike we enjoyed lunch at a climbers' favorite, Cafe Andino. More rest, relaxation, and prep took us into the evening as we look forward to moving into the mountains tomorrow. Ishinca Valley will be home for the next week and we're excited to finally get eyes on these incredible ice-covered spires. We'll touch base tomorrow from Ishinca Base Camp. Stay tuned.
RMI Guides Robby, Steve, William, and your favorite ESS-Peru team
Greetings from High Camp on Artesonraju. After our forced carry to high camp on Saturday, we had yet another rainy and snowy day at base camp yesterday. Regardless, today was as clear as we have seen so far this trip, and we moved to high camp early this morning, to beat the other awaiting teams to the prime real estate at this moraine. Tents are pitched, food and fuel stashed and gear ready. We're going to take another day here at 5100m to acclimatize better and be in position for launching later this week. Everyone is doing well, and the excitement is high!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
Great to hear you are ahead of the pack and getting ready to take advantage of the better weather. Rest up and acclimatise well! best wishes to all for the rest of the climb!
Posted by: Peter Williamson on 7/3/2017 at 5:17 pm
The Four Day Summit Climb June 30 - 3 July reached the summit of Mt. Rainier under clear skies and nice temperatures led by RMI Guide Zeb Blais. The team was beginning their decent from the crater rim at 7 am. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall and the Five Day Summit Climb June 29 - 3 July, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Solveig reported a windy day with nice and clear weather. The team started their descent from the crater rim at 7 am. They will return to Camp Muir and descend to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb team!
July 2, 2017
This was THE day after all. There wasn't any question that we'd be able to make it work once we saw conditions on the South Peak at 6:30 this morning. Yes, it was plain that the storm was still with us, with much cloud in every direction out in Alaska, but it was all below us and the winds were light. We ate, geared up and got moving out of camp by 8:45. As anticipated, we went from a sunny camp to a shady "autobahn" (the long steep traverse to Denali Pass) but the climbing was just hard enough to keep us warm. At the pass, we caught a little wind -which we tended to walk in and out of all day- but it was never more than about 10 mph. We climbed the steep rolls to the "Zebra Rocks" and then the broad upper bowl of the Harper Glacier. We went past the Archdeacon's Tower and crossed the football field at 19,500 ft. Then it was up Pig Hill to the spectacular summit ridge. There wasn't much question that we'd make the final 30 min cruise along the spine to the tippy top.
It took us eight hours to get to the highest point in North America. And then we liked it so much we stayed an hour. Our descent was free of any complications -all had saved enough energy to make it down safe, with no slips or stumbles. We were back in camp by 9:30 PM and ate dinner in the late evening sunshine... amazed at what we'd accomplished together. Now it is after midnight and the sun is around the bend, so good night to all from 17,000 feet in Alaska from a lucky crew of climbers.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Jim - what an awesome once-in-a-lifetimeachievement! All your hard training has paid off! We are all extremely proud of you!
Safe way down the mountain. We look forward to seeing you at sea level soon.
Tha Hanigs.
Posted by: Marco Hanig on 7/4/2017 at 4:20 pm
Jim, Awesome does not do your feat justice. It is- as you are- in a class by itself. We much look forward to celebrating your triumph around Kraken rum drinks at the Martin Box. Meanwhile, hurry home! Your bowled over pals at sea level. Peter and Carol
Greetings all!
Your Peru Expedition Skills Seminar Team has safely arrived in Huaraz City, perched in the high Rio Santo Valley of the Cordillera Blanca. It was a long journey by bus, 8 hours in total, from the hustle and bustle and modern amenities of Lima, to the humble mountain city of Huaraz. We enjoyed an incredible dinner tonight at Hotel Andino, the nicest spot in town. Alpaca steaks, Lomo Saltado, and numerous classic Peruvian dishes filled our table. Everyone is excited to be in a new country, and looking forward to some trip preparation, and further acclimatization tomorrow. Until then, thanks for following along; the best is yet to come!
RMI Guides Robby, Steve, William, and your ESS-Peru team
Hi Jon!
We are enjjoying the 4th of July and waiting for the fireworks. The Crabbies say hi and Cala’s first words are Hi Uncle Jon. I hope you are having fun. Good luck to you and the entire team.
July 2, 2017 6:32 pm PST
Hey, this is Dave Hahn, guiding the last RMI Denali trip for 2017. We're on the summit. We are up top on a beautiful day. Everybody's climbing strong. There are ten out of our original twelve, and we're quite proud of ourselves and feeling very lucky. It's a beautiful day, and we're going to climb safe and strong back down to High Camp and then give you a dispatch to let you know we got there safe. Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
We’ve had a great day in Moscow. The weather was perfect for the whole tour day around Red Square and the Kremlin. It is amazing to see these wonders of mankind in person. We finished the evening at one of the nicest restaurants in Moscow, if you like borsch we know the place! We have a 5 am wake up call for the next part of the journey off to the mountains. A couple hour flight and a few hour drive and we will be staring up at the big hills of the Caucasus range. The mountains are our playground for the next several days, we have a lot to look forward to.
Stay tuned,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team
We are off the mountain! After a 4 am start and a nearly ten mile slog with heavy packs and sleds, we made it to the base camp airstrip with beautiful flying weather. We waited for a short time before the first of the planes came to shuttle us to Talkeetna and civilization. When we arrived in Talkeetna to dark clouds and rain, but we were all just excited to get a hot shower and food that did not need to be rehydrated. We want to thank all of our team members for their incredible attitudes and hard work that this trip successful. Also, thank you to all of our friends and family for your support. Your blog comments kept us entertained as well as focused on the task at hand!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
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So very wonderful! What an incredible achievement. All your training paid off! Congratulations!
Posted by: Angie Modelski on 7/4/2017 at 4:08 pm
Awesome job, Andrew! What an accomplishment. Now you can start your own company called Summit Construction or Rainier Construction.
Posted by: Andrew Modelski on 7/4/2017 at 11:11 am
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