RMI Expeditions Blog
Today was slated as a rest day in our itinerary, but one member of our group was psyched to forego rest in favor of another uphill skiing adventure on Villarrica - and this one resulted in standing on the summit. The weather was absolutely perfect today and the snow conditions were efficient for uphill travel, as well as great skiing.
With the nice weather and being a weekend, there were a significant number of local guided climbing groups plodding their way up the main route, but we found our own variation that made it feel like we had the mountain to ourselves. It took us 4.5 hours to the summit, and about 30 minutes to ski down. Love ski mountaineering.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid & the Chile Ski Team
Posted by: Tyler Reid
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Chile Ski
This morning we headed for Villarrica to go for a ski, knowing that the forecast was probably not conducive to going to the top. We managed to hide from the wind for 3,000' of mostly skinning, edging into frozen snow with our ski crampons. Above us, a lenticular cloud was growing over the summit. Below us, we had clear views of Lago Villarrica's azure waters, the bustling town of Pucon on its eastern shore, and Llaima and Sollipulli in the distance.
We had a nice long run back to the van, where our driver Juan was waiting with his usual warm greeting. The weather looks better tomorrow, and we're going to take another crack at Villarrica... stay tuned!
RMI Guide Tyler Reid and the Chile Ski Team
Llaima is a big mountain, deceivingly big - from beneath it looks like a reasonable couple hours of climbing...not so. I learned this my first time on Llaima four years ago.
Yesterday we had an adventurous day on Llaima. Sun, clouds, heat, cold, calm, wind, visibility, low vis...sticky snow, icy snow, sastrugi, soft snow, corn... some horrible skiing, and a lot of amazing skiing. We walked, we skinned, we climbed. There is an old pocket glacier that's usually well covered in snow, but this year there were exposed crevasses, which added to the route finding challenge. At 15:30, standing on a rough, icy slope in strong wind, we decided to call it - about an hour from the summit. This was not safe snow for skiing so we down-climbed about 1,000' before putting on our skis. The rest of the descent was super fun, and went quickly. We didn't get to stand on top, but the group consensus was that this was an even more awesome day than summiting Lonquimay.
Today we had a nice drive to the town of Pucon, with perfectly clear skies. We were able to see all four of our volcanoes - Lonquimay, Llaima, Villarica, and Lanin. We stopped in the town of Villarica for a nice lunch and to take some photos of the mountain (Villarica) towering above the lake.
Another great couple of days in Araucania.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid & the Chile Ski Team
Yesterday we awoke to a crisp morning, with a blanket of fresh snow up high. Enough snow to stop our van in its tracks on the approach road to Lonquimay, but we didn't mind the extra skinning. The weather was a bit stormy the top 2,000' of the mountain, so we decided to save the summit for the next day. We still got to ski a couple long, very fun laps above massive lava fields, and later our crew went for a pre-dinner soak at the local thermas.
Today we had perfect Southern Hemisphere spring weather and were able to ski from the summit. We skinned up to about 8,500', where we transitioned to boot crampons and threw our skis on our backs. Another 900' of methodical climbing and we were on top.
The big news however is that Sergio, our host here in Malalcahuello, is cooking his famous Chilean asado for us tonight - something I look forward to every year.
All is great with us.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid & the Chile Ski Team
Posted by: Tyler Reid
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Chile Ski
The whole group is here and today we put skis on our feet for the first time. We found some nice corn on the lower flanks of Lonquimay that made for smooth turns. Now we're settled into our casa at the Suizandina Lodge here in Malalcahuello, next to a warm fire. The crackling of logs is interrupted by sizzling water droplets, vaporizing as they fall from our damp skins onto the hot stove. Life is good!
RMI Guide Tyler Reid & Chile Ski Team
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Adam Knoff, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Shishapangma
Elevation: 18,400'
Our team has safely reached Base Camp. They will spend two nights there before descending to Driver's Camp on Tuesday, October 4th to meet their vehicles and begin the two day drive back to Lhasa. From there they will take a flight to Kathmandu. They intend to spend a few days in Kathmandu to honor their friend and fellow climber. Team members will then depart Kathmandu to make their way back to family and friends.
All of the team members are doing well and are supporting each other. Our hearts are with them.
The RMI Office Team
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We enjoyed more fine game viewing as we exited the park and our Safari guides continued to impress spotting out cats all over the place this morning. Things went as smooth as you could expect even on 4 wheel drive roads. Our great drivers and local support assisted us as we continued focusing on some of the things we do best, eating and shopping. After a quick stop at the Dik Dik Hotel to gather our climbing gear and have a quick dinner, it was off to the airport. We said our good byes happy to be heading home but still smiling from our grand adventure.
Happy October, it's time to come up with my Halloween costume.
Until the next adventure.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Adam Knoff, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Shishapangma
Elevation: 19,500'
It has been a difficult few days for our team members. Today all climbers descended safely to Depot Camp (Advanced Base Camp) where they will spend the night. They plan to descend to Base Camp tomorrow.
The RMI Office Team
Is the climb over? Reports done from the mountain?
Posted by: Jeff Olson on 10/4/2016 at 7:22 am
We can not imagine how are you feelling right now.
Just send you all our power.
Posted by: MartÃn de Andrés on 10/2/2016 at 8:05 am
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Adam Knoff, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Shishapangma
Elevation: 22,650'
Hello Everyone,
We received very sad news earlier today. One of the Sherpa team members was caught in an avalanche this morning and has died. The rest of the team are safe. All team members are spending the night at Camp 2 and will be descending in the morning. The accident occurred below Camp 3 as a Sherpa team was moving up. This is all the information we have at this time. We will provide updates as we get information from the team.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Sherpas, climbers and their families.
The RMI Office Team
Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.
Robert and Lisa Hohn
Posted by: Robert Hohn on 10/1/2016 at 8:36 am
Thoughts and prayers are with you all. Wishing you a safe return home to your family and friends…...and sending blessings to the lost sherpa and his loved ones.
Posted by: Sandy Bradbury on 10/1/2016 at 7:40 am
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Safari just doesn't get any better than this. We cruised out if the Plantation Lodge well fed and ready to go. Of course shopping and a visit to a Maasai village were on the agenda today. Both of which are always interesting and amusing. We couldn't spend too much time on either, for the call of the wild was a big priority for this team. As usual, Tarangire National Park impressed even the most veteran of game viewers. It is always amazing to see survival in its purest form. We were all glad the wildebeest (and not us) was the meal for that pride of lions we viewed tearing it apart. We had just entered the park gate when we encountered them on their lunch break. We rolled our way through the park and exited the other side to the remote and tented Kikoti Camp. This place is nothing like the camps on Kilimanjaro, believe me, it would be very easy to spend a lot of nights here. Luxury is the word that comes to mind. We enjoyed a great dinner and are thrilled to be spending our last night in Tanzania in this awesome location. Like I said, it’s tough to match this one.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
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Always thinking of you and praying for all of your safe return.
Posted by: Jane Knoff on 10/3/2016 at 4:58 am
We’re so relieved you all made it back to base camp safely. We hope you get plenty of rest. Please extend our deepest condolences to the Sherpa’s family and friends. We’re looking forward to seeing you soon.
Posted by: Hikari on 10/2/2016 at 10:09 pm
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