July 2, 2016 - 11:13 pm PT
It wasn't really supposed to be a perfect day. It was still snowy and socked in yesterday evening, the forecast called for the same thing it always calls for -more snow- but when we poked heads out of tents this morning for a 7 AM check.., it was perfect. No clouds above and no sign of wind on the crest of the West Buttress. It was about as cold as we've been though, getting up and fed and ready in the shadows. The sun doesn't hit 14 camp until 9:20... Which is when we started climbing today. Things were slightly tougher because we did a fair amount of breaking trail uphill through new snow, but there were a couple of other climbers out who seemed determined to stay ahead of us -so that helped. We took two breaks before the start of the steep "fixed rope" section of the climb. Most had been looking up for a few days and wondering how we'd get up something that appeared to be so difficult from afar. It still looked hard from close up, but we did it anyway -step by step. We topped out at the magical little notch in the ridge at 16,200ft to find magnificent views and a steady zero miles per hour in the wind department. It was tough climbing, most said... but they said it while grinning from ear to ear. Five of our twelve climbers broke altitude records today. We dug a raven-proof hole in the snow and cached supplies. Then it was back down the ropes, saying hello to several groups still on their way up to sleep at high camp (17,200ft). It was hot and still on our way down, but our packs were light and the distances were small. Clouds had formed up and we were enveloped by them before we reached 14 camp at 4:15PM. Sure enough, it started snowing lightly as we climbed in the tents for a rest. A few hours later, it was still snowing but we were sheltered in our dining tent, eating dinner and talking about another great day in the mountains.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
We are cheering you on from Alabama! Praying that the weather cooperates and the team has a safe journey to the top and back!! See you soon David! We miss you!
The Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by RMI Guides Tyler Jones and Mike Uchal reached the summit of Mt. Rainier Early this morning. Tyler reported Breezy, but clear skies above 7800’. They started their descent at about 7:10 am.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Buenas tardes from Ishinca Base camp. Rest day today with a good session of rope self rescue and abseiling in the afternoon is what was in the agenda. We're climbing Urus East tonight, so an even heartier dinner was served before early bed time, which was delayed by the stories shared over the after-dessert tea. Weather keeps holding pretty good, and all seems lined up for a good day up the closest of the towers reigning over this unreal valley.
Stay tuned for our recap tomorrow,
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team
-Spanish climbing word of the day; "grieta" (crevasse)
The summit climbs, led by Jake Beren and Paul Maier, successfully summitted Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams began their decent at 7:45 AM, reporting clouds above and below them.
July 2, 2016 - 1:23 am PT
We were very lucky to fly off the glacier yesterday since the weather closed in on Denali and may have prevented us from flying for days. We spent a celebratory evening in rainy Talkeetna thankful for not being stuck in snowy Basecamp!
After the long process of sorting, cleaning, and drying all of the gear it takes to get to the top of such a huge mountain, we paused to thank each other over a meal that did not require mixing with hot water or adding copious amounts of cheese to maximize calories. It really was an amazing team that assembled two weeks ago in Anchorage and made a smooth ascent of the highest mountain in North America. The team was very strong and had a great attitude that allowed them to experience an amazing, windless summit and a seamless two-day descent back to base camp and ski planes that almost beat us to the glacier landing strip.
Thank you for the great expedition El Siete!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
July 1, 2016 - 10:19 pm PT
A hint of storm moved in last night, with some more cloud, some more snow and a little wind. It looked like more wind up above on the crest of the West Buttress, but we aren't going up that way to find out until things improve. It was a quiet and restful storm day at 14K. Instead of carrying loads up high, we ate long meals in our dining tent, let our blisters heal and took naps. Call it an acclimatization day. We'll hope for some improvement tomorrow morning that allows us to sneak a carry in.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
And we made it!
Nevado Ishinca greeted us this morning with more ice and steep terrain than any of the three guides remember. Intricate navigation on its summit pyramid required a good deal of attention to crevasses, moats and leaning seracs, but motivation and performance had us on top at 11am. We passed the only other team on the mountain before summiting, and the descent proved to be another adventure to ourselves; we decided to descend via a different route, completing a full circumnavigation of the mountain... not a piece of cake when the subject is an 18,100' prominence. We're headed to bed as we speak, and a well deserved rest day awaits tomorrow.
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and Team
-Spanish climbing word of the day; Rimaya (bergschrund)
Team Ecuador is all settled in at the Illiniza Hut. The weather was clear and sunny, which made for nice hiking to the hut. Once they arrived and settled in, the wind picked up and the team is currently in a cloud layer. Their plan is to climb Illiniza Norte in the morning. The team is doing well and will check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Hello from Azau. The team is down to five as two left yesterday evening. The remaining teammates are having our last dinner together as I type this message.
Today the guys went for a horseback ride in the morning and then we all went to a 'catch your own' trout lunch. There may or may not have been beer drinking involved as well.
It has been a total blast of a trip and today was hilarious. We are all catching flights tomorrow and beginning our journeys back home.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Hello this is Elias, 11:00 local time in Peru. We just summitted Ishinca! I have some folks right next to me that would like to say something. [Team cheers!] Alright, that's what you get when you climb in style with RMI. We are going to initiate our descent in the next few minutes and we'll be blogging tonight with a recap of what we did. Tomorrow we're going to take a rest day and we'll be revitalized for the next climb up Urus. Stay tuned. Take care. Bye.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos calls in from the Ishinca summit!
Congrats, Dan and Augie, as well as the rest of the team! Looking forward to hearing about more adventures and summits! (By the way, I love the new design of the RMI blogs.)
Posted by: Darrick on 7/3/2016 at 10:48 am
Ed, tassja and team - congrats on the Ishinca summit! Looks amazing and I am sure you are in heaven! Just a side note Ed - I made it to the top :)
-640x480.jpg)
We are cheering you on from Alabama! Praying that the weather cooperates and the team has a safe journey to the top and back!! See you soon David! We miss you!
Posted by: teresa on 7/5/2016 at 6:47 am
View All Comments