RMI Expeditions Blog
June 30, 2016 - 9:43 pm PT
Hey all,
We are all settled in here at our
14,200' camp were we can finally visualize the upper mountain. Before we could move gear and people up hill though we had to retrieve our cache of food and gear at 13,200 ft. So after a filling bagel breakfast we set off to grab it, and after a 3 hr round trip time the team was back in camp getting a little more rest. We are not fully acclimated to 14,000' yet so a little rest is still needed to recoup.
Now as the never ending sunlight moves west we are gearing up and talking fixed line technique, in hopes that we can climb high tomorrow. If the weather holds we will move some food and gear to the top of the fixed lines at 16,200'. Then after breathing that thin air and scoping our line up the rocky west buttress, we will retreat to 14 Camp. As the old saying goes "climb high and sleep low".
The team is still climbing like pros!
RMI Guide Ben Liken
On The Map
We had a great day today as we ventured out of Quito for our first acclimatization hike up
Rucu Pichincha (15,696’). The approach for this hike was a scenic gondola ride well above the city, dropping us off at 13,500’. After a few hours of hiking, we climbed into the clouds and finished with a scramble up Rucu Pichincha’s rocky summit. Although summit views were obscured, the weather was very comfortable all day for our hike.
We had a few hours this afternoon to relax and prep our gear for the next days’ adventures: hiking up to the climbers’ hut at the Ilinizas at 15,100’. We will spend two nights there and attempt summits on both the north and south Iliniza peaks. We will be in touch with updates.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Expeditions into the great mountains of the world require an incredible amount of dreaming, planning, preparation, and finally, performing. The preparations our team has made leading them into the Cordillera Blanca culminated today with an alpine climbing school for the ages. We've trained and traveled, and finally put the finishing touches on our skill sets today with thorough instruction for the climbs ahead of us. Tomorrow, we perform. With stable weather building, we're setting our sights on the jagged 18,143' summit of
Nevado Ishinca. With stomachs full of Lomo Saltado, we're bedding down early to rest our muscles for the work that lies ahead. If all goes as planned, we'll be calling from 18,143' tomorrow.
--Spanish Climbing Word of the Day: Hielo Glaciar - "Glacial Ice"
Buenos Noches,
RMI Guides Robby Young and Elias de Andres Martos and team
June 30, 2016 12:55 pm PDT
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and team have landed safely in Talkeetna, AK after a successful summit of Denali. They are happy to return to civilization where warm showers and much celebration will be in store.
Congratulations to the entire team!
The
Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz led by RMI Guide
Casey Grom reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Kautz route early this morning. Casey reported that the Kautz route is in great shape and it was a beautiful day of climbing for the team. They will spend another night on the mountain training before returning to Ashford.
Congratulations to today's team!
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides
Billy Nugent and
Paul Rachele reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Billy reported beautiful skies above the marine layer that has been hanging around the lower elevations. The teams have started their descent and will be back here at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
June 29, 2016 - 11:04 pm PT
As is the way with climbing, we barely had time to dwell on our summit success before it was time to start thinking about getting off the hill safely. We woke up after a frigid night at 17K and immediately began packing up to head downhill. Our descent took us down the
West Buttress proper, and by the time we started down the fixed lines the late morning solar energy had most of the team roasting in single layers. Talk about freeze or fry! We took a brief break at 14 camp to pick up cached gear, and then began the long march down to 11 camp with sleds in tow. Along the way, we had the pleasure of crossing paths with Dave Hahn and company on their way to 14. For now, we are tucked in to bed at 11 camp, where we hope to catch a few hours of sleep before starting the long walk back to the airstrip.
Buenas noches,
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
June 29, 2016 - 11:03 pm PT
After an evening of snowfall and a lot of talk of stormy weather on the way, we were just a bit surprised and pleased to wake up at 11,000ft to cloudless blue skies. But we knew just what to do with such an opportunity... pack up and head for 14K. It was a great day of climbing on the way. Even though we'd come much of the way on our carry two days back, the team hadn't yet seen the scenery. It was all out and spectacular today, especially when we got around windless Windy Corner and could see the lower Kahiltna Glacier -our world from a few days back- far below. Mounts Foraker and Hunter were gigantic and beautiful as well -again, made more spectacular because our team hadn't seen much besides clouds for a few days. We made pretty decent time, reaching
Genet Basin and 14 Camp in six hours. It was a treat to meet up with Mike Haugen's victorious RMI team just below 14. They'd obviously done quite well and were moving lower with big smiles on their faces. We reached our new home at 4 PM and began the now familiar routine of digging in, building tents and getting a kitchen going. Dinner in the spacious dining room (read -snow pit with snow benches and a snow table) we inherited was quite comfortable. The entire team seems happy to have arrived at the foot of the real mountain... the approach is nearly over. Tomorrow morning we'll drop down to recover our windy corner cache.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
We did it! 100% to the top of
Mt. Elbrus. We basically squeaked in the summit right between a couple of storms. We hopped out of bed at 11:45 PM last night and were loaded up in a snowcat by 1 AM. After a 45 minute ride we started our climb under starry skies.
The whole crew stayed together as we made our way up the ever steepening slopes to the summit. Good footwork and breathing techniques were mandatory as the trail was pretty much non existent due to the recent snow. We made great time to the summit and the views of the Caucasus were amazing. We were also the first group of the day so we had the summit all to ourselves. Bonus!
No less than 10 minutes after we began our descent it began snowing and the visibility decreased considerably. Our timing was perfect and that was primarily due to our excellent Russian guide Yuri. Thanks partner!
We are packing now and we'll hop on the gondolas when we are all set. Hotel rooms and kebabs for us tonight.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
And our first full day in the Ishinca Valley just went by...
Sunny skies woke us up this morning, and we took advantage of them by doing a thorough session of hardware function and familiarization, as well as rope work. After a good lunch from our chef, Emilio, and we were ready for the afternoon acclimatization hike to "Tocllacocha" a glacial lake at 15,200' on the northwestern flanks of impressive Tocllaraju.
Tea and another superb dinner followed upon our return.
Tomorrow we're headed to the glacier for our full-day mountaineering school, as well as a new dose of altitude and acclimatization exercise. Stay tuned!
Our Spanish climbing word of the day is ballestrinque which means
clove hitch.
RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos and Robby Young
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Good luck Robin and the rest of the group.
Posted by: Kent on 7/1/2016 at 2:41 pm
Sending lots of vibes from Utah for good weather and continued success!
Posted by: Caitlin Olive on 7/1/2016 at 11:27 am
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