RMI Expeditions Blog
After an enjoyable and well-deserved rest day at Hacienda Chilcabamba, we are headed up to the Jose Ribas Refugio on Cotopaxi today. We’ve had some good views of Cotopaxi from Chilcabamba, and the weather forecast looks favorable for the next few days. Our plan is to relax in the hut this afternoon, eat an early dinner, and hit the sleeping bags in preparation for an alpine start (likely around midnight) for our summit bid.
We’re excited for the climb, and hopefully our next dispatch will be with news of summit success!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Posted by: JJ Justman, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide JJ Justman and the Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall reached Columbia Crest, the highest point on Mt. Rainier and in Washington State, around 6:50 am. While on the summit the teams enjoyed calm, really nice conditions. The teams began their descent around 7:30 am. We look forward to seeing them back in Ashford later this afternoon.
Congratulations Climbers!
Posted by: Billy Nugent, Mike King, Sean Collon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Hi all!
Billy here checking in for the last time from this year's Denali expedition. Our team showed tremendous poise after our butt kicking on our first summit attempt and rested through another marginal day on the way to our eventual summit day that was absolutely beautiful. We encountered some moderate winds in the 30 mph range but generally enjoyed clear skies and decently warm temps. It took us just over 12 hours of solid work to make the round trip mission from our high camp at 17,000' and the whole team was pretty worked by the end. The next morning we awoke at a leisurely hour, packed up camp and descended the West Buttress back to Camp 4 at 14,000' where we were greeted by Dave Hahn's expedition with cheesy bacon quesadillas! Quite the treat... After picking up our cache at 14 we continued down through extremely deep snow to 11,000' where we ended up camping again because the team was pretty wasted yet again. Our final day on the mountain was surprisingly clear with only occasional sections of whiteout as we marched down the Kahiltna towards Basecamp. Except for a little excitement involving a crevasse fall the trip was mostly a slog. And as we arrived at the lower airstrip around 6 pm we could see the runway markers of the upper airstrip but were relieved to hear from Lisa that we wouldn't need to travel any further. K2 was already on the way and going to land right next to us. And just like that we were in the land of the living slamming burgers and downing beers with all of the tourists in Talkeetna. Talk about a culture shock! Needless to say, the gang went big rocking the Fairview and ended up closing down the Teepee (and nearly getting kicked out!). A proper way to end a successful Denali expedition. Too much fun!
I'd like to thank both Mike King and Sean Collon for their hard work and the good times and the rest of the team members for persevering despite crummy weather forecasts and tough odds. It's a trip I won't forget for a while.
See ya next year!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent.
Congratulations RMI and my ole buddy Doug. Glad to hear you guys had a great trip. One more notch in the belt.
Mother Goose
Posted by: John Newland on 7/8/2015 at 5:51 am
Great going what a trip ! Congrats Kevin , sober up & come home to get ready for another party.
Irma
Posted by: Irma on 7/8/2015 at 4:01 am
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
There is no way around it: there are some days where fitting my planned workout into my schedule is impossible. On the days when chores and errands catch up with me and I don’t have much time to do a workout, I have a go-to workout that I know I can do in 45-50 minutes. On a day when life feels too busy and I’m tempted to blow my workout off, having a quick workout ready helps me to stay motivated and get out the door.
My workout involves a short, 10 minute running warm-up, 15 minutes of short intervals, a 5-10 minute cool-down, and a short series of core exercises. Depending on what phase of training I am in and what my goals are, I may alter the pace, number, or duration of my intervals. During my aerobic building phase, I might run at a tempo that is slightly slower than my 5k race pace for 2 minutes, recover at a light jog for 1 minute, and repeat 4 more times. This bump in pace helps to mix up my tempo and keeps my legs feeling a bit quicker, but the effort isn’t so hard that I’m building up large amounts of lactic acid. Later in the season during an intensity phase, I might push the pace of those intervals right to my threshold, or do shorter 1 minute, all out efforts, with a full minute of recovery in between. This helps to build my anaerobic threshold, and develop my ability to recover as well. The warm up and cool down are really important for preventing injuries, and I try to resist the temptation to skip or cut short either.
The light core session to close doesn’t necessarily build a lot more strength, like a dedicated strength session would be designed to do, but it gives me maintenance. I mix up the exercises, but an example workout might be:
- 3 sets of 50 crunches
- 3 sets of 20 pushups
- and 3 sets of 20 dips
- 100 crunches (feet on the ground, curling my torso towards my knees, but not a full sit-up)
- 50 sit-ups to the side (alternating sides)
- 25 leg raises (some straight on, some to either side)
- and 100 more crunches to finish
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 10,000'
Greetings from Nevado Copa Basecamp, one of the most beautiful places on earth!(seriously) We all climbed this morning to this idyllic place, and ever since, our eyes have been put on the slopes of this Andean giant that sits before us. All is ready to launch tomorrow towards high camp, and our forecast is telling us we'll have the best weather possible. Everyone is really well acclimated, and the good sports reign amongst the crew. Stay tuned for the progress of the graduation climb of this 2nd edition of our Peru Seminar.
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team
We had a very long and successful day in Ecuador yesterday. It actually started the night before, with an eleven o’clock wake up call for an alpine start on our summit bid of Cayambe. The weather had improved dramatically, with a starry sky, no wind, and warm temperatures. We set out from the climbers’ hut a bit after midnight and the team topped out on the summit after nearly eight hours of climbing. Challenging climbing conditions were encountered, including steep slopes and large neve penitentes.
Everyone descended safely to the climbers’ hut and soon we were bumping down the four-wheel drive road back to town. Our drive south to our current hacienda, Chilcabamba, was delayed as roads were closed for hours for the entrance of the Pope into Quito. The Pope’s visit to Ecuador is obviously an important event, and heightened security is expected. Unfortunately for us, the timing meant we could not travel from the north of Quito to the south of Quito for hours. Our group of weary climbers finally arrived at our hacienda 22 hours after waking up to go climbing. A hot shower was about all we could muster up before hitting the sack.
After a great (but long) day yesterday, now we’re enjoying a peaceful rest day at the hacienda. Tomorrow we’re off to the Cotopaxi climbers’ hut for another climbing adventure. We’ll be in touch…
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Impressive Chuck! Tell the Pope hello!
Posted by: Jeremy Bates on 7/7/2015 at 1:54 pm
Proud of you, Chuck H.!
Posted by: Jeremy Morton on 7/7/2015 at 1:24 pm
Our Four Day Summit Climb Team led by RMI Guide Casey Grom reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning via the Disappointment Cleaver Route. Casey reported a beautiful morning with calm winds and moderate temperatures.
Congratulations to Today's Team!
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
The entire team has arrived in Tanzania. We spent last night at the Dik Dik Hotel in Usa River and have been enjoying the great food and hospitality.
After a leisurely breakfast, part of our team traveled to a local orphanage to pass along some items they brought from the US. It was well received and very much appreciated.
Our equipment checks went smoothly, thanks to the great preparation made by the team. We should be all set for our time on the mountain.
We have experienced a bit of light rain this afternoon and cool temperatures in the lowlands of Usa River at around 4,000'. Unfortunately it wasn't warm enough for anyone to appreciate the beautiful Dik Dik swimming pool.
We will get to bed early tonight to help recover from our long flights and so that we are rested and ready to head into Kilimanjaro National Park tomorrow morning.
Stay tuned,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
That was nice of you guys to stop at the orphanage. I look forward to the rest of your trip!
Posted by: Jessica on 7/8/2015 at 7:00 am
Hello to Tuck, Peter, Bonnie and the Rogers Clan.
I’ll be keeping an eye on you guys!
-Larry
Posted by: Larry Seaton on 7/7/2015 at 6:29 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Steve Gately, JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Monday July 6th 11:23 pm PT
Our rest day at 14,200 ft was jam packed with naps and meals in the POSH tent. It wouldn't have been a great day for moving higher anyway since we watched a storm take over the upper mountain. Steve Gately led the team out to the "Edge of the World" before the clouds came around and each climber got the thrill of looking down thousands of feet to the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. In the late afternoon, we all put in a work session to improve the snow walls protecting our tents. By dinner, the storm had arrived at 14K Camp and snow and wind took over outside. We'd love to move up tomorrow so we'll hope this weather moves on through.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Peter Thomas - your Simpson Thacher DC team is cheering you on! Way to go!
Posted by: Ally Meringoff on 7/7/2015 at 10:09 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Steve Gately, JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Sunday July 5th 10:26 pm PT
We started walking uphill at 10 this morning. There was a mean-looking cloudcap on Denali when we first looked up, but things mellowed as we ate breakfast and geared up. We made excellent time, climbing up the fixed line section to 16,200 ft on the West Buttress, and in the process, we shattered altitude records for Gary, Peter and Pat. It took a few minutes to cache food in a raven-proof snow hole up there and then we cruised down with light packs. It turned out to be a sunny and warm day down at 14K Camp and we were happy to rack out for a few hours in warm tents before dinner. We've earned a rest and acclimatization day tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Peter, your a monster!
Posted by: Jordan Friedson on 7/7/2015 at 7:40 am
Super news! Congrats Peter for crushing previous heights, and for bravely climbing to new ones. We are all pulling for you down here at sea level with kayaks and paddle boards as our adventure travel. Be safe and keep warm.
Posted by: Laura Taft Paulsen on 7/7/2015 at 7:30 am
Best of luck Dad! -Madison
Posted by: Madison Mason on 7/9/2015 at 9:52 am
Good luck today, Dad and Dennis!
Love,
Linds, Daniel, & Wyatt
Posted by: Lindsay on 7/9/2015 at 8:34 am
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