After four days of hard work, the Alpamayo team is taking a much deserved rest day. Coincidentally, the weather is marginal today and the constant patter of hail pelts our tents as we read or nap. All in all things are good and everyone is happy. We plan to rest for most of the afternoon, then practice some rope skills an get packed before dinner.
Happy belated Fourth of July everyone! We are so focused on the tasks at hand, that none of us realized it was the fourth until late in the day yesterday. Signing off from Alapamayo Basecamp.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Our team is safely back in Quito, reacquainting ourselves to city life. We had a great trip here in Ecuador; we enjoyed the country and culture, the delicious cuisine, and the friendly Andean people. We also enjoyed a safe and successful climb of Cotopaxi.
Our trip is coming to a close now. We will get together this evening for a celebration dinner before we part ways and travel in different directions. It has been a pleasure to spend time in the mountains with this group of climbers.
Saludos…
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Today’s Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Jake Beren and Zeb Blais, reached the top around 6 a.m. The guides reported steady winds at 15 mph and overcast skies. Both teams are back at Camp Muir and will continue their descent shortly.
Congratulations to the summit climbers!
July 4, 2014 - 11:34 pm PT
In observance of Independence Day, we rested at 11,000 feet. Having put in a pretty full seven days of work and in the hopes of maximizing our acclimatization before making the big jump to 14,000', it seemed smart to take it easy in this beautiful place on a magnificent day. So breakfast was at a leisurely pace once the sun made it around the West Buttress at 9:15. We put a bunch of meat into fry pans over camp stoves for a-mid afternoon simulated barbecue. For fireworks, we watched the sun blaze brilliantly in the Alaskan summer sky. The team is excited for the move to 14K tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Go KB and the rest of the team!! The view from the armchair is great!
Posted by: Geoff Clark on 7/5/2014 at 6:02 pm
Dave, Always enjoy your climbing blogs. Good luck and safe climbing to you and your group. (Jeff Olson of Whittaker/Viesturs climb turned Hahn/Tucker).
July 4, 2014 - 9:44 pm PT
The move to Mt. McKinley's high camp is like stepping into the ring with a heavy weight larger than King Kong. Thing is, he really likes to throw things at you in one long grueling round. That round our team won. It could not have been a more perfect day to come to high camp. Now the question becomes how much strength does the team have for round two which comes in the form of Godzilla. Tomorrow we will attempt to climb to the summit, weather permitting. Wish us well.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff and team signing off from high camp.
This is from your mother, Mark…and I suppose me, too!
Lots of love Mark..so glad things are going well. Good luck and success to you and your teams.Thrilled that you might reach the summit today! Love, Mom…and Merabeth
Posted by: Merabeth Lurie on 7/5/2014 at 1:15 pm
Congrats on making it to High camp. You guys are like Rocky and keep going no matter what is thrown at you! Can’t wait to read your next blog from the summit!!
Posted by: Jerry Hildebrand on 7/5/2014 at 12:04 pm
Today the Alpamayo team made a big jump and moved a portion of our group gear up to the next camp, Moraine Camp (16,200'). We moved well and were at the cache site by late morning. Despite feeling good, everyone was breathing hard and we were happy to drop back to our basecamp at 14,200'.
The food on this trip has been phenomenal. Everyday our cook, Raul, impresses us with his culinary prowess. From veggie omelettes to grilled trout to fresh cut fruit salad every night, we have been eating like kings. I suspect the amazing food has a strong correlation to how good we all feel.
All for now. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Eric Frank and the Alpamayo team
Friday, July 4, 2014 – 10:32 AM PT
We took advantage of great weather and climbing conditions yesterday to summit Cotopaxi (19,348')! We started climbing a little before 5 am, summitted around 1 pm, and were back at camp by 5 pm. Twelve hours of ascending and descending the glaciate slopes of Ecuador's most famous volcano, Cotopaxi. Although we were greeted by gusty winds as we approached the glacier, the sky was clear and the temperature was comfortable. By the time we strapped our crampons on, the wind had died down and the weather and climbing conditions could not have been better. The snow was perfect for cramponing, winds were about 10 mph all the way up to the summit, and the views of the surrounding peaks were stunning.
After a long day of climbing we settled back into the climbers' hut and enjoyed a warm meal before crawling into our sleeping bags for a full night's sleep. This morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we visited a small pre-Incan archaeological site within Cotopaxi National Park before heading south to the Hacienda La Cienega. Now we're all set to enjoy showers, some more food, and comfortable beds.
Nice work team, on safely climbing up and down a very impressive mountain. We'll rest here at La Cienega tonight and then head back into the capital, Quito, tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Friday, July 4, 2014 - 9:43 AM PT
Hello from the summit of Nevado Urus at 5,497 meters! This is Elias and the crew, we are on top and enjoying the views of the Cordillera Blanca. We had a nice day and are enjoying our time up here. Everybody's doing well and we will be checking in tomorrow on our rest day. We are blown away by the lakes and the glaciers and the summit we are seeing. Are we guys? (team cheering). I don't know if you heard them but they were cheering. That's all for now, we'll be checking in later. Bye.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos checks in from the summit of Nevado Urus.
Hi Aunt Kim!!! Way to go on your first summit- yay!!!! I had the best time in Nashville while mommy and daddy were away… I am so independent now- pretty soon I can start climbing mountains with you !!!!!
Lots of Love
Sophia & Crew
PS I taught daddy how to catch fireflies
Posted by: Sophia Rose on 7/5/2014 at 7:00 pm
Congrats on one of the summits. Can’t wait to see photo of the view that is described. Sasha and I are spending our days at the beach and jungle trail and thinking of you all in your fleece. Hope the food on this Peru journey is as good as in September.
Thursday, July 3, 2014 - 7:09 PM PT
Hello again, this Elias and the Ishinca Valley seminar. We're having a good time here during our second day at base camp. After our arrival yesterday we left a dispatch but didn't know if the call went through, or at least part of it. Today we're checking in letting you know we had a great day of training. We are going to bed right now getting ready for tomorrow's climb of Navado Urus, a 5,400m (17,800') peak. Everybody's doing well, enjoying ourselves up here. We will be checking tomorrow again with hopefully some good news from the summit. Hope all is well at home and we'll let you know of our progress tomorrow.
Good bye for now.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos checks in after a day of training with the Peru Seminar team.
The Four Day Summit Climbs led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Walter Hailes reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Brent reported clear and warm conditions. The teams are enjoying some time on the summit. They will return to Camp Muir later this morning and then continue their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
Happy Independence Day!
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Go KB and the rest of the team!! The view from the armchair is great!
Posted by: Geoff Clark on 7/5/2014 at 6:02 pm
Dave, Always enjoy your climbing blogs. Good luck and safe climbing to you and your group. (Jeff Olson of Whittaker/Viesturs climb turned Hahn/Tucker).
Posted by: Jeff Olson on 7/5/2014 at 11:06 am
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