RMI Expeditions Blog
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide
Casey Grom and the Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide
Linden Mallory reached the summit of Mt. Rainier earlier this morning. The teams got an early start this morning in order to take advantage of the cooler overnight temperatures and
beat the heat today. While on the summit, the teams found it to be incredibly warm with calm winds. They are also enjoying a clear sky with views in all directions.
The teams will descend to Camp Muir where they will refuel before continuing their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford later today.
Congratulations!
Our team had a great day today, tackling our first
acclimatization climb in good style. We climbed to the summit of Rucu Pichincha, a 15,400' volcano outside of Quito. The views were grand as we ascended in the rare air of high altitude.
Everyone did great (we were all breathing hard up there!), and we look forward to moving out of the comfort of the city life tomorrow, heading south, and getting another acclimatization hike under our belts.
We'll touch base again tomorrow. Thanks for checking in!
RMI Guide
Mike Walter
On The Map
Hey, it's Billy here checking in from 14,000'. Our team had a lazy morning today and packed up and moved down from the 17 Camp to the
14 Camp on Mt. McKinley. We had some pretty slow going due to some wind and some kind of funky weather but especially due to very deep snow conditions, lots and lots of snow from the previous storm cycle that kept us at 17.
We are going to walk out of here early tomorrow morning, very early and head for the air strip. So hopefully the next check in will come from the Kahiltna landing strip.
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
We lit our stoves at 3 AM today and had breakfast a short time later while enjoying the beauty of the Alaska Range in shadow. It took until 6 AM to get moving out of camp at 7,000 ft, but when we did, we were pleased to find that the snow surface was a hundred times more user friendly than it had been the previous afternoon. Our sleds slid easily along and we didn't have the problem of "post holing" that we'd experienced in the warm part of the day. We got to the
base of Ski Hill and began the hard work of the day, pulling heavy loads uphill for several hours. Clouds came over, giving some relief from the sun, but also bringing a new storm. Just as we picked and prepared a campsite at 9,000 feet, it began to snow. We spent a good chunk of the afternoon warm and dry in our tents as the snow intensified. Dinner was in our POSH dining tent, skillfully constructed by the guide team who battled to serve up a hearty supper in less than comfortable culinary conditions. Now as we are all in for the night, the snow continues to pile up outside. We'll wait and see what the morning brings.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
The Four Day Summit Climb led by
RMI Guide JJ Justman reached the crater rim of
Mt. Rainier at 6:30 am. The team spent an hour on the summit enjoying clear skies and light winds. They began their descent at 7:30 en route to Camp Muir. They will take a short rest at Camp Muir before continuing down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Team!
June 29, 2014 - 9:51 pm PT
Hello to everyone out there in blog land. We all wish, in some selfish way I suppose, that there was a sure fire way to teleport any curious individuals straight to our location here on what is commonly called the Polo Field of the
West Buttress. As I mentioned yesterday, a move to 14,000 foot Advanced Basecamp was on the ticket and we were gonna "make some hay" while the sun did shine. Oh how the "High One" can take any given plan and turn it into any thing she wishes. Like the oxymoron I spoke of about a "windless" Windy Corner. Can you say JINX! As it turns out, not only was the corner as windy as a Dave Hahn Everest story, the sun only shined for a few minutes before it started dumping snow again. Combine this with heinous trail breaking in the multiple feet of new snow and out pops a midway camp spot used only when the going gets tough. So tomorrow the tough will get going again and try for 14,000 feet once more.
Wish for warm toes, a better trail and quite winds.
Until Tomorrow.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Our
Cotopaxi Express team enjoyed a tour of colonial Quito today, visiting various churches, museums, parks, and plazas, and learning about the history of Quito and of
Ecuador. We then traveled to the equator, just north of Quito. There we visited an ethnographic museum, and straddled the equator with a foot in each hemisphere!
It was a good, relaxing day in
Ecuador as everyone is adjusting to the new altitude (9,000') and recovering from a long day of travel yesterday. Tomorrow we'll head out on our first acclimatization hike, climbing Rucu Pichincha, a volcano outside of Quito.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
The
Mt. Rainier Summit Climbs led by
Brent Okita and
Leon Davis crested the crater rim at 7:35 a.m. Brent reported 25 mph winds and the cloud deck was at 9,500’. The teams spent some time on the summit before beginning their descent at 8:40 a.m.
Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
June 29, 2014 - 8:23 am PT
We finally got off
Mt. McKinley as the snow stopped and the clouds parted. We wrapped up a great adventure with a great meal that did not have to be rehydrated.
I want to thank Bruce and Josh for being great partners in our adventure. Bruce is one of my heroes. Even though he is blind, he climbs with a natural ability and has a great mountain sense. He truly understands what mountaineering is all about. I look forward to our future adventures together!
RMI Guide MIke Haugen and Team "The Ocho"
June 29, 2014 - 12:16 am PT
I believe the saying goes "when the sun shines, make some hay!" Well metaphors are going to have to do because Toto, we ain't in Kansas anymore and nothing grows up here except foot fungus and beards. So, with the sun finally shining brightly and the snow settled to what seems a safe consistency, the team is ready to make some hay and move to
14,000 camp tomorrow! This morning we didn't crawl out of tents until the sun warmed them up at 9 am. After that, massive coffee presses, eggs, bacon and hash browns followed. Yup, we do it right up here. It was
Andy's birthday today so he got to be served all morning and surprised after breakfast to a tent full of balloons thanks to
Lindsay's pre-trip preparations. After breakfast the team read, sun bathed, still sunk waist deep in snow when not on the trail and prepared gear to bring up the mountain. We are all excited to move our rested legs and make our way up hill. It will indeed be a doozy of a day, breaking trail, dealing with the sun and carrying heavy loads. I know we are all up to the task.
Wish us luck.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff signing off
On The Map
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Way to go!!! The Seahorses are proud of you all as well! Great job! Can’t wait to hear all about it! Safe travels down the mountain and home! :) Coach Jan
Posted by: Jan Allen on 7/2/2014 at 4:21 am
Another one down! Love you, Michelle
Posted by: Michelle Johansen on 7/1/2014 at 2:11 pm
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