Entries By caleb ladue
May 27, 2016 - 6:06 pm PT
We woke up this morning to blustery but clear skies. With ridge top winds ripping all around us we decided to dig in before getting underway. The team learned about wall building and tidying up camp before separating all of their gear to be carried. Then we were off! Bright skies and a stiff breeze gave us great conditions to schlep our loads up toward Kahiltna Pass. The great visibility highlighted the big three: Hunter, Foraker and
Denali standing tall against the wind. After a quick transition we had a load of gear stashed in the ground and were returning back to camp to hide away for the rest of the day.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
May 26, 2016 - 10:04 p.m. PDT
After lots of anticipation we are here on the
mountain!! This morning we had our final meal at the roadhouse, followed by good weather news from the pilots at the K2 hangar. The team changed from our street clothes to our action suits and before we knew it we were in the air flying to the glacier. We landed and assembled our mountain of gear in to individual loads. With a nice cloud cover and cool temps we made the decision to get the train moving! Travel was pleasant, though a bit hot when the sun started to peek through near our first camp. We have a strong team and everyone did a fabulous job. We made a tasty meal and are bedding down after a very productive day. Will keep you updated!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
May 25, 2016 - 8:59 p.m. PDT
Hello from Talkeetna! Today was spent sorting through our gear in the K2 Aviation airplane hangar. We're all getting to know each other and we're beginning to feel like a team. The luggage is lined up and we're hoping for nice weather to
fly into base camp in the morning. In the meantime, we'll fill our stomachs and stay hydrated for the days ahead.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones and team
The
Four Day Summit Climb teams lead by
RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos and Nick Hunt reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning under clear skies and nice conditions. The teams began their descent from the crater rim shortly after 9 am en route to Camp Muir. The teams will rest and re-pack then start their descent to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
January 3, 2016
Posted by: Mike King, Caleb Ladue
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 9,000'
This is Mike and team checking in after our delicious asado dinner cooked by the mule drivers. We had an eight-hour hike from Base Camp and some of our feet faired better then others. Regardless, everyone is excited to be in Mendoza tomorrow night. This has been a great group of climbers and while we didn't stand on top of
Aconcagua, the team learned a lot and had fun doing so.
RMI Guide Mike King
January 2, 2016
Posted by: Caleb Ladue, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800'
This is Mike and the Team. We are at
Base Camp feeling good after a long day carrying down our equipment from 18,000' to 13,800'. We will start our descent to the road tomorrow, which will entail 20 miles and culminate in a delicious Argentinean asado dinner. The weather continues to plague teams and we are thankful for our time up high.
RMI Guide Mike King
December 31, 2015
Posted by: Caleb Ladue, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000'
Today we woke to slightly milder winds that allowed us to breakdown our camp at 16,400ft and move Guanaco 3 camp, our
second camp at 18,000' on Aconcagua. All teams above Base Camp are trying to figure if the current weather system will allow for a summit bid. The Team has been updated on the weather pattern that is moving onto the mountain.
From the beginning of the expedition the guides have been stressing taking care of daily items that are in our control like hydration, rest, proper clothing choices and breathing, a lot. At the same time this expedition has been marked by items we have no control over, for example, tall penitentes to navigate, hot temperatures, wind and a deteriorating weather pattern.
We will continue to evaluate our options, in the meantime, It's New Years Eve on Aconcagua. We'll miss the party at base camp, but not the pan flute chiming in during the porter drum circle until 4am.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
December 30, 2015
Posted by: Mike King, Caleb Ladue
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,400'
This is RMI Guide Mike King checking in checking in from 16,400 feet on Aconcagua. Today is our
rest day and we are definitely resting in our tents. The winds picked up around dinner last night and have not stopped shaking our tents. The team reported good sleep/rest after our carry to Chopper Camp yesterday and everyone is acclimating well. We are hunkered down for the day; reading and napping. There is rumor of a snack food social in one of the tents around lunch time, I might have to crash that party.
We will keep checking the weather today. Our goal is to move up to Chopper Camp tomorrow during lower winds and then play the waiting game for a summit bid.
The RMI office sent the blog comments to us and everyone enjoyed hearing them read during breakfast yesterday. Thank you for following along and supporting us! Keep it up!
RMI Guide Mike King and Team
On The Map
December 29, 2015
Posted by: Mike King, Caleb Ladue
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,400'
Call it Camp 2 while your on the mountain and you will get a curious look from the locals, but call it
Chopper Camp or Guanaco 3 and they will smile. The team woke this morning and carried food and equipment to Guanaco 3 (our Camp 2). Some of our legs felt a bit heavy from the move yesterday but we made it.
As we turned the corner at Ameghino Col the winds increased and we took in stellar views of La Mano, Mercedario and other 6000 m. peaks in the San Juan Province.
We are back in Camp 1 looking forward to a rest day on Wednesday. Weather and high winds are rolling in, good night from our cozy tents at 16,400 ft.
RMI Guide Mike King and team
On The Map
December 28, 2015
Posted by: Mike King, Caleb Ladue
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,400'
This is RMI Guide
Mike King and the Team checking in from
Camp 1, 16,400 ft! We had slightly lighter packs then our carry day but still hot temperatures radiating off the snow fields. After 4 nights at 14,000 the team cruised up to Camp in good form.
The climbers are enjoying some rest time in the warm tents and organizing their gear for our carry to Chopper Camp tomorrow.
These climbers bring a lot of different mountaineering and climbing experience to the team and watching them pitch camp today makes a guide team proud.
Thanks for following along.
On The Map
Let’s Breck !
Posted by: Dad on 5/29/2016 at 11:10 am
Hi Tyler -
Good luck with this years team! I still have great memories of our 2011 and 2012 expeditions.
-Larry Seaton
Posted by: Larry Seaton on 5/29/2016 at 10:45 am
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