Entries By eric frank
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 10,000'
Greetings from Huaraz!
The ESS-Peru team is back in the bustling city of Huaraz after a wonderful week in the Ishinca Valley. Perfect climbing weather allowed for successful summits of both Nevada Ishinca (18,143') and Urus Este (17,600'). After a wonderful breakfast of eggs and bacon (at 14,200'!), we made quick work of our descent out of the valley this morning. Town life brought more great eating, shopping, and resting here at the Hotel Andino, all in preparation for our next objective, Pisco Oeste. Tomorrow morning we depart Huaraz for the stunning Quebrada Llanganuco (Llanganuco Valley) and make our move to Pisco Base Camp at 15,400'. Our well acclimatized bodies should take to this altitude well as we set our sights on Pisco, our highest objective of the trip at 18,741'. We'll check in again tomorrow evening from our perch in the Llanganuco. For now, enjoy the "best of" from Robby and Eric's cellphone photo galleries.
Buenos Noches,
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank, and the ESS-Peru Team
P.S. The Spanish climbing term of the day is "tocino", which means bacon.
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 17,600'
Greetings loyal RMI blog followers! This is your Expedition Skills Seminar - Peru team calling from the summit of Nevado Urus at 17,600 feet. It's a sunny day as usual in the Cordillera Blanca range of Peru; we are so spoiled down here with perfect weather. We're going to enjoy the sunshine with views of the beautiful turquoise lakes and get down safely, hopefully in a fast order of time and enjoy some home cooked meals. That's all for now. Ciao!
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank, and team
RMI Guide Robby Young calls from the summit of Nevado Urus.
Posted by: Eric Frank, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,400'
Hello again from the Ishinca Valley. The Peru Seminar team is in the midst of an afternoon siesta as we recover from our exertion on Ishinca yesterday, and prepare for a climb on Urus tomorrow. Despite sleeping in and having a lazy breakfast this morning, we managed to spend a few hours training on crevasse rescue and snow anchor construction.
All in all the team is doing quite well. We have battled sporadic GI challenges and a bit of discomfort from altitude, but the team is taking care of themselves and their perseverance is making all the difference. Group dinners are funny and full of lively conversation. As guides it is incredible to watch a team come together and be a strong functional unit. Now that we are a week into the program, it seems like we are firing on all cylinders and ready to take on any challenges that present themselves on the next two peaks.
All for now,
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Robby Young and the Peru Seminar team
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 18,143'
Greetings! Buenos dias from the summit of Nevado Ishinca, 18,143 feet. The RMI Peru Seminar team is on top right now. We have a beautiful day, beautiful weather. Not a better day of climbing in the Cordillera Blanca Range of Peru. The team wants to say hi. [Cheers from the background.] The team is on their descent and will check in later.
RMI Guide Robby Young
RMI Guide Robby Young calls from the Ishinca summit!
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,400'
After falling asleep to a gentle rain last night, our team woke up to to star filled skies. The clouds had dropped a few inches of snow up high and the glaciers suspended above camp glistened in the light of the moon. After a hasty 5:30am breakfast we shouldered our packs and climbed uphill three hours to the base of the Ishinca Glacier. The new snow made the hard glacial ice a bit more forgiving, and we used the terrain to train on basic mountaineering techniques such as rope travel, crampon technique and ice axe arrest. After taking a break for lunch and admiring our beautiful surroundings, we got into more advanced techniques like ice screw placement and V-thread anchors.
Tonight was the current group favorite dinner- Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian mix with beef, french fries, rice and tomatoes. Delicious!
RMI Guides Robby Young and Eric Frank
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,000'
After falling asleep to a gentle rain last night, our team woke up to to star-filled skies. The clouds had dropped a few inches of snow up high and the glaciers suspended above camp glistened in the light of the moon. After a hasty 5:30am breakfast we shouldered our packs and climbed uphill three hours to the base of the Ishinca Glacier. The new snow made the hard glacial ice a bit more forgiving, and we used the terrain to train on basic mountaineering techniques such as rope travel, crampon technique and ice axe arrest. After taking a break for lunch and admiring our beautiful surroundings, we got into more advanced techniques like ice screw placement and V-thread anchors.
Tonight was the current group favorite dinner- Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian mix with beef, french fries, rice and tomatoes. Delicious!
RMI Guide Robby Young
Good Afternoon Team Peru!
I love these photos and action information! Please say hello to Neil Yoder and tell him that we will expect him to perfectly replicate the Lomo Saltado for “Family Time.” Happy climbing to all!
Karen
Posted by: Karen Epstein on 7/16/2016 at 9:14 am
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,000'
Our 14,000 feet home here in the Ishinca Valley was draped in sunshine for most of today as we did some technical training right outside our tents. A thorough knots review and a gear prep session has prepared us for our first day on the ice tomorrow. We even had the time to sneak in an acclimatization hike this afternoon up the moraine to the overlook into Laguna Tocllacoccha. The views from there proved spectacular, as always. From our 15,200' perch, we were able to see where glacier meets lake, deep within the surrounding moraines carved out by the most recent glaciation, below the 6000m summit of Tocllaraju. For some of us, this was an exciting new high altitude record. Light rain is audible on our tent flies as we're bedding down for the night. An early wake up is in store tomorrow as we plan to spend the day reviewing glacier travel and ice climbing at the toe of the Ishinca Glacier. Stay tuned, friends.
Buenos Noches,
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank, Edwin, and the Peru Seminar Crew
P.S. Spanish climbing term of the day is "Ballestrinque", which means Clove Hitch.
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,400'
Hello from our beautiful camp in the Ishinca Valley. This morning the team packed up our gear, and bussed two valleys to the north of Huaraz to the Pashpa trailhead. There we loaded the equipment onto our trusty little mountain burros and hiked along a turquoise blue stream to the very top of the valley at 14,200ft.
After multiple hours of hiking at altitude to get to camp, the team was ready for a solid dinner and our cocinero (camp cook) didn't disappoint. We were treated to a hearty meal of beef, potatoes and rice, plus desert!
Currently we are tucked into our sleeping bags being lulled to sleep by a nearby glacial river and anticipating a full day of training tomorrow. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank and the Peru Seminar Team
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 10,000'
Hello!
Greetings from Hotel Andino in the beautiful Huaraz City, Peru. Our expedition prep got off to a stunning start with a picturesque trip up to Puca Ventana (Red Window) at 11,600'. The additional elevation and light exercise will be crucial as we prep to move up the Ishinca Valley at 14,400' tomorrow morning. A casual lunch at the climbing hangout Cafe Andino kept us energized through the afternoon as we began the packing and gear sorting for our upcoming week in the Cordillera. Tonight we enjoy the comforts of civilization at our hotel for one last night. Our next dispatches will be from the high valleys as we move closer to our first climbing goal of Ishinca (18,143'). Stay tuned, friends!
Buenas Noches,
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank, Edwin, and the ESS-Peru Team
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 10,000'
Greetings from Huaraz!
The ESS-Peru team has arrived safely in Huaraz. After a short night of sleep yesterday evening, we left the chaos of a busy Lima city behind, traveled up the Pacific coast, over a 14,000' pass, and down into the Ancash Valley; home of the Cordillera Blanca Range (The White Mountains). We kicked off our stay at Hotel Andino with an incredible dinner, as usual, and are looking forward to the incredible views of the mountains from our hotel balconies in the morning. Tomorrow, our expedition prep begins. An acclimatization hike tomorrow morning to 11,500' into the hills above Huaraz City (pop. 127,000) will serve a crucial purpose as we coax our bodies into their high-altitude form.
That's all for now. Thanks for following along!
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank, and the ESS-Peru Team
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Anxious to hear about the climbs..my daughter, Ilene Carpenter, is in the group. Hope all is well and safe.
Posted by: joan locker on 7/17/2016 at 9:50 am
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