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What a day! At 13,070' it was still rather chilly in the shade as we began our climb of the Barranco Wall. Looking ahead the route was already busy with climbers and porters negotiating the steep terrain. Behind us camp was finally lit up with the early morning sun, looking warm and inviting. But our attention was focused on the steady footwork that would take us safely up this cool wall.
Much of the climb we snaked through weaknesses in the rock that allowed us to walk upright on the well-trodden path. The fun came dealing with those places that demanded more precise footwork and the use of handholds on the rock. At a couple of places, we'd 'spot' these moves to maximize safety, but the team moved like the savvy climbers they are, or have become. After one and a half hours we were rewarded with a huge flat area at the top of the Wall where we refueled. The scenery here opened up dramatically to the steep cliffs and glaciers leading to the summit. Our route, thankfully, skirts these precipitous faces, traversing east to Karanga Camp, and eventually the route to the summit.
Getting to Karanga demanded we climb up and down through a couple of valleys, but the views and scenery were so nice that nobody complained of the need to reascend precious altitude gained earlier...
It was nice getting into camp by 1:00 to enjoy the warm, beautiful weather up here. Tosha had an incredible paella whipped up for lunch after we had the chance to settle into our tents and wash up after the dusty trail.
How spoiled we are!
Tomorrow: High Camp - Barafu.
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
Elevation: 17,575'
On The Map
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Lauren Macklin, Daniel May, Nicole De Petris
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
After several days and lots of hands-on training, our Emmons seminar team successfully reached the summit of Mt. Rainier yesterday. RMI Guide Avery Parrinello reported beautiful weather for the climb. The team enjoyed several days of great weather during their training days and ascent from camp to camp before their climb yesterday.
The team is currently on their descent from Camp Schurman back to Basecamp in Ashford where they will celebrate their successful summit. Congrats team!
Today was a day we have all been hoping for. No alarm clocks, no rush to load the small mountain of duffles in the bus and internet all morning.
By the whipping crack of 1pm we had pacticed cravasse rescue, drank a gallon of coffee and packed our mountain bags.
A short bus ride up a road bumpy enough to make our seats feel like vibrating massage chairs, landed us at 15,200 feet. A 40 minute cruise took us to the Jose Ribas refugio on the flanks of Cotopaxi. We can definitely feel the 16,000 foot altitude. But after Cayambe we are all well prepared. We even have the privilege of waking up "tomorrow" because our alarm clocks won't ring until one minute past midnight. Wish us well as we are once again a full team with Maria's knee feeling much better.
Climb on!!
Posted by: Peter Whittaker, Jess Matthews
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,100'
Well deserved rest!!!! Omg!!
Be safe!
Posted by: lisa maiser on 11/7/2018 at 4:45 pm
Today was the day! We woke up early to clear skies and absent winds. A first in over a week! We walked out of camp 2 at 2:30 hoping to get ahead of the numerous climbers that had stacked up waiting for the same weather window. Unfortunately, we weren’t early enough to beat all the other climbers out the door and ran into a fair amount of traffic. However, the extra traffic couldn’t spoil the perfect weather or the stoke emanating from the climbers, all of whom had been chomping at the bit for a chance to climb all week. The route felt extra steep this year, but the climbing was aided by good quality snow for much of the upper route leading to the summit. After nine hours of climbing and dodging other climbers, five out of seven of us stood on the summit of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalaya. It was a perfect summer day with almost no wind and clear skies for epic views all around. After enjoying our hard won success for just a few minutes, believe it or not it can be hard to breathe at 22,841 feet, we turned downhill and continued walking downhill all the way into basecamp around 7:15pm. An absolute epic of a day for those that managed to climb to the top. Despite the sore muscles and blistered toes, the crew was smiles all around the dinner table sharing stories from the day. Tomorrow we walk out to the trailhead and make our way back to Mendoza for a much needed shower and a good night sleep in a proper bed.
Congrats to all those who summited! And good luck on your next adventure!
Congratulations to all!! What great stories you will have to tell about this grand adventure!
Posted by: Coeli Scott on 1/25/2022 at 4:42 am
How absolutely AWESOME - way to go team! It has been fun to follow your adventures and glad many of you finally made the summit! Way to go Jake!!!
Posted by: carron on 1/24/2022 at 8:36 pm
Posted by: Brent Okita, Dustin Wittmier, Daniel May, Sam Hoffman, Mitch Valaitis, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Brent Okita & Dustin Wittmier led their team of climbers to the summit of Mt. Rainier. The Four Day Climb team July 9 - 12 enjoyed a beautiful morning on the mountain with a nice route and 15 mph winds. The teams were on Columbia Crest at 7:30 am and began their descent from the crater rim just after 8 am. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break to repack and refuel before descending the remaining 4,500' to Paradise.
Congratulations team!
If I had one word to describe the RMI team it would be professional. They really took good care of our team and let us enjoy the experience. A top notch crew I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone considering a Rainier summit in the future. Thank you ALA for all your support as well! Climbing for a purpose (other than bagging a peak) is really special and I’ve been happy to support your cause. Thank you team, you really made it enjoyable and it was a pleasure to be part of this group that is forever connected by this amazing experience!
Posted by: David Lamp on 7/20/2023 at 12:48 pm
Such an awesome experience! Thank you to our guide team and to all of the other climbers who worked hard out there. From the guides to everyone climbing with with ALA, you all made this such a memorable experienced. Climb on y’all!!
Posted by: Jonathan Mack on 7/15/2023 at 9:56 am
We woke up to low clouds over Rivertrees Inn… but that has been an everyday kind of thing, so it wasn’t much of a concern. We had our breakfast and did our last-minute packing and gear sorting and then boarded the team bus at 8 AM.
It took about two hours to get to the Machame Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park. We did a lot of people watching on the way, seeing how Tanzanians go about day-to-day life. And we watched the plants and vegetation change as the bus climbed up to the 6000 ft gate. As expected, there was a little time to kill at the park entrance as the permitting process was completed. We used the time to review efficient walking strategies and to discuss the terrain that lay ahead. Finally, at about 10:30, we got walking with our staff of local guides. Tom, Naiman, Phillibet, and John set the perfect pace, as usual. We had about four thousand vertical feet to climb in about six miles. Before long we were climbing in the clouds rather than under them. It was easy to understand why the thick forest had moss on every surface. The cool conditions made for the perfect walking temperature. The trail was a little muddy and slimy underfoot, but not to the point that you’d sink into the muck. We didn’t have much trouble with traction or with maintaining a steady pace. We took a few breaks for snacks and water, but by mid-afternoon the forest was changing to smaller trees, and it was clear that we were getting somewhere. We came out above the clouds and the trail dried out. The last hour or so into camp was in fine, blue sky and sunshine weather. We rolled in at 3:30. Such a pleasure then to see that our staff already had camp built and ready for us. We just had to move in and enjoy life at 10,000 ft. That got easier when the last clouds above fell away and Kibo (Kilimanjaro’s central peak) came out for sunset.
We spent the time before dinner staring at the giant rock walls and impossibly steep ice fields and glaciers. In our dining tent, we had a great feast and a little story time as John -our lead guide- explained his progression into becoming a full climbing guide, 255 Kili summits ago. The team checked out a few Southern Hemisphere stars before crawling into tents and calling it a day. A good day.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Von,
Well, you started off smiling, so that’s good. Be safe!
Jacqueline
Posted by: Hutchins, Jacqueline on 8/17/2022 at 12:58 pm
Sounds like an awesome day one! Enjoy getting high above 10,000ft!
Posted by: Missy on 8/17/2022 at 12:55 pm
Posted by: Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Torres del Paine
Quick check in for the Torres del Paine trek group. We are all in Punta Arenas with our luggage. The amount of paperwork and long lines to enter Chile was the first major obstacle. With late arrivals we didn’t get much sightseeing around Punta Arenas with the exception of a few walks along the water front to see the sculptures and lots of cormorants. Today we will head to Puerto Natales to sort our gear and enjoy some of the Southern “fjord” landscape that make up this area. I will be sending daily updates of our trip once we enter Torres del Paine National Park on Tuesday.
Thanks,
George, I pray for your safety and that of the team. I envy the view you are rewarded with for your efforts of climbing!!!
Posted by: Michael Belt on 7/22/2022 at 7:55 pm
Glen and Thomas…We are mentally negotiating these paths with you and can feel the excitement building as you get closer to the goal. Now to rest up for Saturday’s trek to high camp. Amazing stuff! Thanks Brent for these updates
Posted by: Ginee Philippy on 7/22/2022 at 10:48 am
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