The American Lung Association Climb for Clean Air, led by RMI Guides Win Whittaker and Mike Uchal, reached the Mt. Rainier summit early this morning. They experienced nice weather and 25 mph winds. After spending some time on the summit, they began their descent back to Camp Muir at 6:30 a.m.
Congratulations ALA Climbers!
Sunday, June 2, 2013
The weather has finally changed. No more perfectly sunny , windless days. Instead, this morning we saw some clouds both below us and above. But they were fairly light clouds and the winds remained calm. A change none the less. After sixteen days of perfect weather these clouds might seem ominous, but in reality the weather was fairly nice. So, we picked up and moved up to high camp at 17,200'.
Gambling on the weather is one of those things that is just a part of mountain climbing. Do you stay or do you go? Given the relatively benign weather forecast I opted to take advantage of a nice day to move up.
An early start allowed us to reach camp by 3:00 where we were able to have our pick of walled tent spaces. We were even able to dig in the Posh House. After a little while some snow started falling and we figured we'd just have a simple dinner and allow the team to eat in the comfort of their tents. After all, we had had a big day with heavier packs that our previous climb and folks could feel the effort. But, not this team. It's impressive that when offered room service at 17,000' everyone of the team chose to get together for dinner.
No, today there was no singing, but everyone was in good spirits and hoping to get a good nights sleep. Our plan is to check out the weather in the morning and go for it if things are good. Otherwise, we'll have a good rest day.
It's great to be in position for a summit bid finally. All we need now is one good day.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guides Brent, Logan and Leah
Stay strong! You are almost there! Well, actually you are already doing and seeing places and things that most of us only dream of, so please appreciate how far you have come as well!
We love you, Dennis!
Shelly, Jon and Tasha
Posted by: Shelly Uhlir on 6/5/2013 at 8:50 pm
Jeff H and friends—Hoping today is the day! Here’s to a fabulous summit.
We've got an entire day on Mt Vinson under our belts now. By the time we turned in last night it seemed we'd been awake for days... Mostly because we had been -with the midnight to four a.m. Ilyushin 76 flight onto the Antarctic continent and then a day of waiting at Union Glacier basecamp. Our Twin Otter pilots came through nicely though and the entire team was on the Branscomb Glacier at 7,000' by early evening. Vinson Basecamp (VBC), but not until we built it. We all felt pretty lucky to have gotten in since visibility and contrast weren't great. It was calm at Vinson Basecamp though, which was nice. And cold, which was expected. We stayed in our warm sleeping bags until 9 a.m. and then wandered out to stare at our surroundings and to eat breakfast. It took several hours to sort ourselves out and to switch gears from hopping continents to hopping crevasses but finally we stretched our ropes and our legs and got busy doing a carry of food and fuel partway to Camp One. The weather wasn't spectacular and we wanted to be careful not to overdue things on this first day, so we covered about two and a half miles before caching the gear and returning to VBC. Weather was slightly nicer by then in basecamp and so having dinner in the strong, warm 9 PM sunshine was a treat. We have big plans for tomorrow. We'd love to move up the mountain but it will depend on how everybody is feeling and what we see for weather.
In the tent now, at 12:45 AM with bright sunshine and a cool breeze blowing down glacier.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Well, some snoring happened last night. Not light cute, cuddly snoring but the real deal. It was coming directly from the top bunk next to mine so I now have a nice visual of what a grown man looks like when running a chainsaw with his throat. Add to that the fun fuzzy feelings of our first night at real altitude and I think it is safe to say most of the team did not experience their best night.
By 6 am most of us were beginning to put motion to our already awake bodies which is never easy at this height. With a few throbbing headaches everyone was in some way experiencing a mild hangover. This is not out of the ordinary.
After a beautiful hike around the hut which was blessed with clear and stunning views of our summit, Antisana and Cotopaxi, the aftermath of snoring and altitude began to fade. It is common for this mountain to sock in and get rainy by 1 pm so we all motivated in good style preparing for training session on the glacier 1,200 feet above the hut. By 8:15 we were on the move enjoying beautiful weather and vistas. One hour later we were putting on harnesses, crampons and helmets at 16,000 feet.
It is clear everyone on this team has climbed in the past because going through self arrest, rope travel and cramponing on steep ice was akin to getting back on the bike. Hannah, Jaime and I just gave a little shove and off they went, making it all look easy.
Like clockwork the rain came in at 12:30 and we descended back to the rough accommodations of soup, cheese and crackers and hot tea. I can certainly think of worse places to be. After snacks we rested for a couple hours and then had dinner at 5 pm.
As I finish this entry, the moon has begun shining through our window, the team is tucked away in bed and the Super Bowl just kicked off. Our alarms go off at 11 pm tonight giving us a midnight departure on our first big mountain summit attempt. Cayambe is 5 feet short of 19,000 feet so we have a big day ahead of us.
We will give the report tomorrow after the climb. Enjoy super bowl Sunday!
Hello, Dave Hahn calling down from Advanced Basecamp in the fog, 21,300'. Today was a beautiful day. Significant to us, in that a combination team of climbers building the route on the Lhotse Face succeeded in getting as far as Camp 3 and perhaps even a little bit beyond that. Fixing rope up the steep and icy Lhotse Face. We didn't want to get in the way of that today. We actually hiked up to about 22,000', towards the west shoulder. Certainly not all the way to the west shoulder, which is about 25,000' in some very steep, hard ice in that direction. But the part we could do today made for a nice hike and gave us a great view off the Western Cwm. Pretty amazing. With the exception of the snow that fell last week, it just doesn't appear to be any snow left over from the monsoon or the winter. Just bare ice up in this upper valley, and these glaciers are continuing to take a beating. On the good side, our Sherpa team, Tshering, Gyaljen, and Kaji, they successfully made a carry up here today, to ABC, carrying oxygen bottles for the summit bid. And then the three of them and Lam Babu, went back down to Basecamp. It's just myself, Dan, Seth and Yubaraj up here at ABC. All is well. Bye now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn called in from Everest Advanced Basecamp.
Beautiful pics and such interesting commentaries. I am really enjoying the updates every day - it sure beats watching the evening news on the TV. Wishing you guys continued good weather and safe climbing.
Posted by: Josephine Johnson on 4/30/2013 at 12:38 am
All the best! What a privilege it must be to see such a beautiful range of mountains!
Another important milestone, easily achieved. We woke at Union Glacier in perfect weather, ate our breakfast and boarded two ski equipped Twin Otter airplanes bound for Vinson Basecamp. Our flight through the Ellsworth Mountains was memorable as we passed hundreds of sharp and dramatic glaciated peaks. A big right turn brought us into the valley of the Branscomb Glacier at the foot of Mount Vinson. We landed while flying up a hill at a little over 7000 ft elevation. The entire team set to work dragging duffels and building Basecamp. We spent this perfect weather day reviewing roped climbing techniques and getting settled in. An afternoon hike served to stretch legs and jog memories of mountaineering difficulties and pleasures. We ate dinner in our newly built dining tent under the blazing evening sun, forgetting that the air temperature was likely hovering around zero degrees Fahrenheit. We enjoyed seeing the climbers from the previous round on Vinson come into camp pleased with their summit of the mountain just yesterday and relieved to find airplanes waiting to take them away today.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Happy Anniversary to the first American Summit team on Mt. Everest!
That climb happened forty-nine years ago today. Thanks to all the teams of the past for the valuable insight on how to climb this mountain as safe and smart as possible.
Dave Hahn and the RMI team remained at Camp 2 (ABC) for another night. All is well up there as they adjust slowly to these extreme altitudes. Conditions on the upper mountain are rough with the jet stream still over top and limited tracks in the upper route for now. Dave is the master at making the best use of their time up high and when they return to Base Camp I'm sure they will be ready for some rest down here in the thick air of 17,575'.
We are now in the meat of the Mt. Everest climbing season. There are teams all over the mountain and everybody is at a little different stage in their schedule to get themselves ready for the summit. The cooperation between the teams this year has been fantastic and the resolve and commitment to work together is outstanding. It is a small community here and everybody pulling together is making for a very enjoyable season.
Lots of work ahead and many more amazing photos to be taken. Hold on - summit time is just around the corner because it's the month of MAY!
Happy May Day!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from ABC (21,300 ft)
Hello from Everest Base Camp,
This is my first chance to take a breath here at Base Camp. If you can call it that. Breathing here is always a challenge. It is crazy to think that with all the hard work Jeff Martin put in here at base camp prior to my arrival, it was still non-stop this whole last week. However, the first big reward came today when RMI Guide Dave Hahn and company called down from Camp 1 reporting that all is well. We have the best of the best when it comes to a team of climbers. And the support we give them to make this climb a bit easier is very much a group effort from Kathmandu to the USA.
We had a wild thunder storm this afternoon with a trace of snow but the clouds have cleared and it is pretty clear now. The RMI team left Everest Base Camp at 5 a.m. this morning and made it to Camp 1 in under four hours. That is a very respectable time for the climb of almost three thousand feet. It looks like all the training paid off.
We had a nice dinner in the cook tent with the Sherpa team and I am looking forward to my favorite hot water bottle and a good night's rest.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Today the team left Nepal and flew to Lhasa the capitol of Tibet. It was an amazing flight that gave us some great views of the mountains. The cloud layer was pretty high, maybe around 25,000', but we were able to see Cho Oyu, Mt Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu. Pretty remarkable to see 4 of the 6 highest mountains in the world on one flight. We had a smooth transition through customs and headed straight to our hotel. It was a big jump in altitude today, leaving the 6,000' of Kathmandu for the 12,000' of Lhasa. We will be spending the next few days here taking it easy while our bodies adjust to the new altitude.
Lhasa is a big city with a diverse mix of ancient and modern lifestyles. There are many Buddhist monks here and it seems strange to see them in such a modern landscape.
After getting settled into our hotel, we headed out for dinner and had some real Chinese food (I had mixed fried rice). Everyone is happy to be here and we are excited for this adventure. We are planning to stretch our legs tomorrow while we explore this beautiful city.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz July 22 - 27 led by RMI Guide Mike Walter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team reached the crater rim at 6 am and tagged Point Success. They will return to their high camp for their final night on the mountain and descend tomorrow to the trailhead.
Go ALA Team & Congratulations!
Posted by: Sue Newby-House on 7/19/2015 at 8:19 am
Thanks RMI for another great ALA climb! We appreciate your special care and partnership.
Posted by: Joe on 7/18/2015 at 10:02 pm
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