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Sunday, May 22, 2022 - 11:33 pm PT

After a solid bit of work yesterday, and due to the team going the extra mile on the carry day and going all the way to 14,000' Camp, today was a full blown rest day. We waited for the sun to hit the tents, brewed up coffee and made brunch burritos, and spent the day enjoying the fine weather. We spent a bit of time this evening refreshing our fixed line skills to prep for an initial trip up the headwall. That might be tomorrow, or we might wait, weather depending.

RMI Guides Pete, Erika, Leif, and team

Having recently returned from an Aconcagua expedition, and having unpacked all my duffels, it was time to reflect on what I learned from the experience. I learned that I will never be called out for breathing like Darth Vader or for taking too many rest steps, resting spots are always further away than they initially appear (or are promised) and it is statistically impossible to pack too many gummies. In fact, learning the exact food preferences of your guides, and anticipating their needs before they become hypoglycemic (or just cranky) is key to any successful Aconcagua expedition. For instance, I am now equipped with the powerful knowledge that Steve is partial to sour worms, irrespective of the time of day or the altitude, and Mike has an aversion to any form of fruit and won’t touch chocolate on summit day. And you can never EVER pack too many tubes of Pringles. I will forever carry this insight with me on future climbs. So what else did I learn? I admit that initially I had reservations about my ability to handle the rigors of an Aconcagua expedition, my “level” being best described as “enthusiastic”. I wondered whether I had sufficient experience to effectively prepare for an extended trip. I had deep concerns about my long-time nemesis, altitude, and how I would acclimatize “on schedule”. And I wondered if being a female climber (and therefore packing less than 200 pounds of pure muscle – a “lightweight”) would prove to be a limiting factor for a climb of this nature. As it turns out, picking rocks up and putting rocks down is not the most important expedition skill after all. In fact, as a female climber you probably innately possess many of the skills you will need. It is precisely because your mindset is not that of muscling your way up the hill, that as a lightweight, you will appreciate that technique matters. You will quickly grasp that rest-stepping is a technique and not a pace. It is because you will be more open to learning how to do things differently that you will pay closer attention to what your guides are doing and follow their lead. It is true that stuffing your too large a sleeping bag into your too small a compression sack will always remain a fun, high altitude workout, however being inherently more detailed oriented, you are more likely to remember to weigh down the tent bag and keep a firm grasp on the tent while setting it up in hurricane-force winds so it doesn’t blow away into Chile, and to remember to double check that the tent fly is fully zipped so it doesn’t rip in the wind. Perhaps it is because you are more likely to be aware of your own limits that you will appreciate the value of thorough preparation, of perseverance and of thinking several steps ahead. You will naturally be more disciplined, and always purify your water, pack that extra layer and know where every item in your backpack is located. It is because you are more cautious by nature that you will take care of all the details (whether it is cold fingers or simply reapplying sunscreen). All these details will add up over the course of an expedition. Ultimately it is what is in your head that counts the most – your own sound judgment, your own inherent sense of self preservation, that only becomes more deeply ingrained with each climb, that will prove your most valuable expedition skill. Aconcagua is set in a strikingly harsh environment. You will spend many hours scrambling over a glacier in a desert, as the mountain slowly reveals itself the higher you climb. You cannot take a bus to see it – there are no short cuts. You will only be privileged to see it if you climb it. It is hard. And it is worth it. It will be difficult to recall the exact moment when, reservations aside, it occurred to you that the expedition had been a success, and not only did you cope, but in fact you thrived. Perhaps it was the moment you mastered skiing down scree, or when you welcomed snow as now there was an easily accessible water source and an opportunity to strap on crampons, that you realized you had gone further than you ever thought you could. Maybe it was when you were completely at ease being tent-bound for 4 days at 18,000ft, wondering not if but when your tent would be shredded by the wind, or were content to spend an evening watching snow slide down the tent fly, mere inches from your face. Surely it was the moment you realized you were actually looking forward to ramen night (again!). No, it must have been when you thought nothing of foregoing the tent altogether, and were perfectly satisfied simply to lay down your bag among the rocks and the mule droppings, with a rock for a pillow and just count shooting stars and watch the moon rise beneath an Andean sky. Perhaps it was at that moment that Aconcagua had worked its magic, and you had fully assimilated into expedition life. It is at that juncture that you will realize, that despite being a lightweight, YOU DID IT!!!!! And you can start to dream of your next climb. Rebecca R. - Aconcagua, February 2015

Update: 5/29/13 For the last 20 minutes, the shadow of the upper mountain has been creeping across 14,000ft camp. While its never dark here, the temperature drops significantly when the sun slides out of sight. We are now warm and safe in our sleeping bags, and ready to rest after a long day in the sun. This morning we awoke at 11,000 ft to a crisp clear morning. After only three days at 11k, the place felt like home. All our team members sat in their preferred (and now regular) locations in our dinning shelter. And after an oatmeal breakfast everyone returned to their respective tents on well worn paths. We then disassembled camp. What had been a home, dissolved into a series of tools and pieces of fabric. After an hour, we were ready to leave. Snow walls proudly protected our empty camp as we headed to 14,000 ft. The route was familiar - we took the same route to cash gear yesterday. The team climbed even stronger today. Moral was high and the views were spectacular. As we neared 14,000ft, the sun was directly overhead. While Denali can be a harsh wintery environment, it can also feel like a solar oven. The glaciers act like mirrors and there is no shade. We left camp bundled up and arrived dropping with sweat. We made our way to an old campsite at 14k and refurbished it. We leveled existing tent platforms, dug out a cook shelter and made ourselves at home. From our new home, we have a clear view of the upper mountain. All afternoon we watched climbers and skiers high above us. We are all excited to get up high. But we also know that there is work to be done. We must train, collect our gear from 13,500 and bring more gear up high. For now, sleep is a priority. We've earned it. RMI Guides Logan, Leah and Brent

On The Map

The February Mexican Volcanoes trip has officially wrapped up. This morning we all woke up out of our coma-like slumber and enjoyed our last meal together in Mexico. After a shirt and sweet wrap up celebration we hopped back in our trusty van for the three-hour drive back to Mexico City. We all said our final goodbyes curb side. It's been a a great trip with tons of excitement but now it's time to head home. Here's a photo from the summit of el Pico de Orizaba yesterday. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

After getting delayed by the rain we were able to make a dry push to Camp Muir yesterday. The stars looked to be aligning for a great summit day. We left the ridge at Camp Muir looking back at the lunar eclipse, psyched to be walking on the Cowlitz Glacier on a warm windless night. The team worked their way up the route feeling the altitide but also feeling determined to reach the top of Mt. Rainier. At 13,000' however, the mountain spoke to us telling us today, in fact, was not our day. Snow instability prevented us from climbing higher. We did not get the perfect day we were hoping for but we still got a gorgeous morning with beautiful views. 

RMI Guide Hannah Smith

What a proud day for our team! This morning we woke long before the sun came up and proceeded to hide from the bitter cold until a much more sensible option presented itself. All the teams left camp early turned back to protect their extremities while we enjoyed the rising sun and long summer day as we made our bid for the top. Don't get us wrong, it was a cold day but everyone managed quite well and is happy and healthy back at camp. Aconcagua was most gracious to our team today, but boy did we have to earn it. The light snow winter has left the mountain nearly bare of snow and we did not even use crampons today. Scrambling up loose rock at just under 23,000 feet is a real treat and the team rose to the challenge, huffing and puffing all the way to the roof of the Andes. All in all a great day with a stellar team. I'm certainly grateful to have gotten to share a beautiful day in the mountains with a great crew of climbers. Those of us that stood on top could not have done it without our team and though not every member shared the view today, they were all with us every step of the way. RMI Guide Jake Beren [Summit audio transcription] Hello. This is Jake Beren calling from the highest point in South America, the top of Aconcagua with a real strong team. Had a great summit day, perfect weather. We're up here with visibility in just about every direction. So, definitely proud of a real solid team and a real solid effort and we're halfway done. So we will give you a shout when we get to our camp. Thanks for all the weather help and we look forward to seeing everybody when we get back. Alright.

On The Map

Still at 14,200', I'm afraid. There was a cloud cap sitting on Denali at 7:45 this morning when we started checking weather. The cap meant snow and wind were working over the camp at 17,200' and so we weren't anxious to head that way without some improvement. That cap dropped lower as we ate breakfast and eventually it mingled with some clouds from below to put us in the soup. By midday it was snowing and we had to write off our chances for going high on this day. On the bright side, our team members that were suffering from minor colds yesterday had kicked those ailments by today... Vitamin C and bedrest. The gang put on climbing gear and walked up the first hill over camp, despite the steadily falling snow, just to get some exercise and some time out of the tents. Our forecasts call for more snow, unfortunately, so we had to do a bit of contingency juggling of supplies today. As we mentioned a few days back, we can't afford to be separated from our cache at 16 by avalanche conditions as our food supply at 14 Camp dwindles. This afternoon three of the guides broke trail up to the fixed lines and then ascended to 16,200' to retrieve the cache. There was plenty of recent snow to plod through and there were scars and debris piles from a few avalanches, but today things were stable enough and the mission was a success. The entire team greeted the cache raiders enthusiastically upon their return at dinner-time. We'd certainly hoped to use the cached supplies for our summit bid... and we cling to that hope. But now we have that food and fuel safely within our grasp should we need to retreat instead. The team is upbeat and optimistic... and realistic. We know we need the weather to improve in the next few days, defying the forecasts. RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We made it to Gorekshep — our last stop until Base Camp. Wahoo!!

We started the day with some affirmations sent from home (shout out to Heather! We are LOVING all the little surprises) and decided our motto for the day was “Be Happy. Shine bright. Dream big.”

After days on the trail and as our bodies are working hard to adapt to these altitudes, little reminders to keep a positive attitude and hold fast to our dreams is so important. We walked slow and steady today focusing on each breath. Deep breath in, out, pressure breath, pressure breath, deep breath and repeat. After all this time at high altitude we have learned how much this helps as we go into thinner air. This team is STRONG and after a few hours we made it to Gorekshep.

We warmed up with lemon ginger honey tea and RaRa soup before some of us ventured to the top of Kala Patthar, a climb just outside of Gorekshep, reaching over 18,500 feet. The rest of us stayed warm in the teahouse dining room while playing cards and telling stories. The daily afternoon clouds moved in but the Kala Patthar crew still got some epic Everest views.

We’re off to sleep and can’t wait for what tomorrow holds!

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team

Sunday, June 19, 2022 - 4:37 PDT

The dispatch takeover continues!

We woke today to overcast skies and a light dusting of snow. Luckily RMI Guide Andy Bond coached us well, and told us we had to have the most pristine camp of any of the teams here at 7,800'. We had pulled all of our gear inside before we went to bed so no one woke up to soggy clothes. Unlike RMI Guide Avery Parinello’s guide team who slept out in the snow.

There was a luxurious breakfast of bagels with cream cheese and lox before our daily exercise. By 6:30 a.m. we were leaving camp with full packs.

We cruised up Ski Hill and cached our gear at Kahiltna Pass, roughly 10,200’. It was a delight to have empty packs on the stroll back to 7,800’ Camp.

Camp was warming in the early afternoon sun as we arrived around 12:30 p.m. We spent a leisurely afternoon enjoying the comforts of our home and the luxury items we brought on the trip.

There were tea tree oil foot rubs, beard combing, using our sleds as lounge chairs to catch some rays, eating charcuterie over some riveting conversations - and my personal favorite, hula hooping!

We will have an early dinner in a few hours and climb into our turtle shells for an early evening. Tomorrow we make the move to 11,200'.

-- Another mystery writer from the Denali Expedition led by RMI Guides Andy Bond, Grayson Swingle, and Ben Luedtke

Strong Winds, cold temperatures, and firm conditions kept RMI Guides Dave Hahn, Bryan Mazaika, and the four Day Team at Camp Muir last night. The weather has cleared up a bit this morning, so the team will take a short walk on the Cowlitz Glacier before descending. We expect them here at Ashford Basecamp in the early afternoon.

Well done Team!