Most Popular Entries
Easy day today! We were up at 5 AM on another fine weather day at 11,000 ft. Shortly after 7 AM we started walking downhill to retrieve our cached food and fuel at 9700 ft. The low clouds had cleared out overnight and so as we came close to Kahiltna Pass at 10,000 ft we could see well out into the tundra and an endless series of lakes and ponds down in the lowland. It took just over a half hour to reach our cache. Thankfully the ravens hadn’t disturbed it (they’ve been known to end an expedition or two) and we dug it up and loaded up. We got back up the hills in about 2 hrs. During the day it was worth doing a little review and practice with avalanche beacons, some discussion of crampon and climbing techniques and a refresher on handling the ice axe.
Tomorrow, the game changes a little as we take on steeper and more serious terrain. Out of the snowshoes and into the crampons. With all of that training we managed to fit in some excellent naps as well. After dinner and storytelling, we got our packs and sleds ready for a carry tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Monday, June 13, 2022 - 10:37 pm PT
Hmmm how does one keep entertained while waiting for good summit weather? Well let me tell you! You start the morning as usual with the most important meal of the day, breakfast! Then the team rallies, gears up and heads to “The Edge of the World”! Whooo spooky! What’s the edge of the world you’re thinking? Glad you asked! It’s an epic cliff on the extreme edge of camp that looks 6,000 feet down to the valley floor. So pretty cool and obviously we took a bunch of hero shots of ourselves looking awesome. Then we wandered around the perimeter of camp, took a quick look at the crevasse formerly known as the “Poop Crevasse” (we now remove all our waste from the mountain instead of throwing it into the glacier). After that scenic detour it was more hanging about camp. Some of the team built snow lounge chairs to catch some rays. A handful of the team learned to play the best four person card game of all time, Euchre! The evening was capped off by the invention of a new cocktail, a mix of hot water, Swiss Miss hot chocolate powder and Fireball whiskey. It was deemed “The Backcountry Boyfriend” because it keeps you warm at night. Indeed it ‘twas a productive day here at 14,000 feet. Camp is in shadow now and we’re all tucked into our down sleeping bags, cozy and warm.
Goodnight, sleep tight and don’t let the ice worms bite!
RMI Guides Avery, Jack, Liam and the team
P.S. Google ice worms! They’re real!
Today our senses were greeted with cool, fresh, clean mountain air as we stepped out of the van. It was a successful journey today from the big city to the
Caucasus Mountains. This morning we had an alpine start followed by numerous airport cappuccinos, a tranquil flight to Mineralnye Vody, and three hours of driving through the Russian countryside. After four days of travel it’s great to finally be here at the base of the mountain.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
It was another beautiful day here in the
Khumbu Valley, and we had some nice views of Everest. Just above Namche you can see Everest far off in the distance, still about 20-30 miles away. You can also see the fourth highest mountain, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam, which is one of the Himalayan's most beautiful.
We hiked for about six hours today up and down, dropping all the way down to a river, which is a stunning turquoise, then climbed slowing up the hill before the famous Tengboche Monastery.
Traditionally we have gotten a blessing from a famous lama in Pangboche, but sadly that lama has moved on to a higher calling. So today we were able to request a private Puja with another lama at Tengboche and each received a blessing. The Puja is a Buddhist ceremony where the lama chants a Buddhist prayer and gives us a blessing to protect us from harm.
We've settled in to a nice and warm tea house called Rivendale that's full of trekkers from all over the world. Cribbage and good conversations have rounded out the evening and now it's time for a little rest.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the newly blessed crew
The
RMI 2013 Everest Expedition has now officially started! Dave arrived late last night along with the last of our baggage. We are now set to head out from Kathmandu.
We had our first full team meal this morning at breakfast and after that we had an interview with Elizabeth Hawley. Miss Hawley is a fixture for Everest climbers. She has maintained a very thorough database of all ascents of the mountain ever since the first ascent of the mountain in 1953. It was a treat hearing her stories of climbers past and present. Now in her 90s she is still sharp as a tack and is absolutely interested in all of the expeditions on the mountain.
After that we spent the rest of the day packing for the trek into base camp. If all goes well we will fly into Lukla tomorrow and trek to the village of Phakding. We're all fired up to get that started.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Another day at 14,200 ft on Denali... waiting for the sun. For as ominous as things appeared when we turned in last night, things stayed relatively calm through morning. We enjoyed a few hours of sunshine and the team made good use by cutting snow blocks and fortifying our dining tent. Meanwhile, a couple of guides from each of three different teams (and three different guide companies) made forays onto the first hill en route to the fixed ropes. Each made assessments of the snowpack independently, but then we compared notes and found all were in agreement... there were positive signs that stabilizing processes were ongoing, but these were still definitely outweighed by the signs that unstable conditions prevailed. Too much chance of avalanche. No climbing the
West Buttress today. Back together at 14 camp, Tim Hardin gave our assembled team a great lesson in snow science, explaining how a pit dug in suspect snow could reveal plenty about the layers within the pack and their ability to hold to one another... or slide. The day turned cloudy as usual and light snow fell again. There was some letup at dinner and we enjoyed views of the wind-sculpted cloud caps on Denali, Foraker and Hunter. We were each challenged again to stay tough, patient and focused as we said goodbye to three more of the guided groups we've shared the hill with. This once bustling and eager climbing camp is down to three guided teams and one small independent team. We're still getting good forecasts for the days ahead- of cloud and snow and more cloud, we are just hoping they turn out to be wrong.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Winter reached Camp Muir this afternoon. They started from Paradise at 9:45 this morning and pulled into Camp Muir at 4:45. The weather was fantastic! It was like a summer day for much of the hike. The snowfield was in great shape. As they gained some elevation, some high clouds came in and they entered into a cloud cap. Presently it is fairly nice and a little windy but they are enjoying Camp Muir at just over 10,000'. The team looks forward to doing a bunch of training tomorrow.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Today we experienced superb climbing conditions as we bumped equipment and food to our cache at 14,000' camp.
We began with a steep climb out of
11,000' camp, up "Motorcycle Hill" and "Squirrel Hill" then enjoyed a mellow walk across a part of the route called the "Polo Field." We stopped just shy of the infamous "Windy Corner" at 13,200'. Guides and clients prepared to battle the harsh winds by dawning wind layers and face protection. We even made sure to have goggles readily accessible. When we rounded the corner however, we were greeted with only a light breeze. As a team we are constantly preparing for the worst and hoping for the best; the wind today turned out to be the best.
With our cache stocked, we headed downhill back to our camp. Despite some clouds, we were still greeted with a view of the Peters Glacier, the Direct West Buttress and Father and Son Wall. We were reminded how truly huge this place is, and satisfied to see that we are making steady progress. The entire crew had their strongest day yet.
We are currently back in camp hold up in our tents. It seems that in this place we are either working our tails off, or comatose and resting. Now we are the latter.
We look forward to seeing what kind of weather greets us tomorrow. We hope to move up to 14,000' at some point in the next few days if the group feels strong and weather permits. Well keep you posted. For now, it's back to food and rest.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
RMI Guide Mark Tucker left a message, which was too garbled to transcribe. We did hear that the team is doing well and back in
Chukung.
On The Map
Jambo from Kikoti Camp,
We packed up this morning, left the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge and headed to Tarangire National Park. It is about a 2 hour drive from the crater rim, and by late morning we were already seeing the first of the many animals to come. Tarangire is the fifth largest park in Tanzania and it boasts over 3,000 resident elephants. It lived up to its reputation today and would guess that we saw at least 300 today.
Since there is only one main river running through the park, most of the animals are concentrated along this water source, especially in the dry season (June - September). Lots more of zebras, wildebeast, impala, and gazelle were seen, as well as a few lions. The safari drivers always talk to each other about what animals they have seen. Unfortunately, it has been at least two days since the last leopard has been seen. Maybe it will happen tomorrow....
We will spend a few hours game viewing in the morning before heading back to the Dik Dik Hotel and getting ready for our flights home.
This has been a really fun trip and we are sorry that it has to come to an end. Thanks to the entire team for making this a great adventure, and congratulations to all of you for reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Cheers to all and safe travels home.
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
Previous Page
Next Page
Checking in on the blogs daily and cheering you all on!
Posted by: Diana Weiss on 6/25/2022 at 8:05 pm
WHAT AN ADVENTURE!!! Kudos to all…
Posted by: Ellis I. Richman on 6/25/2022 at 3:26 pm
View All Comments