Hello Everyone!
Things are well here in Russia! Most of the team arrived in Moscow yesterday evening after some very long flights and are still adjusting to the massive time change, so we kept things simple with a little round of introductions before stepping out for a short walk and a nice dinner not too far from the hotel.
Today we started with a visit to Lenin’s Tomb, which takes a bit of time as there are thousands of other tourists visiting. We then met up with our kind, local tour guide Victoria, who gave us a wonderful tour of the nearby Red Square, the Kremlin, and several churches including the iconic St. Basil's Cathedral. The team also visited the famous Moscow metro, which moves millions of Moscovites daily. It’s incredibly efficient, with 228 stops, many of which are elaborately decorated.
After our tour we took a short break and then headed out once again for an amazing dinner and a nice walk. Everyone is doing great and looking forward to heading to the mountains tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
We woke early with aspirations of moving to high camp this morning, but winds from the NW ramped up and persisted a little too long for my liking and we decided to stay put for another day.
The unknown nature of mountain weather and the prospect of setting up camp at 17,200' in frigid winds was enough to make me pump the brakes. We're in a good position and patience has always proved itself prudent on Denali. Meanwhile, we continue to acclimate and get stronger in the comfort of our camp in Genet Basin.
We plan to repeat the process tomorrow morning, rising early with the plan of moving up to high camp to be in position for a summit to push. We'll let you know how it plays out.
"You don't need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind blows..."
RMI Guides Peter Whittaker and Mike Haugen led the Four Day Summit Climb teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams reached the summit about 8 a.m. and reported blustery conditions on the summit. The teams are making their descent and will return to Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Dave, Erica and I are enjoying a day of rest after spending the last four days acclimatizing at Camp 1 and Advance Base Camp. We had an excellent rotation and are feeling healthy. It's nice to come down and get to actually rest our healthy bodies as opposed to needing to recover from an illness or injury picked up while climbing. I know I had the best night of sleep since Namche last night.
On our last day at ABC, Dave, Erica and I climbed to the base of the Lhotse Face for acclimatization purposes. We'd headed out early, made good time up and back, and were left with most of the day as free time. Well, mostly free. Dave and I spent a fair bit of time repositioning the solar panels that power the radio and LED lights at ABC, and I re-tethered our radio antenna. After those chores, we had some true free time. My tent was calling, but Kent, the cinematographer climbing with us, wanted to do some filming out on the glacier. Somewhat reluctantly, I grabbed my crampons and met up with Dave and Kent. As soon as we'd walked a few hundred feet though, I was amazed at Dave pointing out two oxygen bottles partially buried in the ice. I'd just assumed that the camps had been so cleaned up and combed over that you'd never be able to find stuff like this anymore. Not so. As I began carefully chopping away at the ice around one bottle, Dave grabbed the other one, a leftover from an expedition from the early seventies. As we freed the second bottle, we were both impressed at what great shape both were in. In fact it appeared that both could still be holding oxygen. Good thing we didn't just hack away around them with our ice axes! The second bottle appeared to be from an American expedition and was stenciled with the phrase "AVIATORS ON OXYGEN" and was stamped with what looked like a date from 1970. I can't wait to do more research on this once I get home. All in all, we found four bottles that afternoon dating from the mid-sixties to mid-seventies. Not bad for an afternoon of "Goraking". Check out today's video feed, which was shot by Kent while Dave and I were scavenging the glacier like little kids.
Now we're resting at Base Camp and the other part of the team is starting their second acclimatization rotation. Yesterday Ed and Peter moved up to ABC, bypassing Camp 1. Today they have climbed to Camp 3 at just over 23,000 ft. They are returning to ABC to spend the night. Melissa spent one extra day here at Base Camp. She left here early this morning and will meet up with the guys at ABC. All told, the team is doing great. For me, I can't wait to start back up the mountain again, but I could probably use the rest and it does feel good to sleep in a little.
Summit!!! On a fine day. A little bit of a long one though -fifteen hours round trip. We got tangled with a couple of other guided parties. Those other teams were breaking trail, so it is tough to fault them for being slow. We were on top at 8:30 PM and back to 17,000' Camp just after 2 AM. The weather was very nice, but it wasn't the warmest day on top. Most of us had on all the clothing we had.
Congratulations Mitch!!! Such an inspiration at, dare I say, 61!
Safe travels back down and thank you to ALL the team for keeping making it happen.
Posted by: Marcelle Flowers on 7/3/2023 at 12:57 pm
Well done team! Cheers to a tremendous accomplishment. Special props to Dustin and Sam for their guidance on Rainier last month. Safe travels my friends!
-Joe
RMI Guide Peter Whittaker and his entire climbing team stood on the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Peter reported an excellent climbing route and great conditions on the mountain. The team has started their descent and will be celebrating here at Ashford Basecamp this afternoon.
Congratulations Team!
Friday, June 28th, 2013
Summit Team 6 finally hit the summit! Second time is a charm.
We left camp around 8:45 this morning with perfect weather. As we got higher, Denali decided to challenge us again; this time with some wind. The wind was blowing very hard as we approached the summit ridge. We were all bundled up ready to get pummeled by wind on the ridge, but the ridge actually blocked the wind making the summit really nice! We stayed on top for quite some time before we headed back down into the wind for a safe descent back to 17,000 feet.
Time to get some well-deserved sleep!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and RMI Summit Team 6
RMI Guide Mike Haugen calls from the Mount McKinley summit.
Congratulations, Quinn, and the rest of the team!!! We’re so proud of you, what an amazing achievement! Have a happy and safe descent, you’re in our thoughts!
Posted by: Lauren & Adam on 6/30/2013 at 8:45 pm
Awesome job by everyone. Quinn, we knew you would summit no matter what it took. Have a safe 2nd half and look foreword to seeing you home soon. Love from Mom & Dad.
We are in Mount Rainier National Park and on the mountain! The weather has been finicky this past week with a good accumulation of snow. So much snow that we were worried that the park wouldn't have the road to Paradise open.
At 11 AM the park opened the gates and we made it up. With all the fresh snow it was slow going but the team trudged on and we are busy making camp...Denali style! We are definitely having the true feel of what the mountains can dish out. It's currently snowing hard and we are working fast on the kitchen and dining tent.
I need a hot drink!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Glad to hear that they opened the gates. Hope you guys are having a great time. I can’t wait to read more about your week. Have a great time Denali Style!
Posted by: Richelle Pullis on 4/9/2013 at 5:40 am
Good to hear you two are back on the mountain! I was up there 2 weeks ago, 1st one in the parking lot and on the route! Broke the trail in 3-4 ft. of fresh powder up to Panaroma point! That was alot of work but fun! But we made it to Muir and it was a awesome day! Hope to see you out there this year! Have a great week!
Snowy, cold and grey morning at Mt. Everest Basecamp. Which is not entirely a bad thing. In fact, we want it to keep snowing for a few days in order to change the dangerously icy conditions that exist up high on the mountain. Of course, snow down here at 17,500 ft. doesn't translate to snow up at 25,000 ft, but we can only hope. The consensus between guides and expedition leaders on the mountain is that we need some sort of change before we can responsibly send climbers and Sherpas onto the rock-strafed flanks of Lhotse again.
This situation makes for a slightly tougher than normal mental game for Everest climbers. Normally, in this first week of May we'd be putting the finishing touches on our conditioning and acclimatization in preparation for the summit. And although we did what we could toward those goals on our last rotation up the hill, it wasn't much without a day or two on the Lhotse Face. But that could not be helped. Unfortunately, we saw, heard of, and dealt with several instances of other climbers getting slammed by rock. Such poor odds of success were not for us. So now we are resting at basecamp and we are in limbo. If the snow actually sticks to the blue ice of the Lhotse Face the chance of a rock blowing off the summit of the 4th highest mountain in the world and hurtling unimpeded down toward our fixed ropes would be greatly reduced and we'd be back in business. If that happens sooner, then we might even have a chance to go back up for a more thorough acclimatization rotation before the summit bid. If time drags on a bit before that snow sticks… we may be left with just a shot at the summit. And if time drags on for several weeks without the change we need… a decent shot at the top is in doubt.
In our favor, the jet stream winds that were raking the mountain (and setting free thousands of precariously perched rocks up high) have eased. The word is that the jet is to the South of the mountain now and that relatively low winds are going to be with us… which normally allows for cloud formation and some daily snow. In our favor, there are still teams willing to risk the rockfall (and now snow sluffs) of the Lhotse Face and so we'll get daily reports as to conditions up high and perhaps the route will still get scratched in despite the hazards. We certainly wouldn't ask anyone to endure these conditions, but we aren't so proud and stubborn that we wouldn't take advantage of the good results of such labor when conditions turn favorable.
It is hang loose time. Cards, books, movies, naps, meals, get-togethers with other climbers, walks out to "Icy Cyber" (the position ten minutes out in the glacier that gets 3G service), conversations about the weather, the icefall, the fixed ropes and the helicopters… incidentally, there are none today and it is quiet like back in the old days, thanks to the snow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
100% of our team stood on the summit of Mount Shuksan this morning! The weather was perfect. We will descend back to camp today and head down the trail tomorrow. It's been a great day in the North Cascades!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Congrats to the entire team on your progress to date! Sending best wishes for cooperative winds and upward progress!
Posted by: Patti Duckworth Read on 5/24/2022 at 4:54 pm
Wishing you calm winds and safe and successful summit.
Posted by: Tim Burkard on 5/24/2022 at 7:35 am
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