Hi everyone this is JJ Justman for the Mount Elbrus expedition. Today we had a great day here on Cheget Peak. We had a great acclimatization hike on a very beautiful clear sunny day. We had fantastic views of Mount Elbrus and we topped out at 10,600 ft.
We finished the hike with a wonderful lunch down in town après ski style. After a little rest and relaxation we went over our climbing gear and we are now officially ready to jump on the big hill tomorrow!
RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team.
LeighAnn, great photos of R&R with climbing team in the Cheget ski area. We must have rocks in our blood since I live at 7100ft and you are there looking forward to the next challenge. Say hello to Jim and have a very successful and safe expedition. Dad
Hello again from 14,200' on Denali! The weather was beautiful today, and we enjoyed it by taking a nice short hike out to the Edge of The World, a spectacular viewpoint near our camp. Then we reviewed and practiced fixed line travel with our ascenders. The rest of the day was spent lounging around, eating, napping, listening to music, and telling lies. We enjoyed a hearty dinner of black bean and chicken quesadillas, and now we're all getting horizontal and settling in for the night. We are planning to carry some supplies up high tomorrow, in preparation for moving up to high camp later in the week for our summit bid. Everyone is doing quite well adjusting to the 14,200' altitude of our camp, and I expect that we will all do well climbing higher tomorrow. Of course we have the luxury of returning to our comfortable camp at 14k tomorrow night for a good night's sleep.
That's all for now. We'll be in touch again tomorrow night after our carry. Thanks for all the great comments on the blog. Keep them coming!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Hey everyone, hope your still killing it up there and telling some good jokes (hopefully not canadian related). You guys are the best and I can’t wait to hear about the trip, I miss you all alot!
O, before I forget… lee here is an intro to the north-dakota jokes i’ve come across.. many more to come.
Q: Why did North Dakota raise the minimum drinking age to 25?
A: They wanted to keep alcohol out of the high schools!
Q: How do you know the toothbrush was invented in North Dakota?
A: If it was invented anywhere else, it would have been called a teethbrush.
Take tons of pictures for me on the summit!
Lots of love from Calgary,
Sasha
Posted by: sasha selby on 6/23/2012 at 11:57 pm
Great post and update! Good job everyone….Guides included. We would not get very far without our awesome mountain guides! I am not paid to say that by the way. :)
Hey RMI. This is Linden Mallory calling from Island Peak High Camp. We touched the top today. We had a pretty phenomenal climb. Everybody made it, 100% success! The morning started out clear. We had beautiful stars as we were climbing. Nice morning sun. And then right as we started down, we had more snow. Keeps snowing pretty consistently since early this afternoon. The afternoon made the descent a little tricky with all that new snow on top of the rock, but the team did well. We handled it without too many problems and now we are looking forward to heading downhill tomorrow. We will be down lower in the valley tomorrow and will try and send out some photos and a written account. So that's the news. We're all really happy about the climb and happy to be down. And looking forward to getting out of here. Take care.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
You ladies are truly amazing (you too, Linden)! We are so proud to say that we are pals of such mountain climbing rock stars. Now come on home safely. We can’t wait to hear the tales of adventure in person.
Posted by: Hugh on 4/1/2012 at 6:26 am
You ladies totally rock. It was so exciting to read the news from Linden. What a great accomplishment for all of you and perhaps most especially Linden! Can’t wait to see you and hear tales of this great adventure. Safe travels home.
Hello Everybody,
This is the Dhaulagiri Climbing Team we are calling here from Base Camp. We have to let you know that unfortunately there was no summit for us. As we have said in recent blogs the weather has been pretty bad for us. We have had a lot of snow and we had to turn around at the very last day. We have a few member of the team at Camp 3 and had a decent chance at a summit push, but conditions were no good.
We are currently at Base Camp and will start to hike down tomorrow, and we should be back in Kathmandu in four or five days and we will try to write down details to wrap up our expedition. We have worked very hard and have been the first the first team on the mountain and the one that got the highest. It will be neat to see everybody follow in our steps all the time going up and down the mountain. Like I said, we had a ton of snow breaking trail was very difficult and we made it as high as we could. Other than that everybody is doing pretty well, and we are very satisfied with our work. Again, we were a team going unsupported and did everything on our own. Getting to where we got with day in and out snowstorms dumping up to three to four feet of snow, the work wasn’t easy. We are pretty proud of what we have done.
We want to thank everybody for their support given to us, and we hope everything is going well back home. We will touch base from Kathmandu in a few days.
Thanks Everybody! Talk to you all soon!
RMI Guide Elias deAndres Martos
The longest day of the year is a little redundant in a place where the sun doesn't set... we'll take it anyway. Summer has come to Antarctica. But that doesn't mean the living is easy. We still have the tail end of that storm to contend with. At least we hope it is the tail end. There is still a lot of cloud stuck on Mount Vinson, but it did seem a bit better than yesterday, on the whole. So we packed up the camp and moved up the mountain. We left Vinson Basecamp at 2:10 PM, which is not too late to be starting out (in case you are wondering). Our plan revolved around using the late evening sunshine that Low Camp is famous for. It only took us until 6:40 PM to pull in to the camp at 9,000 ft. Conditions on the route were calm, cloudy, and not exactly cold. We each did a bit of sweating, which can get problematic in a place that is perhaps -10 F but everyone took good care and we sailed through without difficulty. On the way, we picked up our cache of supplies where the Branscomb makes the big ninety degree turn from South to West, and that pretty much completed the sled hauling "approach" portion of this climb. Camp went up fast as we ran stoves for dinner and melted snow for drinking water. It is just after midnight now, and all are in bed. There is a thin layer of cloud still blocking our sun... but it isn't like it is the end of the world or anything.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The day is coming to a close and things are back the way they were at the start of the trip. Our tents are laying here and our sleeping bags in the thick, moist air. It's tough to imagine that we were at 20,320 feet just the day before yesterday.
Thank you for all of your continued support as we took on Denali successfully. I realize how much it took both on the mountain and at home. Again, thank you. The amateur summiteer.
Thanks to all who continue to support my crazy adventures!! Your positive vibes and supportive thoughts mean more than you'll ever know! I return from the highest peak in North America simultaneously proud and humbled!! Michael C
Thanks to my family and friends and especially my wonderful wife Megan for supporting me in this adventure. It is difficult to describe the feeling of humbleness inspired by the the grandeur, majesty and (not least of all) weather of the Alaska Range. The seasoned judgment of TJ, Eric and Logan truly kept us alive and (mostly) comfortable. I cannot thank them enough. MJB
Thanks to all the friends and family for the awesome support! Despite the fact I was unable to make the summit the trip was amazing and will certainly be unforgettable. Much appreciation goes to the best guides anywhere for their judgement. "climbing mountains ain't easy"... The mountain won this time but I'll be back again! CPL
Thanks to all my family, friends, and business associate for supporting my " habit". The summit of North America is an amazing place. Our RMI guides are the best - Tyler, Eric and Logan !!!!
LWS
Belle expedition. Merci RMI. Merci a tous pour vos blog.
N
Now that the day is coming to a close, things are looking eerily similar to the way they did before we left. Tents and gear have been dried. Gear is slightly dirtier, but once again prepared for air travel. It would seem to the unknowing observer, that nothing has happened other than a few mild sunburns.
As the warm rain arrives in Talkeetna, the group runs for cover indoors. It's nice to be dry when it rains and warm when it's cold outside without to much effort. That said, there was something nice about even the coldest days on the mountain. As guides, we hope out clients feel the same way. Like proud parents, we have enjoyed the time we spent with the team as they grew. We have seen the group grow together and grow as individuals. We hope that this growth will have some relevance even in the dry and warm front country.
Thanks to our clients for their time, energy, patience and passion. The guide team hopes to work together and with members of our 2012 Denali trip soon. Weather this trip was the first big expedition or the last, we hope team members will keep trying new things, keep climbing mountains, or at least stay in touch.
The summit was great, but the team was better. Thanks guys,
RMI GuidesTyler Jones, Eric Frank and Logan Randolph
We went to bed with clear skies and a forecast for 12-18" of snow overnight. The clear skies persisted overnight and we didn't get any new snow. There is a lenticular cloud on top of Denali today, indicating strong winds. We're also seeing snow blowing off of the West Buttress between the top of the fixed ropes and high camp. The current winds and the increased avalanche hazard from yesterday's foot of snow are keeping us at 14k for another day. The sunny weather at camp today is welcome, and is helping to keep our spirits high. It looks like some better weather is approaching for the weekend, and we're hoping we'll be able to take a crack at the summit then. With any luck, we'll be able to move to high camp tomorrow and be in position for the arrival of the more favorable weather. We'll keep you posted!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
We hit the trail early this morning, contouring along the hillsides of the gradually narrowing valley, occasionally crossing back and forth above the Dudh Kosi River on long suspension bridges. After a couple of hours of walking we hit the entrance to Sagamartha National Park, the park that encompasses the upper region of the Khumbu Valley, including Mt. Everest.
After pausing for tea and snacks, we tackled the big climb of the day - the 2,500' ascent up mountain side to reach the village of Namche Bazaar. The ascent is a series of switchbacks and long traverses through pine forest. Being south facing it is typically very hot and dusty but by the time we reached the climb, clouds were forming and kept the temperatures very comfortable. Everyone hiked well, making good time up the trail and by mid afternoon we rounded the corner and walked into Namche Bazaar.
Situated at 11,300' in a shallow drainage perched on the hillside, Namche is the center of trade and commerce for the upper portion of the Khumbu Valley. It's location at the convergence of several trade routes - some all the way to Tibet - and the fresh water springs in its heart made it a meeting grounds many centuries ago and it remains the largest town in the region today. The entire town is built in a series of horseshoe shaped terraces up the hillside. At over 11,000', it is easy to feel the altitude when just walking around. We walked through Namche's narrow streets to our teahouse and arrived just as the clouds began letting occasional snowflakes fall from the sky.
We are heading out on a day hike tomorrow to several villages nearby before returning for Namche for the evening. The group is in great spirits and more than eager to check out the offerings of Namche's many shops tomorrow afternoon when we return.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
I am with you guys every step in spirit. So exciting. I am planning to do this trek and climb in 2013. I did the Annapurna BC trek in 2011 and I did the fly-by of the Khumbu area. I love reading your dispatches. Trek-On!
Posted by: Dan on 3/18/2012 at 3:43 pm
Stay strong ladies! Glad to hear that everyone is healthy and doing well. Savor the experience!
Hi Everybody,
This is Billy checking in for Dave and Seth and the rest of the crew.
We are back at our high camp safe and sound after a spectacular summit day.
We stood on top of Vinson Massif this afternoon and everyone is back in camp getting some rest after a nice big dinner.
We will give you a call and check in after we head out to base camp tomorrow.
Caio,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Hello. This is the RMI Alaska Mountaineering Seminar checking in from our camp at 7,300 feet on the Kahiltna Glacier. It's 11 PM here in Alaska and the team is in bed for the night. Just came back from a successful summit day on Mt. Francis. The team was 100% successful and cruised the route in just under 11 hours. We had beautiful weather, clear skies, and just a little bit of wind. Everyone climbed strong and we're looking forward to getting back to training tomorrow. Take care.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank checks in after Mt. Francis summit
Congratulations all. Where are the pictures? Have fun training tomorrow - hopefully weather will hold well.
Tell Jitendar we cant wait for him to get back home. Kids miss Dad!! Love,Mamta
Posted by: Rao Family on 5/19/2011 at 7:33 pm
Congratulations on the summit of Mt. Francis. I saw the 360 panorama on you tube, very cool!, Tell McKinley to enjoy her leisure time as I am putting her to work sailing as crew with Captain Bligh Max Lenker on a 44 ft. Island Packet sail boat on an exploratory trip to Culebra and Vieques in the Spanish Virgin Islands. I have another crew hired named Michael McDaniel. Sailing Virgin Islands 2 - 12 June. Good luck tomorrow. Post some pictures. Max
LeighAnn, great photos of R&R with climbing team in the Cheget ski area. We must have rocks in our blood since I live at 7100ft and you are there looking forward to the next challenge. Say hello to Jim and have a very successful and safe expedition. Dad
Posted by: Vic Belloli on 7/5/2012 at 9:12 pm
View All Comments