This is Craig Herd reporting in for the RMI Team on the Cotopaxi Climb. We are now at the hut on Cotopaxi at 16,000 feet. The weather is a balmy & cold. We just had an enjoyable dinner.
The climbing team has come together very well. We're looking forward to an early morning start for our summit attempt. Everyone is in good spirits. We look forward to reporting in tomorrow.
Thank you.
RMI Team Member Craig Heard
Papa, GREAT job! Hope there was a little bit of clear skies so everyone could have a good view. We can’t wait to hear all about your adventure tomorrow. Love, Michael and Gracie
Posted by: michael and gracie on 12/8/2011 at 4:20 pm
Spence - Looks like you and the team are really ready for the big climb. Sounds like all has gone extremely well. Luck to all!
Hey RMI, this is Walter Hailes calling from 17,200’ on Mt. McKinley. We made our move today from 14,000' to our high camp at 17,000'. We are all safe and sound up here. It's a beautiful day, warm temperatures, sunshine and light wind. This nice weather is not expected to stay around so we'll see what it looks like in the morning but we may be making our summit attempt soon.
Stay tuned and hope for good weather!
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
Hey Pete & Walt! I’m sending some of our Moroccan sunshine, overnight (I even put an extra stamp on it!),in hopes that you will be waking up in a few hours to good weather and heading to summit! Get up there safely, but more importantly, get back to Talkeetna safely :)
Posted by: Anna James on 6/8/2011 at 2:54 am
Go team! You are in my thoughts. Be safe. Miss you Ian! Morph is doing great on his new medicine. Xoxo
We went to bed with rain and clouds and were hopeful when the stars and upper mountain were out at 11pm when we woke up. After a quick bite to eat and coffee we finished packing our gear and headed up the rocky trail to access the glacier. Our first hour was warm and there was some lighting in the distance. With clear skies above we continued towards the Hermosa glacier and slowly were overtaken by clouds, the lighting was now flashing in all directions. The electrical storm was not the violent ground strikes accompanied by thunder that most people would associate with but rather lighting that was spread throughout the clouds. The visibility decreased and we made the decision to descend back to the hut rather then see if the system would move out. After we returned to the hut wet snow began falling and the upper mountain didn’t not give us another window to climb higher.
We are currently down safe and headed for Chilcabamba for the next 2 nights. While we all would have liked to climb Cayambe, the weather window didn’t cooperate. We are all eager for a different outcome on Cotopaxi in 3 nights.
"Analysis paralysis" is an accurate summation of my last few days here at Manaslu Base Camp. I've been reviewing weather information for the coming week collected from different teams and sources, paid forecasts, free forecasts, second hand forecasts. Of course, they all project different weather conditions. There is a general trend though... starting Thursday the 25th to Sunday the 28th looks like it might be a decent window for my summit day. The 25th being the worst day with 30+mph winds at the peak. Saturday, the 27th, is forecast to have 5 to 10mph winds but possibly precipitation. That precipitation could just be the result of a few days of good weather causing afternoon snow showers or a larger deposit. In this part of the Himalaya it can be hard to predict - and this is too many days out for a mountain weather forecast to be highly reliable.
Decision time - It all comes down to this, the time, the money, and the mental dedication.
I will depart in the morning tomorrow, the 23rd, for Camp 1, the 24th I'll climb directly to Camp 3 then if the weather window looks decent the 25th I'll move Camp 3 to Camp 4 and push to the summit the morning of the 26th. I'll keep the 27th as a backup day as it is currently forecasted to be the best day. I do not plan to stop at camp 2 on purpose because the entire area around camp 2 is unstable and dangerous. The many seracs and ice cliffs higher up the mountain - with large slopes below to accumulate snow - is a bad day just waiting to happen. This site is not for me. I'll just push through to camp 3, which is in a much safer location - as I described in an earlier post.
I'll check back in from the upper mountain in the next couple of days with a weather update and my progress up the mountain. The photo below shows a view from base camp up towards the peak of Manaslu, my objective for this week.
RMI Guide Alex Barber
Today the team moved uphill and we are officially on Mt. Elbrus. We made use of two cable cars and one last chairlift to reach what is called the barrels. The barrels sit at just over 12,000' and look like grain silos laying on their side. They are sparsely furnished and comfortably sleep six climbers each. It's home for the next few days for us and others climbers from all over the world, which is just one of the things that make this South Side trip so special. It feels like an international climbing hub with peaceful climbers sharing stories from all over the world.
Shortly after arriving and getting settled in to camp the team set out on another acclimatization hike and reached an altitude of about 13,500'. We then descended back to camp and are currently enjoying the view and working on international relations.
Everyone is doing great!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Hello everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in from the second RMI Everest Base Camp Trek and Island Peak climb. Just wanna let you know that everyone's doing well today, getting better and feeling better seems like every step, with whatever little tummy issues we were having. Today we left Pheriche in perfect weather and hiked beneath Taboche and Cholatse, two famous and iconic climbs here in the Khumbu. We hiked about four hours today at get up to Lobuche, so we made a big turn and we are paralleling the Khumbu Glacier, which is only about 300 yards from where we are camped. We are currently relaxing at the Eco Lodge, which is probably the nicest tea house, it seems like, up valley here. Everyone's doing well and we are just now sitting down for dinner and looking forward to moving up closer to Base Camp tomorrow. Alright. That's it for today. We'll look forward to checking in tomorrow with everybody. Take care, bye bye.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Missy, Elsie, and Allie,
We are all enjoying thinking of you in those beautiful mountains. I hope the tummy troubles are not effecting your enjoyment of the trip too much. Keep up the good work! XOXO Corell
Posted by: Corell Moore on 4/1/2013 at 10:21 am
Hey Guys! Loved reading about your trek—it’s so fun to be able to really know where you are and remember what it all looked like and felt like!! You never get over the views!! Spectacular!! Hope your tummies all feel better—I remember THAT part too—oh so well! Hope you all feel better soon. Don’t forget you have a Z-pac like I did! Anyway, thinking about you all and so glad everything is going well. Hope everything continues to go well going forward too. Enjoy!! XOXO, Lucy
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
Hey, this is the Ecuador trip checking in.
Today we had a much deserved and much needed rest day here at the Chilcabamba Lodge. We woke up this morning to glorious views of Cotopaxi and a magnificent breakfast. We ate wonderful food and drank lots of coffee. We spent the majority of the day resting, relaxing and drying out and organizing our gear for tomorrow’s departure to Cotopaxi. This afternoon we enjoyed more coffee and continued reviews of Cotopaxi and finished the day off with a wonderful dinner this evening.
Everyone is doing well here in Ecuador and we are all looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures. We'll check in later.
RMI Guide Jason Thompson
One of the finer days we've seen on the trip, weatherwise. Clear skies and calm as anything in the morning, which made us forget the cold. We were out in the glacier again, at our jungle gym of ladders and fixed lines and ice walls. The team practiced safety clips and rappel procedures and did lap after lap, without packs, with packs, with ice axes, without them... All under the watchful eyes of myself, JJ Justman, and Chhering Dorgee Sherpa.
At this point, still, the only climbers to have been through the icefall have been the icefall doctors responsible for building the route. That will change within a few days... Of course we are all quite curious as to what surprises the "new" route through the glacier holds.
In the afternoon on this fine day, our Basecamp Manager, Mark Tucker, took a foursome out for the first day of a planned four-day golf tournament in the mellow section of glacier close to camp. Tuck showed his party around the Khumbu Country Club, scoring a hole-in-one in the process (his partners now each owe him 100 rupees). Newcomer Robbie came away with the low score for the round however, with a nine under par performance.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Thursday, June 13, 2013
We are all safely nestled in our tents just off the landing strip at basecamp. We had a magnificent flight from Talkeetna to basecamp at the flanks of Denali. The weather on the glacier is as warm as I have ever seen it. For this reason, we are not traveling today and instead used the warm weather during the day to organize our backpacks and sled loads. We worked on some crevasse rescue techniques as we are about to head out onto the Kahiltna Glacier; a glacier filled with giant cracks in the ice. We are going to travel up glacier tonight so we can travel on firm snow and solid snow bridges. Wish us a solid freeze!
RMI Summit Team 6 - RMI Guides Mike Haugen, Mike Uchal, Katie Bono & the team
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Papa, GREAT job! Hope there was a little bit of clear skies so everyone could have a good view. We can’t wait to hear all about your adventure tomorrow. Love, Michael and Gracie
Posted by: michael and gracie on 12/8/2011 at 4:20 pm
Spence - Looks like you and the team are really ready for the big climb. Sounds like all has gone extremely well. Luck to all!
Posted by: M.A. Arnold- on 12/7/2011 at 9:31 pm
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