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June 11, 2017
Today was another rest day here at 14,000' Camp. After a long brunch and some wall renovations, our team settled in for a little rest. By the afternoon, some visibility presented itself and our team geared up for a stroll to the "Edge of the World," a vantage point where you can peer nearly 7,000 feet down to the
lower Kahiltna Glacier. It is a truly stunning view and a treat to see a little bit of this amazing Range after living in a snow globe for a few days. With any luck this week will offer us a few days of decent weather to venture higher. The team is ready and when it is safe to climb, we will be happy to do so.
R
MI Guide Jake Beren
On The Map
July 14th, 2014 - 7:45 pm PT
At seven this morning, a good chunk of the sky was clear. We could see way out into the tundra to the West and there were mountains visible in the South that we were seeing for the first time on this trip. Our objective,
Denali's South Peak, was in the clear and there didn't appear to be any wind blowing at Denali Pass. We geared up to climb for the summit. There was a bit of cloud to watch in the Northwest though. As we broke trail toward the base of the Autobahn (the route to Denali Pass) we watched that cloud in the NW come a little closer. We climbed some of the steeper terrain of the Autobahn while still in morning shadows. It was cold and progress was slow due to our need to re-establish the snowed over route. The clouds encroached on the North Peak. Then they formed a cap on the South Peak. We were still in relatively calm conditions, so we pushed on to about 17,900 feet, in order to give the clouds a chance to change their mind and flee. This didn't happen. The clouds became a snowstorm and so we spun around and worked carefully back to high camp. Since the storm showed no signs of abating, it seemed a good time to retrieve our emergency cache of food from 16,200 feet. A few intrepid guides accomplished that mission just in time to avoid strengthening winds on the West Buttress. We're safe in our tents now at 17,200 feet, waiting for the storm to go elsewhere before we try once again to climb Denali.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Good things come to those who wait. At 20 minutes to midnight yesterday, with the Southern Cross shining down on Punta Arenas, we left the continent. We were shoehorned into the cavernous cargo compartment of the Ilyushin 76 airplane, along with about fifty other passengers, a pickup truck and a mountain of gear and supplies. The flight took about four and a half hours and was almost completely lacking in any noticeable turbulence. We passed time by reading, listening to music and simply snoozing.
With about thirty minutes to go, everybody began layering up, tying boots, and pulling on hats and face masks. With perhaps 15 minutes to go, the flight crew turned on a new feature, a big screen TV with the outside view from the nose of the plane. It was absolutely spectacular, like a clip from "Frozen Planet" or "Planet Earth". Surreal beauty, until we felt the wheels under our seats touching the ice surface in the picture. Then it became real as the engines roared to slow the plane.
After the perfect landing, we marched out into the middle of Antarctica. After some photo-ops and handshakes, we shuffled over to a warming hut and then into a modified van for a ride across the glacier on giant tires.
It wasn't to be as far as getting straight out to
Vinson Basecamp. Weather there wasn't suitable for a Twin-Otter flight, so after an early morning welcome meal, we built our tents and crashed for a few hours. The weather slowly deteriorated during the day, with cloud building up and light snow falling. That didn't stop us from spending a few hours out in late afternoon to review rope techniques. We rounded out the first day with an excellent dinner and an evening spent chatting with various adventurers on exotic missions on ice.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Hello from
Elbrus Northside Basecamp! Our good luck with the weather has continued. Our hike down from Camp 1 was rather pleasant, other than our huge packs. We took our time and now we're relaxing and waiting for our ride back to Kislovodsk.
RMI Guides
JJ Justman and
Seth Waterfall
We have been busy on the mountain. With our summit attempt thwarted because of weather and the next projected weather window this Sunday the team has decided to head home to our families.
Last night we slept at 14,000 feet and after a leisurely start to the day we have descended to about 9,500 ft. We will sleep here for a few hours tonight, awake around 4 a.m. so that we can take advantage of the frozen snow bridges, and push on to the Kahiltna air strip. Unless we get stuck on the glacier because of bad weather this will be our last message from the mountain. We will talk to you all very soon.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
The RMI January 24th Kilimanjaro Climb & Safari team reached the summit of Kilimanjaro, the Roof of Africa, on Sunday January 29th. The team enjoyed clear skies and sunshine as the sun rose over Tanzania.
Congratulations everyone!
We've been enjoying the natural hot spring pools in Papallacta, even if it is a bit rainy. Yesterday we took an acclimatization hike up to around 14,500', but only stayed out for about an hour and a half, as rain, snow, and wind drove us back to Papallacta. We've been sleeping at 11,000' in Papallacta, so we're definitely acclimating to the high altitude.
Today we're off to base camp on Antisana, where we'll set up tents and establish camp for two nights prior to our summit bid. We're all looking forward to getting deeper into the mountains...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Thursday, June 20th, 2013
We made the move. The wind was blowing most of the night last night. I set my alarm for 2:30 a.m. just to see if the weather was going to allow us to move up camps. Right when my alarm went off, it was as if someone hit a switch and turned the wind off.
We got up, packed up camp, and headed up another 3,000 feet. The move only took us about six hours to hike, but we had to work hard building snow walls once we arrived at
Denali's 14k camp. This camp, as much or more than the other camps we have been in this far, can receive huge winds that pick up at a moment's notice. We used snow saws to quarry blocks of snow to make walls that surround our tents.
All of this hard work will pay off with a full rest day tomorrow. The sun does not hit this camp until around nine in the morning. I am pretty sure that none of us will be out of our tents until he sun warms us up!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and the RMI Summit Team 6
On The Map
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Tyler and Garrett checking in from
RMI Denali Expedition Number 4. Yesterday afternoon found us in the ranger station getting some good details about the route, our responsibilities on the mountain, and what we can expect to see as we climb higher. Interestingly, we also were reminded that this year is the 100-year anniversary of the first ascent. While we have the benefit of fancy new gear and a century of knowledge, the actual climb of
Denali remains as challenging as it was in 1913, and our team is ready to tackle that challenge.
We landed on the glacier today, and we're currently camped out in Basecamp. The mostly clear skies and warm temperatures make it hard to believe we're almost at the Arctic Circle! Because it's so warm here, we won't be heading out for our first camp until later tonight (more like early in the morning) so that the snow will freeze up and make our walking a little smoother.
Everyone is excited to have gotten a smooth start to the trip, and we're hoping the weather continues to hold. We'll check back in tomorrow, keep it dialed in for more!
RMI Guides
Tyler Jones and
Garrett Stevens
On The Map
The weather has been steadily improving each day on the mountain and today was no exception: we've had beautiful clear skies all day here on
Mt. Elbrus. We enjoyed a relaxed breakfast this morning of French toast and fresh fruit before heading out on the surrounding glacier to cover some additional mountaineering training in preparation for tomorrow's climb. By lunch the team was well versed in a variety of climbing techniques, including ice axe arrest, climbing as a rope team, and crampon techniques for a variety of conditions.
In the afternoon we took a walk down to the top of the tram station where a little museum sits. In translated Russian, the museum keeper walked us through the small rooms, explaining the significance and events of Mt. Elbrus during World War II. So close to Russia's oil supply at the time, the Caucasus were a major focus of Hitler's advances into Russia and there was a great deal of fighting between 1941-1943, including on Mt. Elbrus itself as the mountain held symbolic importance in the fighting. It was a very interesting tour and a very different change of pace from the climbing focus we've had.
We returned to huts in the afternoon and prepared our gear for tomorrow's climb. The weather forecast looks promising and the team is feeling strong so we are going for the top tomorrow morning. We will make an early start, getting up around 2:00am, and hope to reach Europe's highest point by mid morning. We will check in tomorrow to let you know how the climb goes; keep your fingers crossed for good weather and smooth climbing conditions for us!
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
On The Map
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We are cheering for you all and keeping the faith for good weather! Stay warm, stay positive and see you soon!
Posted by: Sarah Jayne on 7/15/2014 at 9:15 am
Another snow day!! Look forward to summit report tomorrow.
Posted by: Mary on 7/15/2014 at 3:50 am
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