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Posted by: Hannah Smith, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest BC Trek and Lobuche
Elevation: 11,300'
We woke in Pangboche to a crisp morning. The team strolled in one by one looking for some hot coffee to start their day. It's been a cold few days so the team is a bit sensitive to the cold. We sat for breakfast and waited for our food. Everyone ordered big knowing it would be a big day. Namche sits 1,600' below Pangboche but you wouldn't think that with all the feet we had to gain to descend into Namche. They pushed through all the ups and downs and weaved through the yak trains. A chest cold has seemed to plague half the team but even when feeling crummy they all persevered. There was a lot of incentive to push through the pain and discomfort: pizza, lattes, massages, shopping, wine... After indulging in all that Namche has to offer, we all have made it to our beds for a much deserved sleep. Tomorrow is our last trekking day into Lukla. The team is ready to fly back to Kathmandu where it all started.
Almost done,
RMI Guide Hannah, Abby, and Team
Posted by: JJ Justman, Seth Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 8,300'
Sitting here at the table with Rachel and Emma thinking of you Lou!
Posted by: Louis on 8/27/2012 at 4:09 pm
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Kiira Antenucci, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
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Evening all,
We did it, we flew onto the glacier! Today is a hurry to wait kind of day. In order to be the first to fly, we were the first in line for coffee. On our way to coffee we saw a fox on the railroad tracks. The last time I summited Denali, I saw a fox before flying. So I think this is a good omen. We shall see. Any who, with caffeine surging through our bodies we are ready to fly. Since our odds looked good for flying we said good bye to the flip-flops and hello to our mountain boots. These bad boys would be our mode of transportation for the next few weeks. With the planes ready for us we began shuffling our gear to the planes. Excitement rushes through you as you walk across the tarmac knowing the moment is here. Next stop the Kahiltna glacier. Seatbelts buckled, headphones on, and the smell of the engine signals its time to fly. The views are so beautiful one can not put it into words. Huntington, Foraker, Hunter, peak 11,300 and many more awe-inspring peaks keep us wide eyed and trigger happy on the camera. After a loop up the Kahiltna showing what we will walk on tomorrow we descend into basecamp with a bumpy landing. It's a quick fire line to move the gear from the plane to the glacier before watching our ride fly away. We are on our own now. We decided to bump down to the lower airstrip which gave us practice pulling the sleds. The team is in tip top shape. Once camp is set up we enjoyed some down time followed by a refresher on skills. Some gear sorting and deciding what hot drinks to bring on the mountain led us into our pizza party dinner. Why eat mountain food when you can fly on pizza! It's an early to bed for us since for the next few days we will be on the night schedule, walking during the cool part of a day.
Tomorrow is the day we take our first steps toward our goal of the summit. Here's to a great journey!
RMI Guides Hannah, Kiira, Dan and Team
Good luck and see you out there! Hoping to high five you all heading down as we head up next week with Andy Bond!
Posted by: Holly Hollar on 6/11/2022 at 1:14 pm
The Expedition Skills Seminar – Emmons left Camp Schurman early this morning heading out for their summit attempt on Mt. Rainer. Due to unstable snow, the team turned at 11,300’ feet. They are heading back to camp where they will spend the remainder of their time on the mountain practicing the alpine mountaineering skills they have been learning all week. The team will descend from Camp Schurman tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations team!
Posted by: Andy Bond, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
Hey Steve - sorry to hear you didn’t quite summit! How many did you end up with this year? Looking forward to climbing with you next season!
/john
Posted by: John Murray on 9/30/2019 at 2:28 pm
On The Map
Looking fabulous - can’t wait to hear about the summit tomorrow - very soon!
Leslita
Posted by: Leslie on 2/16/2013 at 8:11 am
Barbara,
What a fabulous adventure! We can’t wait to hear all about it. Take in the sunrise for us. We will be thinking about you and the team.
Nancy & Tal
Posted by: Nancy on 2/16/2013 at 7:11 am
On The Map
Congratulations, what an accomplishment!!!
Posted by: Dan H on 6/21/2012 at 5:25 pm
Hi Jim and Halsey,
Just checking in to see where you are! Looks very exciting. Can’t wait to hear all about it.
Love,
Ruth
Posted by: Ruth on 6/18/2012 at 10:49 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Sam Hoffman, Calvin Jiricko, Bailey Servais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
Sunday, June 22, 2025 - 9:30 pm PT
Forecasts weren’t great for today, but when we looked out in the morning, the actual weather wasn’t bad. We packed up and got our spikes on by 8:20AM to begin working up Motorcycle Hill. It was great to be climbing in crampons and using an ice axe again. We took our first rest break in the middle of Squirrel Hill and our second in the Polo Field just under the end of the West Buttress. It was a little breezy, but since temps weren’t very cold it wasn’t at all uncomfortable.
Most of our day was spent in brilliant sunshine with blue sky, while clouds filled in below us. Windy Corner wasn’t particularly windy, and the travel conditions were good, so we made it to our cache target of 13,500 feet in four hours. We did a bit of hard digging to keep our things safe from ravens. After one last look at the great South Peak of Mt. McKinley (our destination) we dropped back around the corner and had an easy climb down to Camp at 11k. The final 30 minutes was in a mild whiteout as we descended into the clouds.
The round trip was a pretty respectable 6 hours and got us back in plenty of time for a restful afternoon while it snowed lightly on our tents. Fingers crossed for moving weather tomorrow as we would like to get to 14k camp.
- RMI Guide Dave Hahn
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition, June 14, 2025
Ser ut til at dere har god kontroll og at værforholdene er ok. Vi følger med dere hver dag fra sommervarme i Hellas.
Posted by: Erik Blaauw Evensen on 6/24/2025 at 4:11 am
With you in spirit, Tony. Praying for good weather!!
Posted by: Tom Leonard on 6/24/2025 at 3:59 am
Posted by: Katrina Bloemsma, Casey Grom, Chase Nelson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Looking for info on Sheldon Spivey a Georgia climber who is there attempting to summit Rainer
Posted by: Diana Spivey on 6/1/2014 at 8:58 am
Reading the sad news from MT Rainier - it does not
appear to be Robert’s team led by Matt Emht that
was lost but a team led by Matt Hegeman taking the Liberty Ridge route.
Prayers to all involved.
Posted by: Mitchell on 6/1/2014 at 7:53 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Hey Hannah!
Its been Awesome following along!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 4/4/2023 at 4:13 am
What an awesome experience you have all had! So many memories to share when you return home. We have really enjoyed all the blogs. Have a wonderful last couple days before you return to “regular” life!
Posted by: Rick and Bobbie on 4/3/2023 at 9:39 am
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