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May 27, 2023 7:28PM PT

Things were exactly as we hoped this morning, calm, and blue above.

We woke earlier than most, and had our chores taken care of quickly to get out of camp.

We were roughly the second team out, which turned out to be the right move as it seemed like nearly everyone at 14 headed to the fixed lines today. From the top, we could see a near to continuous line that stretched back to 14.

We made good time and rolled into camp at 17 around 4pm. Then started the laborious work of building camp. It's hard to do anything up here quickly - walk, shovel, stand up too fast, so it took some time, but we are now settled in - working on melting snow for water and hoping that tomorrow gives us our summit shot.

Pete, Henry, Tatum and Team

After a relaxing night at the hotel Casa Sol, we headed to the world famous market in downtown Otavalo this morning. Here the indigenous Otavaleños display their artisan craft goods, including ponchos, blankets, and sweaters woven from the wool of sheep and alpaca, jewelry, paintings, wood carvings, and the like. We spent the morning exploring the market, and now we're about to head out to the climbers' hut on Cayambe, where we'll spend two nights and hopefully get good weather for a shot at the summit. Cayambe sits at an elevation of 5,790 meters, with massive glaciers flowing from the summit. It is the 3rd highest peak in Ecuador, and also holds the distinction of the highest altitude on earth over which the equator passes. The weather today is beautifully warm and sunny, and we are optimistic that the good weather will continue while we are up on our climb. Hasta luego... RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Our first night at 14 camp went well. Not that folks didn't notice the altitude and the cold here in Genet Basin, but everybody showed up for bacon and bagels breakfast in a reasonably cheerful state. We didn't get up early, since it takes the sun until about 9:30 AM to get far enough around Denali's South Peak to shine on us. And we took our sweet time getting geared up for our "back carry" -the mission to retrieve our cache below Windy Corner from three days ago. We left 14K at 10 minutes past noon and made fine time getting down around the corner. It was another windless day where we were, but we could see that the gang at 17 camp was catching it in the teeth. The cache was right where we'd left it and it didn't look like the ravens had even bothered trying to dig into it. We loaded up and began the slow walk back uphill over the now familiar terrain. We were back a little before 5 PM. Job done and the approach finished. Now we can focus on the climb. Via the radio, we knew that Adam Knoff and his crew were quitting high camp and descending ahead of a multi-day storm. They had our sympathy, obviously, but we looked forward to seeing them at 14. They didn't stay too long as they wanted to get down around the end of the West Buttress before the snow started falling. The evening was the calm before whatever storm we'll get though. We still had good views of Mount Foraker, across the way, but it and every other peak, was stacked high with lenticular clouds... something is coming. But we've got everything we need to deal with such things, and we are dug into our fortress at fourteen. Best, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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

Sunday, June 26, 2022 - 10:37 pm PT

It’s been another great day on Denali. We had a hearty breakfast of granola, oatmeal and lots of coffee. The conversation in the posh was lively as it meandered from Halloween traditions to serial killers’ preference for smooth peanut butter to octopus reproduction.

Then we got to the work of the day - caching our summit gear at 16,200'.  After an “easy” hike, we stowed our trekking poles, broke out the ascenders and hauled ourselves and our gear up the fixed lines to just below Washburn’s Thumb.

There were many teachable moments going both up and down the fixed lines, but we managed to move efficiently and safely. Our readers will have to wait for their loved ones to return to explain the arm wrap descent technique. We gained 2,200 vertical feet over three hours and then another hour and a half to get down. Team Euro once again led the charge and showed Team America how to walk up a hill.

We’ll dine early tonight on soup and tortellini and head for the tents so our bodies can recover. Then one more rest day tomorrow and, with a bit of luck, we launch for High Camp on Tuesday.

RMI Climber Hyde

Just a quick one to say we made it to St. Petersburg safe and sound this afternoon despite a few thunderstorms on arrival. A little bit of culture shock being back in the city after our time in the mountains but we're looking forward to a city dining experience this evening... RMI Guide Tyler Reid

We saved the best for last.  The best weather at least.  While we’ve had clear mornings up high, we were aware that it was still cloudy down below for much of our trip.  Not today though.  It was clear from the start in Lukla today and the airplanes and helicopters took full advantage.  While we had coffee and breakfast in our last tea house, the aircraft were hustling in and out of the nearby strip.  We headed over at our appointed times and got on a helicopter for Kathmandu.  There was none of the usual stress about wondering if we could go or not.  We were gone.  The whole team was in Kathmandu by mid morning.  Then we did about what you’d expect… showers, naps, gear sorting and shopping.  We got together at the end of the day to trek through traffic for a final team dinner.  After dodging mules and yaks, the potholes and taxis of Kat were no problem for us.   Finally -at dinner- we could declare victory and acknowledge how thoroughly lucky we’d gotten.  Things had seemed pretty uncertain at the outset. We’ll start getting back to our own side of the globe in these next days. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

RMI Guides Tyler Reid and Solveig Waterfall make first ski descent of The Pipeline on Mt. Angeles in the Olympic Mountains of Washington. Follow this link to Tyler’s blog for more exciting photos!

The body is following the mind at this point. Given the option, our bodies would be back at Phag Ding, by the river breathing that thick 9,000' air. Lounging under a nice tree ,eating fresh fruit. We are now at that altitude that makes you realize we do not belong here. For years now the draw of this barren space of rock, snow, ice and thin air has attracted many a soul. A heart with a bit of wander lust, a will to put up with moments of uncertainty and discomfort have always been a prerequisite for travelers abroad. This is definitely the case trekking in the Himalaya: but the rewards are worth the effort! A special place this is indeed and sharing it with such a diverse group of fellow hikers is a blast. I count four different languages spoken here in our tea house in the last five minutes. So nice to see the world getting along, take the geo-politics out of the loop and we aren't that different. The trail is ultimately a rope that binds us together. We really are a small world. And are team is so thankful and happy to be so lucky to be here. --RMI Guide Mark Tucker From Kim: The word Sherpa actually means "east people." These people have worked as porters in the Himalayas since the 1900's. Today I would like to introduce you to a member of our team who has not been previously mentioned. We have a Sherpa guide traveling with us and two Sherpa porters carrying our things. Our Sherpa guide is named Pemba. Pemba usually hangs back behind the last person in the group to assure that we are always safe and supported. On this trek, Pemba has acted as a guide, concierge, geography expert, translator, waiter,and sometimes even our bus boy in the teahouses. A man of few words, when he speaks he usually has something important to say. Pemba's parents died when he was five years old. He had to quit school to work when he was 15. He was initially a porter and eventually worked his way up to being a guide. Pemba is now 33 years old. He has a wife and a 12-year-old daughter. He lives near Lukla and is away from his family often during the spring and fall as he guides people into the mountains. During the monsoon season, Pemba is a farmer. He and his family grow all kinds of vegetables including cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, corn, and potatoes. They sell them in Lukla and Namche Bazaar. We are grateful to Pemba for all that he is doing to help us on this journey. John here: It looks like today is another team effort on the blog. It's not a bad approach either as we all seem to take different things away from our day. Today I had my first craving for some of the creature comforts of home. The first being pizza from Fondi. The food here is pretty good but does lack diversity. It's super high in carbs, which is what we need here to keep our energy high and bodies warm - but boy, a nice Margherita pizza would be yummy. The craving was the ability to sleep sprawled out. Our sleeping bags are warm and comfortable; but they are called mummy bags for a reason... We heard that April 11th was the day of the Everest Ultra-Marathon. I think it's a 65km course between Base Camp and Lukla. The notion of running on these trails for any distance seems a bit mad - but 65km. The drop in elevation from 17,250' to 9,330' may be the first prize. Sadly, we leave Lukla that day, so we probably won't be able to experience any of it. Finally, we spent the majority of today hiking along the Khumbu Glacier. The size of the the lateral moraine was impressive to say the least. It's amazing what nature can achieve given a few hundred years. As we rolled into Gorak Shep we got our first glimpse of the tail-end of the ice fall. Even only seeing a small part of it at a distance it looked imposing.

On The Map

Hello from Mweka Camp, We did it! The entire team made it to Uhuru Peak, the Roof of Africa, this morning at 7:30 am. But there were no gimmes today, we fought hard for every step. What started out as fairly decent weather when we woke up, quickly changed as we were about two hours into our climb. At first, it began snowing lightly, but the higher we climbed, the harder the snow fell. The trail was completely covered by the time we reached 18,000'. By Stella Point, the crater rim, it was blowing about 30 mph and 4-6 inches of snow had fallen. Definitely not your typical summit day. Despite the challenges of the weather, the team did great today. We left camp at 12:50 am and were on top at 7:30 am. We only spent about 10 minutes at the summit sign, and then it was time to get back down. The fresh snow made for an interesting descent, and new snow had fallen all the way back to high camp. After changing out of our summit gear, we re-packed our duffels and headed down to Mweka Camp, 5000' below us. We arrived in camp just before 5:00 PM, and our 17-hour day is now over. We are all tried, but in great spirits and looking forward to a good night's rest. Best regards, RMI Guide Jeff Martin

On The Map