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Hello, this is Jake Beren with the RMI Mt. McKinley Expedition calling from 14,000’ camp. We arrived here yesterday and are happy in our brand new home and happy place. Before moving camp we made a carry the day before with our gear.
The team is looking great, very strong as we climbed yesterday. We arrived late afternoon and set up shop.
Today we are going to do a little bit of training and potentially make a back carry to pick up our cache. So all's well here, it’s a beautiful sunny day here in the Genae Basin. We are looking up at the fixed lines.
The RMI Team lead by Tyler Jones made their move to 17,000’ camp this morning and are just doing great and heading up the West Buttress as we speak.
So, that's all from 14,000’ on Mt. McKinley. It's great to be here with a good crew. We'll be checking in the future.
This is Jake, Mike, Gilbert and team standing by at 14,000’.
Billy here checking in from the refugio, high on Cayambe. After exploring the amazing open-air market in Otovalo, complete with live meats, fresh produce, and an impressive offering from local artisans, we headed up to spend our first night above 15,000'. We dined on spaghetti a la bolognese with a balsamic viniagrette and crashed after a small nightcap of Cabernet. Ooh yeah, roughing it! And despite a slightly rough night everybody is acclimatizing really well, and also performed well during our mountaineering school this morning and afternoon. Right now we're all chilling back at the refugio gearing up for tonight's summit attempt. A summit talk and an early-to-bed evening will help us cope with our expected 11 pm wake up. If the weather and snowpack allow, the crew should be celebrating on the summit tomorrow morning!
Wish us luck!
Team Fuya Fuya (our elected team name)
Thanks to Dawn Kim for the photos in this post!
We awoke to clear skies and calm winds around camp this morning. The thick cloud cap that had become a fixture over the summit the past few days dissapated over night and we watched the final traces of it blow away as we ate breakfast. We could see that moderate winds still persisted high on the mountain but otherwise conditions looked ideal for our move to Camp 2.
We packed up camp and set off back up the glacier, having no difficulties navigating the crevasses despite the heavy packs. The winds continued to rise a bit as we climbed higher, but never were they unmanageable. By midafternoon we reached the clustering of rocks at ~15,000' below Elbrus' east summit known as Lenz Rocks. There we established Camp 2, our high camp. It was difficult work to clear the tent sites and move rocks around and we were breathing hard at this altitude. Moderate yet considerate winds continued to blow making setting up each tent a full team activity. But soon we had camp established and were able to crawl into the tents and escape the winds. The team climbed very strongly today, putting in an impressive effort to reach and establish high camp in these squirrely conditions. Spirits remain high and we are all excited to be in position to make a go for the top.
We are hoping to make a summit bid tomorrow if the winds drop off as they are forecasted to do but right now they are still quite considerable so we will have to wait to see what the morning brings. Keep your fingers crossed that they die down!
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!
RMI Guide Andy Bond and the Kautz Seminar July 30 - 4 August team reached Point Success today! The second highest of Mt. Rainier's three named summits, Point Success at 14,158'. The Kautz route was challenging for the team today with large penitentes and route finding, but they reached the summit with all of their team members, 100% success! The team will return to camp for their final night on the mountain. Tomorrow they will return to the trailhead and celebrate their week of training and climbing accomplishment.
Way to go team! Congratulations!
Monday, May 31, 2021 - 11:17 am PT
I’m writing this from the Swiss Alaska Inn in Talkeetna. We flew out from Kahiltna Basecamp yesterday evening, after breaking down our camp and breaking trail back to the airstrip. Now we’re eating pancakes and eggs in the big city, re-adjusting to indoors life. We’ve got a few things to do around town before we catch our afternoon shuttle to Anchorage. It was a great trip all around. Everyone is a little sunburned, but otherwise no worse for the wear. Thanks for following along, and thanks to all the climbers who made this trip a memorable one.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
RMI Guides
Adam Knoff and
Jake Beren led the
Four Day Summit Climb August 3 - 6, 2013 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They reported a smooth ascent and a beautiful day with barely any wind. The teams began their descent from the crater rim around 7:40 am PT. They will return to Camp Muir to repack before continuing their descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
Hi from Puebla! It's just after 11 p.m. and we just got back from dinner. It was a long and great day. We woke up this morning before 2 a.m. and started climbing just after 3. The night was cool and crisp but windless which was really great for us. Everyone on the team was very motivated to climb and we made good progress up to the top of the Ayoloco Glacier. From there the good weather continued and just over 4 hours after starting we were standing on top of
Ixta. It was a beautiful day for climbing. The walk down went very smooth. We had a light breeze on the lower mountain (that's the big weather story for us so far!) and when we got to the trail head we were greeted with tortas, cervesas and refrescos. Now we're all set up for a rest day in Puebla tomorrow.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
First, my condolences to both Green Bay and Seattle. For more uplifting news, the team moved to
Camp Two at 18200 feet. As usual, everyone is feeling great. The sun is shining now, however, the clouds are moving in. I wouldn't doubt we get some more snow.
Yesterday the mountain had a fresh blanket of snow, which made for beautiful climbing today. For now, we are all getting settled into our new home for the next couple of days. Stay tuned because we are literally a hop, skip and a jump from the summit. If we get the weather we will move to high camp in a few days!
RMI Guide
JJ Justman & Team
On The Map
Woke up to clear blue skies (over the city anyway) psyched to get up into the hills and stretch the legs a bit. I met the gang down in the hotel restaurant and wasn't shocked to find they were also revved up for getting the trip started in earnest. After a quick bite to eat, we linked up with Jaime and jumped in some taxis headed for the Teleferico. This gondola took us up high above the city onto the slopes of
Rucu Pichincha, one of two sister peaks on an active volcano. Quito's sprawl actually starts to climb up the flanks of the mountain and this proximity was bad news for the city in the 90's when the volcano belched a huge quantity of ash onto the metropolis. Well, with no signs of imminent eruption the team was able to climb from the top of the gondola at just above 13,000' to the summit at right around 15,400' in about 2.5 hours! Good stuff! Being able to move well on our first foray is a great indicator of the group's overall fitness. The climb was largely hiking on decent trail, but the last several hundred feet involved some really fun 4th class rock climbing. Everyone was feeling the elevation but moving and climbing incredibly well. The whole time we climbed we were followed by an awesome dog who even made the rock moves to the summit, my guess is that he was hoping to snag a few more of Jaime's chicharrones... The team managed a quick and efficient descent, downloaded the gondola, and hopped a van back to the hotel. After hustling around town to shag a few miscellaneous gear items, I took a nice siesta and met up with everyone for another team dinner. Good times.
Tomorrow we head out of Quito and up for another training hike before starting our approach on
Cotopaxi, more as it develops...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Enjoy my bredren and sistren. positive vibes to you.
Posted by: jason thompson on 6/17/2011 at 7:08 pm
Hey Jake and your team!! It is so exciting to watch the progress of your expedition. Please tell Clay Gilliland that all of his friends in Hot Springs are keeping all of you in our prayers for a successful and safe trip.
Tom Baird
Posted by: Tom Baird on 6/17/2011 at 5:03 pm
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