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Kathmandu Expedition Prep Update

March 27, 2009

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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest

Last week RMI's Basecamp Manager Linden Mallory and RMI's Operations Manager Jeff Martin arrived at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport in preparation for the First Ascent Expedition. This is their report: After 35 hours of flying we were amazed to see that all 16 of our First Ascent Maximus 150 Duffel Bags survived the airports of Seattle, Tokyo, and Bangkok, arriving in Kathmandu along with us. After a few false starts and more than a few spills - towering carts of duffel bags crashing to the floor - we moved our gear through the customs officials and x-ray machines and navigated our way to our vehicle before plunging into the chaos of Kathmandu's traffic. Next, we combined the 1,000 lbs of gear that we brought with us from the States with 2,000 lbs of supplies pre-shipped to Kathmandu. Preparing all of this meant unpacking, sorting, counting, resorting, recounting, and repacking the impressive amount of food, gear, and supplies. Ensuring that everything was accounted for, we separated the gear into 30 kilogram piles (66lbs) that the porters and yaks manage to carry. Three days later, with heads spinning from labels, weights, several trips to the local markets, and gear shuffled countless times, we triumphantly sealed our last duffel. During the next week, the 27 overstuffed duffels and 18 60-liter plastic barrels we packed will make their way to Everest Basecamp. They first fly to the tiny mountain airstrip in Lukla before journeying the roughly 50 kilometers up the Khumbu Valley, shouldered by porters or yaks, to their destination along the rock and ice strewn landscape of the Khumbu Glacier. The accumulation of duffels and barrels compromises a staggering amount of gear and supplies, including: 38 First Ascent Katabatic Tents 3 First Ascent Alpine Assault Tents 2 First Ascent Pantheon Dome Tents 30 -20°F sleeping bags 60 bottles of oxygen 7 portable Medical Kits 2 Gamow Bags medical oxygen 2 laptops satellite modem a satellite phone portable DVD player array solar panels 97 pounds of cheese 103 pounds of sausage, jerky, and other meats Over 2,000 Pro Bars, candy bars, and granola bars 24 pounds of Gummy Bears 22 pounds of Hot Chocolate 40 pounds of Starbucks Ground Coffee 45 pounds of salsa With the supplies moving their way towards Basecamp we turned to finalizing permits for the climb. Upon picking up the Expedition Leader Peter Whittaker at the airport, we went straight to the Ministry of Tourism to secure our Everest Climbing Permit. Sitting around the well-polished wood of their conference table, sharing the seats of the many mountaineering legends who have passed through before, we discussed our planned camps, our gear supplies and our itinerary with a representative of the Ministry and our Liason Officer. Then, after Peter signed a flurry of paperwork, we walked triumphantly out of the Ministry with our Permit in hand. Now that the team is assembled in Kathmandu the final details of are settling into place and the climb is taking shape. The next task is to follow our supplies up the Khumbu to Basecamp, take stock, and focus our energies on the mountain.

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Machu Picchu: Wedel & Team Reach Machu Picchu

August 25, 2024

Posted by: Jess Wedel

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Machu Picchu

Elevation: 7,972'

Sunday, August 25, 2024 - 3:26 am PT

We made it to Machu Picchu!

Wow, what a day. We woke up and walked the final few hours to the Sun Gate. It was a little cloudy but we still had views of Machu Picchu below.
We spent the morning exploring the different sites - the Sun Temple, the Palace Quarters, the Temple of the Condor and so much more! Then we took the bus downhill to Aguas Calientes where we all enjoyed a shower and delicious dinner.

Tomorrow, we get to go back to the park and climb Huayna Picchu. For now, we are sleeping happily in warm beds.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the team

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Machu Picchu August 15, 2024

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Kilimanjaro: The Kilimanjaro Family Climb Ascends The Barranco Wall

October 11, 2013

Posted by: Peter Whittaker, Seth Waterfall

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro

Elevation: 13,000'

The Kilimanjaro Family Climb climbed the Barranco Wall today, traversing beneath the southern side of Kilimanjaro to reach their camp at Karanga Valley. Climber John Dorn describes today's climb in the video dispatch:

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Aconcagua: Nugent & Team Move to Camp 1

February 10, 2013

Posted by: Billy Nugent, Mike King

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua

Elevation: 16,200'

We woke again today to completely clear and beautiful skies, and seemingly perfect weather for our move out of basecamp and up on the mountain. The gang packed up quickly and were ready to march in short order. Anticipation has been building for a long time and everyone was ready to get the show on the road. We moved well and enjoyed a nice breeze that actually helped temper the heat of the sun. After about 4 1/2 hours of climbing we were setting up tents on the upper bench of Camp 1 (16,700') and heading down for a super short back carry to retrieve our cache. As we were getting settled the wind was coming in and out and eventually it started snowing. The whole camp and surrounding cliffs got a beautiful dusting of 2 or 3 inches of snow. The squall eventually died down and I'm hoping for a calm rest of the evening... RMI Guide Billy Nugent

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Aconcagua Expedition: Rest Day at Base Camp

February 7, 2012

Posted by: Billy Nugent

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua

Elevation: 13,800'

Not a lot to report on our last rest day at Base Camp. The crew has been keeping busy reading, jamming tunes, tanning, etc. RMI Guide Leon Davis lead the guys through a knot and anchor session that everyone found interesting. Other than that we've just been chilling, trying not to be anxious about the big day tomorrow on our move to Camp 1. We'll check in from over 16k tomorrow! All for now, RMI Guide Billy Nugent P.S. William would also like to wish his son John a very happy birthday! He wishes he could be there to share it with you.

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Mt. McKinley: Billy Nugent & Team Waiting Out the Storm in Talkeetna

May 17, 2013

Posted by: Billy Nugent, Kel Rossiter

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 346'

Update 10:34 am PST Billy called from Talkeetna to give us an update: It is snowing in Talkeetna and the team will not be flying today. Update from 5/16/13 at 11:00 pm PST Checking in from a rainy Talkeetna... We woke up early this morning and headed over to the hangar after a quick breakfast at the Roadhouse hoping to finish up our last odds and ends and fly on to the glacier. While we were weighing the last of our luggage for the flight, the K2 staff told us the bad news: snowing at basecamp, flat light, and a low cloud ceiling. Translation: no go for us. So we hung out most of the day today eating food and worrying about what we forgot to pack while the rain gradually built up all day. Unfortunately, it's not looking good for tomorrow either so we may have to organize a pingpong tournament in the hangar. Despite the crummy weather the team is in good spirits and looking forward to our big adventure. We'll check in tomorrow, hopefully from Kahiltna Basecamp. All for now, RMI Guide Billy Nugent

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team to the Edge of the World

June 16, 2012

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 14,200'

Today we enjoyed the luxury of waking to the sun on the tents, avoiding the early morning cold. Once up and fed, we took a fantastic walk to THE EDGE OF THE WORLD. Perfect views of the lower Kahiltna Glacier 7,000 feet below our perch and we all took turns peeking over the edge and snapping a few photos. Don't worry friends and family, we were on belay the whole time. For the afternoon we rested and welcomed the RMI 4 team after their stylish send on Denali yesterday. Nice job everyone! Then it was back to work, setting up a fixed line practice and trying as many variations as possible to prepare for the cache tomorrow. Now it's dinner time, catch y'all tomorrow. RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Move to 11,000’

June 10, 2012

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 11,200'

A big aloha from 11 Camp! We woke to our first clear morning of the trip, with brightly colored lenticular clouds stacked over Mount Forraker. It was cold and clear in our neck of the woods and we traveled well on our way to our cache at 10,000 feet. With slightly lighter loads we dispatched the final hill into camp and moved right in to camp. Now we rest during the heat of the day and recover after a great, but tough day. Tomorrow, if the weather permits we will retrieve our cache and ready ourselves for life higher up. Take care everyone, RMI Guides Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene and Team

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Torres del Paine: Cifelli & Team Complete O Circuit, Return to Puerto Natales

February 12, 2025

Posted by: Dominic Cifelli

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Torres del Paine

Ahh the end of a trip like this is always so bittersweet. Tired, sore, hungry we leave the trail happy and satiated with the journey, and yet we have to leave this breathtaking landscape and national park. Us, and everyone around us, will be very happy with a shower when we get back into Puerto Natales tonight.

Our last day is one of the hardest. A long, steep ascent up the valley to see the namesake of the park, Las Torres (The Towers of Paine). It’s about 11km each way with almost 3000 ft of ascent and our ached bodies felt every bit of it. Up up up until we were treated with yet another beautiful fricken day. Just our luck.

Waking up at 430 to pack, eat breakfast, and head up to avoid the crowds. And boy are we glad we did. I call the descent the Disney world descent due to the crowds that come into the park in order to complete the relatively accesible hike. And so we weaved in an out of folks fresh from town and worked our way toward the promised land ( the van)

We’re showered, sore, and now heading toward dinner for our last night together. This trip has been incredible not only because of the views, but because of the strangers turned friends we met 10 days ago in Punta Arenas. We all can’t wait to fill you in with the stories we have and the pictures we took. See you soon.

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

New Post Alerts:
Torres del Paine Trek February 1, 2025

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Denali Expedition: Bond & Team Carry Gear Above the Fixed Lines

June 27, 2022

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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley

Elevation: 14,000'

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

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Most Popular Entries

Kathmandu Expedition Prep Update

Machu Picchu: Wedel & Team Reach Machu Picchu

Kilimanjaro: The Kilimanjaro Family Climb Ascends The Barranco Wall

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Aconcagua: Nugent & Team Move to Camp 1

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Aconcagua Expedition: Rest Day at Base Camp

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Mt. McKinley: Billy Nugent & Team Waiting Out the Storm in Talkeetna

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team to the Edge of the World

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Move to 11,000’

On The Map

Torres del Paine: Cifelli & Team Complete O Circuit, Return to Puerto Natales

Denali Expedition: Bond & Team Carry Gear Above the Fixed Lines

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