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Tuesday, June 1, 2021 - 3:10 pm PT
The forecast ended up being accurate for a change. We got light snow and wind beginning around midnight that has intensified over the morning. Between the wind, snow and lack of visibility we are staying at 11,200’ today in hopes of making a carry to 13,500’ when the weather allows. Until then we are enjoying the heavier meals and lot of good stories in the kitchen tent. While not the most exciting part of the trip, days like this let the legs rest and the heart/lungs acclimate which will only help us up higher on Denali.
RMI Guide Mike King
Summit!
Today we had a wonderful albeit long day climbing to the
summit of Kilimanjaro. The team woke at 11pm as we planned to thankfully clear skies after a cloudy evening that had us wondering the lay ahead.
We had a quick breakfast of porridge, tea and coffee before hitting the trail at 12am.
We climbed in hour increments with 10-15 breaks in between, which we've been doing every day thus far. The weather was really nice, although it was a little cold which kept us bundled up for most of the day. It was one of the busiest days I’ve seen on Kili with more than 200 climbers, but the team timed everything just right and took great care of themselves.
The climb took about 7hrs to reach the top, and thankfully the sun had risen shortly before to help warm us and boost morale after climbing through the night. Once there, we hugged each other, enjoyed the view and took plenty of pictures of the sign that adorns the “Roof of Africa”.
It was a true test of endurance for most of the crew, and I'm really proud of everyone. We safely descended back to high camp, had a quick lunch, repacked and continued further down the mountain to our final camp on the mountain, where we are about to have dinner and then head to bed for some well deserved sleep.
Everyone is really looking forward to hot showers tomorrow to say the least.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili summit crew
On The Map
Hello from the "Himalayan Hotel" at
Pheriche!
Another incredible day in the
Himalayas, dear friends... And we can certainly say now we are going to spend the first night at high altitude, having hiked above the 4,000m benchmark.
After a rather cold night in Pangboche, we were greeted by another cloudless sky, whose sun made us ditch our layers just a few minutes after the start. Headed towards Pheriche Pass, we enjoyed astonishing views of Kantega, Tamserku (two of the most radical 6,000m peaks in the Khumbu,) and of course Ama Dablam. Like on the previous days, the mystique of the landscape is only disturbed by the heavy downhill traffic that we encounter from time to time.
While we await our dinner and as I write this post, we're also getting ready to set up for another session of nocturnal time lapse pictures before the evasive crescent moon we have vanishes.
The plan tomorrow is to rest here, to continue to acclimate taking a short hike, to visit the Himalayan Rescue Hospital next door, and, of course, stay well nourished with the momos and tea that (among other things) make us look forward to every meal.
On a side note, we celebrated on the trails a rendezvous with fellow guide Lakpa Gelu and
RMI office staff Bridget Schletty.
Regards to everyone,
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos
On The Map
Hi RMI family. Our
Kilimanjaro team has landed in Tanzania. It is always a long day flying so we have settled into our luxurious hotel. On the agenda is having a great meal, resting and relaxing. Stay tuned for more...
RMI Guide JJ Justman
The Four Day Summit Climb led by
RMI Guide Dave Hahn was unable to reach the summit of
Mt. Rainier this morning. At 7:20 a.m. the team was descending Disappointment Cleaver en route to Camp Muir; they will be back in Ashford later today.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The word "team" is what we are; the confidence and style this team has possessed has been outstanding. Team Jones/Frank/Randolph is excited to be in base camp on the Southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier.
We woke up a number of times through last night to gusty winds and white-out conditions at 11k camp. The guides choice was to wait the weather out.
Denali was again giving our group another challenge. The team solved this one with some rest and a long pancake breakfast.
An afternoon clearing provided motivation for an evening walk, our final walk that provided everything from blowing snow to pristine clear skies. The sunset reeled us in toward the north face of Mt. Hunter lit in the soft evening light completing our final push to
Kahiltna Basecamp at 7,800 ft.
While conditions look prime at base camp and it looks like we will fly out tomorrow, we don't want to count our chickens before they hatch. You never know what
Denali, or as we have called her "De-Gnarly," has in store for us.
Laying here in our sleeping bags in the thick, moist air, it's tough to imagine that we were at 20,320 feet just the day before yesterday.
The crew is ready to celebrate our safe and successful summit with the loved ones that allowed us to be in Alaska for this journey. Thank you family and friends for the support. This journey to the top of North America and back has been a long and never to be forgotten experience. We look forward to recalling our time spent in the mountains with a dinner out wearing sandals and shorts along with being back on turf with trees, rivers, and just plain dirt in Talkeetna.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
Our
Four Day Summit Climb led by Jason Thompson was able to climb up to Cathedral Gap early this morning, but they not reach the summit due to avalanche danger. Visibility at Camp Muir was good with winds of about 15 – 35 mph. The teams have left Camp Muir and are en route back to
Ashford Basecamp.
Howdy from 14k. Today we got up and planned to carry food and equipment up toward high camp at 17k. We woke up early and the air was warm with patches of blue sky showing through. While we got our morning chow the snow and wind started slowly picking up. As we walked the first hour to 15k and the base of the classic headwall of the
West Buttress, the wind and snow intensity increased and visibility dropped to just a few feet.
With these conditions and the risk of avalanches increasing, we opted to descend in hopes of better weather in the next days. The team spent the majority of the day lounging in tents. Our decision to turn around was verified as we heard the constant roar of avalanches in the distance and saw 8 new inches of snow accumulate throughout the day.
Dinner tonight will bring a nice meal and psych to the team. In the mountains we must have patience and wait until we have an opportunity for safe passage. For now we gain strength and acclimatization through rest and light exercise. When Denali allows us an opportunity to go higher, we will be ready.
-
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
There was about two feet of new snow last night at
Kahiltna Base Camp. It is currently snowing and visibility is low. We are in standby mode and playing cards with our one set of 48 cards.
It turns out the little snow storm from yesterday is lasting into today. We are waiting for some clear weather and our flight off the glacier. The thunderous vibrations of avalanches somewhere off into the thick clouds are pretty cool canceling out the wind and the snow battering the tent. Everyone has had a great time, but most are ready for some beers.
Signing out from the land of positive vibrations.
RMI Guide Jason Thompson
On The Map
It just never let up today. Huge herds of zebras, wildebeest, gazelle and other critters surrounded us throughout the day. Ostriches, hyenas, jackals, hippos, birds and other animals also showed up. However, the lions are what really took the cake. Fifteen individual lions graced our day, some just a few feet away from our rigs.
It was just crazy how many we saw. We saw some big males following a female in heat. The biggest male actually walked around and in front of our Landcruiser in slow pursuit of the girl of his dreams. We observed an older female, said to be the best hunter in the pack, sizing up her opportunities for a kill as the herd of hundreds nervously milled around her in the 'safe zone' just out of reach. We also witnessed three females as they cautiously sized up their opportunity for a kill while following a small group of unaware zebras.
And on the road towards the park entrance, when we thought the day done, two exciting events took place.
First, we encountered a pride of four cats walking down the road. Although we made them a little nervous, they didn't bolt until our excitement got the best of us and they slipped away into the thick brush off the side of the road. The last lion actually hung in the brush just 6-7' away watching us watch her.
And to top off the day was a call to action when our group came upon a safari vehicle that had rolled off the side of the road and down a steep, 45-55 degree embankment. Caught with just my flip flops on I quickly donned my shoes, but not before our drivers and four of the team hopped out to the rescue. Normally I'd keep well intended but untrained folks away from a scene like this until we came up with a plan, but three of the four were medical professionals and one just darned strong.
By the time I scrambled down the brushy, vine covered slope the 'walking wounded' were climbing up to safety and the first people on scene had extricated a young boy trapped under the vehicle and were starting the process of hauling him up this very steep slope.
Following that difficult extrication a quick assessment found no life threatening injuries and we transported him in another tour vehicle to a hospital 20 kilometers away.
Huge kudos go out to Shavran, Liz, Craig and Joe for their selfless and heroic actions. A doctor, nurse, ski patroller and hard man, respectively. This kid was in good hands. Even our driver was instrumental in lifting the vehicle enough to pull the young boy from beneath the wreckage. Shavran and Liz didn't think twice about jumping into the Landcruiser with our patient to maintain C- spine precautions and monitor his airway during transport.
I later found out that both Shavran and Liz did this in their sandals and flip flops. Wow!
Good news, we think the kid is going to be OK, thanks to the efforts of some incredible individuals. (By the way, in general, let the medical and rescue professionals handle this kind of situation. If you want to be prepared to help in an emergency, get training).
Now, on to our last full day of our safari.
Tarangire National Park. What are we going to encounter next ...
RMI Guide Brent Okita
I hope you are acclimating well; taking deep breath’s and enjoying such amazing views. Praying for good weather and a safe climb. Cheeseburgers will be waiting for you!
Posted by: claudette Crockett on 6/4/2021 at 5:01 am
Stay warm Rob and team!
Posted by: Connie on 6/3/2021 at 7:41 am
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