Today we purposely awoke early for our carry to the top of the headwall. Our intentions to provide the team with the flavor of the frigid temperatures of Denali in anticipation of what a summit day will feel like, were embraced by every team member. Four hours later we dug our cache atop the fixed lines and returned in a speedy mode to our camp at Genet Basin to enjoy ourselves practicing our favorite sports of "eating and napping". Everybody is excited for our move tomorrow to 17 camp and the upcoming launching. Regards!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Fingers still crossed, for good weather conditions and an extra bit of good luck for your team. Crispi, Pass auf dich auf, und wenn du ganz oben stehst, dann schau und genieße für uns mit. Küsschen, SF.
Posted by: Susann and Frank on 6/20/2012 at 2:12 pm
Ross and K, Getting closer. An expert guide one time told me that mountain climbing is a lot about chillin so if you need to sit near the top it can be tough but know your about vertical 17000 ft and four thousand miles closer than any of us writing you.
I had one hell of a couple of weeks and have continually thought about the mountains. I wish I was able to make the trip with you guys but as I said I collided with fate here, I needed to be here.
Can’t wait to hear more from you guys and the progress.
Dave
Carla- Kanitta lost her phone a while back and now we only have Ross’ cell number. Call us :0)
The Four Day Climb Teams led by Taylor Bickford and Joe Hoch radioed down this morning to let us know that they turned at 12,300' due to high winds and deteriorating conditions on the upper mountain. The team was safely back in Camp Muir by 7:45 AM PT. After drying out a little and resting, the team will descend from Camp Muir and be back in town this afternoon.
Another early morning, another attempt to get through the Khumbu Icefall. Thwarted. We were still hoping to accomplish a recon/carry and so I headed out with our Sherpa climbing team at 4:30 AM. As we started, the Sherpa teams ahead of us formed a solid parade of headlights, snaking up through the glacier in the darkness. We made fine progress though, easily passing our highpoint from the other day. That last time the weather was poor, and this time it was perfect, so we could see everything we needed and wanted to see about the climbing route. Our luck ran out near the top of the technical difficulties when we skidded to a stop at 7 AM at the tail end of a monumental traffic jam. We spent 90 minutes inching upward, stomping our feet to stay warm (we were still in deep and cool shadows), and alternately eyeballing the ice towers hanging over our heads and the nearby site of last year's tragic avalanche. Finally, with perhaps a hundred Sherpas at full stop between ourselves and a fairly difficult wall climb, we determined that we'd pushed our luck far enough. We descended, cached the load at the icefall's midpoint and got ourselves out of the line of fire and on our way back to Basecamp. Sherpas and climbers did eventually make camp one and even camp two on this day, but the missions took perhaps three times as long as they should have, with much of that time spent at risk... Not for us. We reached sunny and safe Base Camp shortly after JJ Justman had departed with our team for a Pumori Camp One hike. The route needs more work and we conveyed this idea as best we were able to the Icefall Doctors and their administrators. In general terms, it takes a safer path than the routes of recent years, but more work needs to be done and more ladders need to be fixed in order to handle the Sherpa traffic, let alone the less skilled foreign climbers who will soon hit the climb in great numbers.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Don’t we go to the mountains to get away from traffic jams! You exhibit that all important combination of dogged determination with prudence that is so important up there. Glad the weather is moderating, which I hope will facilitate more progress soon. A special hello to J J and thanks for the birthday greeting to my son, Zac (Zeke).
Best wishes to all for a safe, successful ascent.
Posted by: Everett Moran on 4/21/2015 at 7:45 am
Glad you are a safety guy. Hate to think of the frontline team in the risk zone while awaiting a traffic jam. Be well. Sending my best. xo
Hello from the Dik Dik. This is Seth with a quick check in letting you know this we are all off the mountain safe and sound. We had a nice walk down from our last camp this morning and we're back at the hotel before 1pm. After some well deserved showers we had a great celebratory dinner. Now were all psyched up for our safari. That's starts tomorrow with a visit to Lake Manyara. We'll check in after our game drive.
- RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
This was a quiet and easy day at Union Glacier Camp. We slept well and ate well at low altitude. We sorted equipment, chatted with fellow climbers, wrote in our journals and every now and then stood outside the tents to see the mountains, the snowcats and airplanes and the Kansas-sized expanse of ice stretching to our Northeast.
Many spent the day browsing through the great Antarctic Exploration library in camp, learning of Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen. For a change of pace in the evening, the climbing teams sat for a story session detailing the pioneering expeditions to Mount Everest.
Tomorrow we'll see if conditions allow for our "scheduled" exit flight.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Good morning, this is Jake Beren and the RMI Ecuador team standing on top of Cayambe. Everybody did super well today. We had a beautiful day to climb and now we are perched pretty high above the clouds surrounded by some pretty large volcanoes. It was just about as good today as I have ever seen out here. It was a real pleasure to be here with such a good team. So, I guess that’s it. I'll be in touch when we get further down.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren calls in from the summit of Cayambe.
Big day today!
We summited Ixta this morning around ocho in the morning with our entire crew. Everyone did very well, including a random puppy who joined us from our night at the Altzimoni hut and stayed with us the entire way to the top. We were treated to amazing weather, barely any wind and clear skies above, the lights of Amecameca and Mexico City to the West and Puebla to the East. As the sun rose it cast a shadow of the Lady Ixta and illuminated our next climb, Pico de Orizaba. Quite a beautiful day on the mountain, now to be complimented by a celebratory dinner in the Districto Historico here in Puebla where we will relax for a day and rest up for the next adventure.
It was an incredibly pleasant day at 14,000'. It snowed lightly all night but when we woke up it was bluebird and calm. We took our time over breakfast (again) and started to wrap our heads around the schedule and logistics above here. We did an afternoon training session to prepare for the fixed lines and running belays of the West Buttress above, then retired for a warm and sunny siesta. The rest was part of the plan as we intend to head up the fixed lines and along the West Buttress tomorrow to put in a small cache and get familiar with the terrain. With that complete, the puzzle pieces that we have control over will be in place for our summit push.
With clear skies and light winds we retraced our steps from a few days ago up to Genet Basin. This time, though, we had our whole kit with us and now we've a established a comfortable camp at 14,200'. Today will be a rest day for us, and we will review the skills necessary to travel on the fixed rope above us on the head wall.
The Four Day Summit Climb team for June 15 - 18, 2017 was unable to make a summit attempt of Mt. Rainier this morning due to inclement weather. The team will descend to Paradise this afternoon and return to Rainier BaseCamp.
Fingers still crossed, for good weather conditions and an extra bit of good luck for your team. Crispi, Pass auf dich auf, und wenn du ganz oben stehst, dann schau und genieße für uns mit. Küsschen, SF.
Posted by: Susann and Frank on 6/20/2012 at 2:12 pm
Ross and K, Getting closer. An expert guide one time told me that mountain climbing is a lot about chillin so if you need to sit near the top it can be tough but know your about vertical 17000 ft and four thousand miles closer than any of us writing you.
I had one hell of a couple of weeks and have continually thought about the mountains. I wish I was able to make the trip with you guys but as I said I collided with fate here, I needed to be here.
Can’t wait to hear more from you guys and the progress.
Dave
Carla- Kanitta lost her phone a while back and now we only have Ross’ cell number. Call us :0)
Posted by: dave kolar on 6/19/2012 at 9:56 pm
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