May 31, 2017
Hi, it's Mike Walter calling on Wednesday May 31st. We had a beautiful day today, and we moved up to the High Camp on Denali's West Buttress, 17200 feet. We got here a little bit after 1pm today and have been setting up camp and resting. Everyone is resting and the weather looks good for tomorrow. So hopefully we'll be able to take a shot at the summit. Everyone is doing well. Hopefully we will be giving you a call from the summit and let you know how it goes. Alright.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
RMI Guide Mike Walter checks in from High Camp at 17,200 ft on Denali.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
It has been like a sunny beach vacation...except if it were sunny we would have flown far away from this particular snowy beach days ago. The snow keeps coming a bit harder and the forecast says through Sunday now. Could be worse; we have plenty of food, fuel, and great conversations!
RMI Guide Mike Uchal made almost five hours worth of pancakes in a continuous stream for most of the camp. We have a small backlog of climbers around us. There are not many new climbers in basecamp since the weather has prohibited much movement on the mountain from any of the different camps.
RMI Mt. McKinley Summit Team 6
Hopeful for your getaway very soon! Keep us posted. Love, Mom and Dad Haugen
Posted by: Cindy Haugen on 7/6/2013 at 6:15 am
Missing you more every day. Good to hear your spirits are ok. Can’t wait to hear that planes can make it in. Got 3 holes in one today. Hug, mom and the guys. Ps did you put smiley faces on the pancakes?
100% on Top! The Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier team led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Pepper Dee reached the summit of Mt. Baker early today. The team had a great day of climbing with beautiful route and incredible views the entire climb. They settled back in camp at 6,800' where they will re-fuel, rest for the night. Tomorrow they get an early start, pack up camp and descend to the trailhead.
Waking once the sun began to warm the tents was a welcome treat at 19,600 feet. Having that last cup of coffee in the rarified air of high camp before packing up and starting the beautiful and lengthy descent really let the last few weeks settle in. We have climbed on the highest mountain outside of Asia and now turn the skiff towards home. It is this point of the trip where we get to see how far out we've gone because there is no more out to go, just back. Retracing our steps back home will take a few days and is a wonderful way to let this adventure sink in. See you all soon!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
To Bill and the team - what an amazing accomplishment! This is something to remember for the rest of your lives..Congratulations and safe travels onward..
Carol (Rita, and Bill)
Posted by: Carol on 1/6/2014 at 12:07 pm
Great job, to the team and to my friend Monica. I can’t begin to understand how amazing that accomplishment must feel. Have a great trek down the mountain and stay safe! Ivory
Monday, June 24th, 2013
Only 3000 feet to go!
We woke up around 4:30 this morning and packed up our 14k camp. We headed uphill towards the fixed lines and hit them as the sun began to beat down on us. It was a stark difference from the other day when it was ridiculously cold from the wind.
We worked our way up the fixed lines and gained the ridge on top of the West Buttress. We picked up our cache as we followed the ridge towards 17k camp. By the time we got to camp we were plenty tired. We dug in deep to protect us from the big winds that can happen at 17,000 feet on De-gnarly. Dehydrated meals and hot chocolate in the tent... bed time!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and RMI Summit Team 6
Hello everyone at the RMI blog site for Team One here on Aconcagua. Wanted to give you a little bit of an update as far as what we are up to. First of all the team is doing absolutely great. We actually moved our camp to Camp Two at 18,000' and we are nestled in, tents are up. We've already had a round of hot drinks and now we are just resting and relaxing. We always want to be optimistic, but to let you know a little bit of the weather forecast that we have. It is not looking that great. The winds are picking up, there is a big lenticular right now over the summit, and they are calling for incredibly strong winds for the next 4 to 5 days. However, you never know if those forecasts are wrong so we are hunkered down here, our tents are nice and solid. So, the winds are not as strong down here as they are up high. So everyone is doing great, but this is part of big mountain expedition climbing. Little bit of a waiting game and that's what we need to do is just kind of see what Mother Nature gives us, so we've got high hopes. And we'll basically give a call tomorrow and get a little more updates on the weather and see what's happening. But for right now. Everyone's doing great, and we'll check back in tomorrow and let you know what we're up to. Most likely maybe a walk up towards high camp. And a little more resting and recovery. So take care everyone. Will talk again soon. Ciao from Argentina.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
JJ Justman check in from Guanacos Camp, 18,000' on Aconcagua
We enjoyed a leisurely day in St. Petersburg on our last day in Russia. From our hotel we walked the several hundred yards to St. Isaac's Cathedral, climbing the 211 steps to the Colonnade that offers sweeping views of the city below. Built in the early 1700s, Peter the Great designed St. Petersburg after European cities and the city is often referred to as the "Venice of the North". Dozens of canals wind through the city, connecting to the Neva River running through the heart of St. Petersburg. From the Colonnade we could see over the rooftops of the city's early fortress, it's palaces and government buildings, and its beautifully restored churches.
Descending from the Colonnade we made our way to the Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood, an ornately decorated Church built over the stones where Tsar Alexander II was stabbed. Although built on a gloomy premise, the church's interior is incredible, with intricate, colorful mosaics covering the multistory interior. Lastly, we visited the Hermitage Museum, Russia's largest museum and home to over 4 million pieces of art. While the artwork matches any museum in the world, the building alone, built by Catherine the Great, is worth the visit in itself. Stretching out along the banks of the Neva, each room and hall is decorated in it's unique style.
After dinner (an excellent seafood restaurant) we climbed on board a boat and toured St. Petersburg's canals, winding through the buildings, under the roads and bridges, and along the Neva. Many of us leave early in the morning for flights home. It's been a great trip through Russia to Europe's highest peak, and we are looking forward to sharing the stories and photos with all of you at home.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
We had a windy and cold morning to break camp down and descend to Basecamp. The team rallied and now we are enjoying some snacks, drinks and packing for mules. Tomorrow we’ll walk to Pampa las Lenas for an asado and night under the stars if the weather cooperates. The end of a great expedition to Aconcagua.
This is our last dispatch, thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Mike King, Dominic Cifelli, Jack Delaney & Team
We made it to high camp yesterday in hopes of a summit attempt today. The winds did not cooperate but tomorrow's forecast is looking good.
Please send good weather vibes our way! The team is doing great and ready for their summit attempt.
We will check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The thunder rolled and the rain came down in sheets all night again, but the morning broke clear once more. Enjoying our extra day here in Azau, we had a leisurely breakfast and a slow start to the morning. Taking advantage of the good weather we walked back down the valley to the village of Cheget, taking a meandering trail through the woods alongside the river. Swollen by the warm mornings and the afternoon rains of the past week, the river was a raging torrent, brown with the glacial sediment it carries. Underneath its surface the current could be heard moving large rocks, creating faint echoes of thunder which would cause us to glance up at the clear blue skies in surprise before remembering the noise came from the water and not from above. It was a welcome change to walk through the pine forests with all of the smells and sounds that a forest brings, very different from the glacial slopes we have been traveling on above.
Upon reaching Cheget we clambered aboard the brightly colored chairlift that leaves from the edge of town and rode up to the midway station of the ski area. There we found a nice table at a cafe with views looking across the valley at Elbrus, it's twin summits shrouded by clouds. With the sun shining on us we, just kicked back, playing a very tight game of Scrabble and relaxing after the climb. Bill emerged the victor by only the slimmest of margins. Back in Cheget we had a last meal of shashlik (kabobs) and then made our way back to Azau where we've spent the remainder of the afternoon unpacking our packs and repacking our bags for our trip to Moscow tomorrow.
We have an early departure from Azau in the morning in order to catch our midday flight from Mineralnye Vody. We should arrive in Moscow by late afternoon with enough time to stroll through Red Square before evening. We will check in tomorrow with our final dispatch.
At the moment with 5/31/2017 imagery you are visible on google earth.
Posted by: Tom Rodger on 9/1/2018 at 11:02 am
SO happy for you David and team! You remain in our thoughts and prayers. Cheers to a summit today! Safe travels down…
AK and Mom
Posted by: Ann Kathryn Scott on 6/1/2017 at 9:43 am
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