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We were up at 4 AM in the Yak and Yeti Hotel and we were packing. By 5:30 the team was at the Kathmandu airport and ready for some "hurry up and wait". The wait wasn't so long though, on this morning, before we were riding a little shuttle to our plane while watching the sunrise. We boarded the twin prop Dornier and took off in cloudless but smoky skies. Once through the thick smog layer it was possible to see a row of giant and jagged peaks out the port side windows. After a quick 30 minutes, the plane was in a steep descent toward the tilted Tarmac of
Lukla airstrip. The landing was fast, flawless and loud as the pitch of the props was reversed to brake the plane. Within just a few moments we were out of the hectic 9,200-feet airport and in the quiet comfort of a tea house. The
2013 RMI Everest Expedition took its first steps at around 8:30 as we set off in perfect weather. The team only needed one rest along the way as we traveled through small farms and villages. The rock walls of our valley soared above and we could see a handful of glacier covered sharp summits floating over everything. "Traffic" was light on the trails - we leap-frogged a couple of teams we happened to know for a while, but for the last hour or so we had things pretty much to ourselves and could enjoy the quiet of the forest and the turbulence of the river. Shortly after noon Dan, James, Mark,
Seth and myself, along with our Sirdar Lam Babu, pulled into Jo's Garden in the northern suburbs of
Phakding.
We lunched, we napped, we ate again and now we are retiring to the rooms for the night, ready to complete the transition from airports and jet lagged city life to mountains and rivers and valleys and walking.
Best,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
We departed the Shira Plateau this morning in a light mist. Last night brought significant precipitation and muddied the trails a bit. However, the night rain afforded us a beautiful view of the mountain and its new snow. The day's traverse provided great views of the landscape and curious vegetation. About five hours from the onset, we walked down through rolling fog to our camp nestled underneath the
Barranco Wall. Spirits are high and bellies are full. Tomorrow, we wake up early to traverse beneath the Southern Breach Wall.
Stay tuned,
RMI Climber Dan C.
On The Map
We had a great first day in
Moscow. It started with a short walk to the heart of Russia - Red Square and the Kremlin. First up was Lenin's Tomb. It is sort of an eerie experience seeing an embalmed man who has been dead for so many years, but definitely worth it. The trick is to move just slow enough through the viewing room that you do not get the guards' attention and be told to move ahead. After exiting the tomb, we met up with our tour guide who lead us on a grand tour through Saint Basil's Cathedral, the GUM, Red Square, and finally the Kremlin. The day was certainly a mini history lesson of the czars and rulers of Russia, and of wars and power struggles, and Moscow has been around for almost a 1000 years so it gets a little complicated.
After the tour of the Kremlin and feeling like we were close to information overload, we started our walk back to the hotel for a little down time. We are back from dinner now and heading to bed so that we can leave early in the morning for our flight to our next town - Kislovodsk. We'll check in once we get settled there.
Best,
RMI Guides Jeff Martin and Pete Van Deventer
The Four Day Summit Climb led by JJ Justman was approaching Mt. Rainier's crater rim at 6:50 am along with the Five Day Summit Climb led by Mark Falendar. JJ reported clear skies above and light wind. The teams will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise.
The Expedition Skills Seminar – Kautz climbed through the Kautz ice chute this morning. Their team made good work of the route and they were going to enjoy a short break off Wapowety Cleaver as this will be their high point for the trip. The team will return to Ashford later today.
We look forward to seeing the teams back at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Four and Five Day Summit Climb teams!
The
Four Day Summit Climb teams September 13 - 16 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning just after 7 am.
RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Solveig Waterfall reported clear skies above with a light wind from the SW. There is a cloud deck lower on the mountain 9,500'. The teams will enjoy some time on the summit before starting their descent to Camp Muir and continuing to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today Summit Climb teams!
Monday, June 3, 2013
Today was a day of light work and much chilling. We were able to sleep in later than any other day so far, which is always a nice treat i
n the mountains. We did get some fresh snow overnight, so we spent the first few minutes of the day clearing off tents and backpacks. But by 9:30 we were all feasting on righteous breakfast quesadillas filled with fluffy eggs, crispy bacon, melted cheese and topped with hot sauce, which fueled the crew for our back-carry.
We headed back down to our cache and retrieved all our gear, and began the grind back to camp. While the oblong sleds dragged a little in the new snow, we were still able to complete the trip quickly, and before 1 o'clock we were back in camp. Now we are enjoying all the delicious lunch food we had cached, gorging on tasty morsels.
The team is currently resting and getting ready for a hard day of work tomorrow. We're planning to carry a load up to 14K' camp, and the stretch of mountain between here and there will be the most difficult terrain so far. While it may seem like mountain climbers have some strange fetish for being cold, smelly and sore, there is no substitute for the reward you feel at the end of hard day of climbing. We'll check back in tomorrow with an update, so until then keep sending positive energy and wishes for high pressure!
RMI Guides Tyler, Garrett, and the Crew
On The Map
The
RMI Everest Expedition is on track! Three super Sherpa went from Base Camp to Camp 2. En route they stopped at Camp 1 to offer some help to the team and carried the radio and electrical equipment up to Camp 2. After arriving at
Camp 2, they put the puzzle together and bingo, loud and clear communication between Basecamp and Camp 2. A few days ago they carried a couple of community loads of climbing gear, and a strong team of upper mountain route workers placed anchors and rope up the Lhotse Face. With the team now nesting at Camp 2 and feeling good, it makes for another great day here on
Mount Everest. It did snow a couple of inches last night, but a beautiful day with just enough wind to whip the loose snow around making for wild views. A little maintenance on the floors of the dining and communication tents today is routine when living on a moving glacier.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
We came down from the highlands of Karatu. Down from the rich farmland surrounding the Plantation Lodge and out South and West into drier and hotter terrain. But on the way we stopped at a great tourist shop and found a few things to remind us of our journey. We then set out for Tarangire. We entered the park at about midday and immediately started seeing animals. We also saw about a thousand giant baobab trees. Tarangire is an interesting contrast to our last two “parks” because both of those are confined in geographical terms by mountains or water. There is no sense of confinement at Tarangire. It is a huge expanse, and one eventually looks out at zebras and elephants and giraffes as far as the eye can see. We were lucky enough to see two big lions passed out over tree branches. We saw hundreds of elephants, mostly in family groups with little duffel bag sized babies stumbling along next to their moms. We saw Eland and water bucks and impala and wildebeest. We saw dry riverbeds and acacia trees and palms and grasslands. As the afternoon went on, we got farther and farther away from other visitors and deeper into the wilderness. In the early evening we pulled into a tent camp with no fences… zebra and giraffes were wandering a few hundred feet from the lodging- but with extremely friendly and helpful staff who made us feel at home. We sat around an outdoor fire pit and watched the sun go down and the trees sway and the clouds flow… they call it “bush television”. Then we ate an incredible dinner and shared mountain stories for one last evening.
We’ll still be looking for animals tomorrow… but at the end of the day the team will be boarding jetliners. Tonight though, that can all wait. We’ll sleep to the sounds of wilderness tonight with perhaps a lion’s roar or an elephant’s trumpet to “disturb” us.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
We spent the day on the airstrip with high hopes of flying out in the afternoon. While waiting we took advantage of the free time to start practicing technical skills. After brushing up on knots and anchors we learned how to ascend a rope with the anticipation of ascending out of a crevasse on the Ruth Glacier. Unfortunately the weather never broke today. However, with the pilots optimistic about tomorrow morning, we loaded up all our gear on a plane hoping to fly out first thing tomorrow!
RMI Guide Avery Parrinello
We did it!
The whole team managed to stand on the highest point in Europe this morning. Everyone did a fantastic job of taking care of themselves and pushed hard in the thin air. It was a beautiful day for sure, in fact it was the nicest summit on
Elbrus I've had. Not too cold and just the slightest breeze.
We spent about a half hour on top then quickly descended all the way back to the Barrels. After a quick lunch, we packed up and made our way back down to Cheget to our hotel where everyone ran for the first shower in days.
The team is doing great and are looking forward to some much earned sleep.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the summiteers
On The Map
Looks like everything is going well. We are excited to track your trip. Climb on!
Posted by: Lance on 3/28/2013 at 9:29 am
We are thrilled to be able to track your progress. Great to learn that your journey has begun.
Posted by: Bob Bordignon on 3/27/2013 at 7:21 pm
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