Hello from the Kahiltna Glacier. We had beautiful weather yesterday and were able to fly in to Base Camp. Thanks to K2 Aviation and our turbine Otter pilots Jeff and Randy for a great flight. The weather was warm and sunny at base camp, and we took advantage of it by lounging around! (we needed to wait for the air and snow temperatures to cool down for safe and efficient travel conditions).
By the time we left camp, at around 11pm, the conditions were perfect for walking, and stayed that way all the way to the base of Ski Hill at 7,800' where we made our camp at 4 a.m. Now we're enjoying bagel and cream cheese with smoked salmon for brunch. We're planning to continue with our nocturnal ways and move to 9500' tonight.
Ciao for now,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Did you know that the Andes are the longest mountain range in the world? Stretching from southern Colombia all the way to the southernmost point of the continent in Tierra del Fuego.
Or that Peru has 84 out of the 113 different climates found in the world?
Or that the potato was originated in Peru? And there are over 4,000 species of potatoes here!
Did you know there was at least 6,000 years of development prior to the Inca reign and many of the terraces date back to 4,000bc?
Today was an awesome day learning about ancient civilizations to current day Peruvians.
We were led by an awesome guide, Cristian, that graciously shared about religion, agriculture, politics, history and answered our millions of questions while touring the Sacred Valley.
We took it at all in like sponges and there were so many moments of awe - how in the world could they have gotten boulders this large, this high? And so perfectly slotted together?
The Andes are the most rugged set of mountains you could ever find - but instead of seeing these mountains has obstacles the Peruvians and the Inca turned them into possibilities. By building cascades of terraces, from the bottom of the valley to the summit. Building canals for water and over 10,000 miles of trails connecting to each other.
These sights were amazing to see but the best part of the day was the wealth of knowledge and openness from Cristian to share the culture of his ancestors with us.
I did not, in fact, realize that the Andes are the longest mountain range in the world, no. Another fact I totally realized today (after doing some Googling after reading this post): Alpamayo is in Peru as well. (Alpamayo is part of the Peruvian Andes and seems like some climb out of a story book.)
Posted by: Some guy from Puyallup on 8/18/2024 at 3:11 pm
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling from Antarctica. We made our flight through the night. We left Punta Arenas around 11:40 p.m. and flew down through the dark, until reaching the daylight of Antarctica. We landed at about 4:15 this morning at Union Glacier. Beautiful landing and we are in Union Glacier Camp. We haven't gone out to Vinson, it's probably not gonna happen today. But we are keeping our fingers crossed for tomorrow. We've got our tents up and we are sleeping in to recover from the night of flying. But all is well, and we'll get you a regular dispatch when possible.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn calls in after landing on Union Glacier.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Hey everybody this is Billy here. I'm with Kel, Levi and the rest of the gang checking in from 17K Camp, high on Denali. We had a beautiful day today and it was actually pretty darn hot for our move up to high camp. We spent a good chunk of the afternoon cutting blocks and fortifying our spot. We're hoping to take a crack at the summit tomorrow. The weather forecast looks perfect. We'll call in tomorrow hopefully check in, from the summit perhaps, and then once again once we get back to camp safe and sound. That's all for now, talk later.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
I know I sound like a broken record but our Aconcagua team is both rocking and rolling! Today we woke up early and laced up our mountaineering boots. With hefty packs in hand we slowly made our way up to Camp 1 at 16,360 feet...officially.
For Geoff and I today gave us an opportunity to visibly see how each climber is doing. And it was obvious that everyone has climbed before. And climbed well. The team was in sync with breaks, rest stepping, good footwork and most importantly everyone was having fun.
We spent a half an hour at Camp 1 and we left quite a bit of gear that we will need for the upper mountain. So we are now officially ready to move up the mountain. But first we will take another rest day here at base camp. There's no need to rush. The tortoise always wins the race.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
are the two pictures from the archive or actually from the current trip?
Posted by: Ryan Junell on 12/11/2012 at 9:47 am
Good work Barrel I-you are awesome and glad to hear all is well. PETER- I have 12 copies of Mountains of the Mind for XMAS gifts for my Kilimanjaro girls and Linden. Loved the book but I know you were luke warm on MacFarlane. Thanks for the copy on Elbrus. Rob- Charlie is changing jobs. West Virginia vs Richmond? Love to you all.
The Four Day Summit Climbs led by Peter Whittaker, Ed Viesturs and Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning at 6:30 a.m. The teams reported a beautiful day up top: sunshine, clear skies and calm winds. The teams will return to Camp Muir and complete their descent to Paradise later today.
At 9:00 a.m., the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by Pete Van Deventer also made the summit via the Emmons Route. They began their descent shortly after and will be descending back to Camp Schurman for the evening and returning to Rainier Basecamp tomorrow.
The Four Day Climb of Forbidden Peak in the North Cascades led by Andres Marin reached the summit yesterday and will descending to the trailhead this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
12:01 a.m. (Nepalese Time) - Team leaving the South Col
UP UP AND AWAY !
These guys are my supermen. It's now down to a handful of hours. With all that has happened over the course of this expedition, success shows itself in many ways.
Summit or not these guys rock.
In a couple of days, when Dave, Linden, Kaji, Dawa, Yubarj and Tsering are back down here at Base Camp feeling good and all equipment removed from the mountain, that will be a huge success.
As they leave the South Col they start on kind of rolling terrain with some good-sized crevasses. In the past the fixed line didn't normally start till you got the first steep part, the Triangular face. So some kind of markings like the sticks with flags were great but if it was hard ice everywhere you had a difficult time placing them. GPS is sure an improvement but electronics can have some problems in the cold and one more thing to mess with. The last few years the teams have made it a point to put a rope line to follow in this area for low-to-no visibility occasions.
As they start up it's a constant mix of adjusting straps, pace, oxygen masks, gloves, ice axes and more.
While you hope you hit the clothing options right, it may be necessary to pull over and make the quick change so as to not sweat bullets or need to move to quick to stay warm. And what about the other teams? Are they in front, going at a pace that does not work for you? Can you unclip from the rope and make a pass safely? Is your oxygen mask clogging up and not allowing freedom of ambient air movement? Is the wind now picking up and I need to put on some form of eye protection to keep from getting the dreaded frozen cornea? Now that I have put on the eye protection is it all fogged up? Better to see the terrain and risk the freezing? How are my toes, what is going on with my hands? Head to toe self survey, constantly observing my every move. What are my thoughts, am I keeping focused? How is my partner? Where is my partner? Are my Sherpa OK? Do they have my next bottle of oxygen? My oxygen!
Do I still have enough to get me to the Balcony (27,500 ft), the next location that I will expect to hear radio communication from the team? And first semi-flat place for a short break and a oxygen bottle change.
That should take between three and four hours from now. So hang in there, I promise as soon as I hear, you will too.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
This morning we woke up to Joey the Guide’s scrumptious pancakes. Does he moonlight at Benihana’s? Conditions weren’t favorable so we made it a rest day. We ended the day with dinner and optimism for a move to Camp Two tomorrow. And now, a poem:
All day we were stuck at Camp One
Blueberry chocolate chip pancakes are fun
Tomorrow we’ll try for 10 And if this happens again
Call our team the cloistered nuns
- Lenhardt Stevens and the June 4 Denali Expedition Team
Scott, hopefully the weather clears quickly so your third attempt proceeds safely!
Posted by: Roger Coffey on 6/10/2023 at 11:28 am
Hopefully today the weather is more favorable. We are all rooting for you Mikayla and your team! One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time. -Barbara Walters
Team switch day at Union Glacier. The Ilyushin 76 flew today, landing at about 2:45 PM. "V1" ended and "V2" began. There were a couple of hours of overlap in Union Base so that the two teams could mingle and compare notes on Punta Arenas and Vinson Massif. The V1 gang told stories of the cold summit, the good food and the two pure white snow petrels we saw at Vinson Base yesterday while waiting for the airplane (it is uncommon to see seabirds so far from the sea). The V2 folk talked about false starts yesterday and touring town with Jeff Martin. Eventually it was time for JJ to take V1 out to the big jet airplane and head back across the Drake Passage to South America. It is likely that the team is celebrating in Punta at this very moment (11:43 PM). Back on the Ice, the V2ers waited patiently for flying weather to materialize at Vinson Base. Word was that it was socked in with fog. We talked, played chess, ate meals and drank coffee, but none of that made the clouds go away. By about 10 PM we built our tents and called it a night... In the bright sunshine. Tomorrow perhaps. Getting to the middle of Antarctica was plenty for today.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
How excited we were to receive the text that the team was “a go”! Thank you so much for these blogs; it really helps keeping abreast with all the activities. Hopefully today ya’ll will be able to get to Vinson Base, home for awhile. Prayers continue. Lots of love, Mom
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
-640x480.jpg)
_Punta_Arenas_Union_Glacier.png)
Have a great time and glad to know you are all ok! Matt we’re already celebrating here for you :)
Posted by: Vanessa & Daniel Elkins on 6/16/2012 at 9:56 pm
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! Great webcam pics to watch the weather and know everyone is somewhere out there. Blessings to all!
Posted by: Betsy V on 6/16/2012 at 9:25 pm
View All Comments