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Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Henry Coppolillo, Tatum Whatford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Wednesday, May 24, 2023 - 9:00 am PT
The climbing along the West Buttress is some of the most fun and aesthetic of the whole Denali trip and we got a perfect day for it. We left early, with camp still in the shade and chilly. But we climbed out into the sun within the first hour. The fixed lines, which has been blue blue ice when we first got to 14,000' had pasted in with the last couple days of snow and there were nice steps kicked in for most of the way. We rolled over the top of the line onto the ridge to stunning views that extended forever. We could see trees from our perch (or at least green). We continued along the Buttress, picking our way through the airy terrain will above 14,000' Camp and the Peters Glacier on the other side. By afternoon, we walked into 17,000' Camp. Doing most anything at 17,000' is hard. You have to show down - how fast you walk, shovel, etc. We got a hole dug and left our goodies, then retraced our steps back to 14,000' Camp. The team did an incredible job and got the trip done in 10 hours. We were back in camp for dinner time. Things are set and now we wait for the weather to open a summit window.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Jack Delaney, Jess Wedel
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800'
As the clouds dissipated and the grapple settled, we awoke in our tents and decided to hit snooze. We waited for the warm kiss of the sun to dry our tents and only then, did we creak our sore muscles and joints into working. Our walk down was a welcome change from the cold, damp weather of our night spent at Camp 3. The cool breeze, sunny skies, and grand vistas made our travel easy as we descended to Basecamp into open arms and champagne showers.
We’re settled into Basecamp after a delicious asado and will sleep soundly tonight. Tomorrow, we start the walk out of the Vacas valley. It will be our final full day on the mountain. As pretty and rewarding as it’s been out here, we’re excited for the creature comforts that Mendoza has to offer.
Tomorrow is a long day, but we’re excited to see the views and experience the valley without the nerves and trepidation that the beginning offers.
Thanks for following along!
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Jack Delaney, Jess Wedel
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,200'
When I first climbed a mountain years ago. I did it to help a friend with a late life mid life crisis. After that I continued to climb but never had an answer to the question “why”? Today I found my answer. Today we trekked from Camp 1 to Camp 2. A gain of around 2,000' in elevation. On the walk it came to me that we have formed a mountain family. We have Dom the Dominating. The father figure and leader of the group. Toothpick, the moral foundation.Gator. Charles Darwin. Origin of species. THE living fossil. David, the doc. Jack, the nephew that always says one more rep at the gym. Rossi, the long lost cousin from Europe. Mary Beth, the aunt that always knows if your telling the truth or not.Hudson, hair = Epic!, Tim, the crazy uncle willing to medically treat your cats for everything. Cam, the strong but silent type. Today as we moved up the mountain. We did it as a group with everyone matching speed and ability perfectly. No one was left behind and all were in good spirits and willing to help anyone with anything. There were words of encouragement, and a sense of belonging - the likes you do not see very often. It is in this spirit that I can say everyone here is a Lion King compared to what you will see in an average day of work. Except Gator, he is more of a Gator King.
Signing out from Camp 1 with everyone in good spirits and health.
P.S. Jane I’m fine.
Climber Shane Chidester
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Dominic Cifelli, Luke Wilhelm
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 8,681'
Wednesday, July 21, 2021 6:20 pm PT
Hi Everyone -
We ALL made it to the top of Sahale Mountain at 3:15 pm today! We are on the descent now, off rock and back to glacier. The team is doing great! We will be back at camp soon, ready to get some rest and trek out tomorrow morining!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer & Team!
Posted by: Ben Liken
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
CONGRATULATIONS to all on quite an accomplishment! Can’t wait to hear all about it. Proud of you Stefan!
Posted by: Gail on 1/13/2014 at 9:21 am
Good Job, Stef. wer’e rooting for you. I’m going to have all your fav foods waiting for you when you get home!
Posted by: gail on 1/10/2014 at 4:22 pm
On The Map
You don’t want to break my record: 33 days and no summit (May, 1972)
Posted by: Joe on 5/25/2011 at 10:42 am
That’s exciting that you guys are so close. We’re all thinking calm clear skies for you. Good luck from the crew at Les Schwab.
Posted by: Jeff McCrary on 5/25/2011 at 9:55 am
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nicole De Petris
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,300'
Sunday, February 9, 2025 - 2:57 pm PT
We are excited for our first glaciers in Ecuador.
A fun, bumpy 4x4 ride delivered us to the climbers hut where we unpacked and settled into the penthouse suite. That is a nice way to say we had to haul all our gear up a bunch of stairs and everyone was breathing heavy.
After moving in, we refreshed our walking and cramponing techniques on the rocks and dirt just above the hut.
We also met the rest of our guide team, Carmelo, Jorge and Gustavo who joined us for dinner. They are warm and friendly and quickly becoming part of the team.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner of quinoa-potato soup, followed by chicken and rice. We are getting to bed early in preparation for our early start tomorrow.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar February 4, 2025
Thursday, October 10, 2024 - 3:04 am PT
As much as we were enjoying the high life up in Gokyo, it was time to get lower. We got walking at 8:30 this morning down past the series of magical lakes pinched between giant mountains and a giant glacier. The end of the glacier brought a dramatic change in the scenery as we were then traversing a steep gorge with a charging and churning river below. The trail was in great condition, though it was still a challenge to keep from tumbling off as one could get easily distracted staring at the six or eight 20,000 ft mountains surrounding us. It wasn’t particularly busy on the trail but we were careful to give room to the hard working yaks when they came through loaded up with propane. The weather followed what we’ve come to think of as the normal pattern: crystal clear to start and clouding up after noon. We pulled into Dhole at around 1:40 PM after 8.2 miles, so the gang was definitely ready for lunch and a few hours of rest to complete the day. The rest -way down here at 13,400- ought to be a little more restful than we’ve had in recent days.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
New Post Alerts:
Gokyo Trek September 28, 2024
Posted by: Jack Delaney, Mike Bennett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Alaska certainly had a theme for the team this year and it was snow. We did not awake to clear skies, but instead 4 inches of fresh snow and more coming down! Our hopes were dashed for a flight off the glacier first thing in the morning. The team spirits remained high as we spent the day talking about life and the fragility of horses all while devouring any and all bacon that was left. Eventually the skies got a little lighter, then a little blue even and before we knew it - it was a beautiful sunny afternoon in the Alaska Range. After another few hours of hurry up and wait, a big red Otter buzzed into our life to whisk us back to civilization. Out of mountain boots, into showers and one final meal at Denali Brewing and our trip is complete. It was a great trip, with far more fun and stories than fit in this blog, until next time...
RMI Guides Jack Delaney, Mike Bennett and The Team
Posted by: Mike King, Alex Halliday, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Friday, June 4, 2021 - 7:22 pm PT
It’s different living at 14,200’. The air is colder, you get winded easier and stoves don’t burn as efficient. We slept in today and waited for the sun to hit our tents before heading down to get our cache at 13,500’. The group did well and we were back in camp for an active rest day. The guides finished the kitchen/dining tent and the climbers enjoyed the views of Mt. Foraker and Mt Hunter. Our 3rd RMI team descended from 17K Camp after a successful summit. Warm tents and good conversations passed the afternoon quickly and we are getting ready for dinner. To better acclimate we’ll take a rest day tomorrow and see what the weather brings.
Rest well Mike , Tom and team!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/6/2021 at 3:31 am
Keep up the good work Two-Dads! Just reading this blog makes me feel tired
Posted by: Adam on 6/5/2021 at 7:39 pm
Mary Beth is the best! So proud of you! Ten cuidado y te amo cuñada!
Posted by: Angela Spinner on 1/29/2023 at 5:01 pm
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