Hello everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in again from the Mount Everest Base Camp Trek and Island Peak Climb. We are all currently safely back at base camp here on Island Peak after a successful but long, hard day. It was a pretty tough night. We actually had quite a bit of snow overnight, which made the trail difficult but fine and pretty slick so it was hard going for most folks for the first few hours. Luckily the wind died down and we were able to get three of our climbers to the top of Island Peak. The other three- a couple of them climbed, one stayed in camp to be moral support. The other two, I think they realized it was a little too much for them. It was a big day. It took about eight hours for the team to reach the summit after almost going non-stop with just a few breaks. We are all back at camp, everyone's happy and doing well. We just packed up and we're going to drop down to Chukung... (transmission lost)
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom checking in after Island Peak climb.
Thanks for posting useful information about the island peak climbing. I read your complete blog and got i lot of information for my future trek plans. I really got to know about some interesting facts which I was not aware of. I have also got some useful insights from ExpedReview as well.
Thanks for posting wonderful content. Keep posting such types of blogs.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
We are down in the thick air of 11k feet! We woke this morning to some snowfall, and generally wintry conditions, but nothing that we couldn't deal with, and in short order we had camp packed and were rolling down the buttress. We made a short stop at 14 to visit with Dave Hahn's team ( who were gracious enough to invite is into their posh and make us hot water) and pick up our cache. Another few hours brought us to the 11k camp, where we made our beds for the night. We plan to wake early and continue our descent down the Kahiltna, with the aim of being at the airstrip by mid morning! With luck, there will be a break in the clouds, and we will see the red planes of K2 dropping in to bring us back to Talkeetna! We'll let you know how that goes, but for now, it's early to bed for us!
RMI Guides Pete, Geoff, Robby, and team
Hi team: My stepson is with Dave Hahn on the way up, and I’ve been reading your team’s posts also. Hope you got down, and got to fly out.
Posted by: Vicki on 7/10/2013 at 3:25 pm
Hola Guapo,
Viola just called me to tell me you were stuck” IN a glacier?” I HOPE NOT!....I’m hoping you meant : “stuck ON the glacier i.e.:mountain”. Did you forget our home number?
You have nothing scheduled at the office until the 22nd. Viola wanted me to let you know that. She said you would be home Thursday How is this possible?
Aywhoooo
Are you planing to take me away?...Far…....Far…...away? I hope so! If you can’t…make sure you pick up a box of Calgon at the supermercado before you come home! (Calgon take me way!!)
xxoo
Marion
Friday, June 21st, 2013
Ahhhh a day of rest. We did not even move in our tents until the sun hit them at 9:30. We had a morning of slowly cooking pancakes for the group. We believe pancakes are the perfect acclimatization food.
We volunteered to be guinea pigs for a medical experiment having to do with high altitude. The test involved having a series of heart rate and oxygen saturation measurements taken and then walk around a track for 6 minutes to see how those measurements change. It was not a competition, but let's just say our group crushed it!
If the weather is nice tomorrow, our plan is to move some gear up to 17,000' Camp. On Denali, 60% of the time the weather is good all the time!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and RMI Summit Team 6
Any smiley faces in the pancakes? Glad you got some rest. Big storms here (well, yes, it is all relative) but all is well. :)
Posted by: KConstantine on 6/22/2013 at 9:25 pm
Pancakes, huh? Well, OK. But you know, the other teams are reporting Pop Tarts. Since we live at 9500 feet, Bill and I are sure proof that Pop Tarts are the best high altitude food ever made. But if you guys want to eat pancakes, carry on.
Love to Steve & Grasshopper from Lisa, Bill, Taii, & Togo
Friday, June 14, 2013
Greetings from Summit Team 6! We bit off a huge chunk today with our move from Basecamp to Camp 1. We carried all of the food, fuel, equipment, and clothing that we will need for our expedition. Needless to say, we carried heavy! We made the trip up glacier in just under five hours.
Once in camp, we made a bombproof tent site sheltered from the wind. It took us around an hour to get camp setup and organized. We took advantage of another beautifully warm and clear afternoon to take some siesta time. This was much needed since we woke up at 2:00 a.m. to pack up this morning.
We are just getting ready for a Dinty Moore and mashed potatoes dinner. I would imagine it will be another early evening since we have another early wake up time scheduled. Our plan is to carry gear up a bit higher and make a cache and then return to the same camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and McKinley Team 6
The Expedition Skills Seminar team awoke at Muir with sunny skies. We spent the day training outside going over basic climbing skills.
Later this afternoon the weather rolled in and we retreated back into the comfort of our bunkhouse. There we continued training where the team safely learned self rescue out of a crevasse.
Tonight we will enjoy dinner, lecture on high altitude medicine and tell some tall tales along the way.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Hello everyone this is Team #1 on Aconcagua,
Today we went from Camp 1 to Camp 2. We carried some of the gear we will need higher on the mountain making a cache of gear. Everyone did a great job getting up to 18,100’ we hung out for a little bit and then we enjoyed a beautiful walk back down here to Camp 1 at 16,500’. Everything is going very well a little bit of a breeze, but that is not too bad. We are just resting and recovering now. We will be taking a full rest day tomorrow which has been well deserved. We have a few surprises for the team tomorrow a smorgasbord of food, but we will get into that tomorrow when we get in touch with the RMI Blog and let you know what we do to hang out at 16,500’ having just a great time.
Things are going very well here; it is really nice to be higher in the mountain. Great views! We will talk again very soon. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team
We are enjoying a beautiful bluebird rest day here in the comfort of our second camp high on Aconcagua, after yesterday's trip to Campo Colera at 19,600'. The temperatures have warmed up and the winds have died down, so we are all just refueling and getting mentally prepared for the upcoming push to our highest camp and the summit. For a change of pace, we're going to have each team member share some thoughts today. Without further ado:
Sid: rest days are probably the toughest days, though given the push ahead it is welcome. Hello to all and thanks for your thoughts, they make a difference.
Keith: VERY tough mountain so far, but Gabi, Garrett and Pete have made it do-able and tolerable so far. Hi to fam and friends!
Erin: it's been a difficult climb with high winds, but I am feeling well despite a brief battle with dehydration yesterday. Looking forward to coming home to family and friends, see you all soon!
Todd: Looking forward to the summit! Kili ain't got nothing on Aconcagua...go market go!!
Dan M.: Awesome team, great climb and scenery. Send more TP. O-H!
John: Greetings family and friends, looking forward to the summit attempt. This is a beautiful, awesome and challenging mountain. As in Psalm 19, "The heavens and earth speak forth His glory".
Michael: It's all I expected physically and with beauty. Love to Lois and my girls, miss you all.
Lisa: Tom, miss you every day. Would love for you to be here. Sheri, your sleeping bag is working perfect.
Garrett: Great climb with great people in a spectacular place! Amy, I love you and miss you. See you soon!
Pete: The Andes have been showing us their spectacular side! Katie, love you, miss you, and talk soon!
Gabi: Having a great time, enjoying the time shared with the team members and my friends Pete and Garrett.
Ceci: te amo, nos vemos pronto por Buenos Aires!
Thanks to everybody out there for following our progress and sending all those positive wishes.
Cheers,
The RMI Aconcagua expedition
Fun to hear from all the climbers! Wishing you a safe push to the summit! Hi, Michael! XXOO :)
Posted by: Judy H. on 1/22/2011 at 7:22 am
Go Sid!
Great that the whole team is strong. Have a fabulous summit day. Don’t forget to take the time to soak it all in. You are a great inspiration to al of us back home. We want pictures.
Kevin & Patty
Posted by: Kevin Callaghan on 1/21/2011 at 10:01 am
A calm and warm night gaveway to another gorgeous morning here at Base Camp. After breakfast we shouldered our packs and set out. The first stretch of walking brought us through a series of steep valleys and rolls just above Elbrus Base Camp that are blanketed in lush green grass and wildflowers. Picking our way amongst the giant protrusions of volcanic rock from the mountain's formation we made our way higher, leaving the vegetation behind and entering the alpine zone of rock and dirt.
By midday we reached our goal for the day - a flat plateau at just over 11,000' below the morraine leading to Camp 1. There we unloaded our packs and cached our gear amongst the rocks. This strategy of caching our gear higher on the mountain and then descending back to camp serves a twofold purpose: it allows us to move a portion of our gear ahead of us, making packs lighter tomorrow when we move camp, and also gives us a jumpstart on acclimatization by exposing our bodies to a higher altitude before descending back lower to recover. This strategy of "climb high, sleep low" is an important part of any climbing expedition to high altitudes and will greatly benefit us tomorrow when we move to Camp 1.
After caching our gear and resting for a bit in the sun, we retraced our steps back to Base Camp, reaching our tents just before a small sprinkling of afternoon rain swept through the valley. Thankfully the rain blew through and the evening is beautiful. We have just wrapped up dinner and are getting ready to turn in for the night. The setting sun has lit up Elbrus' west side in a pink alpenglow as well as the small clouds hanging near the summit. It is a gorgeous night to be out in the mountains.
We will check in tomorrow after moving up to Camp 1.
Thunderstorms rolled into the Baksan Valley last night as we ate dinner, temporarily cutting the power, but again the morning broke clear, with a few scattered clouds dispersed across the sky. We packed up our bags and left our hotel, climbing onto the first tram of the morning with all of our gear for the mountain. Two tram rides and another rickety single seat chairlift later we reached the toe of the glacier.
Perched along a fin of rock jutting uphill into the glacier sits the Garabashi Huts, also known as the Barrel Huts. Consisting of several massive fuel barrels retrofitted into bunk rooms and painted in the colors of the Russian flag, the collection is a bit odd looking compared to the alpine huts most of us are used to. But when the winds start to blow nothing could be more inviting up here.
After setting in we headed out for a small acclimatization hike, climbing up the glacier a ways, getting ourselves back in the habit of walking on snow and giving our bodies good exposure to still higher elevations. Above us Elbrus' twin summits danced in and out of the clouds whirling around them.
Returning to the huts for lunch, we watched the clouds descend down the mountain, growing ever darker and occasionally spitting rain on us as the afternoon progressed. But by early evening they once again dispersed and the skies have cleared, giving us gorgeous views across the Caucasus into Georgia, the peaks illuminated in evening light.
Tomorrow we will head out on a more substantial acclimatization hike before returning to rest at the Barrels. We will check in tomorrow night.
It was another brilliant blue sky morning in Namche, and so it was easy to get up and get going… but leaving comfy Camp de Base is never all that easy. We were excited to start up the Thame Valley. There were many many nice people on the trail from Lukla to Namche and the vast majority of them were headed for Everest Basecamp. We took some satisfaction this morning in going out of town the other way. We walked in forest for roughly the first three miles and then began to break out of the trees to see perfectly manicured small farms along the way. Of course we sat for tea in Thamo, comfortable outside even as some clouds began to gather. Then it wasn’t too much further to Thame. We began to see the destruction caused by the recent outburst flood (essentially, a month ago a natural dam failed up valley, sending a wall of water and rock down upon this beautiful village). As usual with such things it is jarring to see some farms and tea houses completely untouched while neighboring properties are simply gone or in ruins. We were welcomed at the Paradise Lodge in early afternoon, having gone just over six miles from Namche. A big lunch put the team in the proper mood for resting through the afternoon and adjusting to the “new” altitude.
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Thanks for posting useful information about the island peak climbing. I read your complete blog and got i lot of information for my future trek plans. I really got to know about some interesting facts which I was not aware of. I have also got some useful insights from ExpedReview as well.
Thanks for posting wonderful content. Keep posting such types of blogs.
Posted by: John Andrew on 10/26/2023 at 3:19 am
Congratulations, everybody!
Posted by: Jan on 4/5/2014 at 9:25 am
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