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Aconcagua dispatch 2.10.25

After a night of witnessing a spectacular Andean thunderstorm, we awoke this morning to a beautiful cloak of snow on the ground, ~5cm of white magic. We rustled out of our sleeping bags to a warm breakfast, then prepared our packs to carry a load of supplies to Camp 2. Up up and away, we reached our destination at 18,000', in the early afternoon.  We didn't spend long up high -just long enough to cache our supplies - before we flew back downhill to the warmth and comfort of Camp 1. We had a lazy afternoon in the sun filled with eating, sleeping, & hydrating.

Dinner rolled around just in time to fill our empty bellies, then off to bed we went. Serenaded by the roar of the nearby river, we drifted off to sleep. Much needed rest for the big days ahead.
RMI Guide Hannah Blum & Team

The Four Day Climb teams led by Andy Bond and Nick Scott heading up to Camp Muir for their climb tomorrow, September 16th, decided to retreat in the face of blizzard conditions. The team made it just past Pebble Creek and onto the Muir Snowfield despite heavy rains. However, at about 7,300' the heavy rains quickly turned into blowing sideways ice and snow which forced them to make the collective safety decision to turn around and head back to Paradise. The team made their descent and are back in town wearing dry layers and sipping warm drinks.

Friday, July 10, 2015 - 2:14 am PT Hey, This is Dave Hahn calling from 17,000 feet on Mt. McKinley. It's about 10 minutes after 1 in the morning. We had a big day yesterday, on the 9th of July. We summitted Mount McKinley! It was a beautiful day, start to finish, nice and calm and sunny, clouds down below. It was perfect climbing conditions, but it was hard climbing conditions, we had to break trail. We shared that work with a few of the other guided teams that were up here. That made all the difference; breaking trail through new snow and being able to trade off that job. But it still took a long time, I think we were out for 14 hours today. We were on the the top at 6:45 until 7:15. It was beautiful up there, really wonderful day, and all of our team made it. I believe that means that RMI is 100% for this season; all of the RMI summit teams have made it. That's just about it for the Denali season, the groups that we were going to the top with today were some of the last. I think there's maybe one more team that is a day from being in position. So far so good for us, we're up at 17k for now and we'll head off the West Buttress tomorrow. But, it really turned around, turned nice for us in these last couple days and we're very appreciative.

On The Map

RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Geoff Schellens and the Four Day Summit Climb team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 7:28am this morning. The team reported clear beautiful skies, steady winds of 10 mph, and cool temperatures. The group spent some time on the summit enjoying the views and are now en route back to Camp Muir. Congrautations to today's teams!

The team is all here and our adventure starts tomorrow! Today we rested from the long flights and prepared our gear for the climb. We took a short ride into Arusha, did a little shopping and visited the school that Clement's (our driver) children attend. Some of the team members brought gifts and candy that we handed out to the kids. Plenty of smiles there! Everyone is doing well, a little nervous as usual! But ready to stretch the legs tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Peter Whittaker gets blown around on the summit of Mount Rainier.

Twenty four hours of flying high and fast brought our team of 12 to the end of the conventional planet.  We’re now assembled in Punta Arenas, Chile... ready to go the final leg of our journey to the unconventional planet.  Things look good for firing up the Gulfstream tomorrow morning to jump on down to Union Glacier in Antarctica.  With luck, we’ll then make the hop out to Vinson Basecamp in ski-equipped Twin Otters. 
 
We landed in Punta near mid-day today and got settled at the venerable old Cabo De Hornos hotel on the town’s central plaza.  We walked the streets for a bit, finding lunch and making our way to the headquarters of Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions for a briefing.  ALE is our partner and outfitter for the expedition and they got us up to speed on environmental safeguarding procedures and current weather predictions.  We then went back to exploring town.  There was the obligatory stop for pisco sours in the Shackleton Bar of one of the old, stately hotels on the plaza.  Then we found the perfect grill -a Parrilla-for a hearty patagonian dinner.   Finally, we watched the sunset light up clouds over Magellan’s Strait as we walked home.  Early start tomorrow.  Perhaps we’ll finish the day on Mount Vinson. 

Best regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Robby Young and Leon Davis were standing on the summit of Mt. Rainier at 7 AM PT today. Robby reported a beautiful warm day of climbing with a light breeze. The team will spend some time on the Summit before starting their descent. Congratulations to today's teams!

We packed up camp and left the beauties of the Ishinca Valley this morning. Our thoughts temporarily shifted from climbing peaks to hot showers and real beds. Don't get me wrong, we're not getting soft here. We still have an almost 19,000' mountain to climb. But the creature comforts of Huaraz are certainly welcome for a day before we head back to the hills. Or next target is Pisco Oeste in the Llanganuco valley. We're feeling strong and we're ready for the challenge. These are a few photos from the last few days in Ishinca. Photos by Zeb Blais. Enjoy. RMI Guides Zeb Blais, Chase Nelson and team

We're spending today resting and acclimatizing at Plaza Argentina under a beautiful sunny sky. We slept in, ate some bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast burritos, drank maté, and are hanging out. This will be our last night here at basecamp before we head up on the mountain. The weather (as far as we've heard, anyway) is supposed to hold and should make for a nice move up to Camp 1 tomorrow. We'll check in tomorrow night and let you know how it went... RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map