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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: JJ Justman, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Posted by: Seth Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Good luck, Mark, and group—will be following your climb.
Posted by: Mary Ann on 8/8/2013 at 9:41 am
Sunday, August 27, 2023 - 7:56 am PT
Big Day! And night. We were awake at 11 PM sharp last night. Thankfully, it was calm and not too cold at 15,200 ft at that hour. We geared up, ate a quick “breakfast” and got walking at 12:05 AM. Everybody else at Barafu Camp did so too. It was a great parade of headlights converging on the steep start to the route. Naiman led our team nice and steady through various teams that were stopping and starting to deal with difficulties. Once we were through the rocky start to the route, the walking got a little easier and one could pay a little attention to the stars and the lights of Moshi and other towns and cities. The moon was about half full and threw back some useful light for us. As expected, it got cold as we got a few hours into the climb. By the halfway point we pretty much had every scrap of clothing on. Water bottles within our packs were freezing up. Our main strategy for dealing with the cold was to keep moving. We hit Stella Point at the crater rim at 6AM. The walking got easier then… and absolutely beautiful as the light came up. Sunrise came as we were halfway to Uhuru -the highest point. We got to Uhuru at 7 AM. It was a little cold and breezy at 19,341 ft above sea level and so we didn’t stay long. Long enough for some victorious pics with the big sign board up there. The breeze/wind motivated us to move down the mountain at a pretty good clip, boot skiing in the scree. We were back to Barafu at 10:10 AM. Tosha presented us with a pizza brunch and we had some time for taking care of ourselves and packing up. Nobody was all that psyched at the prospect of four more hours on our feet to descend 5,000 ft but we got after it anyway. We made it down to a 10,000 ft camp in the woods by 3:35 PM. The team is safe and relieved to be back on flat ground (everything at high camp is tilted) and so happy to be breathing oxygen rich air with actual humidity again.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Congratulations!! Now I know someone (Sarah) in real life that has climbed one of my bucket list mountains. Looking forward to celebrate in person when we all get together back in the US. Peace…..and Keep Climbing!!
Posted by: Dwight Fish on 8/29/2023 at 4:21 am
Congratulations!! Way to go!
Posted by: Karen Edwards on 8/29/2023 at 2:11 am
Posted by: Henry Coppolillo, Joey Manship, Will Ambler
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise July 28 - 2 August led by RMI Guides Henry Coppolillo, Joey Manship and Will Ambler reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team met last Friday for their first day of training, equipment checks and orientation. With full packs they ascended to their first camp on Saturday. They have spent the last four nights on the mountain, moving camps expedition style and practicing glacier travel, ice axes arrest, cramponing, crevasse rescue techniques while gradually ascending. Yesterday they jumped up to Camp Muir and launched their summit attempt with an alpine start today. After reaching the summit, the team descended to Camp Muir. Once at Camp they will repack gear and continue down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Paradise Seminar crew!
Posted by: Mike Walter, Nikki Champion, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Wednesday, July 7, 2021 - 3:24 pm PT
The winds are calm and it's snowing lightly at Denali 14K Camp. Our plan is to pack up camp this afternoon and journey down into the thicker clouds, hopefully making it to Basecamp sometime in the middle of the night. We're not overly optimistic that we'll be able to fly tomorrow...the pilots at K2 Aviation tell us that this weather is supposed to stick around until Saturday. If all goes well we'll at least be in position to fly off the glacier if a clearing presents itself.
We'll let you know how it goes.
Brad,
Looking forward to you getting back and hearing about your adventure.
Your friends at Modern.
Posted by: Dave Brown on 7/8/2021 at 11:14 am
Posted by: Christina Dale
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest BC Trek and Lobuche
Elevation: 4,383'
Posted by: JJ Justman
Categories: Aconcagua
Aconcagua of course is one of the seven summits and at just under 23,000 feet it is the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. It is the perfect mountain for climbers who want to get a start at expedition style climbing. The climb starts in the rugged, high mountain desert landscape where temperatures can be very warm. Mules carry our climbing gear the three day trek to base camp at Plaza Argentina. That means a couple of things: One, you get to trek into base camp with a light backpack; two, you get to hang out with the cowboys, also known as Arrieros, every night at the campfire; and perhaps most importantly, you get to experience a true Argentinian Asado as the cowboys cook steak and chicken over the campfire under the stars.
Once you arrive at base camp, most climbers are pleasantly surprised at how civilized it is. It’s very reminiscent of Everest Base Camp in that there are dining tents, toilets, and even showers. Since acclimatization is very important on such a high mountain, it certainly is nice to have some creature comforts and incredible support from a great base camp staff. The climbing above base camp is physically demanding. When I first climbed "The Stone Sentinel" in 1998 we only made two camps above base camp. Today RMI makes three camps. Camp One sits at 16,200 feet. Camp Two at 18,000 feet and Camp Three at 19,600 feet. With 20 summits of Aconcagua I have seen the success rate go way up due to the more strategic nature of making three camps. This acclimatization schedule helps to make our climbing teams much stronger, but the climb is still a lot of work!
I would love to explain to you how amazing the world looks up high on summit day, but it’s like every mountain I climb: you cannot fully explain the beauty of the high alpine world until you see it for yourself. As you stand on her summit and gaze out, you see a world that never ends; mountains beyond mountains as far as the eye can see. While you contemplate, it doesn’t take too long to begin to smile knowing that as soon as you get down, you are returning to the beautiful city of Mendoza to enjoy the hot weather and swimming pools, after an evening of dining once again on the most amazing food you’ll ever have in your life, that is!
Posted by: JJ Justman, Tyler Jones
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,060'
I was watching the blinking light up on the mountain hoping every one would make it back to climb another day. I had gone to the mountain in hopes to capture lightning on film, but it was touching down very close and chickened out. I was at the snow lake trailhead and I think the car parked 40 feet away got hit. What a show!
Posted by: Brian on 6/29/2015 at 8:42 pm
Hey guys, I woke up about 12:30 to the sound of thunder at the Bunkhouse. I sat on the picnic table and watched the light show while hoping you would still make it and that you were all safe. Sorry you had to turn back.
Posted by: kelly gaddis on 6/29/2015 at 1:26 pm
Mike H enjoy the climb! All of us back home on the beach sipping Margaritas!! Now thats a real vaca!!
Posted by: tom m on 10/21/2013 at 10:31 am
I got your phone message this morning, John P. Good luck from me and the boys!
Posted by: Sarah on 10/21/2013 at 8:54 am
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