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Hola amigos:
The last few nights have been a bit windy to say the least and the rattling of the windows has been soothing to some of us, and not so much for others. So we've had a few traditional siestas during the day.
Our plan was to move up to a
higher camp today, but due to weather and acclimatization we have decided to spend one more night here in the cozy hut.
Thankfully
Adam greeted the team with plenty of pancakes and coffee this morning, which helped start the day. We then headed out to do some training not far from the hut and did a short hike to get a better look at our route.
A number of climbers arrived today and are planning on climbing Cayambe tonight, which is good news for us. Hopefully they will be successful and kick in a good trail to help us out.
Other than that all is well here at just over 15'000'. Everyone is happy and hungry and looking forward to dinner.
RMI Guide
Casey Grom and crew
This morning we woke to more snow on the Kahiltna Glacier. Over 7 inches of snow fell over night and the snow continued throughout the day. The beauty of the
Alaskan Range continues to impress us all.
Today's training session involved the fitting topic of avalanches. We had avalanche rescue scenarios where we learned how to manage the scene of an accident, how to come up with a plan and how to execute that plan. During our time here on the glacier we have seen some very exciting and impressive Alaskan-sized avalanches, from a safe distance. We continued with our crevasse rescue technical skills training this afternoon. Everyone is grasping these concepts very well with an eagerness and excitement to learn.
We shall see what the weather brings us as that dictates so much of life in the mountains.
Ciao,
RMI Guide Jason Thompson
The Four Day Summit Climb July 24 - 27 led by Andy Bond and Mike Walter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning at 7 a.m. The team reported cold temperatures and windy conditions. There is a cloud deck around 7,500' with clear skies above.
The Five Day Summit Climb July 23 - 27 led by Linden Mallory was also just approaching the crater rim at 7 a.m. this morning.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz July 23 - 28 led by Mike Haugen reached the summit at 8:30 a.m.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Sunday, May 28, 2023 - 10:20 pm PT
It was a mellow rest day in our neck of the woods at 14,000ft. What started as a clear warm morning turned into a stormy, snowy whiteout by early afternoon. We began the day with another round of breakfast burritos, and finished the day off with mac and cheese. The weather doesn't look too favorable, so now we just sit and wait to see what we get.
RMI Guide Nikki Champion
Namaste everyone,
We are still bopping along here in the Khumbu. The team left Pheriche at 8am in beautifully clear skies and made our way back down valley to the lovely, humid and what felt like warm Namche bazaar.
It was a lot of downhill, uphill, downhill, uphill and even a little side hilling to get here. But the team was rewarded with hot showers and dinner at the best restaurant in town, called Eat Smart!
Full bellies and tired legs have us all headed to bed early.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Today's
Mt. Rainier summit climb, led by Brent Okita and JT Schmitt, was unable to go beyond Camp Muir due to blizzard conditions. High winds were reported through the night gusting 80 mph. The team is currently on their descent from Camp Muir and will be at Rainier Basecamp early this afternoon.
At low camp, we woke to another thoroughly cloudy day. But it wasn't as cold as yesterday and there wasn't any wind up above that we could detect. We ate our usual late breakfast and checked in with
Vinson Basecamp via the radio to hear the latest forecast (the same folks at Union Glacier who try to find weather windows for the Ilyushin also take a stab at mountain weather predictions). The forecast was just plain good. Clouds diminishing, no significant winds. We packed up low camp and headed for high camp. It was 2 PM by the time we were roped up and walking toward the fixed lines. We climbed in a murky world of cloud, between murky layers of other clouds down low and up high. But we made good and steady progress, reaching high camp at 12,300 ft by 8:30 PM. We worked to get a camp built and a kitchen going. At 10 PM we got our first sunshine of the day, which, thankfully kept on beaming down through clearing skies to make dinner and going to bed a lot easier. Tomorrow could be our big day... Depending, of course on how the weather shapes up and how the climbing team looks at breakfast.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Saturday, June 22nd, 2013
Movin' on up! We woke up early and set out to cache some gear up high. Even though the sun was not on us, we thought it was warm for 14k camp. We were wrong. As we set out towards the fixed ropes that allow us to climb the steep face up to 16,000 ft safely, a cold wind picked up and made us cold...like
Denali cold! I think we needed it because we were getting a bit spoiled. Once we gained the ridge, we were out of the wind and in the sun and immediately life was better.
We decided to make a cache a around 16,600' under a prominent rock feature called Washburn's Thumb. We cached some food and fuel for when we head up to our last camp at 17,000' in a couple of days.
I was really impressed at how everyone did at the altitude and on the fixed lines. Go team!
Rest day tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and the RMI Summit Team 6
On The Map
Jambo!
Today we visited the Ngorongoro Crater. It was a bit cloudy and cool on the way in this morning so we visited with the friendly Maasai Village for dancing and shopping. The hut life may not be for everyone but it is their way of life and they have adapted just fine. Visiting the village is a nice option to pick up some handmade trinkets and support the local economy, then down in the crater we went. Still a bit cool so we were all glad to have brought some of our fine First Ascent warm gear to make the safari vehicle ride more comfortable. The cats and rhino tried to hide but our pro spotter-of-a-driver was able to point out these magnificent animals. We were in awe of all the types of animals that lingered around the beautiful forest of huge Acacia trees. Luckily we spotted some lions just before we left the park entrance just beyond the crater.
The team is doing well and looking forward to our five-course dinner at the luxury
Plantation Lodge.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The Four Day Summit Climb August 2 - 5 led by Win Whittaker and Jason Thompson reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today! The teams reported a beautiful day on the mountain. They experienced light winds, warm temperatures and were able to enjoy the views from the summit. There is a cloud deck currently below Camp Muir at approximately 7,500'. The teams are currently en route to Camp Muir and will continue their descent to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb!
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Go team. America is counting on you to bring home the glory. Or at least a good story.
Posted by: Scott Humphrey on 1/8/2013 at 5:49 pm
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