Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling from 17,200 feet on Mount McKinley. We made it to High Camp. Huge day, beautiful day, great weather. One of the nice things that started off the day for us was we got to talk to Mike King. He and Will and Shawn had made it to Basecamp by this morning and they were looking to get picked up within a half an hour of our conversation. They reported good conditions down there and they had a smooth exit from the mountain. We were very happy to hear that. And a big happy birthday to Mike King and a thank you for all that hard work. We set in with our hard work right after that. It did take a long time to get up here to 17,200' because we had so much snow on the Headwall.
If tomorrow is a decent day, we're going try for the summit. And that's it for tonight. Talk to you soon.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls in from 17,200 ft on McKinley.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Our storm got real in the night, with cannon-like broadsides of wind and ice particles assaulting the tents. It was serious enough that the guides were out stumbling around from midnight to 2 AM, cutting snow blocks and building walls, but not serious enough that the whole team needed to be in on the fun. It snowed and blew for much of the night, with the wind changing direction every now and then in order to keep things interesting. Although the alarm had been set early for climbing, it was obvious as the morning progressed that we'd simply have to hunker down and ride out the storm. Around mid-morning we rallied the whole crew to eat breakfast, dig out tents and build more walls. Then it was back into the tents for a few hours. We finished the day with some avalanche transceiver training by Zeb Blais, a fine dinner by Erik Nelson and Mike King, and some tall tales by yours truly.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hope the weather improves so that you guys don’t have to stay cooped up in tents on the side of the mountain. Hopefully the avalanche transceiver training will be for naught, but glad that you have it.
Greetings from expedition skills seminar, Ecuador!
Day two:
Not all of our mountaineering challenges down here should be considered overly stressful. Granted we aren't exactly roughing it here in hotel Mercure Alemeda, we figured starting the team off gently would ease us into the trip's first acclimating hike.
Quito is flanked on its western edge by the frequently active Pinchincha Rucu volcano who's 15,500 foot summit makes for a perfect first excursion to altitude. Oh ya, back to a gentle start. After another delicious breakfast the team loaded into a sporty looking minivan with a sporty looking driver to match and headed ten minutes up the road to the loading dock of Quito's famous Pinchincha gondola. I don't know much, but I do know riding from 10,000 feet to 13,800 feet is better than walking. Who knew? From the top of the tram, views of Quito 's expansive size and beautiful setting blessed us before our trail was soon overtaken by the rising cloud bank. Despite the apparent fitness of our team, much hard breathing was done welcoming in the lower oxygen levels. Soon we found our rhythm and pushed steadily upward further into the cold clouds until the sign on the summit said we were there. By that time we were all in gloves, hats and warm jackets. We then descended quickly before the rain hit.
The rest of the afternoon will be spent relaxing and exploring the neighborhood around the hotel. We are all psyched to be leaving the city and heading north.
More to come,
RMI Guides Adam Knoff, Casey Grom and Team
Casey and Adam, you very successfully guided our entire expedition team to the summit of Cotopaxi on 16 Dec 2011. Your team will easily discover what great RMI guides they have. Happy New Year from Bill, Scott, and the four Mikes
Hello Everyone,
The Winter Skills Seminar is down safe and sound from a week of good training and climbing on Mt. Rainier. We made a solid summit attempt on Thursday with the team climbing strongly to 13,000’ before wind, cold, and firm conditions had us turn around. The week saw high points for some of the team, lots of new knowledge gained, and many climbers hankering to come back for more. Congratulations and thanks to the team for a great week!
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
The thunder rolled and the rain came down in sheets all night again, but the morning broke clear once more. Enjoying our extra day here in Azau, we had a leisurely breakfast and a slow start to the morning. Taking advantage of the good weather we walked back down the valley to the village of Cheget, taking a meandering trail through the woods alongside the river. Swollen by the warm mornings and the afternoon rains of the past week, the river was a raging torrent, brown with the glacial sediment it carries. Underneath its surface the current could be heard moving large rocks, creating faint echoes of thunder which would cause us to glance up at the clear blue skies in surprise before remembering the noise came from the water and not from above. It was a welcome change to walk through the pine forests with all of the smells and sounds that a forest brings, very different from the glacial slopes we have been traveling on above.
Upon reaching Cheget we clambered aboard the brightly colored chairlift that leaves from the edge of town and rode up to the midway station of the ski area. There we found a nice table at a cafe with views looking across the valley at Elbrus, it's twin summits shrouded by clouds. With the sun shining on us we, just kicked back, playing a very tight game of Scrabble and relaxing after the climb. Bill emerged the victor by only the slimmest of margins. Back in Cheget we had a last meal of shashlik (kabobs) and then made our way back to Azau where we've spent the remainder of the afternoon unpacking our packs and repacking our bags for our trip to Moscow tomorrow.
We have an early departure from Azau in the morning in order to catch our midday flight from Mineralnye Vody. We should arrive in Moscow by late afternoon with enough time to stroll through Red Square before evening. We will check in tomorrow with our final dispatch.
We are back from Everest Base Camp! All is well and the team is doing great. We had an amazing time and adventure the last few days on the Khumbu Glacier.
Our hike into BC was clear, beautiful and there was big wind high in the mountains that made it a touch chilly. The wind high on Everest was so strong we could hear it ripping across the mountain from several thousand feet below. Once in camp we had a nice hot lunch and then most of the team took naps in the warmth of the tents. We had a big dinner and then it was off to bed after the long trek. Camp is directly on the glacier, although it’s covered in rock and doesn’t seem like we are on ice. However, the constant cracking, popping, and pinging that the glacier makes at night reminds us of where we are.
Our second day at camp we had hot showers, explored camp and then went for a walk to see where the start of the route up the icefall starts. We even managed to see the icefall doctors making their way slowly as they pioneered their way up the endless maze of blocks of ice.
Today the team is headed downhill and we are all looking forward to warmer temps and the thicker air!!!
The team did it! At 620pm on Wednesday we stood on top of Deanli! The weather held with mostly clear skies and winds no greater than 20mph. It was a cold cold day. We wore most of our jackets and multiple layers on out legs. It was a long, hard day. We had the summit to ourselves. Tomorrow we head downhill to lower elevations where everyone will feel much better. We still have some big days ahead of us but the end is near. We would like to thank everyone for the good weather vibes and positive vibes! And for all the support from back home. Y'all are amazing!!
We had a warm and clear night at high camp that would turn into sustained 20 mph wind along the seemingly endless summit ridge that makes up the main route on Ixta. We summited in the dark but with a near full moon the views of the surrounding area were spectacular. We caught the sunrise and Orizaba on our return.
The team is headed to Puebla for the evening and our day off tomorrow.
Hello from the Khumbu everyone!
Today we caught our early flights from Kathmandu and safely arrived at the famous Lukla airport on what was one of the smoothest flights I've ever had. Luckily for us there were no clouds in sight which allowed us an easy and very scenic flight into the heart of the Himalayas. Once in Lukla we relaxed and had breakfast at one of the tea houses while our bags were sorted and readied for our porters.
We hit the trail just after 8 am and hiked casually along the trail taking in the clean fresh mountain air and all the beautiful sights of the surrounding peaks. We hiked for just over three hours stopping along the way to snap photos and enjoy the scenery of the lush green forest with towering snow capped mountains overhead.
The team is comfortably settled in to another tea house here in a village called Phakding that sits on the edge of a beautiful blue river.
All is well and everyone is delighted to be here.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and Crew
Congratulations on a job well done. We love looking at the pictures, Dot and Rog
Posted by: dot hemminghaus on 3/31/2014 at 8:07 am
Pastor Sylvia from Tx! Hi, I wish you a wonderful trek! I am looking forward to reading your posts, and seeing your beautiful pictures. that you for sharing your journey with all of us! Victory for you all! Pastor Sylvia Joplin
Hello from the Dik Dik,
Our mountain adventure ended today with 10 very happy climbers. Even though we had a very long day yesterday, the team wanted to get an early start and hike down to the Mweka Gate. You could tell that everyone wanted showers as we made record time descending the 4,400' to the end of the trail. You can feel it is the last day as porters are ready to get paid, and the climbers are still on the high of summiting yesterday. We had a big lunch spread waiting for us at the gate and then we tipped out our mountain crew for all their hard work over the last seven days.
Now we are back at the hotel and sitting down for drinks before our celebration dinner. We are all cleaned up and have packed away all our mountain gear.
Tomorrow we are heading out on our safari. The perfect way to recover from the physical effort expended to reach the top of Kilimanjaro. First stop is Lake Manyara!
Best regards,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
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Lots of energy and positive thoughts from the other side of the world. Thinking of you guys today. Be safe and crush it!
Posted by: Kelsey on 7/13/2013 at 11:02 pm
Rock on! Hoping for good weather and safe climbing! ‘Welcome to the City Bra’
Posted by: Joe Cole on 7/13/2013 at 9:37 pm
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