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Thursday, November 28, 2024 - 8:18 pm PT
Vinson Thanksgiving
It’s 1AM here the time of day is such a backdrop in Antarctica. The sun circles overhead and the only setting we get is when it hides behind one of the many unbelievable peaks surrounding us.
Our Thanksgiving wasn’t quite the same this year, we traded turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes for frozen milky ways, rock hard Swedish fish, quesadillas and steak with mashed potatoes (microwaveable pouches from back home).
And we moved!
We traveled from Vinson Basecamp to Camp 1 with a light breeze at times and snow that made for good sled pulling. Views beneath the West face of Vinson, Shin, and Tyree have us gobsmacked every time we look up. Which admittedly I wish was more. We’ll sleep here tonight in the hopes of moving to high camp tomorrow but we will see what the weather has in store. Wish us luck!!!
- RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli
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Vinson Expedition November 22, 2024
Saturday, October 12, 2024 -
Another big day… done! This one was hanging over our heads for a while, since we were familiar with the terrain on our way in. We knew we had to cover a full twelve miles with an uphill finish. The team was certainly happy to start down from Namche on another fine-weather morning. We had the trail pretty much to ourselves for going down the big hill. We took a moment at the bottom to watch a bungy jumper bounce way down under an extremely high cable bridge. Once we were working along the river, traffic on the trail picked up. We stood fully ten minutes at one point to let about a hundred loaded mules go by. But we also had plenty of stretches where it was just us, cruising along. We had lunch while sitting outside in Phakding and then pressed on. At 5:30 PM we rounded a last corner and found ourselves walking down Lukla’s main “street” There were fist bumps all around. Dinner was a bit of an event as our entire staff of Porters and Guides joined us for a celebration. They presented a surprise cake and we made sure that they each received a generous gratuity from the team. We were all genuinely impressed with the flawless “mechanics” of the trip, to say nothing of the kindness extended when we were cold, tired and hungry. Our staff made the trip for us and tonight we tried to express our gratitude because tomorrow morning may be goodby time. We hope to fly to Kathmandu.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
PC: Dave Hahn
New Post Alerts:
Gokyo Trek September 28, 2024
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Ben Luedtke, Leif Bergstrom, Nikki Champion, Alan Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir May 16 - 21, 2021 met on Sunday for their first day of training led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Nikki Champion. On Monday, May 17th they loaded their packs and ascended to Camp Muir. They have spent the last four days and nights at Camp Muir, training and practicing skills needed to climb big mountains. Today they put that training to test and made their summit attempt on Mt. Rainier. Unfortunately wind and new snow thwarted their effort. The team is safely back at Camp Muir and will do some additional training this morning before packing their gear and descending from 10,000'. We hope they learned a lot and enjoyed their experience even with the uncooperative weather.
Posted by: Jake Beren, Leon Davis, Josh Maggard
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,200'
RMI Guide Jake Beren checks in after their successful summit.
On The Map
Posted by: Alan Davis, Tatum Whatford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
July 22, 2024 - 5:25 pm PT
Rest day in Ishinca basecamp. Woke up as the sun hit the valley and were welcomed into the dining tent with omelettes and coffee. We spent the day at our training crag just down the creek where we practiced more knots, hitches, fixed rope ascension, crevasse rescue, anchor building, and haul systems. Early to bed for a final summit attempt of our last peak of the trip, Urus Este.
RMI Guide Alan Davis
New Post Alerts:
We awoke to clear views around camp, a nice change from yesterday's cold, wet cloud that enveloped us. On stage was the Baranco Wall, our first climb. The crew had no problem with the 8:00 start, though there was some anxiety because the trail up the Wall seemed to cling to a vertical rock face. Only after getting onto the Wall was it clear that the climbing is pretty manageable, with just a handful of spots that demanded our keen attention. To safeguard the passage of each team member we always had a guide or two present at each of these spots. By the top of the Wall big smiles were plastered on everyone's faces. I think we all had fun on this stretch. As a reward we had a surprise at the top. Our camp staff had set up a table with tea and snacks for us, which we enjoyed under the mighty presence of the Heiman glacier and the upper reaches of Kilimanjaro. Two hours later we rolled into camp.
Another wonderful lunch is sitting in our bellies as we spend a relaxing afternoon reading, writing, or just relaxing. We're saving energy for our hike to high camp and our climb tomorrow night.
The summit is getting close!
RMI Guide Brent Okita & Team
Must be a cool experience, climbing thru 5 climate zones! Good luck to all!
Posted by: John B on 8/5/2023 at 7:03 am
Carry on!!! Must be the elevation!!
Posted by: Terri Woellner on 8/4/2023 at 3:59 pm
Today we left the comfort of Quito to start our travels toward the main objective of the trip, Cayambe.
While the trip is originally a Cotopaxi Express the team had to pivot to a new itinerary after Cotopaxi showed too many signs of activity for mountaineering. We're going to trust the scientists on this one and not go take a peek into the crater ourselves.
Today was another day of acclimatization. We climbed the hills outside of Otovalo to summit the second objective of the trip, Fuya Fuya. The weather treated us to cloudy, moody views that kept us the perfect temperature during our climb. While shorter in stature than Rucu Pinchincha it still serves as a great opportunity for acclimatization and sets us up well for Cayambe. Tonight, we enjoy our final night in town.
We ship off to the base of climb tomorrow. Wish us luck!
RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns and Team
Joe
You can hike, but you can’t hide!
You Got This !
Daryl
Posted by: Daryl on 11/3/2022 at 2:46 pm
Posted by: Linden Mallory, Walter Hailes
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Devin Guffey, Erika Birkeland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 348'
Hello fellow readers!
Welcome to our journey! We have wrapped up day two of our Denali Expedition. Yesterday the team met at carousel 1 of the Anchorage Airport with heavy duffels in tow. A rainy drive through the woods of Alaska brought us to the launching pad of Denali Expeditions, Talkeetna. Talkeetna is a Native American word meaning where the rivers meet. At the end of town, you can stand where the Susitna, Chulitna, and the Talkeetna meet with views of Hunter, Foraker, and Denali off in the distance. Today the clouds covered up the mountains but the river rushed by with huge chunks of ice floating along down stream, making for a gorgeous view. It was a busy day for the team sorting gear and getting ready for our flight tomorrow. We are separated into two teams with five going on one plane and four on another. As of now, the weather looks good for getting onto the Kahiltna glacier. The team enjoyed their last dinner in civilization before eating a bunch of noodles and burritos on the mountain. You can see and feel the excitement but also the nerves and jitters for what lies ahead. It's going to be an amazing adventure and a memorable one too. Not only because we are climbing the tallest peak in North America but we are doing it as a team of all Ladies! So say hello to your all women's team, The Tatas.
Stayed tuned for what's next,
RMI Guides Hannah, Devin, Erika, and Team
Go Corey!! Show Denali who’s boss!!! Let me know if you find a Mrs. Claus up there, she’s been dodging my calls ( ; _ ;)/
Anna + Bennett
Posted by: Anna Nolan on 5/19/2023 at 10:30 am
We are tracking your progress via the points you are dropping, plus dad is plotting and forecasting where y’all head next via Google earth. Have fun and stay safe, Anna!
Love, Mom & Dad
Posted by: Kathy on 5/19/2023 at 9:00 am
Dear Vision Team 2024,
I’m following your expedition with great interest and am amazed at how quickly you got from Punta Arena to Base Camp 1. Of course, 10 years ago when I did Vinson with Dave, the plane was still an old Ilyushin with a previous day in the army, definitely slower :-).
You have great weather and everything is going perfectly, but what about the blog from the 29th - did you arrive safely at the high camp?
I hope the weather stays so good then the climb to the summit will be doable. I hope you all reach the summit and that incredible feeling of happiness after all the effort of looking out over this incredibly beautiful white world from the highest point in the Antarctic. Good luck.
A big kiss to my wife, she trained incredibly hard for this expedition.
Best wishes, Hans
Posted by: Hans on 11/29/2024 at 6:38 pm
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