Hola de Argentina...
Well our fearless team assembled in its entirety today to begin our expedition on the mighty mass of stone called Aconcagua. Haha. Pete and myself completed all of the pickups at the airport today in three separate trips and were delighted to find that none of the team members were seriously delayed and that all of the luggage has safely arrived. Mendoza is situated on the plains that approach the Andes, something like 3,000' of elevation; pretty low and subsequently really hot. The majority of us spent the day trying to recuperate from long stretches of travel by chilling (or sweating really) poolside at the hotel. Today was Sunday so most of the businesses were closed. Everything is still on schedule for hitting the trail day after tomorrow. We all enjoyed some of Argentina's famous beef and wine this evening at a great parrilla near the hotel. Everyone is really psyched for the big adventure! We'll check in once more before we hit the trail tomorrow evening.
Ciao,
RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Pete Van Deventer, Geoff Schellens, and the team
Today was another beautiful day here in the Himalayas albeit just a little windy.
The team had breakfast and lots of coffee and hit the trail just around 8am. It was enjoyable hiking in the warm of the sun except for when the wind would howl a bit.
It was a relatively short day as we bumped up to just over 16’000ft. It took the team about 4.5 hrs to make it to Loboche, named after the mountain that looms above us. Along the way we pass over Thukla pass where there is a memorial to those lost on Everest over the years. It’s a pretty somber place with over 50 chortens built in memory to the climbers.
Once at our new tea house we had lunch, napped, and then walked over to view the Khumbu Glacier, wehere we could just barely make out Everest Base Camp far off in the distance.
We woke for our last morning at Everest Base Camp. Clouds obscured our views of the surrounding peaks as snow danced down. We ate our breakfast and said goodbye to two team members who aren't participating in the climb. Instead they took a helicopter back to Lukla. The six remaining team members rallied to Lobuche for lunch and then made their way up to high camp on Lobuche peak. The trail was snowy and snow began falling from the sky. It was a wintery ascent to camp with some slippery spots. If anyone did want to go down, it was much easier to continue up than to go down. But the team did great and handled the conditions well. We are now curled up in our sleeping bags waiting for dinner. The snow is still falling and the temps are not warm. We shall see what we get tonight for our summit bid. It's already been a great trip and a summit of Lobuche would be a cherry on top.
The July 20 - 23 Four Day Climb Team was turned around by high winds today. RMI Guide Walter Hailes and team reached approximately 13,400' before making the decision to abort their summit attempt and return to Camp Muir. The teams will continue their descent to Paradise later this morning.
The snow began falling about the time we got into our sleeping bags last night. It didn't quit. When we poked heads out for a look-see around 3:30 AM, it was still piling up pretty good, and so there wasn't any consideration given for going ahead with the icefall plan for the day. Back to bed and wait and see, was the plan. It had snowed about a foot by breakfast. The gang assembled and we spent the day biding our time. We didn't have great conditions for walking with powder snow over uneven rock and ice. The clouds and flurries hung in all day. We could hear and occasionally see puja ceremonies going on at the camps around us. All-in-all it was a quiet day of waiting. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Come on baby! A couple more nice weather days for us and it can storm all it wants up here in the high country of Tanzania. It all boils down to needing a bit of luck when climbing big peaks like Kilimanjaro; when the mountain says no you need to listen. Even on climbs when you do not get to the top of are filled with events and memories that stick with you. I have great confidence that this entire team will stand on the roof of Africa, with safety leading the way. It is such a unique thing we do up high, to be allowed to stand on the summit is really icing on the cake. We take away an immense feeling of satisfaction on all climbs. The team has checked off all the prerequisite to get this done.
When we leave Karanga Camp tomorrow morning, our summit push begins. We'll take a bit of a break at Barafu, the high camp, then up up and away! Man, this is exciting. All the prep work that has gone into this, the great support by all involved back home, is all making this last bunch of hours a reality. We promise to make you proud of what we do, impressed on how we did it, and thank for this beautiful mountain in supplying us this adventure. All is well at 13,000' on Kilimanjaro. We will check in with you tomorrow!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Greetings again from Cuzco,
We had a great first day of official activities, with a morning packed of visits to the main monuments of the city. From the amazing, earthquake proof Inca walls of Koricancha, to the 16th Century Cathedral, we did also, without noticing, start our acclimatization process by stretching our legs across this ancient city. Gear check and hike briefing with our local outfitter filled the afternoon. We look forward to yet another day of discovery, along the Sacred Valley Of The Incas tomorrow.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Elías and team
Today we descended back down the valley all the way to Namche where we passed hundreds of trekkers, climbers, and endless yaks trains! We paused occasionally to take in the amazing views and to see where we had been. It only took about 4 hours to reach Namche where we arrived just before a few groups and took advantage of the much needed hot showers. The team spent the rest of the afternoon doing a little gift shopping and just relaxing in the warmer temperatures.
Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to our last day on the trail.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Casey Grom - just checking in on you. Just read about the avalanche and of course I immediately thought of you. Be safe.
- Janel
Posted by: Janel Miller on 4/18/2014 at 6:43 am
Hi, Nicole! Looking spectacular! I’ll be up in May to hear all about your adventure! Your dad will be in Florida on Wednesday and I will be in Lauderdale Friday. If he hasn’t been on this site, I’ll get on with him. Stay well, rest when you can and keep on keepin on! xoxo
Hey everybody, checking in from the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier where we are settled into Basecamp after a day of exciting weather. We woke this morning in Talkeetna to a couple inches of new snow on the ground and thought it was going to be another day of waiting around for flyable weather. But when I checked in with K2 at 8:00 they said it was actually clear at Basecamp and that as soon as the snow showers in town stopped we'd potentially be on our way.
Well, the clouds broke around noon and our intrepid crew loaded up onto a pair of otters and headed for the Alaska Range. Clouds enroute nearly forced us to turn around but our pilots were able to make it happen and delivered us safely to the Southeast Fork. Some unfortunate planes were forced to turn around after the runway shutdown because of a bank of clouds that rolled in soon after our arrival. These folks eventually made it in later on in the evening when everything cleared up. The views here are breathtaking, if a little humbling.
Wish us luck as we head out on the route first thing tomorrow!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Hello this is RMI Guide Mark Tucker checking in from the Dik Dik Hotel in Tanzania. We completed our safari today after an exciting night at the Kikoti Camp. There were elephants just outside our doors last night and literally brushing up against the tent. We returned to the Dik Dik to collect all of luggage, rest and relax. We had another great meal here before being transferred to the Kilimanjaro International Airport for our out bound flights.
Thanks to all of our team members for a great adventure. We hope to you all another time!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker checks in as the trip comes to an end.
PMR, like the beard, true mountain man look!!
Ken
Posted by: Ken Nelson on 4/13/2015 at 10:30 pm
Larry,
An oven, was that really an oven in JJ’s picture? Amazing…
Glad your getting some good food and company up there. Love you!
Posted by: Debbie Worden on 4/13/2015 at 8:58 pm
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