Feliz Valentine's Day from all of us in Ecuador. We are at our hut on Cayambe. About to bed down for the night after a good day of training up here. And with any luck tonight, we will be giving Cayambe a shot. So wish us luck. And again, Happy Valentine's to everybody back home.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren checks in from Cayambe's High Hut.
Hey, this is Dave Hahn and Linden Mallory up in the tent at the South Col. We have been brewing up for about an hour now. It takes a long time to get some hot drinks here and get a little food down. Since I talked to you last, we got a little forecast… in the evening... Clouds had come down low. The wind was blowing a little bit more than we liked it. But now it’s close to 11 in the evening and the winds have dropped down and it’s clear sky. Looks like a go for us. We’re just trying to get ourselves as hydrated as possible. It’ll help us deal with the intense cold out there. If we’ve got plenty of hydration we’ll be feeling better. We did have a good night. Tshering and Kaji are getting ready in the next tent. Dawa, as planned, is going to be the lifeguard here at the South Col and make sure we do okay up there. But everything is going ahead. There are some climbers out ahead of us now. That’s good. We’ll probably be trying to walk in, I don’t know, 40 minutes or so. We’ll try to stay in touch as best we can.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Linden- EAT those snickers! Hopefully share some with Dave if they are not all frozen or gone. Richmond gals are thinking of you all day and night here! BE SAFE.
Hello everyone.
We're still here. Just went through Loboche which is a little short on cell service, wifi and I even had trouble getting my sat phone to work.
The last couple of days have been really nice and strangely it seems to be getting warmer as we get higher. We hiked to Gorak Shep today and wanted to climb up Kala Patar but the evening swirling clouds have us waiting till tomorrow.
We are literarily a stones through from the Khumbu glacier and only about two hours from Mt. Everest Base Camp. Everyone seems to be doing well and we are so excite for Base camp!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
The team is relaxing at Camp 1 for siesta time. In case all you fine folks back home think all we do is eat and nap, allow me to retort. We do as much of that as we can to be sure, but this morning we pushed a load up to 18,000 feet in preparation of our eventual move to Guanacos (named for the llama type creatures native to the lower flanks of the mountain) Camp, our Camp 2. After making it up there, we cached a fair bit of gear and beat feet back to Camp 1. Today serves to make our packs lighter for the move and give the team a taste of a new altitude. We will rest this afternoon and probably tomorrow before busting higher. By then out bodies should be lean, mean climbing machines.
Keep those fingers crossed amigos!
Jake, Mike, Steve and Team
Today the team left Moscow and caught a flight to Mineralnye Vody, which is a medium size city here in southern Russian known for its abundant mineral springs. The flight over Russia's inland reminded me of the rural Midwest back home. We quickly hopped on our waiting bus and headed further south into the Baksan Valley where Elbrus sits on the border between Russia and Georgia. The area is mostly farmland with a few small towns that are predominately Islamic via its Turkish roots. We arrived in Cheget which sits at the base of Elbrus and is our launching point for our climb. We are currently getting ready for bed in our hotel after a wonderful authentic Russian meal.
It was another long day of travel and the team is doing great. Everyone is looking forward to stretching their legs tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Glad everyone and every thing is doing great. Success to all. The blog is wonderful. Almost feel like I am there!! Mom
Posted by: Gerri Seaton on 7/10/2013 at 12:20 pm
Larry: You are looking great, sage and youthful. All the best for another of the Seven. Godspeed, Walter Tell the peak “hey” from Lori and I, June 2010.
Hello to all following the Ecuadorean skills seminar. As Casey mentioned yesterday, the wind gods in this neck of the woods, or jungle, seem to be a tad upset with Cayambe the last few days. Last night the gale rocked our hut, shaking windows and spraying dust onto our sleeping bags and equipment all through the bunk room. As I woke my concern shifted quickly not to dirt in my eyes but to Jan who will get his merit badge as the only one to have spent a night in a tent. I don't think too many of us were complaining though because the tent this morning looked very close to flying away. Unfortunately this same wind pattern continued throughout the morning making our projected second attempt at moving to high camp seem a bit detrimental to our actual summit attempt. As much as I wanted to give our team the experience of moving upward and making a high camp, discussions with Casey and Jamie helped me realize the effort needed to move up, pitch tents and get substantial rest was not advantageous to our climb tonight. What another day at the hut did allow us was more valuable training. The opening section to our route directly out of the hut offers impressive rock out croppings ideal for fixed rope travel and rappelling. After our outside time, that was certainly tested by the wind, we retreated back to the hut where we practiced rope coiling, knots and time killing activities. We are now preparing for an early dinner and retirement to our sleeping bags. We look forward to getting up early and gunning for the summit of the equator's highest point.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Cotopaxi summit! 100% of our climbing team reached the top of the beautiful 19,600' active volcano. We awoke at midnight to a clear and starry night, and started climbing at 1:30. A light breeze turned into a strong, cold wind that stayed with us most of the climb, but the skies remained clear and the climbing conditions were excellent. The wind eased on the summit, and we were treated to a beautiful morning with views of the surrounding peaks: the Ilinizas, Chimborazo, Antisana, and Cayambe, our next climbing destination.
We're all safely off the mountain, and enjoying the ammeneties at the Hacienda La Cienega. I'll touch base tomorrow with more, and hopefully some pictures. But right now there's a shower with my name on it.
The guides “woke up” at 11pm to check the weather outside and stepped into an uncharacteristically warm and cloudy night. Glimpses of stars came in and out of view with the wind dull and chilled. We decided it was go time and, given the hour we estimated it would take the team to gear up, we put our chips on an improving trend. Clear it did, as we donned our backpacks and set up the rocky, first section of the route. It takes us about an hour plus to get to the base of the glacier on Cayambe due to the varied, and sometimes involved terrain you navigate to get there. Our nerves quickly gave way to the necessity of focus on the tricky terrain and that’s when it gets fun!
After a quick break at the glacier to eat, put our crampons on, and rope up, we were climbing. That warm night gave way to a clear, chilly, moonlit night with views of the surrounding peaks and towns. With perfect conditions and beautiful weather, the team climbed in style for the 4000ft and 7 hours of ascent.
100% of the team stood on top of Cayambe today. An accolade not often achieved by teams attempting these tall peaks.
Proud of the grit, dedication, and attitude this team has. While it’s a shame the trip is ending, I know I’ll see these climbers back in the mountains soon enough.
The RMI Four- and Five-Day Mount Rainier summit climbs reached the summit this morning by 7:30 a.m. The weather was surprisingly cold, moderate winds and a cloud deck at 8,000'. At 8:35 a.m. the teams began their descent from the crater rim and will make their way to Camp Muir, Paradise and then their celebration awaits at Rainier Basecamp.
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Elias de Andres Martos
What a nice day for the team. Really the first time to catch our breath and that is not an easy task here at 11,000ft. After the whirlwind tour of Kathmandu, a flight into the mountains, and a big hike yesterday, what a nice option to take it easy today. We still cut a swath through Namche Bazaar, invested in the local economy and even stretched our legs a bit. Recharging our physical and gadgetry batteries was the focus of the day.
One highlight was a trip to the local museum. It had three viewing areas: one being a typical Sherpa home with all the furnishings, another of Sherpa history and culture, and a room full of Everest history, fantastic photos and early expedition gear.
The team has been behaving well and enjoying all the support of our local outfitter, High Altitude Dreams, and the fantastic staff here at our Tea house in Namche, Camp de Base. We all feel so lucky to spend this time with these wonderful people.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Those pictures of Cayambe are AWESOME. It looks like heaven. Best of luck for the climb tomorrow. With love, your valentine.
Posted by: Christina Doren on 2/14/2013 at 10:31 pm
Congrats on a good training day! I’m saying a special Cayambe prayer for the team tonight!
Posted by: Caroline on 2/14/2013 at 7:39 pm
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