Our string of good days continues. We made good use of this one as well, climbing in good style to our 12,300 ft high camp. We were up at the crack of 11:15 AM as usual for low camp... waiting for the sun. But then it was a big flurry of activity for us as we ate brunch, knocked down the tents and packed up our packs. Spikes were on and we hit the trail at 1:30 PM. We made great progress today, with everybody feeling strong and enjoying the limitless scenery. Likely we are getting the benefit of having already climbed most of the way on our carry two days back, and certainly yesterday's rest didn't hurt. As we got higher on the fixed lines, it did seem like we were able to see for hundreds of miles... the horizon couldn't actually have been that far, but when it is ice as far as the eye can see, it does start to feel global in scale.
We were lucky to have calm conditions as we exited the ropes and made our way up the last 500 vertical feet to camp. We managed it all in a respectable six hours, pulling in at 7:30 PM. Everybody was in a pretty good and optimistic mood, as they should be. If the good weather continues we could be on the summit tomorrow afternoon.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Namaste from Kathmandu.
Yes, we are out of the mountains... the team has finished the trek!
The last couple of days of our descent have been really exciting dear friends. Upon our arrival into Namche Bazaar, we took a rest day to enjoy the magic that embraces one when in the Khumbu.
With the best weather one can imagine and with the image of the highest mountains of the world very vivid in our memories, we found ourselves having an incredible surprise: we'd take a helicopter tour around Everest! Story aside, it is worth mentioning how seeing from the air lines that wrote history in mountain climbing, like the Hornbein Couloir made our eyes "watery".
We'd finish our descent to Lukla and bask in thick air as the smell of the aviation fuel brought us to realize we were getting to the end of an incredible trek. We flew into Kathmandu this morning where we await our flights back home at the same time as we will be witnessing tomorrow the second democratic elections in this small Himalayan country. Nepali people are to elect a government to end a five-year period of an unstable care-taking government since the abolition of their monarchy... but this is a "summit" Nepal has to climb and we wish them luck.
That has been all from our trip. Thanks to all of you who followed our adventure through our RMI Blog, to our great Sherpa Nawang Dorjee, to our Nepali outfitter HAD and Sagar in particular and to the mountains for being there and providing such an experience and making us feel so small.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
It's just another day in the tents here on Mt. Elbrus. We've been getting snow since about 3am last night. Fortunately we have not had much wind so that has kept our sanity mostly intact.
We are nearing the end of our trip now. With only a couple more days left before we need to be back in basecamp, we're trying to come up with a plan that could still put us on top without risking us missing our flights to St. Petersburg. What we're thinking of right now is a single push from Camp 1 to the summit and back tonight. That will allow us to descend to basecamp the following day. Barring that we may have to return home safe and sound but without the summit.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Seth: A comment you taught me could be appropriate at this time: the three P’s, perserverance, patience and a positive attitude along with a bit of luck will get you there! Best on a safe climb!
Posted by: phil usher on 9/1/2013 at 6:33 pm
Choo and team,
Bit bummed to read about the weather stalling things but I’m sure you’re still making the most of it! Only a success if you make it up…and back down…so be safe!!! Fingers crossed and sending wishes/thoughts/prayers for it to open up and give you a chance if it is right!!!
We enjoyed a full night's rest and had a leisurely morning of coffee and eggs as we packed up our gear to head to our high camp at about 5200 meters on Huayna Potosi. The strong wind abated overnight and left us with blue skies and sun for our two-hour walk to high camp. We are all resting and relaxing as we will attempt to summit Huanya Potosi tomorrow at 6088 meters. Everyone is doing great in anticipation of the big day tomorrow!
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
Hello all,
We're checking in from 11k! We woke at a more reasonable hour this morning to a centimeter or so of new snow, and crystal blue skies. There was nothing to do but eat a big breakfast, crash our camp, and bounce to 11,000 feet. Just over two hours later we rolled into camp, psyched to finally be setting up shop for a few days. We dug a big kitchen, got the tents all bomb proof, and enjoyed an afternoon lounging in (or hiding from) the sun. With a full rest day tomorrow, it was a relaxed evening, and we spectated as the rangers skied a few laps above camp. The group's competitive personalities are coming out, and tomorrow we have scheduled a competitive napping event. We'll let you know who the winners are!
Until then,
Happily resting at 11k.
RMI Guides Pete, Geoff, Robby, et al.
Hi Wyatt! It’s been raining since you left! The pictures of the mountain look beautiful. We really enjoy reading what your group is doing from this blog. Take Care and stay safe and strong. Love ya, Mom and Dad
Posted by: Marian Evenson on 6/24/2013 at 5:10 pm
Hugo ,we wish you a nice and safe journey! Enjoy your ride !
From your brother , Luis Heitor .
Posted by: Luis Heitor Picchioni on 6/24/2013 at 10:26 am
Hey, everybody it’s Billy.
I’m calling from 17,000’ where we are enjoying our third rest day or you could call them weather days. We have been sitting around in the clouds, it has been snowy and windy. We are hoping that this high pressure that is supposed to build this weekend over the mountain actually happens and we’ll get a chance to climb. Right now the team is hanging tight, chilling in their tent, every now and then getting out and working on the snow walls, trying to maintain sanity and waiting for this weather to lift so we can take a crack at the top. I’ll give you guys a call again tomorrow, let you know if anything new develops.
Take care,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in from 17,000 ft on Mt. McKinley.
A restful rest day was had by all... Mostly. We slept late, until almost 9 in the morning, and then emerged to find the world a dozen shades of grey as multiple cloud layers shifted slowly about. Our chefs prepared a sumptuous breakfast of egg and bacon quesadillas and we sat about in down coats telling stories for a bit before returning to the comfort of the tents for the day, determined to catch up on sleep and hydration. Our weather forecast made it plain today that we could expect at least a couple days of snow and so it was decided to grab back two days of food from the cache we'd placed at 16,200' yesterday. Geoff and Zeb made the round trip in 2 hours and 15 minutes... just in time since shortly after their return it began to snow heavily. Continued snow will make the cache inaccessible for a time as we may need to let avalanche conditions settle. The team got out in the weather long enough to beef up the tent anchors and eat a hot dinner in the POSH dining tent. Despite the forecast and the snow, spirits remain high.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Do hope there is enough Kungfu chicken to go round…
Take good care all of you, stay happy and healthy and get there!!
Posted by: Claire Munting on 7/12/2011 at 6:39 pm
HEY SPENCER HOLD ON THERE TONTO WEST AND I ARE ON THE WAY WITH FRESH LINENS AND MORE COFFEE AND A LATTE. HEY AND WOULD YOU LEAVE YOUR LEFT OVER STUFF WHERE WE CAN FIND IT. YOU KNOW US JUST KIDDING!!!!PRAY FOR THE BEST WEATHER FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM. GET TO THE SUMMIT!!!!
Hi this is Seth, Darryl, Will, Michael, Mike, Imi, Dan, Jim and Marc checking in from the Cotopaxi Express trip. We're back in Quito! After a great night at the Hosteria La Cienega we made the final leg of our journey back to Quito. The Saturday markets are in full swing and everyone has had the opportunity to do some shopping this afternoon. A few of us have evening flights and the rest of us will be heading out tomorrow. We just have time for one last dinner together before our trip is officially over.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Hey, this is Seth calling from the Cotopaxi Express trip. We are up at the Jose Ribas hut at about 15,700 feet. Today we had a nice breakfast at the Chilcabamba Hacienda and after a relaxing time packing our stuff for the mountain we headed up into mix of sleet, clouds and high winds, We're all safely at the hut. We have to two nights here so hopefully the weather will clear up for us in a couple of days and we’ll get to punch it to the top. All's well here. We're having a great time. The hut is full of people from all over the world. Nothing but fun stuff. We’ll check in tomorrow. We hope everything is well back in the USA.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall checks in from the hut on Cotopaxi.
Glad to know that all of you are doing well, I will pray for good weather so you all can have a good summit day, we are thinking of you. Get home save, we miss you
Yet another day for the books on our trek. After a long day yesterday we were all sore, sleepy, and appreciative that the big day was behind us. The unfortunate part is the the back end of this trip tends to feel like a bit of a whirlwind due to the shear amount of things at our disposal to see. So another early morning it is with the breakfast bell ringing at 6:30 AM.
After our delicious meal at Refugio Grey we walked about 10 minutes down to the waters of Lago Grey and onto the catamaran to buzz past the icebergs and towards the long Grey glacier we ogled yesterday. We rappelled into a couple of ice caves and spent the morning traversing the glacier and taking in the unbelievable weather and views.
We still had to get to the next Refugio though so after lunch, we hit the trail and enjoyed the vistas along the ridges that our morning glacier had carved years and years ago.
We are now at Paine Grande, the biggest Refugio on the trek and a taste of civilization in this vast vast wilderness. Tomorrow we’re hoping for the weather to cooperate for our trip up the French Valley, but it’s supposed to rain. We can’t complain too much though. It’s been unbelievable so far.
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Seth: A comment you taught me could be appropriate at this time: the three P’s, perserverance, patience and a positive attitude along with a bit of luck will get you there! Best on a safe climb!
Posted by: phil usher on 9/1/2013 at 6:33 pm
Choo and team,
Bit bummed to read about the weather stalling things but I’m sure you’re still making the most of it! Only a success if you make it up…and back down…so be safe!!! Fingers crossed and sending wishes/thoughts/prayers for it to open up and give you a chance if it is right!!!
Pulling for ya! Enjoy and have fun!
LT
Posted by: Lauren on 9/1/2013 at 4:17 pm
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