Another day on the trail and today, is one of the longest distances.
What started as a light drizzle transformed into moody cloudy overlooking the vast scenery that Torres Del Paine offers. Baby blue glacial lakes, jagged ridges, and jurassic valleys were the theme of the day as we walked the Patagonian flat trail. To top it off? The Paso de Vientas showed us what it was made of. Just enough wind to make it fun, not quite enough to lift us off our feet like a kite.
Lago Dickson was the destination of the day, and it's like a mirage here. A small peninsula surrounded by the lake that feeds the Paine River. We walked the beach, played farkle (of course) and tried out a new (Alex and Jackie created) card game.
The team goes to Camp Pedro's tomorrow, our most rustic of the trip. We'll get ready for the big climb and descent over John Gardner pass. Wish us good weather and safe travels! So far, the weather has been just our luck, Patagonian perfect.
12:45 pm PT
Billy called the RMI Office from Camp Cholera: Everyone is safe and sound. We will stay here tonight and descend to Plaza Argentina tomorrow afternoon.
Thank you for all the blog comments and congratulations!
8:48 am PT
Hey there, it's Billy Nugent of the team El equipo de dos Guillermos, checking in from the summit of Aconcagua. I'm up here right now with six climbers and three guides, 22,800-something feet. So what do you guys think? [Team cheers!] As you can tell a happy but tired bunch. Everyone is doing extremely well. We are definitely winded up here at extremely high altitude. We'll give you guys a jingle when we are headed back into our high camp at Plaza Cholera.
Other shout-outs. [Brief loss of transmission]
Carter, Walker, and mom I love you guys so much. Thank you for everything.
Erica, Thurston, Bella, Brent, Ally, Christian, everyone. We made it! Hurrah!
Hey guys, it's Lindsay, I made it. Thank you so much for the support and love. Love you guys. See you when I get back.
Tanya, Benjamin, and Abby- love you and I'll see you all soon.
Kathy, Kelsey, Eric, Ailie- I love you. I'm on the top of Aconcagua- woohoo! Jerry and Rhonda, John and Kathy- thanks for the support. I'll be seeing you soon.
Babs and Phil- much love from Katrina.
That's all I got unless Haas has something. I love you mom and dad [from Billy Haas].
Sorry mom and dad, love you guys too. Signing out. We'll call you from high camp.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent and team call in from the Aconcagua summit!
Greetings from Machame Camp,
The missing bag finally showed up last night and we have one very happy climber. For the last few days the weather has been a little unstable, with some heavy rain showers in the lowlands. But this morning, just as we were approaching the mountain, the clouds started to thin and we saw Kilimanjaro for the first time. After people got over the initial surprise of how big it looks from a distance, it became obvious that the unstable weather we had in town, had covered the mountain with a white blanket of snow. Usually you have to look pretty hard to find snow on the mountain, so this was a pretty cool sight to see. It won't affect our climb though, as most of it will melt before we reach high camp.
Having left our hotel this morning right on time, we were at the park gate before any of the other climbing groups showed up. We made quick work of taking care of the permits and registration. And after the final porter's bag was weighed, we were off and walking.
The weather continued to improve all day and we had perfect temperatures all the way to camp. We walked into camp at 3:30 and got settled into our new accommodations at 10,000'. Everyone did great today on the trail. This group showed up well prepared, and ready for the challenge ahead.
We'll send out another update tomorrow when we get to Shira Camp.
Best,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
Hey Mom, when you have to carry Eric up the mountain, its best to use the fireman’s carry. It will center his weight above you rather than behind you if he is on your back. I’m sure you guys are doing great! I love you all, good luck over the next couple days!
With very much love,
Derek
Posted by: Derek Kraft on 2/12/2014 at 6:59 pm
First day completed - WAHOO!!! You all look great. Enjoy each day and take lots of pictures.
Today was another perfect day, weatherwise. We were up at 9:15 AM when the nightly chill of the lower Branscomb Glacier eased. Then it was time for breakfast and packing... our normal ritual. We were on our way just after 1 PM as planned. Our packs were heavy but the team is strong. We made decent time up to the cache from yesterday, and in fact we continued to make good time once we added those big sled loads. From the time we turned North, hard up against the gigantic western face of Vinson, we found excellent firm snow conditions. Great for walking, great for dragging sleds. We reached low camp at 6:30 PM and set to work, chiseling a camp into the hard surface. It took the entire gang of five to get a dining/cooking pit dug, but we got it done and had our POSH tent in place for a late but sunny supper. Now it is just after midnight and the sun is making the tents good and toasty. We will have it that way until at least 3 AM but then the sun will run into Vinson and we won't feel its warmth again until 11 AM when it emerges on the other side of the mountain.
We hope to complete a carry up the fixed lines tomorrow with a plan to spend tomorrow night in Low Camp again.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Kare Kare!!
Thinking of you and your team out there! I was in SD and Flo was complaining about the cold and I said just think of Kara and stop whining! Then I came back to Denver and its been between 7-11 today and supposed to be -1 tonight so now I have to think about you and wish you a warm and snuggly night! Sounds like the weather cleared for you guys a bit. I will keep my fingers crossed for a great climb! xoxox miss ya! Can’t wait for Park City!
Hey everyone this is JJ and Solveig with the Mexico team here on Ixta. First we do want to let everyone know that everyone here on the team is safe and sound and second, we haven't heard any news but we hope that everyone in Acapulco and the coast land of Mexico is ok with that hurricane. Here on Ixta at High Camp at 14,700', we have received the inland storm, I believe the remnants of what happened with that hurricane. We received over a foot of snow last night, heavy winds and no visibility. The winds have died down, it is not snowing any more. We still don't have good visibility. But everyone is still in good spirits. Needless to say, the mountain certainly said no to us for going to the top today but this is a day that is pretty obvious that the mountains are to be enjoyed and not conquered. We are making the best of it, everyone is in great spirits, having fun and smiling. Now our focus is packing up and getting down off of Ixta and into Puebla. Everyone says hello on the team and thanks for following along. We will definitely show you some of the sites and sounds from Puebla, Mexico and maybe some of what it looked like yesterday getting up to high camp. Everyone is doing great and we will touch base soon. Our next objective is Orizaba and we are definitely keeping our fingers crossed for better weather. Take care everyone. Bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman checks in from high camp on Ixtaccihuatl.
The Four Day Summit Climb August 13 - 16 led by RMI Guide Brent Okita was approaching the crater rim of Mt. Rainier at 6:50 a.m. They reported a beautiful day on Mt. Rainier with light breeze and fairly warm temperatures. The team will spend some time on top before beginning their descent to Camp Muir and continuing down to Paradise.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - August 12 - 17 led by RMI Guide Billy Nugent called from the Mt. Rainier summit at 10:00 a.m. His team reached the summit in what he described as "practically t-shirt weather!" They were crossing the crater to Columbia Crest, the true summit, before they begin their descent back to camp. The team will spend the rest of the day on the mountain before descending tomorrow.
Congratulations to today's teams!
The Four Day Summit Climb July 17 - 20 led by Mike Haugen and Leon Davis checked in at 7:40 a.m. as they were just reaching the crater rim of Mt. Rainier. The teams reported light winds and clear skies. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise later this afternoon.
The Five Day Emmons Glacier Climb July 17 - 21 led by Mike Walter also reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Everyone has arrived in Cusco with all our duffels. We’ll take that as a win and a good way to start off this incredible adventure.
We met together as a team this evening, sharing about all the different ways we found ourselves in Peru - one group celebrating a big birthday, an anniversary and others because this has always been on their bucket list.
No matter what — we all left families, friends and big, full lives to spend nearly two weeks stepping out of our comfort zones. Trekking through revered mountains and learning the rich history of the Incas from Cusco to the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu.
It’s going to be a challenging and epic experience but first, first we need sleep!
A whole lot of airplanes got flown around Union Glacier today, but not ours. At first, the day looked like another storm day with low cloud and poor contrast, but by mid-morning, things began to shape up. About fifty mountains appeared from the mists and the sun came out to stay. Word was that clouds were persisting at Vinson Base, however. So we got out our ropes and toys and began reviewing crevasse rescue strategies. Meanwhile the planes began flying other folks to and fro around Antarctica. Camp emptied out as the weather got more and more pleasant. We trained, we ate, we waited. It wasn't until after dinner that conditions at Vinson improved enough for a try with the ski-equipped Twin Otter. But that plane was designated for others and ours was to be a second lap by the same plane... if time allowed. But it didn't allow. By the time the plane finally went, it was known that the pilots would reach the end of their "duty day" before a second lap. Ours will have to be tomorrow after breakfast... fresh pilots, fresh weather, fresh hope.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
So close yet so far away :( The good news is Ohio State beat Michigan (barely) and they are advancing to the National Championship! Yesterday, the Browns lost (no surprise). It would be nice if an avalanche would descend upon Cleveland Browns stadium so hey’d be forced to move the team. In other news, the hot guy from ‘Fast and Furious’ died in a car accident (Paul Walker). I’ll keep you posted on more pop culture updates as your trip progresses. Oh, I had a glass of wine on Thanksgiving! It was glorious :) Stay safe! Dixie
After a calm night at Machame Camp at 9,800', we packed up this morning under blue skies and strong sun and pushed higher. The team was on the move by 8:00 AM and was immediately on steeper and rougher trails than we'd encountered yesterday. It was quite busy as the porters from a number of teams -including our own- were anxious to get out ahead and make it to Shira Camp as early as possible in order to claim prime sites for their teams. We made good progress, eventually following a rocky ridge line for some distance. It was continually interesting to watch the changes in foliage as we ascended. Looking out, we were above a sea of cloud obscuring the rest of Africa. Our sun and views of Kilimanjaro didn't last. By the time we'd reached about 12,000', clouds formed on the upper mountain and stretched to cover us. By then, we were traversing on blocky lava terraces out towards the Shira plateau. We made it into our new camp at 12:30 and after getting settled, enjoyed a fine hot lunch. Afternoon was mostly rest, relax and acclimatize time as we are now at a lofty 12,300' It is colder here and so we didn't stay up very late, hitting the sack at about seven, just after a hearty supper.
Best Regards,
RMI Guides Dave Hahn
Hey Glen congratulations you made it! Fridolin
Posted by: Fridolin on 1/28/2015 at 2:52 pm
Gerald
Sorry just had to post… We are just so proud:))) sounds like an amazing team… can’t wait to hear about it all. Sleep well under the stars. Xx
Posted by: Aliki on 1/27/2015 at 4:47 pm
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