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May 8, 2014 1:54 a.m. PST
The team woke this morning to the sounds of birds chirping in the trees, which meant that yesterday's rain had passed. The sky was still overcast, but as we assembled for breakfast at the Talkeetna Roadhouse spirits were high and conversation about our chances of flying onto the glacier carried a positive tone.
By late afternoon, it looked like another night might find us sleeping in Talkeetna and dreaming of glaciers, but luck fell our way. We were instructed to "suit up" and get loaded on the plane. Our flight service, K2 Aviation, was going to put us in the air and see if they could punch through.
Six hours later, we were nestled into our camp on the southeast flow of the Kahiltna Glacier. We established a camp and had a phenomenal dinner. Everyone is in awe of the surroundings and the group's cameras are getting quite the workout.
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Leon Davis and the Alaska Mountaineering Seminar crew
On The Map
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We woke today to pea soup fog, so the beautiful picture windows in each room did not provide for an amazing sunrise in the crater. The team pushed on towards the 1500ft descent to the crater floor. We had a very interesting culture stop at a Maasai village. We were treated to local dance and tour of their living situation, the Maasai people live in cow dung covered stick structures with thatched roofs, the real deal. Nice folks but I’m not sure if you would invite them into your home, they are tough group of humans. We couldn’t leave before giving even more to the local economy by picking a few choice handmade trinkets.
With poor visibility we descended down a steep 4 wheel drive road to get below the clouds. Game drive on! Lots of everything in a small space; this is what the Ngorongoro Crater is noted for. We saw lions, hippos, rhinos, secretary birds, kori bustards, lilac breasted rollers, superb starlings, and kites, lots of hyenas, Cape buffalo, jackals and two zebra fighting. We experienced the beautiful acacia forests and lots of sun in the afternoon.
Back to the lodge for a bubble bath and a buffet dinner that hurt because we ate too much. Can't wait till tomorrow!
Wish you were all here.
Mark Tucker and Team
We went to bed last evening to a blue bird sky after nearly 8 inches of new snow during the day. Today we woke to the same, blue bird weather and light wind. The crew broke camp at 14K fairly early, in good fashion, and headed on our way to the fixed lines. The clear sky made for a bone chilling morning until the major work up the lines started and we were greeted by the welcome rays of the sun, which warmed our souls. The West Buttress was windless and by far provided us with the best views and exposure the team has faced. The clear day gave us views over 10,000' below to the lower Kahiltna Glacier, while Denali stood proud and urged us higher. It was as good as it gets; in fact several folks said it was their best day climbing ever. We climbed for more than six hours so the the team is definitely enjoying some down time while trapping some evening heat in the tents.
With a bit of luck from the weather and wind we will shoot for a summit in the AM on the 17th. Thank you all for the warm wishes - the team has greatly enjoyed all the comments. Keep the positive vibes. We will report back soon.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones and team!
On The Map
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Greetings Everyone,
Casey here checking in from Russia.
Everyone is doing really well despite the standard jet lag we are all feeling.
The last few days have been busy with sightseeing in Moscow while trying to chase down missing luggage. The group spent the better part of yesterday seeing the sights, which included the Famous Red Square, St. Basil's, and the Kremlin. Some of the team even had a quick visit to Lenin's tomb. After our day in the city we wrapped up the day with a very traditional meal of beef stroganoff. I won't mention any names (Kevin) but someone thought it would be ok to order Nachos! Needless to say they were not quite up to US standards. Sometimes we just have to learn the hard way.
We woke early today for our 3 hour flight to Mineralyne Vody which is in the southern plains of Russia that lead to the Caucasus Mountains and Mt. Elbrus. After the standard delays that everyone encounters while traveling here we were on our way. The drive took us about 4 hours and was through the beautiful country side that reminds one of the Midwest (think of rural Ohio). There were sunflower fields that streched out as far as the eye could see. After a few hours of driving and a few near misses with the wandering cows we finally arrived at the Baksan Valley which leads to the mighty Elbrus. We are currently in a small ski town called Azau.
Our plan is to catch up on some much needed sleep and spend tomorrow hiking and taking in the views.
Stay tuned! more to come soon.
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
It was another pre-dawn start... not quite as early or arduous as our Kilimanjaro summit day though. We piled into the Landcruisers and rolled out of Plantation Lodge at 6:30 AM bound for Ngorongoro Crater. The clouds were already low and thick and we were gaining altitude -so by the time we hit the rim of the giant collapsed volcano, we were in fog and murk. Michael and Francis didn’t have any trouble bringing the 4X4’s along the rough dirt road, giving the team the quintessential “African Massage” as we bounced along. Visibility had improved by the time we dropped into the crater with the critters. We began -as we had yesterday- focusing on individual animals, until the scale of this new place became apparent and we started counting herds rather than heads. Zebras caught our attention initially, since they were swarming the road. But Cape Buffalo, Wildebeest and gazelles became commonplace and routine within minutes as we saw them by the thousand. Early on we happened on a big pride of lions resting in the grass. There were two big males and perhaps 15 females and youngsters of various ages. Those included three tiny lion cubs that continually climbed over and under their mom, giving out little yelps and meows. The lions would sit up from time to time looking intently at hartebeest and zebra who were trying to figure out how close was too close in their morning walk to water. We moved on to cross the crater and visit hippos and a million new birds. Our picnic lunch was alongside a bunch more hippos in another corner of the crater. By this point, the clouds were clearing and the day was warming up. Our goal following lunch was to find Rhinos. We scoured the hills at the margins of the crater, we trained binoculars on a hundred distant grey rocks and logs and suspect shadows under trees. But the Rhinos didn’t come out to play. We contented ourselves with finding two mature bull elephants with enormous tusks. In late afternoon, our guides put the cruisers in four wheel drive and took us up and out of the crater. We made it back to the Plantation in plenty of time for sundown in the lap of luxury.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,320'
June 15, 2015 8:57 pm PT
Hello everybody this is Geoff Schellens with the Upper West Rib team calling from the summit of Denali. It’s been quite a long day and a lot of tired folks but we are happy to be here. We are about to start our descent and we will check in from 17 Camp. Thanks everybody for following along.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens calls from the summit of Mt. McKinley with the Upper West Rib Team.
Congrats Kim and happy belated bday!! I have been thinking of you constantly. You are my hero! Xoxo
Posted by: Steph on 6/20/2015 at 9:09 pm
Congratulations KIM!!!! What an accomplishment!
Christa Huseby
Posted by: Christa Huseby on 6/16/2015 at 12:53 pm
June 11, 2014 3:14pm PT
Greetings from Team No Troubles,
Sitting here for another rest day at 14,200'. Cold temperatures and steady wind have been the story of the day, and we made the right decision to stand by for the time being.
Last night saw the mercury plummet to an ambient temp of -17F, which is much more common up here in April than it is in June. Combine that temp with winds in camp of about 15mph and you have a recipe for immediate freezing of any exposed skin, as the wind chill hovers somewhere between -45 and -50F. Brrrrr shiver!
So instead of our planned carry to the top of the fixed lines, we'll stay in camp today, on a steady orbit around our posh and sleeping tents. The team is on guard against any uninvited trespassing into our bathroom, too, as we've had more than one inquiry from other folks about using our lovely on-mountain comfort station.
Keep sending warm thoughts, and hopefully warmer weather, our way! Keep the comments coming too, we love to hear from y'all. From a frosty 14K camp.
RMI Guides Bryan, Tyler, Garrett and the No Troubles Crew
Hope you get to see “Edge of the World” !!!
Posted by: Matt on 6/12/2014 at 8:09 pm
Hey Jake love the pictures. It’s only 60 degrees today here back in Minneapolis. Have fun and keep warm. Auntie Joan
Posted by: joan Hansen on 6/12/2014 at 3:40 pm
As planned, we took a break from mountain climbing today. We rested primarily to catch up on hydration and acclimatization before our assault on high camp and the summit. But since today's weather was a little on the sloppy side, with clouds at all levels, some falling snow and hints of wind aloft, it wasn't a bad day to be taking it easy at low camp. We ate, drank, rested, read, watched TV and listened to music. The teams that went to Vinson's summit yesterday came through on their descent to base today. All seemed well and happy, and of course relieved that they'd gotten to the top before this particular pulse of inclement weather came through. We will just hope it is gentle and short lived. We'd like to move up tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
It sounds like you have a great team and hoping weather will be on your side to make it to the summit. Here we are all singing “they’ll all be home for Christmas"so God speed. Love, Deb
Posted by: debby on 12/15/2013 at 4:24 pm
RMI Expeditions, this is Dave Hahn with the Kilimanjaro climb. 100% of the team up on top of Uhuru, highest point in Africa! Beautiful day! Do you hear this team? [Shouts in the background.] Sunshine, blue sky, great friends, great team, nice and safe. We'll call you when we get back to camp. Thank you.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn calls from the Roof of Africa.
On The Map
Thanks for sharing this beautiful view of creation!!!
Posted by: Joanne on 9/22/2013 at 1:31 pm
Congratulations!! Liz & Kym we’re thankful that you had a clear view at the top after all of that blood, sweat & tears. I bet that Safari is starting to sound nice right about now. Have a safe return
Posted by: John Schupbach on 9/22/2013 at 10:16 am
Hello again everyone,
Day 4 started much like yesterday, luckily for us, with clouds below and clear skies above. Looming above camp was our first major obstacle of the climb, the 1,000' high Barranco wall, the only real technical part of this climb. Looking straight at it one would think its nearly unclimbable but thankfully for us there is a faint climbers trail that bobs and weaves it way via a series of ledges and steps safely to the top. Everyone did fantastic and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and were amazed watching the porters navigate this terrain with their loads still balanced on their heads.
Once on top of the wall we took a nice break to enjoy the views and snap a few pictures. The rest of the trail was mostly a traverse with spectacular views of the last few glaciers that cover the southern side of Kilimanjaro.
We arrived in camp right around noon and had a quick lunch then retired to our tents for a little rest.
All is well!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Hey Steve and Brian! Been following your progress all week. If I’m getting it straight, tonight is the night! So good luck and enjoy every minute of it! You guys rock.
Posted by: Dave L on 8/24/2013 at 9:18 am
Chris and Jesse!!
You are almost at the top!!! You go girls! What an awesome journey for the two of you to be experiencing together. Stay strong and enjoy the view! Love you guys and cannot wait to hear about this amazing adventure.
Chris - You sure know how to celebrate your birthday! Woohoo!
Karen
Posted by: Karen on 8/24/2013 at 7:58 am
Great news about the bluebird sky and good luck on the climb for the summit. Craig just to let you know Emma has been following you and the crew and now her 6th grade class are following your adventure and you and your team are included in their daily “special intention” prayers. The class will be following you on this blog. Good luck we are all so proud of you.
Posted by: The Doyles on 6/17/2011 at 7:54 pm
Congratulations to the whole team on reaching the summit. a special congrats to Tim and Justin. Our thoughts and prayers will be with all of you on your descent.
Love Pat and Lori
Posted by: pat and Lori Halls on 6/17/2011 at 7:48 pm
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