Hey everyone, this is Peter Whittaker calling in from Vinson Base Camp. It's about 7 PM and I'm on the runway here. We have a Twin Otter just touching down right now behind me, you're going to hear it. It just flew from Union Glacier and is coming in to pick up Ed and Cindy and Dave and Ben to take them from Vinson Base Camp back to Union Glacier. The rest of us are going to stay here and start the ski portion of our trip. [It's] beautiful today, it actually warmed up a little bit, probably somewhere around 0. This plane is a Twin Otter, we'll see if Jake can push a picture out of it. It's just taxiing in right now and is going to pull up next to us. These guys are going to load on get back to Union Glacier and, hopefully, get back to Punta Arenas with the Ilyushin this evening as well. I'm going to keep talking here, just a little bit longer as this thing taxis in. The Twin Otter is capable of holding twenty people and a bunch of bags. It's pretty impressive to watch these things land on the glacier here. [Pause] And he is just starting pull around over here. We will probably end this call and maybe try again right when he takes off to get you guys a little bit of the experience of standing on a glacier with a Twin Otter on skis revving up to take off.
[Break]
Hello, it's Peter again and I'm next to the Twin Otter and it's just about ready to fire up. We're going to listen to a little bit of the audio from Vinson Base Camp here at 7,000'. Four team members, Ed and Cindy and Dave and Ben are loaded on the plane and waving out the windows at me right now as this Twin Otter fires up to fly from Vinson Base back to Union Glacier. The rest of the team, myself and Jake, Kent, Seth, and Caroline are going to stay here and ski. The plan is to ski for a couple of days here on the glacier and then head back about a hundred miles to Union Glacier looking for a peak that hasn't been climbed or skied before. We're going to be dropped there and spend three or four days doing first ascents and first ski descents. Okay, I'm going to shut up here and we'll listen to this Twin Otter here as it powers up as it heads off the glacier here back to Union Glacier where hopefully these guys can be picked up by the Ilyushin very soon.
[Break]
Okay, one more try, the Twin Otter taking off. Here it comes. [Engine Noise] Bye bye plane.
Peter Whittaker calls in as the plane lands at Base Camp
It's another beautiful day here in Russia, which was perfect for our move to our base camp. We started with two gondola rides and finished with a single chair lift to reach our home for the next few days (sounds tough I know). Our base is a series of giant barrels that sit at 12,000' about half way up the mountain. There are 12 barrels in total and they are shared by climbers from all over the world.
After our move and a quick lunch we headed uphill on Elbrus to further help our acclimatization. We climbed uphill for about 2 hours and reached just over 14,000'.
The team has return to camp and are currently awaiting dinner. Everyone is doing great and looking forward to a good night's sleep.
Currently, the team is resting at the South Col waiting for the weather to calm so they can launch their final summit push. The original plan was to leave on the evening of the 23rd and summit on the morning of the 24th although weather moved in dropping several inches of snow which fell thru out the night. Because of the weather and limited visibility, the team decided to hold off on the summit push and patiently wait one more night. As of now, spirits and anticipation are high with an afternoon of clearing skies and decreasing snow. If things continue as they are, the team should have a good shot at a successful and safe climb.
On another note, I descended to Basecamp with one of our climbers on the morning of the 23rd in a decision that we felt was best for us. We are both currently down monitoring the radios with full support and wishful thinking for our teammates up high.
If things continue to go well, the team will depart the South Col tonight for an early morning summit. Wish them luck and safe travel!
The May 9–12 Four Day Climb enjoyed a beautiful morning on the mountain, with clear skies, calm winds, and cold temperatures. RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli led the team to 13,000 feet before route conditions prompted a turnaround. The climbers will return to Camp Muir for a brief rest before continuing down to Paradise this afternoon.
Yesterday we had the most beautiful day, mostly calm, clear skies, warm enough. The strange thing was that it was forecasted that we would have high winds and blowing snow. It wasn’t that the forecast was wrong necessarily, it just got the timing wrong. At around midnight the winds showed up, transporting about half a foot of snow around our tents and in every nook and cranny it could find. Bitter cold, shaking our tents, and making it clear today was no summit day. So instead we woke, winds still howling, and got to work. Building higher walls, clearing the nooks of our gear of snow, and making a high camp breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hash browns. We’ll take another day to recoup, rehydrate, and eat eat eat. Crossing our fingers that tomorrow is our day! Whoever didn’t wish us luck back at home, we blame you entirely.
Greetings,
So far so good in Chile. Everyone is here and in good spirits and we had a great welcome dinner in the center of Temuco.
Powder skiing in the forecast! We'll keep you posted as things progress.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Zeb Blais and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Winter Team finished up a great week of training. The team has started their descent and will be back at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.
Congratulations Team!
There I was, putting one foot in front of the other, over and over and over again. I knew what everyone was thinking. Who's going to the Super Bowl!! And thanks to one of our team members little go go gadgets, his wife texted the final scores. Go Seahawks! Go Broncos! Who cares, Green Bay isn't in it.
The team packed up base camp and moved outta base camp. On move days the packs are always heavier loaded with tents and kitchen gear. Everyone did fantastic and we are now settled into our new home at 16,600 feet on Aconcagua. We just finished with some hot soup. It's like I always say, you have to put money in the bank. We used up some good energy getting here and you have to replenish and put energy back in to keep the bank account at a million bucks.
Speaking of a million bucks, anyone want to place some bets on the Super Bowl!?
RMI Guide JJ Justman
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning at approximately 7:25 am. Leon reported steady winds from the N/NW at 10-15 mph, cold temperatures and a cloud deck below at 10,000'. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise led by Adam Knoff also reached the summit this morning. The teams spent approximately one hour on the summit before starting their descent.
Both teams will return to Camp Muir to repack their gear and take a short break before continuing down to Paradise this afternoon. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
Another day goes by and we are still here at the 11k Camp. The winds have died down for the most part, but it is snowing and visibility is nearly zero. We're still doing well, tent bound mostly. Hopefully the storm passes soon and we can move camp up higher.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Keeping pushing forward, dad (Lew Smith)! I know you are doing awesome! So proud of you!!!
Love ya,
Kyle
Posted by: Kyle A. Smith on 1/23/2014 at 8:50 am
Go Diane! from the Nissan TMG team
Posted by: Ed Nicholson on 1/22/2014 at 12:04 pm
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