The RMI Bolivia team led by RMI Guides Eric Frank and Andy Bond was unable to attempt a climb of Sajama due to several members of the climbing team catching a bug while in La Paz after the climb of Huayna Potosi. The team started out for the mountain but, unfortunately, were forced to return back to La Paz. Due to this the trip ended early.
Friday, March, 22,2018
Hello everyone,
All is well here in the beautiful Khumbu Valley. Today was a scheduled rest/acclimatization day, so we did just that. After breakfast we made a long slow climb up the big hill that’s just behind our tea house. We climbed just up over 16,000ft to help our bodies adjust to the upcoming altitude of Everest Base Camp. The team did great and throughly enjoyed the amazing views in nearly all directions. We could see Cho Oyu the 6th highest and Makalu in the far off distance which is the worlds 7th highest mountain, as well as countless other huge mountains. It’s very surreal to be higher than anyplace in the continental US and be surrounded by so many big mountains.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing at the tea house chatting with other trekkers and recovering from our day’s outing.
Some of the team took showers again and the rest of us rewarmed ourselves by the big wood stove that burns dried Yak dung, just as the Sherpa people have done for centuries. We are a little ways above tree line and firewood is scarce, but Yak dung is plentiful.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
This morning we awoke just before 2:00am hoping to take advantage of some favorable weather on the mountain. We were rewarded with an incredible morning. Calm winds and clear skies! A full moon and stars everywhere confirmed that we had made the right call to climb. Leaving just a little later than we would on a regular summit climb allowed us minimal exposure to the coldest part of the night, yet still get down before it got too darned hot out. We reached the summit just before 8:00 with no wind and the sun's rays beginning to warm us up. After an hour on top we started our descent, which our team rocked.
We're all back at Muir now, relaxing in the sun or catching up on some sleep in the sleeping bags, taking a well deserved rest. But the day's not over yet. This crew is still psyched to hone their mountain skills, so later on we'll be learning about anchors, belaying and anything else they are interested in. This will get us ready for our day of crevasse rescue and ice climbing tomorrow.
All for now,
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Jordan Cargill, JT Schmitt, Gloria Roe, and Ross Morgan
Greetings from our first camp! Today we launched from Las Penitentes and began our approach to Base Camp. Walking along the Vacas River, we wound our way up the valley to Pampa de Llenas for another round of chats with the Guardalparque (rangers) and the pitching of our first camp. The team did well today, managing very warm temps and not getting too over cooked along the way. Tomorrow we will try to get out early and head to Casa de Piedra (House of Rock!) for our next camp. Til then!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
People like to throw around the word ‘Conquer’ in reference to the mountains they climb. As if they defeated the mountain when they touched its apex. I find this to be a distasteful representation of summiting a mountain and as we crawled into our sleeping bags in the crisp, cold air of Denali’s 17,200K we certainly didn’t feel like conquerors. Tired, cold, and atrophied from the last 18 days on the mountain we slept knowing that Denali had granted us the opportunity to touch its peak and not that we had bested it.
The team awoke to clear skies and one of the first green lights we received from Denali, it was time to climb. At 10:25, we started our journey upward not reaching the summit until a hard, but well fought, ~10 hours. We are back down at High Camp; tired, sore, but satisfied with the effort and accomplishment. We start downward tomorrow in search of all of the cravings we have been fantasizing about.
Adversity. It's what high altitude climbing is all about. And here we are, sitting on a rest day at 18,000 feet in a snowstorm. It was predicted and we are actually glad. Because today is supposed to be the last day of adverse weather. Tomorrow is forecasted to be nice and as a matter of fact, the next four to five days. The team is feeling great so in the meantime, Katrina and I have 36 quesadillas to make.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Dear, Ken McKenna/Dad.
We have a five day weekend from school because of the holiday. So, we’re having a McKenna PJ Day Marathon. Day 2 is going well! It looks like you’re having a PJ Day, too. Miss you a lot and hope you are having fun.
Love, Aidan
Posted by: Aidan on 2/16/2014 at 3:49 pm
Best wishes as you continue to the top, especially you, Frank. Blog sounds good. Be Safe
Fred
Hello from Quito everyone!
After some very long flights the team has arrived safe and sound here in Ecuador. We started our day with a group meeting where we shared a little about each other and discussed the plans for our expedition. We then headed out on a city tour which was mostly spent visiting the colonial old town and it's many churches built in the 17th century. We also visited the Virgin de Quito, which is a statue that overlooks the entire city and is similar in importance to our Statue of Liberty.
After our tour we headed back to our hotel to allow the team some time to rest before meeting and discussing the gear needed for our upcoming climbs. After making sure everyone was well equipped with the essentials we took a short walk to a nearby restaurant and patiently waited for all of our food to arrive. The food was delicious and everyone left with smiles on their faces.
It looks like a great group of people and everyone is looking forward to stretching their legs tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
The day went pretty well on schedule. We were up at around 8 AM at high camp, thankful that the winds had not yet found our tents. It was obviously kicking a bit higher, with streamers of snow blowing off ridges and frozen dust devils dancing across our ascent route of the day before. But we were granted calm and sunny conditions in which to eat breakfast and pack for the descent. We bailed out of high camp at 11:20 and carefully picked our way down the fixed lines. Coming into Low Camp was a bit of a shock as there were dozens of climbers there and we'd gotten so used to having the mountain to ourselves. Folks were hanging there rather than ascending since forecasts say that the winds will build and dominate the upper mountain for several days. We shuffled our loads, repacked and headed down to Vinson Base, arriving by 5:30 PM. No flights back to Union today as the winds have the pilots hunkering down, so we set tents and enjoyed a victory dinner together at 7000 ft on the Branscomb Glacier.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Our Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Casey Grom and Billy Nugent stood on the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. It was breezy cold morning but clear. All nine members of Casey's team made it to the summit. Both teams are doing well and have started their descent back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations Casey, Billy, and Teams!
Hey it’s Mike Walter checking in on Sunday night from the RMI Ecuador's Volcanoes Climb. We are here at the Cayambe climbers hut. We arrived here last night. Today we did some training and review of climbing techniques: cramponing, ice axe arrest and roped travel.
It's been pretty windy and off and on snow and rain. We're hoping for better weather and good climbing conditions tomorrow. There's a lot of snow on the route so we will hopefully be able to climb tomorrow. Maybe some deep trail breaking but we'll give you a shout tomorrow hopefully from the summit and if not, then we’ll check in once we get back down.
RMI Guide Mike Walter checks in from the climbers hut on Cayambe.
Hey guys, it’s Glo’s mom wishing you clear skies and safe passage all over the mountain. Miss you Glo!
Posted by: Michelle Mom on 5/30/2018 at 10:33 pm
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