The Alaska season has begun!
We all met yesterday at the airport and drove through Wasilla to pick up some food items to take on our seminar. After a great night in Talkeetna, we ate breakfast, and began organizing our equipment in preparation of flying on the glacier.
I'm glad we were so prepared. After a pretty wintry day in Talkeetna, we received news that we are clear for takeoff! We are loading the plane now. There is always the possibility that the weather may turn and we'll be headed back to Talkeetna but for now, all systems are clear. Stay tuned...
All best,
RMI Guide Andres Marin and the Alaska Alpine Seminar.
With more snow falling throughout the night and a cloudy obscured morning here at 14 Camp, we spent our 4th of July parked here at 14 Camp. The snow let up by mid morning and we spent a few hours touching up camp after all of the snow. The big snow walls we have around our tents do a great job breaking the wind but make clearing the tents a challenge as all the snow needs to be thrown up and over them. Once the tent area is cleared of the new snow we set about snugging up the guy lines and tent anchors that secure the tent in place, crucial points in case the winds pick up to keep the tents from blowing away. Turning our attention to the kitchen, we spent some time reworking our benches and cooking counters out of the snow. The kitchen is a big circular pit dug into the snow with benches and flat counters dug into the edges with a round teepee like nylon tent that covers it. After a few days of use everything begins to melt out so it took a couple of hours of shoveling and chopping through the ice to reform everything in there.
With camp squared away we dove into a serious session of knot tying, spending the better part of the afternoon practicing the basic as well as more elaborate mountaineering and climbing knots.
The weather has slowly cleared throughout the day and looks to be improving, a great trend for us. We are looking at the possibility of moving to high camp either tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on the weather and a few logistics we need to coordinate with Mike Haugen's RMI team which will hopefully be descending tomorrow.
Happy 4th too everyone back home, we hope you're enjoying the barbecues and fireworks!
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Hey dad its Nick, have been having computer issues so I haven’t been able to check up too much. Looks like you guys are doing well. I hope the trip continues to be somewhat smooth, and I hope you’re having a blast! Love you lots!!
Nick
Posted by: Nick Marini on 7/6/2011 at 12:25 pm
Linden, your descriptions of camp are wonderful! It is nice to start the day knowing you are all hanging in there.
Kitty and I are holding down the home fort…all is well.
We woke for our last morning at Everest Base Camp. Clouds obscured our views of the surrounding peaks as snow danced down. We ate our breakfast and said goodbye to two team members who aren't participating in the climb. Instead they took a helicopter back to Lukla. The six remaining team members rallied to Lobuche for lunch and then made their way up to high camp on Lobuche peak. The trail was snowy and snow began falling from the sky. It was a wintery ascent to camp with some slippery spots. If anyone did want to go down, it was much easier to continue up than to go down. But the team did great and handled the conditions well. We are now curled up in our sleeping bags waiting for dinner. The snow is still falling and the temps are not warm. We shall see what we get tonight for our summit bid. It's already been a great trip and a summit of Lobuche would be a cherry on top.
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Mike Walter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 6:30 am. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise led by Leon Davis also made a successful climb to the summit today after several days of training on the mountain. Both teams began their descent around 7:30 after enjoying the sunrise and views from the crater for almost an hour.
The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break and to re-pack their gear before continuing the descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing both teams in Ashford later today.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Awesome job bro! im so proud! I bet it was amazing! GO JARYD U
Posted by: Parys Michelle Unangst on 8/1/2014 at 8:50 pm
Congratulations Jaryd & team on this tremendous achievement!! So happy you had the opportunity for this wonderful adventure Rad! Grampy wants to know what peak is next? Can’t wait to see you to hear all about it and see pictures. Be safe and love you! G’Pa and G’Ma
Good Afternoon,
This is the Alpamayo Climbing Team calling from Camp 2. We had a really good climb to here this morning. We arrived a couple of hours ago. It is 4:00pm local time, everybody is enjoying some resting time in the tent. We are melting water right now; you can probably hear the stoves. The weather is really good - stable. We are looking at the face, we might be climbing tonight, but we are going to see how it goes through the afternoon before we make a decision before we go tonight. Or we might take a rest and do it the next day. We will keep you posted.
Everybody is doing well. That’s if for now, Elias’ is out. We will call again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Elias deAndres Martos & Team
Elias and Team Checking in from Camp 2 on Alpamayo
Thanks for the check in. We’re following your progress closely and hoping the weather continues to be good. Sounds like the team is strong and well. Enjoy the climb and we want to hear all about it!
It is a rest day for Team 1 on Mt. Elbrus. I wish I had some really exciting things to report. However, rest days are filled with the continual search to beat the boredom of camp life. Activities like cards, dice, reading, people watching, drinking coffee, eating food, etc...are a few of the things we have partaken in so far today.
I'm not gonna jinx it but our summit day tomorrow may require a constant supply of sunscreen and cooling mist machines! It's normal for team members to be a little nervous before summit day. But I'm telling ya...if I were to place a Las Vegas bet, it would be 100% to the top.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Howdy, from the Kahiltna.
Today we made more progress moving nearly all our groceries, gas, and cold weather climbing equipment up to 10k just below Kahiltna Pass. The team climbed strong and moved very efficiently completing the big carry in just five hours round trip - not bad considering the 6ft+ deep hole we needed to dig to fit 15 days of food, gallons of gas and extra personal equipment for our 12-man crew. The weather was in our favor with nice travel temperatures and overcast skies that quickly turned to moderate snow just moments after our team's arrival back to camp just below Ski Hill. With a bit of remission of the snow tomorrow we'll pack camp and move to 11k, where the crampons and ice axes come out and the steeper climbing at altitude kicks in. We will update you again soon.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Hiiiii Ben!
Sounds like a lot of fun! We are glad the weather is on your side, we are sure it will stay that way. Be safe. God Bless. and take lots of photos!
Em and JB
Posted by: Emily and James on 6/8/2011 at 7:59 pm
Tyler, enjoyed climbing with you and Pete May 20-23. I am amazed by what you do every day! Thanks for the well-written updates. I’ll be back next year for Rainier again. Will follow you on Denali to see if I’m up to the challenge. Stay safe. —John
It's been a long day that started in the wee hours of the morning. The alarm sounded about 2 hours after I sent our last dispatch. 2:00 am was a harsh hour of the day to begin our final walk out the Kahiltna Glacier, but essential to safely navigate and cross the crevasses on our way to the airstrip.
At that time the day is about as dark as it gets, which is to say it's about as dark as 1/2 hour after dusk, perhaps. Combined with cloudy, overcast weather, I wasn't entirely psyched for the walk out. But, as the morning developed things began looking brighter. We finally started off at 4:20 am and initially encountered great walking conditions. Unfortunately, as we lost elevation the snow became softer and softer, having not frozen hard overnight because of the cloud cover holding the earth's heat in. This resulted in a few minor crevasse 'falls' where some individuals broke through crevasse bridges up to their waste at most. Of course, by the time you hear their stories, these crevasse falls will have taken on epic proportions. (A night at the bar can have the same effect)
Well, we finally arrived at Base Camp with our weather outlook improving and hopes to be flown off in short order high in everyone's mind. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had something else in store for us, as it's now evening and raining out. Although comfy and snug in our tents, and happy we're not enduring a big storm up high, we of course would rather be back in Talkeetna, and a little closer to you.
Hope to see you soon!
RMI Guides Brent, Leon and Maile
This is Casey and team checking in from ABC, Camp Two.
Today the team awoke early, had a quick breakfast and headed out the door at 4:00 am. The team did a great job climbing all the way through the icefall, past Camp One, and arrived safely at Camp Two. The weather was quite nice today with all the members feeling good and in high spirits. Our goal for this rotation is for all the climbers to reach and possibly sleep at Camp Three. If weather continues to cooperate the first wave will push up to Camp Three tomorrow.
After yesterday's adventure the team slept soundly, some a little too soundly, if you know what I mean (read snoring). We had a leisurely morning with breakfast at 9am and then finished packing up all of our gear and headed back down the combination of lifts to reach Azau once again. The thick air of 8,000 ft was warm and welcoming. There was a look of panic in everyone's eyes when I reminded the team that there were 12 of us who were hoping for hot showers and the water might be limited. Everyone quickly raced off, but there was plenty of hot water and everyone is looking and smelling much better.
We spent the next 2 hours stuffing our bellies with chicken kebabs and some tasty local beer. After lunch the team headed out on a gift shopping mission from which we have just returned.
There is a celebratory dinner on schedule for tonight that usually ends with a little sampling of the local vodka. I'm sure it will be a fun night as everyone is happy to be down from Elbrus and ready to head to St. Petersburg tomorrow.
That's all for now.
Hey dad its Nick, have been having computer issues so I haven’t been able to check up too much. Looks like you guys are doing well. I hope the trip continues to be somewhat smooth, and I hope you’re having a blast! Love you lots!!
Nick
Posted by: Nick Marini on 7/6/2011 at 12:25 pm
Linden, your descriptions of camp are wonderful! It is nice to start the day knowing you are all hanging in there.
Kitty and I are holding down the home fort…all is well.
Posted by: laurie Colaneri on 7/5/2011 at 5:44 pm
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