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We were treated to another wonderfully calm, clear ... and cold night last night at Camp 1. The almost full moon hung huge in the western sky, just above the edges of the Horocones Glacier below us when we poked our heads out of the tents this morning. We dragged our feet a bit getting out of the tents but once the sun reached us we warmed right up and soon had our packs loaded and were heading up the trail. The climbing today was perfect, not too warm and hardly a breeze. Our acclimatization at Camp 1 was noticeable as we moved smoothly across the difficult sections of trail where the bedrock is covered by a thin veneer of gravel and loose stones. The time and the altitude ticked by with us hardly noticing until we found ourselves weaving between the large boulders that mark the entrance to Camp 2 at 18,330'.
No afternoon clouds were forming in the west and the weather was perfect so we took our time setting up camp, soaking in the views, sipping on water, and erecting large rock walls around our tents in case the do winds pick up. The rest of the afternoon passed with little action other than relaxing in camp and getting used to the new elevations. The approach of the longest day of the year down here (tomorrow!) means that even approaching 8 o'clock in the evening the sun still hangs high in the sky right now and is keeping the tents pleasantly warm.
We are all definite feeling the new jump in altitude up here - everything takes just a bit more effort - but are all feeling good. It is exciting to be moving higher on the mountain and suddenly the summit doesn't look, or feel, as far away now. We are planning on taking a stroll above Camp tomorrow but largely using it as a rest day to adjust to the new elevations and recover a bit from the days we've had since leaving Base Camp. We'll check in tomorrow afternoon.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Hello from Talkeetna, Alaska,
Our McKinley Expedition June 14th team met in Anchorage on Tuesday, June 14th, since then we have spent time shopping, packing food, gear, and other necessities, and meeting with the National Park Service. Our gear is organized and packed and we are all set to fly tomorrow (Thursday, June 16th). The weather has not been clear for several days so there are many teams waiting to fly to/from the Kahiltna Glacier. The weather has not begun to clear and planes are flying.
Our chances look good to fly onto the mountain tomorrow. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
Weather forecast was right. Winds picked up last night and didn't slow down until 8 am this morning. We estimate that the wind speed was a steady 30 mph and gusts of 50 mph. The good news is that besides a few cut guidelines, our tents stayed in place with no damage. Nobody slept that much so this morning our stoke score descended a few points. Once the wind slowed down we had a late breakfast and packed for the carry to Camp 2. The first hour and a half we walked uphill on a steep trail up the col Aconcagua-Ameghino (17,500'). Once we got to the west side of the col we were exposed to the cold wind that was still blowing on that side of the mountain. It took us 2 more hours to reach Camp 2. The descent to Camp 1 was very quick, just 1:10hrs.
As I write this Garrett is cooking dinner, which smells great, so our stoke score will get to 8 points! Hot drinks are ready so we will be sending a new dispatch tomorrow during our well deserved rest day at Camp 1.
Gabi and the RMI Aconcagua expedition
Feliz Día de San Valentin :)
We are now settled in at high camp on Ixta after a day of good Mexican eating and a four hour hike with heavy packs.
Everyone is in good spirits as we enjoy another nice sunset and prepare for our first big summit attempt of the trip.
Dustin
It's another beautiful day with clear skies and light winds on the upper flanks of Mt. Rainier.
RMI Guides Casey Grom and Leon Davis led their
Four Day Climb August 24 - 27 to the summit this morning. The teams enjoyed the views and took photos for almost an hour before starting their descent from the crater rim. They will conclude their adventure this afternoon with a celebration of their accomplishments.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
At 7:20 a.m. PT the
Mount Rainier Four Day Summit Climbs led by Kel Rossiter and Zeb Blais were just about to crest the crater rim. They reported 10 mph winds from the north and perfectly blue skies.
Congratulations to today's summit climb teams!
All the way to
Camp 2!
Our team did a fantastic job carrying some group gear and personal gear up to 18,000 feet. The winds were still present as they kicked snow off into the air of surrounding peaks and ridges. However, they were not as strong as yesterday.
As the team rounded the corner and entered the col, they were treated to their first view of the high Andes range of Argentina. Breathtaking doesn't describe it. We are now back at Camp 1 resting and recovering after a great day in the mountains.
P.S. - Happy Birthday Josh!!! From Denise. I'm wearing my new socks!! :)
RMI Guides JJ Justman, Mike King & Steve Gately
On The Map
We spent all of yesterday in
Tarangire National Park. It's home to more elephants per square mile than any place on earth, and we weren't disappointed at all. If I had to guess I'd say we saw somewhere close to a thousand elephants between yesterday and on our short drive back through today.
We spent the night just outside of the park boundaries in another tented camp. And enjoyed an amazing meal provided by the kind staff at the Kikoti Camp.
It's been an incredible adventure and everyone has had a wonderful time here in Africa, but our trip has come to an end and its time to return to our homes.
Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Hello from Moscow.
The
RMI Mt. Elbrus Northside team has all arrived and the trip is officially under way. We met up this evening for a meet-and-greet and then went out to dinner. The team seems very well aligned as far as goals and expectations for the trip. It was a short night for us as many folks have just arrived in Moscow and, it's raining with thunder and lightning all around the downtown area.
Tomorrow we're scheduled to take a tour of the Kremlin and the other sights around Red Square. I'll take some photos and send them on in the afternoon.
RMI Guides Seth Waterfall & Pete Van Deventer
After our beautiful bluebird day on Mount Frances we went to bed satisfied with our climbing. We spent our last full day dialing in rescue techniques and ice climbing in crevasses.
Yesterday we woke up early for our flight back to Talkeetna and enjoyed a celebratory toast. A sweet success! Everybody left for home with lots of knowledge on modern climbing techniques and as more experienced climbers.
Thank you very much team for the great times in the Alaska Range and I'm already looking forward to next year's
Alpine Seminar.
All best,
RMI Guide Andres Marin
Happy winter solstice!! Stay strong and take lots of wide angle shots of Aconcagua. You can never have too many (-;
Posted by: Monsieur Homme on 12/21/2013 at 8:28 am
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