RMI Guide Mark Tucker and Team called to check in from the Dik Dik Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. The team has enjoyed a little R & R after long international flights; everyone is well rested and ready to start trekking. After a gear check this afternoon the bags are packed and ready to hit the trail in the morning.
Follow along with us on the RMI Blog and they make their way to the Roof of Africa!
Hi Steve and Connor! Hope you have a safe trip up the mountain and back! Take lots of pics to share! ~Audrey
Posted by: Audrey on 8/7/2014 at 7:00 am
Connor!! It’s Ash from work!! Hope your having a blast!! I’m still jealous! Any-whos guess whos back working here?! Molly is back so that’s pretty sweet and makes work more entertaining! Oh and guess which vote won for the united way t-shirt design?! Yours! They have long sleeve and short sleeve. Does your dad want one too? Anyways have an amazing hike! -Ashley & Molly :)
Hey Mark Tucker at Everest Base Camp, checking in. Woke up to clear blue, not a cloud in the sky. Here in the early evening, we've got a little light snow- not unusual. The team is doing well. We had a very productive day: some showers, lots of writing, reading... I don't know about arithmetic, lots of photos, and a venture into the Icefall. We are sharing our camp with Jeff Martin, the RMI Operations Manager. It's a pleasure he is setting everything up for the team that's coming in. Actually the bags that went straight from Kathmandu to Base Camp just arrived for the climbing team. I'm sure they are posting on the website. But their gear is all here and that is always a nice thing. A little bit chilly, as you can imagine. My hands are freezing on this phone but we are going to duck into the dining tent where we will have another three to five course meal and have a little heater in there. Play a little bit of cards and relax and we are already gearing up for tomorrow. Our descent will begin back back towards Lukla. So we are keeping that fresh in our mind. Everybody is doing well and thanks for following. We'll talk later.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guide Mark Tucker checks in from Everest Base Camp.
Our crew is resting today at Camp 3 (11,200'). We were tempted to move up to Camp 4 (14,200') today but the weather was a little squirrely this morning. Our team is strong, and climbing very well, but I decided that we would all benefit from rest and more time at 11,200' before pushing camp up to 14,200'. We're all eager to move up higher, and we're hopeful that tomorrow will be the day.
Hopefully next time I update our progress it will be from Camp 4. May the weather gods cooperate!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Today the team managed to summit El Pico de Orizaba!
We needed a perfect weather setup and that's just what we got. Sunshine yesterday combined with wind from just the right direction diminished the avalanche hazard from the previous storm. We awoke before midnight to crystal clear skis and no wind. After suffering through the storm on Ixta, and never even roping up, the team was psyched to go for the summit on Orizaba. The unusually large snowpack this year was a delight as the normally rocky and challenging lower mountain was a snow-climb right out of the hut. However as we ascended onto the Jamapa glacier our tough luck returned in the form of a cold wind that averaged at least 25 miles an hour. This made the final hours of the climb a total battle. It was cold enough that we spent less than 10 minutes on the summit before retreating, but the success after all of our adversity felt great.
Tonight we overnight in Tlachichuca and tomorrow we head to the airport in Mexico City for our flights home.
Well done team!
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Alex Halliday stayed at Camp Muir last night. The upper mountain was covered in a heavy cap with significant thunderstorms. Currently the weather at Camp Muir is sunny with the cap still hanging over the upper mountain and a marine layer sitting at about 5,000’. The team will enjoy the calm morning before starting their descent to Paradise.
Today we arrived to the base of Lonquimay to a fresh blanket of snow glistening in the morning sun. The nice weather was quite a contrast to what we’ve experienced thus far. And we enjoyed it thoroughly for the first couple hours of skinning. But there was a cloud cap over the summit (“a hat” as Sergio our outfitter calls it). The higher we went, the colder it got, and soon we were in whiteness, getting blasted by a frigid wind. We kept on though, and reaching the top we were blessed. The wind stopped. The skies cleared. The views opened. And we were lined up for some of the best powder skiing I’ve had down here. Our first cumbre of the trip took some perseverance, but man it paid off...
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
Hi! This is Solveig checking in after a successful summit day on Mt. Shuksan. We left camp just before 5 AM this morning and enjoyed perfect weather all the way to the summit. The team climbed strong and we made it round trip in a little over eight hours, with a nice rest on the summit. Our plan is to relax in the sun here in camp and begin our descent early tomorrow morning.
Thanks for following along!
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall
June 23, 2014 - 2:10 PM PT
The day, yesterday, dawned cold and windy again, seemingly the weather theme for the entire trip. We decided to launch out of 11k camp anyway, with the siren song of airplane rides motivating our packing. When all the kits were loaded into duffels, we started the Kahiltna Shuffle in whiteout conditions, a stiff breeze keeping the temps cool despite the hard work of dragging big sleds downhill.
Soon we passed our friends who were camped at 9500', and stopped in for a quick hello as the weather got just a little better. We continued down the glacier under improving skies, with only one or two minor freak-outs over the cumbersome sleds that threatened to take us out at the knees.
Finally the sun broke through, and the last grind up Heartbreak Hill was about as hot as anywhere on earth. But with the blue skies, we knew that the planes were flying - and that kept us moving right into base camp. Within about 10 minutes, our K2 Aviation Otter had landed, and we loaded up the kit and let internal combustion take over.
The evening wrap-up by the Susitna River was a special event, and Denali even came out from behind the clouds to give us full closure. It has been an incredible adventure from the very beginning, and while the actual climbing is over, the memories and experiences we've shared will remain. Thanks for following along and for all the support along the way!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones and team
Congrats to the team! I can’t wait to hear more about the trip and see more pictures. Love you Jake and hope to see you soon
Posted by: Bonnie Garfield on 6/24/2014 at 8:33 am
Tyler, Garrett and Geoff….well done and thank you from all of the John Stenderup family. The RMI experience for John included weather adversity and other circumstances that will be life long lessons for all of your teams. Your superb training enabled some to summit and prevented possible disaster for others. I, and I hope John also, will forever retain “the summit is for the ego and the journey is for the soul” incantation. Thank you. Best Regards, Kent Stenderup
Posted by: Kent Stenderup on 6/23/2014 at 10:13 pm
Jambo,
We are now a full team. Our last climber was delayed in getting here last night but was able to re-route through Nairobi and arrived here by mid-day.
This morning we focused on getting ready to leave for the mountain tomorrow. Everybody went through their gear one last time to ensure that nothing was missed and more importantly, to make sure that the kitchen sink was not thrown in by accident. We enjoyed the rest of the day hanging out at the pool and exploring the area around our hotel. We just finished an incredible five-course meal, and are frantically writing a few last emails before going to bed.
We head to the Machame Gate (6,000') in the morning and will be checking in from Machame Camp (10,000') tomorrow night. Now with the months of training and planning behind us, we are just a few hours from starting our climb. Everybody is excited to get on the trail tomorrow and ready for the challenge that lies ahead.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
Hi Steve and Connor! Hope you have a safe trip up the mountain and back! Take lots of pics to share! ~Audrey
Posted by: Audrey on 8/7/2014 at 7:00 am
Connor!! It’s Ash from work!! Hope your having a blast!! I’m still jealous! Any-whos guess whos back working here?! Molly is back so that’s pretty sweet and makes work more entertaining! Oh and guess which vote won for the united way t-shirt design?! Yours! They have long sleeve and short sleeve. Does your dad want one too? Anyways have an amazing hike! -Ashley & Molly :)
Posted by: Ashley Schmidt on 8/6/2014 at 4:46 pm
View All Comments