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Greetings from Nepal Everyone!
And welcome to RMI's first
Nepal trek of 2014!
After some very long flights from the USA the team has finally arrived here in Kathmandu. Our first day was mostly spent catching up on some much needed sleep and adjusting to our new time zone, which is 9-12 hours ahead of everyone back home.
Our second day started off with the usual meet and greet where the team got to know one another and discussed the adventure ahead and made sure everyone had all the essential gear.
After a short break we headed into the main tourist center of Thamel for a quick lunch at the famous Roadhouse Cafe known for its tasty pizza.
Shortly after lunch the team set off to do a little site seeing in Kathmandu and stopped off at two of the most important sites, the famous monkey temple and the giant Boudhanath.
The evening ended with a nice dinner here at our hotel appropriately named the Yak and Yeti. And it was off to bed before our early flights.
RMI Guide
Casey Grom and Crew
RMI's Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Seth Waterfall and Jason Thompson reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today at 7:20 a.m. PT. It was a cold and clear day on the mountain with very high winds. The team took photos and a quick break on top before starting their descent.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz led by Nate Disser also reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning via the Kautz Glacier. The team will return to high camp for their final night on the mountain.
Congratulations to today's team on their successful ascent of Mt. Rainier!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Greetings from La Malinche. We checked out of the hotel this morning just before a huge crowd descended on the Zocalo to celebrate the holiday. The city center has been transformed into a huge tribute to the holiday, with a sound stage and fifty foot tall heart. Getting our bags out to the vans was quite a project as many of the streets are closed.
Traffic was light getting out of the city though and Ixta was in full view. There is much more snow than I've ever seen on it so the climbing conditions should be great.
Once we arrived at La Malinche we hiked for about 4 hours. There were clouds building and distant thunder but we were still able to get to above 13,000 feet. Now we're settled into our cabanas and ready for dinner and a good night's sleep.
I'll check in tomorrow from the Altzimoni Hut on Ixta.
Saturday, June 26, 2021 - 10:40 pm PT
The bad weather hadn't finished, but we made our break for 11K Camp just the same. What is Denali without some wandering in whiteouts?
It took about four hours and that put us into 11K at 3PM. So nice to see our friends in Mike Walter's group. We dug in right next door to them. Still light snow falling and a lot of cloud, but we are delighted to have different scenery when we can see it. Tomorrow we'll go back down to retrieve loads.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The
Five Day Climb led by RMI Guide
Alex Halliday reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team experienced good weather and a good route for their climb this morning. The team left the summit crater of Mt. Rainier shortly before 8:00 AM. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford this afternoon and hearing about their time on the mountain.
Way to climb!
June 29, 2014 - 9:51 pm PT
Hello to everyone out there in blog land. We all wish, in some selfish way I suppose, that there was a sure fire way to teleport any curious individuals straight to our location here on what is commonly called the Polo Field of the
West Buttress. As I mentioned yesterday, a move to 14,000 foot Advanced Basecamp was on the ticket and we were gonna "make some hay" while the sun did shine. Oh how the "High One" can take any given plan and turn it into any thing she wishes. Like the oxymoron I spoke of about a "windless" Windy Corner. Can you say JINX! As it turns out, not only was the corner as windy as a Dave Hahn Everest story, the sun only shined for a few minutes before it started dumping snow again. Combine this with heinous trail breaking in the multiple feet of new snow and out pops a midway camp spot used only when the going gets tough. So tomorrow the tough will get going again and try for 14,000 feet once more.
Wish for warm toes, a better trail and quite winds.
Until Tomorrow.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Rugged and rough is a great way to describe the ascent to
Aconcagua Camp One. The team carried gear to cache at 16,400 feet. The last stretch into camp is a light and fluffy scree section that can sometimes cause folks to spin your wheels. Our team managed fine and we hung out for a half an hour in the thin air.
We cached a couple of duffel bags filled with food and gear that we will need higher on the mountain. We are now back in Basecamp once again enjoying the good life!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
Hello again from the 11k camp on
Denali!
We decided to take another day to rest and acclimate to the altitude. We spent most of the day lounging around, reading, listening music, napping, and telling lies, all the while getting stronger for our forays up higher.
The weather was cloudy, cooler, and windier today, and a trace of snow fell overnight. But as I lie in my sleeping bag typing this dispatch, a cloudless sky sits above us. We're hoping for good weather tomorrow so we can carry supplies up to around 13,600'. We'll stay in touch.
RMI Guide
Mike Walter & team
Our day began with more unsettled weather, but seeing that we had a short day in store for us, we got an early start on retrieving our cache from 9,600' and were back up to camp by 12:30. And that's when the weather finally broke in earnest, greeting us with windless, sunny conditions. Finally!
We took great advantage of an afternoon with little to do and relaxed for a few hours. Later, we did get a short training session in where Leon and Maile refreshed our cramponing and ice axe arrest skills. This in preparation for our big carry up to 13,500', where the slopes steepen appreciably and the use of crampons and ice axes are essential. Everybody is ready for the challenging day and excited to start climbing.
We were also psyched upon hearing that Mike Walters and his group had finally made it to 17,200' camp. Well, I too better get some rest for tomorrow's climb.
Goodnight from 11,200'.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
We packed up our bags this morning after several comfortable nights in Namche and set out on the trail. The first fifteen minutes are always the hardest; climbing up and out of Namche's steep and narrow streets don't allow for much of a warm up and we were quickly pulling off of our warm jackets as we climbed into the morning sun. Once out of Namche's bowl the trail quickly flattened out and we spent several hours traversing across the mountain sides high above the Dudh Kosi. The morning was clear again and we had wonderful views of Everest and Lhotse, still sailing their giant plumes of snow from their summits.
By midday we reached Phunki Tanga - known also as Funky Town - where we stopped for a pleasant lunch amongst the fir and rhododendrons. During lunch we encountered our first train of true yaks - the legendary shaggy work animals of the high Himalaya. They are noticeable larger than the yak/cow crossbreed used lower in the Valley and we all paused during our meal to admire them, colorfully decorated by their Sherpa herders with strings and even earings.
After lunch we set our sights upon our major climb of the day, gaining the several thousand feet from Phunki Tanga to Tengboche - a ridgetop community that is home to the largest Monastery in the area. The group climbed steadily and we made good time, quickly ticking off the many dusty switchbacks that led us to the top and before long we had crested the ridge and were standing in the open grounds in front of the large monastery. Clouds moved into the mountains by then and swirled amongst the peaks above us, obscuring the stunning panorama Tengboche is known for. After admiring the ornate architecture and colorful decorations of the Monastery we dropped down off of the other side of the ridge into the tiny village of Deboche, tucked amongst a large forest of rhododendron on the verge of blooming. Finding our teahouse amongst the trees, we settled in by mid afternoon to relax after a good day on the trail.
Tomorrow we will stay another night in Deboche, taking time to visit the Monastery of Tengboche and go for a small day hike above the area.
The team is in high spirits and doing well, sending their best to everyone at home.
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Hello Dave Hahn. Matt McEttrick & company:
While you are at 11K with deep snow & cold on Denali;
The weather conditions are quite different in the Lower Forty Eight!
In the west including CA, WA and OR temperatures are flirting with
100 degrees F. For the next few days in Boston Ma temperatures
will be in the 90 to 100 degree range! Much of the US has similar
conditions,
Our best to all! Joe & Marion McEttrick
Posted by: Joseph P McEttrick on 6/27/2021 at 8:11 pm
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