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Posted by: Adam Knoff, Dustin Wittmier
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Today the entire team was assembled for the first time. With a couple last minute emergencies, the group is now down to eight. We are disappointed some folks had to cancel, however we are happy to report that all who planned to make it here are in country with luggage in tow.
After a quick orientation we were shuffled onto the bus for a tour of Quito and a trip to La Mitad del Mundo (The Middle of the World). This is not a reference to Middle Earth, but instead is a museum at the Equatorial Line. We were treated to a variety of scientific representations of the Coriolis Effect. Two members of the team were able to balance an egg on a nail. In reality, this is possible anywhere in the world but Dustin keeps a close eye on this activity for when it comes time to assign rope teams.
Our tour then proceeded to El Panecillo and old town Quito. It rained for most of the day, but we made the most of it and it cleared up just enough on top of El Panecillo to have a great view of the city.
By the time we returned to the hotel most of us were pretty exhausted. Many team members' flights arrived late last night so people were given the choice to run around town or just relax in the rooms. I think most chose sleep!
We are all in good spirits, healthy and ready for our first acclimation hike tomorrow up Rucu Pichincha.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
On The Map
On The Map
Thinking of you Jen and this incredible adventure you are on. Praying that the weather holds up and you will reach the summit soon. Lots of love.
Posted by: Aunt Marie on 6/7/2014 at 8:18 pm
Great job. Thinking of you, Dave and the whole crew.
Have a safe climb. Can’t wait to hear all about it.
Posted by: Bonnie on 6/7/2014 at 3:15 pm
Posted by: Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
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On The Map
Climb Strong! We are all behind you from Tampa. I am reading the blog to the girls for a bed time story so please through some princess stories in there.
Love,
Lennox
Posted by: Ken Lennox on 5/12/2014 at 5:15 am
Dad (Bob Strode),
Coming home from dinner to a mother’s day message from Camp 3 on Denali made my night. And may have almost made me cry, but we’ll blame pregnancy hormones for that.
Hope the weather stays so fabulous! Keep on staying strong! We all are sending good vibes and love from Ohio!
Love,
Mandy
Posted by: MandyS on 5/11/2014 at 4:39 pm
Posted by: Jeff Martin
Categories:
Our big day began at about 5:45 AM… which was when the sun started hitting the high peaks. There was a little more cloud -again- for the start of the day but it didn’t really seem like it would affect us. We got walking at 7 AM in the cool shadows. The trail turned uphill immediately and we got busy gaining altitude. We enjoyed pretty much having it all to ourselves. We took short breaks every hour or so. There was great variety to the climb. We reached an area of high alpine lakes and ultimately a grand stone staircase to the Renjo La -the pass at 17,800 ft. We reached it at 12:30 after 4.5 hrs. Everest was visible in the distance but there were lots of clouds about, meaning we just got some quick glimpses of Lhotse and Makalu and Cho Oyu. It was a thrilling spot to be in and so we spent nearly a half hour enjoying it. We made good progress down the other side, reaching Gokyo in just two more hours… at three PM. Gokyo Lake was mesmerizing. Quite large and quite turquoise in color. It was wonderful to walk along the shore as a finish to the day. And then we were in a comfortable tea house, sipping tea again.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,000'
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.
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest BC Trek and Lobuche
Hello all,
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.
Wish us warmth, strength, and good weather!
RMI Guides Hannah, Abby, and Team
All who attempted had a successful summit of Pico de Orizaba today!
Starting at the alpine hour of 1AM, the stars let us know we had a clear morning to climb. Everything went seamlessly as we ascended through steep rocks to the start of the Jamapa glacier. We roped up with our ice axes in hand and climbed to the summit, enjoying the sunrise and shadow of the mountain stretching far across the landscape from 18,491’.
Although this mountain takes a lot out of us climbers, everyone was in high spirits afterwards, knowing our trip was successful and complete.
Tonight, we celebrate our trip and our last night as a team!
Yesterday as our team of acclimating, moth parenting, cloud touching gringos strolled up Rucu Pichincha, a storm was unleashing 40 miles to the south. In Espanol they might say it was raining perros y gatos, but luckily we never felt a drop. Ever since the team arrived, our weather has been a bit squirley leaving us to wonder if we might actually get wet somewhere along the line.
As we packed Victor’s magic bus today, the clouds swirled above but not as noisily as the traffic around us. Forty-five minutes after departing our gracious hotel hosts, we gathered speed around a four lane roundabout and were literally shot out of the city like something breaking free from a strange orbit. Three hours and 50 miles later we found ourselves at a beautiful crater lake named Largo Mojanda. As Americans we want to pronounce this with a true "j" sound, making this lake sound like some kind of volcanic jelly, but in Espanol, the "j" sounds like an "h" and the "o" is long giving it a more majestic feel.
The mountains we climbed don’t take as much tutoring to figure out. Fuya Fuya is the name of the twin peaks we ascended leaving only images and not so much phonetics to the imagination. Much like yesterday, the weather held and we were blessed with another summit and beautiful vistas of the deep blue lake and surrounding peaks. The climbing wasn’t difficult but watching Jerome plunge into the frigid water was. When he asked me it it was okay to swim, I looked at him and said, “I don’t know, is it?” I certainly wasn’t risking my skin against fresh water volcanic flesh eating trout. He went in but came out quicker.
From the lake we descended the bumpy cobble road to our favorite lunch spot and then to the hacienda for some rest, packing and preparing for tomorrow’s big move to 15,000' on the flanks of Cayambe. This is a big jump so wish us luck. But, before we go to the mountain we will go shopping! All faithful blog followers get a gift.
Stay tuned.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Awesome job guys. Sounds like you have an extremely strong team. Wishing everyone a safe and successful summit.
Posted by: Kevin Durbon on 1/27/2020 at 4:29 am
Glad to hear the weather has been good for your journey. Enjoying the pictures that are posted. Save up your energy. Sounds like you all have lots of hard work ahead. Remember…lots of people are cheering for you!!! LUMTA 1TF
Posted by: Geri Kuehn on 1/25/2020 at 10:13 pm
Thanks for the photos! They help me know what’s ahead of me. So much for this being just an easy walk! Great job guys!
Posted by: Mary Crafts on 7/20/2019 at 11:21 pm
Love the updates! So happy for you all! I hope you’re having an amazing time! ❤️
Posted by: KERI LEHMAN on 7/20/2019 at 4:29 pm
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