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Hello from the Karanga Camp at about 13,000 feet. We had a great climb to get here. Right out of camp this morning is the famous Barranco Wall. We left camp at 9 a.m., which put us in a good spot to avoid some traffic on the steep part of the climb. In a few places you use hands and footholds with some exposure below. While climbing carefully and taking advantage of many photo opportunities along the way, the team got back to more level terrain. For the next couple of hours we enjoyed views of the upper mountain and interesting terrain under foot. We arrived here at 1 p.m. and were greeted to a hot lunch of noodles and sauce. Not a scrap was left on any plate after a great day on the trail. Some cloud cover now but no rain.
We are getting busy with preparing food and gear for the move to high camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Dobre Veycher,
After a long couple days of travel we arrived in St. Petersburg this afternoon. Compared to the throngs of summer travelers filling the terminals back home in the U.S., the airport here in St. Petersburg was comparatively calm and within a half hour of landing we were strolling into the afternoon sun with all of our equipment. The drive into St. Petersburg is a fascinating mix of eras and cultures, with the clean lines of the European inspired city mixed with neon Cryillic street signs, statues and archways celebrating the USSR, and giant billboards advertising the latest in electronics and hair care products. Plunging northward deeper into the heart of the city the wide boulevards gradually constrict and soon the buildings push in on both sides of the streets, occasionally intersected by the canals that help drain the city. With the warm temperatures of summer we saw several locals out on jet skis in the canals, navigating between the barges and tour boats at full speed, leaving bewildered visitors and boat captains in their wakes.
After reaching the hotel, we dropped our bags in the rooms and then snuck out for a quick dinner at a trendy little cafe around the corner. On our way out we met up with the RMI Team led by Casey Grom, returning from a successful climb of Elbrus. They reported fantastic conditions on the mountain and great climbing up high.
With the sun setting out to the west over the North Sea we are turning in for the evening. Tomorrow we will spend the day visiting St. Petersburg and getting settled into the new time zone before heading south to Elbrus and the Caucasus the following day.
A moderately stormy day on Mount Vinson. We chose not to do our intended carry because of persistent wind and cloud, which when combined with the normal cold temperatures makes travel a little dicey. Or at least a little more dicey than we hoped for for our intro to the mountain. Instead we practiced a bit with our avalanche beacons, beefed up the snow walls around our dining tent and went for a three- hour hike with light packs when conditions improved slightly in the afternoon. Forecasts call for less wind tomorrow and we'll hope to take advantage.
Good evening again, this time from Yanapacha Moraine camp. After a good rest/acclimatizing rest day yesterday, we moved uphill today, and established our home for the next couple of nights in the vecinity of the glacier at 4800m. The hike was one the most beautiful ones that this guide remembers, with giants like Huandoy, Chacraraju and
Huascarán North guarding our ascent over the steep grassy slopes on the foothills of Yanapacha.
Everyone did a good job, arriving ahead of schedule and we enjoyed an incredible meal pre-cooked by our chef Emilio. French fries with a beef stir fry was a hit at this elevation. We waved good bye to our porters, and as the sun went down, we crawled into our sleeping bags to remain warm and keep the psych for tomorrow's endeavor on Yanapacha. Stay tuned for more,
Guides Peter,
JT,
Elias & team.
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall and the Five-Day
Mount Rainier Summit Climb, along with Tyler Reid and the Four-Day Summit Climb reached the summit this morning. They enjoyed light winds and clear skies. The teams spent some time celebrating and enjoying the views before starting their descent at 8:10 a.m.
Today marks
Solveig's 100th summit of Mount Rainier! Congratulations!
What a day, what a day!
We started the day off with a nice walking tour of this majestic city with our kind Russian guide Natasha. She led us around
St. Petersburg stopping by the major highlights this city is know for and educated us to its deep history. We visited the Church of the Savior of Spilled Blood, St. Peter's Square, and St. Isaac's Cathedral along with many other beautiful sites. We took a brief break for lunch and explored a little on our own. Most of the team visited the Hermitage know for its incredible art collection, while others sought out their own adventure.
We reconvened around 8 and Natasha took us on a spectacular boat tour on the many canals that intertwine this city. The day was very rewarding for everyone and I'm pretty sure everyone would love to stay longer.
It has been a wonderful adventure the last two weeks with a great team! In a way it's sad that we've reached the end of this trip. Good times were had and good friends were made!
Missing all of our families and most of our friends.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Groundhog Day at 11,000 ft on
Mt. McKinley. Another storm day from start to finish. Moderate winds, light but steady snow falling, poor visibility. Our POSH tent is a well dug-in fortress; essentially a covered pit in which we've cut benches for people and shelves for stoves. It provided excellent shelter today. Obviously, we drag out the meals for several hours, eating and talking and talking some more so as to avoid going back into our sleeping tents too soon and for too long. We each put in a few sessions of digging out the tents during the day, which is good for the tents, but also for our muscles and our brains. In late afternoon, the team assembled for a lesson in how we'll climb the "fixed ropes" section of the route between 15,000 and 16,000 ft. Then it was time for dinner, more talking in the POSH, and finally bed once again.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
It's week three and all is well here at Everest Basecamp. Some of the team members have climbed through the icefall and camped at Camp One. A few of us have been fighting colds and coughs, but plan on heading up hill in just a few days. Being under the weather here is a big difference from being under the weather back home. First, it takes a lot longer to heal at 17,500'. Second, failing to take it easy when our bodies need it could lead to feeling worse or needing to descend to a lower altitude to recover.
Everyone has been doing a good job of taking it easy though. There has been plenty of hot showers, doing laundry, watching movies, and too many card games to count. The weather seems to be stable with crystal clear skies in the morning to cloudy in the afternoon with light snowfall. Looking forward to walking up hill soon and feeling better.
Casey
PS - Rob Suero would like to wish happy birthday to his daughter. Happy Birthday!
(Voicemail from Linden)
We left Pheriche early this morning and trekked our way through Thokla, this sits on the terminal moraine of the Khumbu Glacier. We climbed to the top of Thokla Pass to view the climbers' memorials draped in prayer flags. By midday we had arrived at our tea house in Lobuche.
We spent the afternoon relaxing and acclimatizing at our new altitude of 16,200'. Everyone is acclimatizing very well. We will spend one day here hiking and relaxing and enjoying the great views.
As we move through Lobuche and onto Everest Base Camp, communication can be difficult but we will do our best to keep in touch. Tell everyone at home "Hello" we are having a great time and are very excited to be so close to EBC!
Linden
Hello again everyone
The team had a really nice day here on Kilimanjaro today, waking to mostly clear skies with a nice view of the upper mountain and hiking in just a light cloud layer which help keep us cool.
We started the day waking at 6:30 to start packing up before moving into our dinning tent for a nice breakfast with porridge, fried eggs, toast, avocado and even some fresh fruit, and most importantly plenty of hot chocolate and coffee.
We hit the trail shortly after 7:30am to get a jump on some of the traffic and slowly made our way up the rocky trail with good views of Kilimanjaro above. The trail climbs up a ridge and eventually out of the trees and allows for some truly spectacular views of the valley below. The team hiked for a little more than 4 hours before reaching out next camp that sits on Shira Plateau, which is an ancient lava flow littered with obsidian.
The afternoon was spent relaxing around camp and enjoying nice conversation with the team.
Everyone is doing very well and looking forward to another good nights rest.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew
On The Map
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GO BRO! Your Razorback crew is praying for a safe and spectacular climb for Uncle John and the team.
Posted by: Jane on 7/29/2011 at 8:06 pm
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