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Posted by: Kel Rossiter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
The Alaska season has begun!
We all met yesterday at the airport and drove through Wasilla to pick up some food items to take on our seminar. After a great night in Talkeetna, we ate breakfast, and began organizing our equipment in preparation of flying on the glacier.
I'm glad we were so prepared. After a pretty wintry day in Talkeetna, we received news that we are clear for takeoff! We are loading the plane now. There is always the possibility that the weather may turn and we'll be headed back to Talkeetna but for now, all systems are clear. Stay tuned...
All best,
RMI Guide Andres Marin and the Alaska Alpine Seminar.
On The Map
RMI Guides and Climbers were ascending the route above 12,500’ today when they came upon a party in need of help. A major crevasse had collapsed at the 12,700’ level with at least one member of an independent climbing team standing on it when it fell. The RMI Guides stabilized the climber, treated the resulting leg injury, and transported the climber down to 12,300’, the top of Disappointment Cleaver for a helicopter evacuation. By the time all of this was accomplished a summit attempt was no longer feasible for the RMI Summit Team. The team has returned safely to Camp Muir and will to descend to Paradise.
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
Posted by: Mike Walter, Jess Wedel, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
Today we had much kinder weather than the last few and we enjoyed a nice leg stretcher back to 9,700' to retrieve our cache from a few days ago. We're back at 11,200' camp chilling before dinner. It feels good to reunite with all of our gear so we can prepare for the next stage of the climb, which will be establishing a cache up around Windy Corner. We haven't decided yet if we'll try to get that done tomorrow or the next day. In any case, our bodies are busy producing red blod cells as we adapt to living at altitude. One last note for today: Happy Mother's Day to Jeanne, Liz, Valari, Kristy, Karen, Kate, Dorothy, Tracy, Becky, Megan, Kathie, Fiona, Susan, Angela, Lynda, Veronique, Fatemeh, Joyce, Mary, Betty, Dee Dee, Anne, Sarah, Tania, Elaina, Dione, and Meredith.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
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Denali Expedition, May 5, 2024
--Update--
Wake up was at 11:30 PM last night, breakfast was at midnight. We set off for the summit at 12:45 AM in perfect conditions for climbing. It was cool at 15,000 ft Barafu Camp, but not terribly cold. The sky was clear and the air was calm. As expected, there were plenty of teams going for the top, but we didn’t encounter much in the way of traffic jams. We went 90 minutes before our first rest break and then kept it to just ten minutes so as not to get too cold. Basically, we climbed for nearly six hours in the dark with the air getting progressively thinner and colder. The team handled it all quite well and we rolled onto the crater rim at Stella Point at 6:30 AM, just as the sun tipped over the horizon. We had a magnificent walk along the crater rim in the light of the new day, arriving at the true summit, Uhuru, at 7:24 AM. It was time for a few hero shots and handshakes. We spent nearly a half hour at Africa’s highest point and then began the big descent to thicker air. We dropped down dusty scree fields and pulled back into high camp at 10:45 AM. It was a relief to get out of all the cold weather clothing, since it was now hot, and back into hiking clothes.
Our staff served us up a great “brunch” and then we packed up once again and skedaddled. We got headed down at 12:30 PM and dropped a further 5,000 vertical feet to reach Mweka Camp at the start of the forest. To be sure, our gang worked hard and folks were tired, but everybody made it in to camp by 4:00 PM, which is quite a respectable finish to a big day. Appetites are returning, headaches are fading and hopes are high for a full night of sleep in low altitude, well humidified air. People are starting to talk about showers...the end is near.
We did great things today, but not without a huge boost from our local staff. From our guides, to the kitchen crew, and porters.. many went the “extra mile” in every sense to help us achieve, and enjoy, our dream.
Best Regards,
Dave Hahn
--Original Post--
Hey this is Dave Hahn calling from Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. We summitted today. We were on top of Uhuru, the highest point in Africa, at about 20 minutes after 7 this morning 25 minutes after 7. Pretty good - excellent conditions, nice and calm, beautiful day. Now it's ten minutes after 11 in the morning and we are back at High Camp. We are going to rest up here a little bit and then go down to Mweka Camp, way down there at 10,000 feet. That will be a full day. We have been up since 11:30 last night. I'll check in when w are down at Mweka Camp. We are all good here.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls to report reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro.
On The Map
Well done!! Jeff Tracy, we willl celebrate at Boma at WDW in your honor tonight!-Team Falls
Posted by: Team Falls on 8/12/2019 at 4:57 am
Congratulations, Mike, to you, your team, your RMI guide, and the staff on reaching the summit!
Posted by: Pat Winiarski on 8/11/2019 at 2:12 pm
Posted by: Zeb Blais, Kel Rossiter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Zeb Blais and Kel Rossiter led their Four Day Summit Climb June 17 - 20 teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Kel reported light winds for their climb and a beautiful morning on the mountain.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
What An amazing view and even more amazing accomplishment!! Congratulations to the team! Shar I knew you could do it! We’re so proud of you
Posted by: Tina on 6/20/2018 at 2:47 pm
Wow! this must be one of the most demanding activities one can undertake…both physically and mentally…Congrats to all on your courage and determination.
(So proud of you Shar! You rock!)
Posted by: Alex & Suzi Mikaelian on 6/20/2018 at 2:28 pm
Posted by: Linden Mallory
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
2,200' higher in the Andes is a noticeable change in temperature! While our mornings at Base Camp were chilly before the sun reached us, it was downright cold this morning at Camp 1 as we prepared to leave. The cold nip was softened a bit by the views: there wasn't a cloud in the sky and we watched the entire range around us soak in the morning light as we packed our bags. Once again we hit the trail as the sun reached us, following a long traverse out of Camp 1 towards a shallow basin at the head of the slope. After a few minutes we settled back into the rhythm of climbing and the time ticked by as we ascended. After several hours of climbing, traversing rock slopes, crossing small snowfields, and weaving around large boulders, we crested the gentle saddle on the Northwest Ridge of Aconcagua and arrived at Camp 2.
Known as Nido de Condores, or Nest of the Condors, Camp 2 sits along a ridge line of distinct rock towers and the views are impressive: to the north stands Mercedario, another 6000m Andean peak, to the east lies Chile, and to our south: our climbing route up Aconcagua. We sat up there in the good weather for a few minutes after unpacking our gear just to enjoy the panorama and get used to the ever higher altitudes. Once satisfied, and with our packs nearly empty, we descended back to our tents at Camp 1. Yesterday's snow squalls are a thing off the past and we've enjoyed sunshine all afternoon.
Tomorrow we will pack our gear and move up to Camp 2.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
The Four Day Summit Climbs led by Brent Okita and Gabriel Barral were forced to turn the climbs today at approximately 11,800' due to gusty winds and poor visibility. The teams checked in from Camp Muir shortly after 7 a.m. and reported windy conditions. There is a cloud cap on the mountain this morning that has descended to the top of Disappointment Cleaver at approximately 12,300'.
The teams will be starting their descent from Camp Muir to Paradise later this morning.
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
The RMI Aconcagua Team has returned to Mendoza.
They are enjoying sunshine and 90 degree temperatures. The team celebrated their return with a great dinner of steak and wine.
Everyone will be heading home soon.
Congratulations to the team for a safe and successful expedition!
So happy for you all! Congratulations! :D
PS: Would love one last picture of the post-climb team! :)
Posted by: Judy H. on 1/27/2011 at 2:44 pm
Just a brief note for now. It is almost midnight and these last couple of days have been quite busy... But we are finally right where we want to be, after a lot of flying and a lot of packing and preparing.
It didn't look so likely yesterday as we hung out in Punta Arenas. I took the gang up to the office of our logistics company ALE and Peter MacDowell was nice enough to give a tour and to explain just what lengths the company goes to in order to figure out flying weather in Antarctica. Winds at that time were still blowing too hard for a flight in. But as the afternoon progressed, things started to seem a bit more positive. At 7:30 we got the call to get ready in a hurry... Things were happening. We hustled out to the airport in our polar clothes... Waddled through security and onto our plane. The kazak crew politely directed us and we blasted out of Punta at 10 pm sharp. Four hours later the big jet roared to a stop on the blue ice runway at patriot hills and the tail lifted to offload tons of gear, food, fuel and machinery. And us. We got out snapping pictures of the 2 am sunshine and ice stretching as far as the eye could see. It was cold, but not unpleasantly so, since the wind had quit entirely. We walked the kilometer to Patriot Hills camp, enjoyed a fine bowl of beef stew (the traditional welcome in these parts) and then went out into the cold again to get our own tents built. At 5 am in the bright sunshine we went to bed. My head was spinning from seeing so many old friends among the camp staff and the climbers that were outbound on our jet. My old kiwi pal Sean Norman woke us at 9:30 to get us ripping down our tents. Time to fly again... This time in a Canadian twin otter on skis, to vinson. The flight through the Ellsworths took about an hour, the weather was fine and we landed at full power going uphill on the Branscomb. The day was then spent building another camp, getting a climbing kitchen going and sorting gear for a day of climbing tomorrow. Michael Horst and Vern Tejas are next door with their team, Willie Benegas is a few feet the other way with his. Scott Woolums is guiding a few folks as well. My team got to meet Namgya Sherpa who will be working with me. He came down in mid afternoon today from summitting Mount Shinn yesterday (Shinn is third highest in Antarctica).
It is calm and still at VBC as is often the case, but in the last hour or so it has gotten murky and misty and light dry snow is coming down while the temperature hovers around -10 F. Everybody is in bed now, deep in warm down sleeping bags.
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Thanks for blogging. Looking forward to following your progress. Have fun. See you soon!
Posted by: The Koch Family on 6/18/2011 at 4:30 am
Go Patrick! Denali waits for no man.
Posted by: Austin on 6/17/2011 at 10:01 am
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