The Four and Five Day Summit Climbs reached Columbia Crest today. Beautiful day, light winds and cool temperatures. All teams are off the mountain and celebrating at Rainier Basecamp.
We woke up to no winds and a small amount of new snow. We got our summit gear together, had some breakfast and coffee, then set out towards the top. We were breaking trail through deep snow so it was slow going. We climbed into the clouds, but the winds were very moderate and it was not all that cold. The weather seemed to be improving throughout the day as it had been the previous days...until we hit Denali Pass. Denali Pass is a low point into the ridgeline at about 18,200'. As soon as we hit the ridge, the winds were "nuking". We knew that with the direction the wind was coming from, there wouldn't be any reprieve from the ridge and they would probably increase as we went higher. So, we are calling it a dress rehearsal and waiting for that perfect weather day that is coming soon!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
Been keeping up with you via your blogs; thanks so much for them. Glad you had a good practice run. Looking forward to your next blog recapping your summit accomplishments. Enjoy your time on the mountain; you’ll be down again with all yor amazing stories before you know it.
<3
jam
Posted by: Janette Mitchell on 7/3/2011 at 9:42 am
Well the 4th is freedom day. Hope you guys will make it today the 3rd of july as your OWN independence day to remember. We all are praying for all of u so u guys can come home quick
We were treated to another clear morning -above Machame Camp at least- there was a sea of clouds below, but that didn’t bother anybody. We enjoyed a 7:15 breakfast and by 8 AM we were ready for walking. John, the lead guide on our local staff, formally introduced us to the fifty man team of porters, cooks, tent builders, waiters and guides helping to get us up Kilimanjaro. The team sent us off with a song as everybody clapped and danced along.
The trail started out immediately more steep and rugged than yesterday’s route. We gained altitude quickly in a forest of giant heather. Ultimately we reached a ridge crest and followed it for several hours, still steadily gaining height. The final hour involved a traverse out to the left where the hike became a mild scramble requiring good hand and footholds on the rock. We reached a high point at around 12,900 ft as we turned a corner onto the Shira Plateau and then it was an easy downhill stroll into camp at 12,600 ft. We reached Shira Camp near 1:00 in the afternoon and so had most of the afternoon for resting, eating and drinking. As with yesterday, things clouded up by midday and this time we had brief rain showers in the afternoon, which just made it a little easier to nap inside the tents. The clouds melted away by evening and we were treated to a fine sunset and great views of 15,000 ft Mt. Meru off on the western horizon.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
May 21, 2014 - 12:28am PT
After yesterday's blustery winds, snow, and ground blizzards, we woke up to silence. No shaking tents, no rumble from the ridge above, just a clear blue sky. Excited to move, we were the first team out of camp, cramponing up perfect styrofoam snow on Motorcycle and Squirrel Hill, then breaking trail through 5 or 6 inches of fluff on the Polo Field. The sun grew strong and bouncing off the fresh white snow, we were soon stripping layers. We cached 10 days worth of food and several gallons of fuel at 13,5k that we'll retrieve in a couple days after we move to 14 camp. It was a perfect day in the Alaska range, and everyone was excited to keep pushing forward. We were back in camp with several hours of sunshine left to dry sleeping bags and clothes. Hopefully tomorrow we 'll be packing up camp and making our way to 14.
We'll let you know how it goes.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Josh Maggard, Robby Young & Team
After breakfast and meeting with the National Park Service, we went shopping and gathered up all our equipment for our upcoming adventure. Tonight we will enjoy downtown Talkeetna with dinner at the steakhouse in anticipation of flying onto the glacier tomorrow.
Upon arrival at Antisana basecamp, we had no views of the mountain and a light drizzle. Upon departure it was beginning to storm again: rain, hail and lightning. But right in the middle was a perfect weather window for climbing.
We awoke to fog in camp, which we continued to ascend through until reaching about 17,300’. From that point, the clouds would remain below us and we climbed into a starry, calm night. We reached the summit just a bit after sunrise and it was perfectly still, so we hung for a while.
The route on Antisana is not particularly long, but it is complex, featuring heavily crevassed terrain. At the bergschrund, a steep pitch of belayed climbing takes you to the summit plateau where an additional 20 minutes of high-altitude walking takes you to the summit. Due to these various complexities, our group took just over 10 hours round trip for a route that ascends 4,080’.
Back at camp we enjoyed a lovely breakfast before spending several hours in transit to the town of Latacunga and Hacienda La Cienega, where many members of the team reported sleeping eight or nine hours straight through. The wine and comfy beds were well deserved.
We are now sitting on the bus, making the several hour drive south towards Chimborazo. We will stop in the town of Ambato for hilariously large burritos before continuing to Riobamba, where we will stay the night. Summit day on Chimborazo is Saturday night into Sunday morning and we are hoping for continued good weather.
Just like that… we woke up in Talkeetna and the clouds were gone. We scrambled on over to the airstrip at 8 AM and started putting on the big mountain boots. By a little after 9, we were up in the air in two glorious DeHaviland Otters… prop driven ski planes built in the 1950’s. The Alaska Range was visible in full from the moment we cleared the Talkeetna tree tops. Denali was spectacular and seemed bigger and steeper than in previous years. We flew straight at the peak and then moved a little West as we crossed into the mountains. Our K2 Aviation pilots eased the planes down on to the SE Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier at 7100 ft and we slid to a stop at basecamp. A few minutes of shuffling and shuttling loads in mushy snow ensued. We built our camp and got settled in before a day of light training and a review of glacier travel techniques. As the day proceeded, we went from hot sunshine to cool overcast, but the clouds didn’t rob us of the magnificent views of impossibly big and steep mountainsides. We watched a handful of ginormous avalanches drop off various surrounding mountains. We capped the day with a burrito dinner and an early bedtime. Our hope would be to get up in the night and climb in the cool part of the early morning tomorrow.
We just got back down to town after a great climb up the Easton Glacier on Mt.Baker with Wilderness Adventures! The weather could not have been better, with calm conditions and warm temperatures abounding all the way to the summit and back down to camp. The group all climbed strong, pushing their physical limits while trying out mountaineering for the first time, all amidst stunning views of the North Cascade mountains.
Afterwards we ended up back at beautiful Sandy Camp for a relaxing afternoon of eating, drinking glacier water and napping. All in all a great trip.
RMI Guide JT Schmitt
Dogs barking, goats baaing, cows mooing , and roosters crowing was our alarm clock today. We were greeted with tea and made our way up to Sangitas house for breakfast. The village was alive with children running around and chores being done. It appeared today was roof repair day. The old grayish brown hay was thrown down off the roof and new golden hay was tossed up. We enjoyed breakfast with the family, then soaked in the sun before enjoying some lunch too. It was the best Dahl we have had thus far and was delicious on top of the chapati bread. After filling our bellies we hiked back to Laxmis house. Clouds rolled in and we finished our hike in a bit of rain. The forest colors and smells popped with the freshness the rain brought. Experiencing the food and culture of these small villages has been amazing. It is an area everyone should come and see. Tomorrow we make our way back to where we had the medical camp on our way in. A handful of hours of walking should get us there. Hopefully the clouds will have dispersed and the weather is back to being sunny.
Adios,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith
Hey everyone, this is Team Mexico calling in from high camp on Ixta. We are at 15,000 plus feet, about 15,400', so we have oh about a couple more thousand to go. The team here is doing really, really well. We're kinda finishing putting up the tents and guiding out the guidelines. And we're gonna start in on some hot drinks and some dinner for this evening. The weather was beautiful this morning as we climbed up here to high camp with heavy packs. Right now we're in a little bit of a cloud but there's light winds and just a little bit of precipitation. We are thinking it's gonna be one heck of a day. I don't wanna jinx us so my fingers are crossed and hopefully your fingers are crossed too for us. Because if all goes well we'll be waking up early in the morning and heading on out to the summit of Ixta at 17,300 plus feet. Again, everyone's doing really, really well and having a lot of fun. Hopefully we'll some great news, one way or another will have some great news for you, but hopefully will be giving you a call on the summit of Ixta tomorrow. Thanks for following along and look forward to another call from us tomorrow.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
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Been keeping up with you via your blogs; thanks so much for them. Glad you had a good practice run. Looking forward to your next blog recapping your summit accomplishments. Enjoy your time on the mountain; you’ll be down again with all yor amazing stories before you know it.
<3
jam
Posted by: Janette Mitchell on 7/3/2011 at 9:42 am
Well the 4th is freedom day. Hope you guys will make it today the 3rd of july as your OWN independence day to remember. We all are praying for all of u so u guys can come home quick
Posted by: Uma on 7/3/2011 at 9:08 am
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