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Posted by: Billy Nugent, Leon Davis, Bridget Belliveau, Caleb Ladue, Billy Haas
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb Team led by RMI Guides Billy Nugent and Leon Davis reached the Summit of Camp Muir today. The teams reported great climbing conditions and clear skies.
Congratulations to Today's Teams!
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Robby Young, Josh Maggard
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Hi all! The skies are clear, winds calm, and it's a great day to fly to Kahiltna Base Camp. Our team is heading in first thing this morning to start moving towards our objective! We'll check in this evening from the glacier with more news of the day. All the best, and we'll keep you updated on our progress over the upcoming weeks.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Robby Young, Josh Maggard and team
Go Pete go…Godspeed to you + team…Will be foloing along…Best…Waltero
Posted by: waltero glover on 5/16/2014 at 5:55 am
A special message for the Lowry’s ...wishing you success in your quest for the summit on your first climb as a married couple in Alaska.
Posted by: Nick Spanakis on 5/15/2014 at 1:06 pm
We were treated to a clear view of the upper mountain this morning, which was spectacular and short-lived. Thick clouds were forming by our 8:30 AM departure for high camp. We quickly got above the upper limit of any significant vegetation and so when the clouds came in close around us, there really wasn't much to see. Lava and pumice. We were on a great stairmaster, and so we patiently did our exercise. It took just 2.5 hours to climb the 2,000 vertical feet to Barafu ("ice" in Swahili) Camp. Timing was exquisite as persistent and heavy sleet began to fall. Our excellent support staff had built a fine camp for us to shelter in. We rested, ate, drank and got ready for our main event. We are in bed early and trying to manage our excitement for a midnight start to a big summit day. The sleet has quit and the stage is set.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
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.
We paused for a rest today. It turned out that our hard work of the past few days had acted to bring back a chest cold that poor John thought he was done with. While he didn't seem greatly incapacitated by it, we decided that it was the sort of thing that would get worse by going higher and colder. We chose instead to get John lower and warmer. Namgya and I brought him down to bascamp where ALE's staff graciously agreed to look after him until we get down from our summit bid. Meanwhile, Leif, Sashko, Tim and Brent rested and rehydrated at low camp, enjoying a lunch of quesadillas and aji sauce. Namgya and I cruised back up in a businesslike 2 hrs, rejoining the gang in time for a late dinner in the strong sunshine. It was still brilliantly clear except for some sculpted wave clouds forming and fading on the high peaks. The word from up above was that it was cold and windy. Even so, Scott made the summit with his climbers. Vern and Willie chose to rest their teams at high camp for the day. We are hoping for a drop in winds tomorrow and a green light for moving up.
Greetings from Everest Basecamp! I still have to pinch myself to make sure I'm really here. To come here and climb has been a longtime dream for me, but it's only been the last four or five years that I thought it would be possible. I never really imagined I'd be doing so as a part of this amazing team.
For me personally, this couldn't be a better opportunity. I get to pester Ed Viesturs with pretty much any question I want about climbing in the Himalaya, and learn how to guide these peaks from Dave Hahn. I can't really see me ever having access to this kind of brain trust again in my guiding career. To add that in with climbing in gear that we have all helped develop from the ground up makes this truly a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
It was just over a year ago that I was doing a normal guiding rotation at RMI. For me, that has meant starting in May on Rainier, then heading to Alaska to work on Denali then back to Rainier until August, then I head over to Africa to guide on Kilimanjaro. When my boss Peter Whittaker invited me to be a part of this team, I had no idea what it would lead to, yet here I am at Everest Base Camp getting ready to head into the Western Cwm.
This is our third day in base camp and I'm still trying to judge the scale of the mountains here. I'm used to the feeling of getting my bearings in an unfamiliar mountain range. It's one of the best parts of climbing somewhere new. With no trees or buildings or anything familiar to give you reference, you can get vertigo trying to approximate distances or elevations. Typically, the novice will underestimate distances drastically. I've spent enough time in the mountains though to have a healthy respect for this trickery.
The difference here is that there is no grander scale. When I first saw Everest from Namche Bazaar, I couldn't believe how big it was or how far away we still were. Now that we're closer and the satellite peaks of the Everest massif block the summit from view, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't even more intimidated.
But if there's one thing I've learned over the years from all of my mentors and climbing partners, it's how to tackle big objectives. In a sense, this one is no different... wait, what am I saying?! It is different. It's the biggest mountain in the world. Step by step, that's how we'll do it. With a healthy respect for the mountain.
In a few days, we'll head into the icefall for our first real physical test of the trip. I'm really psyched to put the boots on and get the crampons and ice axe out. My job on this trip is really just getting started. I can't wait to get going.
Billy and his crew were 100% on the top of Orizaba today! We received the good news while they were traveling back to Senor Reyes' in Tlachichuca for a hot shower and home-cooked meal. Way to go team!
Tashi Delek!
We arrived to Thame today, leaving behind the main path to the Everest route, and with it, the herds of other trekkers who seek the one objective mostly everyone is after when hiking around here; Everest Base Camp.
Venturing straight towards Tibet is definitely interesting, as the landscape changes a bit, modified by the nature of the main trading route, that unfortunately is now closed by the Chinese. At any rate, we were happy to continue upwards after a day acclimatizing in Namche. We're doing well, enjoying the journey and pushing uphill!
RMI Guide Elías deAndres Martos and Team
We were treated to a perfect night and morning at Barranco Camp. The lights of Moshi twinkled far below, the hanging glaciers and ice fields of Kibo glowed in moonlight above us. We slept in 'til a leisurely breakfast at eight. We walked out of camp just before 9:00 as cumulus clouds began to form up. Within just a few minutes we were out of the gardens and streams of the valley and coming to grips with the great Barranco Wall. With great help from our guides -James, Freddy, Patric, Venance and Philibert, we negotiated the ledges and cliffs. We pulled ourselves up to new ledges and found nooks and crannies for the feet. We squeezed through gaps in the lava and avoided loose and rolling rocks. The wall eased into steep hiking in places, but there were always a few more scrambly bits mixed in. We topped out near 14,000 ft in a little less than two hours. By then the clouds were hiding Kibo and almost everything but our immediate surroundings. We walked down into the next shallow valley and across a few more divides to get to the steeply cut Karanga Valley. Some careful and dusty steps were required to get us down one side and up the other to our new camp on the far rim. Karanga Camp sits at 13,160 ft which isn't too much of a gain over our last camp, so we'll hope for a night relatively free of altitude-associated discomforts. The clouds stuck with us through the afternoon and evening, but of course that didn't prevent us from lounging about and enjoying a couple more excellent meals from Tosha, our climbing chef extraordinaire.
The views will keep until tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Dave,
Thank you for providing these daily updates. i get up every morning in Cincinnati and read about the events of the day before….then I read your update to anyone else who will listen. Great fun to enjoy a vicarious adventure with detail and pictures and commentary from an expert.
Seeing new and exotic places is a lifelong passion but I could never do what you and your climbers are doing…..a thousand loud cheers…
My Best,
Judy Van Ginkel (Jennifer’s mother)
Posted by: judy van ginkel on 9/9/2017 at 9:17 am
Way to go Curt, Carol and Syd!! Getting close, looks amazing!
Posted by: Judy Gadlage on 9/9/2017 at 8:05 am
Posted by: Billy Nugent, Zeb Blais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Billy Nugent and the Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Zeb Blais reached the summit of Mt. Rainier earlier this morning. The team has descended safely to Camp Muir where they will pack up before continuing their descent to Paradise. We look forward to greeting the teams when they arrive in Ashford later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Congratulations to Jessica and Denise - Top of the World! - as far as I am concerned!
Posted by: Michael Rose on 8/2/2014 at 3:00 pm
OUTSTANDING! WHAT’S NEXT?
Love, Dad
Posted by: Dad on 7/31/2014 at 5:48 am
Congrats Steve and Danny. Hope it was as great as you thought it would be.
Posted by: Don on 7/25/2014 at 3:16 pm
YEAH STEVE!!!! Congrats man!!!!
Posted by: David D on 7/25/2014 at 2:08 pm
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