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Summit! The
Mount Rainier Summit Climb, led by Adam Knoff and
Pete Van Deventer, reached the top this morning and began their descent just before 8:00 a.m. There were some gusty winds and clear skies. We just received an update from
Adam Knoff that the team is leaving Ingraham Flats and will be back to Camp Muir in about an hour.
June 19, 2014 - 6:43 pm PT
Today on our next to last day for up hill travel we got the window we needed! The no troubles crew had no trouble with our move, reaching our
high camp at 17,200ft! An early departure from our 14K camp meant cold hands and feet as we approached the fixed lines, but by the time we reached our first break the sun had crested the ridge to our south. We basked in the most welcome UV, and continued up to the base of the fixed lines without feeling the bite of the -5F temperatures.
We dispatched the fixed lines without incident, and were soon taking a break in a crisp little nook on the
buttress proper. High, wispy clouds took the heat right out of the sun, and the constant winds reminded us of our arctic location. The last little bit of steep fixed line at Washburn's Thumb posed no issues, and we climbed into some of the most spectacular terrain of the
West Buttress.
Steep walls fell away on both sides as we climbed the last stretch into camp, and soon we had reclaimed a couple of tent platforms, set up our shelter and had stoves running for water. The constant burn is a reminder of our high location and is helping to drown out the stiff northeast breeze currently moving through camp.
Tomorrow looks like it'll be our window for a summit attempt, provided the winds die down and the temperatures stay reasonable. We're psyched for the camaraderie of sharing camp with
Jake Beren's team, and look forward to being on the route with them tomorrow. Wish us luck!!
Cheers,
RMI Guide Tyler Jones and The No Troubles Team
On The Map
June 18, 2014 - 8:20 pm PT
We woke up around three to clear skies and no wind. We couldn't resist this opening to cache gear up higher. We were traveling so well this morning that we decided to carry all the way up to
McKinley's 14,000' camp. It was such a nice day up there that we spent around an hour and a half catching up with the
Tyler Jones' and
Jake Beren's teams. It looks like there should be good weather for a couple of days?? Cross your fingers for all of us!
The plan for tomorrow is to move our camp up to 14,000'. We are hoping for more of the same weather we had today.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and Team "The Ocho"
On The Map
Our climbing team has assembled under a full moon in Mexico City. Some bags are on the relaxed program and will eventually find their way to our possession. Our rooms are situated with grand views of the Zocalo in the Centro Historico of the capital city. Across the way, the Presidential palace. To the left, the Cathedral Metropolitan. In the middle, a 100ft faux Christmas tree and an ice skating rink the size of two hockey rinks. After a meeting in the hotel lobby, we headed down Ave 5 de Mayo, up Motolina, and further down Ave. Tacuba to the famed Cafe Tacuba. As we ate, traditional Mexican musicians serenaded us with folk songs on their string ensemble.
With full bellies we will hit the sack as we prepare to head out of this beautiful, historic, 25 million strong capital to La Malinche for a great acclimatization hike. We'll check in tomorrow!
Yesterday we hiked almost all the way up La Malinche. At 14,440 feet, just a few minutes from the top, the park security emerged from the cloud to inform us that the mountain was closed due to the threat of lightning. My own assessment of the lightning risk was lower than his, but this guy didn’t seem in the mood to discuss and I wasn’t going to bring my rudimentary Spanish skills and a trekking pole to a gun fight. Oh well.
On the way down, we got thoroughly soaked and were happy to hop in the showers at the La Malintzi Resort before eating a hot meal and getting to bed early.
At the moment, we are in route to La Joyita, the trailhead for Ixtaccihuatl. We will spend the night there and head to high camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier
We ate cookies for breakfast in a smokey room with tea. Shortly after we said goodbye to Laxmi and started our walk back to where we left our duffles. The only communication in these parts in by a messenger, word of mouth. When we left our duffles, the plan was that some duffles would keep going to Chainpur and our trekking duffles would be left waiting for us. We also thought the rest of our team would be there waiting. But the plan has clearly changed with no message for there were no duffles where we left them and all the porters and team members gone. We aren't sure exactly where they are or when we will see the rest of our team and duffles. But for now we are staying at another homestay. We will all sleep up in the attic and enjoy a home cooked meal of Dahl baht and chapati bread with black tea. From day one this journey has been fluid and unpredictable, so we will see what tomorrow brings.
Goodnight,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith
Greetings all,
After spending the last 10 days above 14,000', our eyes and lungs relished in the sights, smells, and the oxygen-rich, moist ocean air we encountered on the drive back from Huaraz to Lima. A stop in Playa Barranca for ceviche, tacu-tato, and other local seafood dishes truly brought our expedition full circle as we enjoyed an ocean view from our lunch table. Upon arrival in
Lima, the inevitable disbanding of the team began as some caught midnight flights back to friends and family, while a few have one more day in Lima to relax, catch the World Cup Final, and relive the wonderful experiences we've had over the past couple weeks in the Cordillera Blanca. Best wishes from sea level and thanks for following along!
RMI Guides Robby Young, Elias de Andres Martos, and the Peru Seminar Team
Another rest day here at Basecamp... Not much to report other than that the team is enjoying a beautiful day resting up after a longer day yesterday. The R & R down here at base is definitely going to pay dividends as we climb higher and higher. Tomorrow, if the good weather continues, will see our departure from base onto the upper mountain for good...
Talk tomorrow after our move to
Camp 1!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
We did get a peek at Kilimanjaro this morning before breakfast. The glaciers and icefields were seemingly hanging at impossible angles on Kibo’s flanks. But since -at
Machame Camp- we were just in the top layer of a sea of clouds, the views didn’t last too long before we were within the soup again. Nieman introduced our Barking Zebra staff after breakfast -we are supported by fifty men- and then we were treated to a couple of songs as everybody danced and clapped along.
Then it was time to get walking at 8:30 AM. Immediately out of camp, the trail got a little more difficult than what we’d encountered yesterday. The trail became a series of rock steps, like a giant stairmaster up through a corridor of giant heather that became a little less giant as we got higher. Eventually we ended up walking along a ridgeline above the clouds. We had great views of Kibo (Kilimanjaro’s central peak) and could look around as the vegetation changed with increasing altitude. Large white-necked ravens flew acrobatic and aerobatic maneuvers in the thermals around us. We began turning to the north and climbed a few small rock walls to get out to the Shira Plateau -west of Kibo. From this 13,000 ft high point for the day, we then had an easy walk down to our camp at 12,600 ft. It took us five hours on the trail, which meant we had most of the afternoon to lounge about in Shira Camp, getting used to the altitude, stocking up on food and water. The clouds came back over in late afternoon, depriving us of a much anticipated sunset, but when we came out of the dining tent after dinner, things had cleared and we had world class views of the night sky. The Southern Cross, the Milky Way, Jupiter and Saturn were all easily visible and making it tough to get inside our sleeping tents for the night.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Saturday, June 29, 2019 - 4:46 PM PT
After a good night's sleep at high camp we woke up with the sun, had breakfast, and packed up camp. We descended the
West Buttress and the fixed ropes on the Headwall and made it back to the 14k Camp by noon to beat the heat of the day.
We've decided to spend the night here and rest. Our plan is to spend tomorrow here also and wait until colder weather at night to travel back to the airstrip at Kahiltna Basecamp. With any luck we will be flying back to Talkeetna on Monday. We'll keep you posted with our downhill progress. But for now we're enjoying some well-deserved rest in preparation for a long descent.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
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This is awesome ... Congratulations Sunil!!
Posted by: Jitha on 9/1/2014 at 6:09 pm
Congratulation, Joel! We are proud of you. Can’t wait to hear the details….
Posted by: M&D on 9/1/2014 at 4:36 pm
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