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July 11, 2014 - 11:04 pm PT
There wasn't much reason to get up early for climbing this morning at 14,200 ft. It snowed throughout the night and continued through the morning, piling up to about 8 or 10 inches. Luckily there wasn't much wind with it though, so we slept well. Our radio conversations with the folks hanging at 17K revealed that they hadn't gotten snow, but had gotten plenty of wind. The consensus seemed to be that if the weather eased, folks would be bailing out of high camp and quitting the climb. We made the best of calm conditions at our camp to get out for some exercise. The gang built snow walls and dug tunnels and watched wind and cloud buffet the upper mountain. Things did ease in the afternoon and our friends on high began descending. Ben Liken counted 43 climbers eventually making their way down the fixed lines. That number represented five different guided teams from three different companies. They'll head for the airstrip tomorrow, leaving us alone at 14,200 and virtually alone on the mountain. One guided team of three (two guides, one climber) remains at 17,200 hoping for better luck, it would be great if we could get up there to keep them company.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Today saw our first dose of real work above Basecamp as the gang carried up a load of food, fuel, and cold weather gear. It was a long day with big loads up to elevations over 16,000 feet, so we were certainly working hard but the team was generally unfazed. The carry definitely helps supply us on the upper
mountain but also serves as a good stimulus for our bodies as they try and acclimatize to the higher altitude. The physiological changes are happening and the headaches most folks reported on our first night at Basecamp are now long gone. Higher oxygen saturations and lower resting heart rates are also the norm. Another rest day tomorrow and a fat steak dinner tonight here at Basecamp should give us an opportunity to get stronger and stronger and set us up well for the hard work that lies ahead as we move up.
All for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Our hopes of the clouds lifting overnight were of no avail and we woke to snow, light to moderate winds, and visibility dropping to less than a 100 yards at times. Despite the snow it was warm enough that we could be out in the elements comfortably and we felt confident navigating the route so we broke camp and prepared to move. The team continues to impress Kel and me as they packed up in great time - not an easy feat when the snow is blowing sideways - and were again ready to go before the two of us. Its an irritating thing for a guide to have the climbers waiting for us to get our act together and today was the second day they have managed to beat us out of camp. Its a trend I'm determined to put an end to, Kel and I are considering hiding snowshoes from them to give us a better shot...
Once we finally joined everyone on the ropes we set off up the Kahiltna, instantly plunging ourselves into a world of white. It was slow going as we broke trail through the 6 - 8 " of new snow and route finding was difficult when the visibility dropped to dozens of yards. Yet despite the obstacles we made good time, reaching the base of Kahiltna Pass by midmorning and turning to the east into a shallow valley that ascends the final 1,000' into camp. We were more protected from the wind here but the snow was also much deeper and it was difficult going to climb the final steep pitch into camp. After what felt like ages we saw the tops of tents at 11,200' camp poke above the crest of the hill and we rolled into camp just after noon.
Sitting on a bench in a protected spot at 11,200', "11 Camp" saw a lot of snowfall in the past few days and we spent the rest of the afternoon shoveling out tent sites and building our snow kitchen. The team rallied to the cause and constructed another great looking camp. We will be comfortable here over the next few days.
The sun finally poked through the clouds just before dinner and we've been enjoying the views for a few minutes. Tomorrow we will descend back to our last camp at 9,200' to retrieve a small cache of food and supplies we left there this morning and we'll haul the remainder of our gear back to 11 Camp. The team continues to do well and sends their best to everyone back home.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
On The Map
The sky never quite darkened outside the drawn shades of the hotel rooms up here in Talkeetna last night and before long the sun was rising in the sky again. We met up at the Roadhouse Cafe this morning where Matt, the final member of our team and a local Alaskan resident, joined us. Over heaping portions of scrambled eggs, bacon, thick slices of toast, and steaming cups of coffee, we toasted the merging of the team and the beginning of the adventures. After spending some time talking through the details of the climb ahead we went over to the National Park Service offices here and checked in with the climbing rangers, collecting our climbing permits and discussing the most recent route conditions with the climbing rangers.
With permits in hand we walked back through the streets of Talkeetna, just starting to bustle with the midday influx of tourist arriving from the Anchorage area, and across the railroad tracks to the air strip where we spent the rest of the day organizing our gear for the climb. We unpacked, sorted, checked, rechecked, and repacked our personal clothing and climbing equipment, inspected our climbing ropes, fired up and tested our stoves, counted our 22 days worth of food, set up and examined our 4 tents, separated the shovels, wands, climbing pickets, and snow saws we will need, and then rechecked everything again - making doubly sure that we are feeling prepared with our equipment. Finally, by later afternoon, a pile of duffels, backpacks, snowshoes, tents, poles, and climbing equipment began to accumulate in the open entrance of the hangar of K2 Aviation. At long last the pile stopped growing and the final last minute items were added. Just before dinner we weighed out all of the bags, carefully checking the weights of each item in order to allow the pilots of the small prop planes we fly in tomorrow so that they can adequately distribute the weight of our loads.
With a full day of packing and preparing for the climb, we retired to the local and legendary eatery and watering hole of the West Rib, indulging in Caribou burgers and Halibut tacos before calling it a day. We are hoping that the clearing skies we see in the afternoon persist into tomorrow allowing us to make the 30 minute flight from Talkeetna into the Alaska Range to Denali Base Camp. There is always the chance that weather either here in Talkeetna or up on the mountain will not cooperate and not allow us to make the flight but spirits are optimistic and we are keeping our fingers crossed the weather shakes out in our favor.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
We're at 11,200 feet! The camp is quite the scene as there are at least 6 nationalities represented. The weather today was stellar and we moved smoothly into camp. We're all set up for a few days here, and tomorrow we plan to take a well deserved rest day.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
We woke up to yet another beautiful and sunny day at Everest Base Camp. The team is still settling into the increased altitude and we are slowly ramping up our activity level in preparation for moving through the Khumbu Ice Fall. Today, we focused on ladder training as we will have numerous ladders bridging gaping crevasses and seracs between Basecamp and Camp One. Dave Hahn and Leif Whittaker decided to go for a short hike into the icefall to do their ladder practice while the rest of the team stayed in camp and created a simulated course. We rigged several ladders over the glacial rocks to simulate the icefall in which we practiced walking up and down the shaky ladders. For starters, we began in our trekking shoes stepping from rung to rung getting used to the shake and wobble of the aluminum ladders. Once everyone felt comfortable with this, we put on our stiff 8,000 meter boots and ran the course again. After this, we continued our progression and added roped hand lines while wearing crampons which best replicates the actual movement during icefall travel. With the addition of hand lines, we were able to steepen the ladder grade for both uphill and downhill travel and even practiced several "emergency" scenarios. One scenario involved stopping mid crossing and kneeling down on the ladder rungs to re-attach a crampon that had "accidentally" popped off. Although this was not a very likely scenario, it had the advantage of addressing a "possibility" while increasing confidence and agility.
Everyone did a great job showing skill and balance and we are all looking forward to moving higher onto the mountain.
Following two nights of tent camping in the paramo, yesterday we climbed Antisana. Several members of the team reached the summit and everyone gave a serious effort. Congratulations to all for making it as far as we have.
Antisana is Ecuador's fourth highest mountain, but the complex glaciers that one encounters makes a summit bid quite difficult. Our camp sits at 14,800' in the final patch of grass before entering more serious alpine terrain. The first hour takes you through a glacial moraine before arriving at the base of the glacier. Once on the glacier, numerous huge crevasses are encountered as well as needing to navigate through serac-ridden terrain. Higher on the mountain, the team worked their way up some very steep snow pitches before walking the seemingly endless plateau to the true summit. Although this section is benign, the altitude of over 18,000' catches up with you. This is truly a difficult climb and for making the effort, you are rewarded with excellent views of other high mountains in Ecuador.
Honestly, Antisana might be my favorite volcano climb in Ecuador. The beauty of our campsite alone is worth a visit. We camped two nights in tents and there is also a dining tent where we were served delicious, hot meals every morning and evening. The staff at Antisana basecamp is lovely and as always, our local Ecuadorian guides are professional and just truly good people to hang with.
Today, a portion of the group heads home while the rest of us are headed to Chimborazo. We spent a final night as a team at Casa Ilayaku, a quaint hacienda on an old farm property near Quito. According to our smart watches, the sleep was near perfect. For those headed to Chimborazo, we are now on a four hour bus ride to the Chimborazo Lodge for one more relaxing night prior to another big summit push!
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier
Summit! Today's Mt. Rainier teams, led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Nikki Champion, reached the top this morning. After spending some time on the summit, they began their descent at 9:00 a.m.
Congratulations to the teams!
Hello modern world!
We're back in the bustling city of Huaraz after a week in the
Ishinca Valley of the Cordillera Blanca Range. After any significant amount of time in the mountainous wilderness, even if just a week, it is certainly a shock to the system to return back to the modern world, especially when it's in the form of the chaotic city of Huaraz. With that chaos, however, comes showers, cervezas, real beds, warm temps, and flip flops! I'd say that it's nice to eat real food, but our reality is that we've been eating better in the mountains than most do in the cities (no joke)! That's all thanks to our wonderful cook from Alvarado Adventures, Emilio, once a guide here in the Range, and now a mountain chef extraordinaire that has been taking care of RMI teams for as long as we've been climbing in Peru.
We had some great successes this week in the Ishinca Valley. We went through the (sometimes) painful process of acclimatizing our bodies to high altitudes, and we were able to successfully summit two beautiful mountains; Ishinca (18,143') and Urus Este (17,782'). The mountains and glaciers here are quite dry this season, which made for more interesting climbing, and more challenging, than our other trips down here. Our team attacked that challenge with an 'enthusiasm unknown to mankind', and were able to accomplish some personal goals and set new altitude records in the process.
Tonight, we're just relaxing city-side at the wonderful Hotel Andino. We've got a little bit of repacking to do, as tomorrow morning we set out for our third and final climb of the trip; Pisco Oeste. We're looking forward to spending the next 4 days in the Llanganuco Valley and giving our bodies and minds another test of endurance as we look to approach the 19,000' mark and climb the beautiful west ridge of Pisco. We'll keep you updated on our progress. For now, enjoy some pictures from our most recents adventures in the Ishinca Valley.
RMI Guide
Robby Young, Alfie, WIlliam, and Team 'Showers and Flip Flops'
Hello again!
We are contacting you from a very windy Camp 1 today after we moved supplies up hill to 18,000ft. The team did well with the weight and altitude as we got our first grand views of the Andes range. We could see many glaciated peaks to the north and the intimidating Polish Glacier on
Aconcagua proper. Soon after our descent back to camp another cloud cap formed on the upper mountain which made for a chilly evening. But now we are bundled up in the tents for a solid 13 hours rest before breakfast. Hope these winds calm down so we can sleep for some of that time!
Oye!
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
On The Map
Hi Dave. With a good supply I know the weather will clear soon & you will get the team up for a really awesome summit. safe travels & post more photos.
Posted by: Mary on 7/13/2014 at 1:26 am
Hi Dave -
I’ve been following your teams journey. This latest dispatch reminds me of when we were down on Vinson and ended up being the only team on the mountain.
You’ve probably already heard from RMI HQ that the latest issue of Outside magazine has a large article about what happened at Everest this year.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you guys get a weather break and are able to continue upwards.
-Larry Seaton
Posted by: larry seaton on 7/12/2014 at 7:26 am
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