After a high effort day of carrying to Camp One, the team enjoyed our last rest day at Basecamp. cups of coffee were enjoyed as the sun warmed up camp. Today was a leisure day. Time was spent watching TV shows, reading books, chatting with teammates, and showers. We also sorted gear for the move to Camp One. We don't want to be too heavy when we head back downhill, so luxury items like sweatpants, jeans, sweatshirts, need to stay behind.
A highlight of the day was welcoming the other RMI team back to Basecamp. We got useful information about the route and conditions and now feel ready to have our go at the upper mountain. Tomorrow, we say bye to the wonderful basecamp staff that have been taking good care of us and move to Camp One.
We are ready and excited to progress up this mountain.
We love seeing your photos and updates. As you approach 22,000+ ft, all of us in Ann Arbor (861 ft at our house) are cheering for you and wishing the team our best. Have fun!
Posted by: Janice Lieberman on 1/16/2023 at 11:26 am
Sat 6/9/2018 9:42 AM
Hello friends and family,
We are slowly getting moving this morning after yesterday's 13 hour summit day. It was long but everyone moved with confidence up and down. We celebrated with a midnight mountain house dinner back at camp and went straight to bed.
Today's goal is to descend back to 11,000 ft camp. The only down side to a smooth, quick trip is that we will have to pick up and carry out all our extra food, but I would pick that over a long trip with bad weather everyday.
If the weather continues to cooperate, we will fly off the mountain first thing tomorrow and the next time you will hear from us will be from the sunny street of Talkeetna. Thanks for following along with our Denali adventure Alden, Brett, Chip, Tyler, JM, and Walt.
Safe travels,
RMI Guide Walt Hailes & Team
We are continuing to plod our way slowly but steadily up this mountain. Our team woke to beautiful blue skies this morning and took advantage of the good weather by putting in another cache up at our Camp 2, which also goes by the names "Guanacos Camp 3," and "Chopper Camp." No matter what you call it, it sits at over 18k' and is one of the last spots with running water as you ascend. We made short work of the carry, climbing the 2,000' or so in 3 stretches and made even shorter work of the descent back to Camp 1. The skies clouded up this afternoon so we got to enjoy some comfortable napping temps in the tents. We spent the rest of the day eating napples, reading, and listening to tunes. Rumors of deteriorating weather have us pondering our next move but our plans call for another rest and acclimatization day.
We'll see what Mother Nature has in store for us,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
David and I are thinking about you, Meredith. Be save and have a wonderful climb. Love to you.
Posted by: Tracye Wear on 1/14/2014 at 7:08 pm
Nugent, when you hit the casino after your climb make sure to look for a guy wearing a Ferrari tshirt. In the mean time hide your knife from the gouchos!
Today we spent the day visiting Tarangire National Park, home to more elephants per square mile than any place on earth. We saw hundreds of elephants and finished off the Big 5 with two leopard sightings. Plus we even managed to spot a cheetah relaxing in the shade of a small tree. We are spending the night in a tented camp called Kikoti tonight.
Three days safari has been a great way to recoup from the climb and bring our wonderful African adventure to a close. Everyone has had a great time and are looking forward to getting back home and sharing some of the stories and photos.
The team flies home tomorrow.
Thanks for following,
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
We dragged out an oxygen bottle to practice with, just after breakfast. It does take a little practice, by the way, to get good with the systems we rely on up high. Today we were just familiarizing ourselves with how the regulators attach to the bottles, how the hoses attach to the regulators, and how the masks attach to the face. I like doing this sort of run-through down in the thick air on a rest day in the sunshine so that when we have to get up in the middle of the night at a bajillion feet above sea level with cold hands and dim brains, we can maybe muddle through and get our hook-ups and flow-rates right. It all seemed reasonably simple this morning, and each of my little team put the gas bottle carefully in their pack, the mask on their face and some goggles or glasses on their eyeballs, and then took the rig for a test drive around camp.
Over the radio, we could hear the gang with Peter Whittaker up above as they were taking another stroll on the Lhotse Face. It all sounded like it was going well as they checked in with one another and pointed out interesting features along the route. We heard that Jake Norton was coming down to BC to deal with a chest cold and, like most news, we immediately sorted it into its good and bad components. The bad news: Jake would need to slow down long enough to get well. The good news: Jake is a smart, strong guy who knows how to shake a typical, run-of-the-mill expedition illness out of his system, and we won't mind having him around in BC.
Erica Dohring and I went for a glacier walk after lunch. I do want her following the slacker example that Seth and I set for getting quality rest during our BC downtime. She is a voracious reader, which ought to qualify her for a fine life of expeditioning. I'm impressed with the way she orders her time, alternating between books for fun, books for school, and the odd movie on a borrowed iPod Touch. That is good resting, and it is important, but I also wanted to mix in a little exercise clambering around in the glacier today. I'm a big believer in keeping the legs stretched and the reflexes tuned for making awkward steps. We went out for about two hours, finding our way to a medial moraine and then hiking down-glacier with an occasional semi-frozen stream crossing to negotiate. I'm trying to teach Erica to violently knock over every fragile pinnacle of ice and balancing rock that she encounters...for no particular reason...and she is rapidly gaining skill in this department.
The late afternoon is gray and overcast with a hint of snow flurries. We've gotten so used to the thunder of avalanches now at BC that it takes a particularly loud and violent one to get us out of the tents for a look. At the moment, though, it is quiet and cold enough that the team is starting to find their way to the dining tent for hot drinks, gossip magazines, and card games. Tomorrow, we'll be a little busy preparing for the mountain again, and my guess is that we will be torn between lazy thoughts of staying indefinitely in BC and antsy thoughts of getting up where the action is again.
The Mt. Rainier Four-Day climb led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Sam Hoffman turned around at 11,500 this morning due to deteriorating weather. They are currently enjoying a sunny Camp Muir morning. They will recollect themselves at Camp Muir before their descent back to Basecamp in Ashford this afternoon. Nice work team!
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
June 13, 2014 3:21pm PTDenali is a mountain of many moods. Yesterday, as we carried our cache to our highest point yet, she gave us a taste of moderate winds and blowing snow, showing a little irritation. Today, she seems more benign, with light winds, high clouds, and intermittent snow here in camp. The tents are warm and comforting, and we're all enjoying a well earned rest session.
To that end, we started the morning with plenty of hot coffee, endless strips of crispy, delicious bacon, and the Tyler Jones specialty of blueberry pancakes that would give the best griddle cooks a serious run for their money. The perfectly browned hot cakes, the secrets of which TJ learned from his grandpa, just kept coming, and we all ate our fill until we couldn't stuff another one down.
The remainder of the day will be dedicated to recuperation, re-hydration, and maximum relaxation. In fact, the main goal is to move as little as possible and save our energy for the climbing to come. Until then, we'll be standing by, waiting for the best window for our summit push. Thanks for all the positive vibes and keep'em coming!
Cheers for now, check back tomorrow...
Team No Troubles
Dave, Although I believe you are on the mountain, I want some proof with some close-up pictures of you! Put them on this site so we can see them. I hope you’re staying warm. Patty
Posted by: Patty on 6/15/2014 at 10:12 am
Hi Paul. I’m hoping that your journey is not harder than you imagined, and that your still enjoying yourself. Things are going good here. It was supposed to rain most of the weekend, but had some sun, so did some weeding. (BLAH!!!!) Just finished eating my “Sunday” night papa’s pizza. ( We’re breaking all kinds of rules when your gone. Haha!) Stay safe. We miss you. Alex & the dogs, say Happy Dad’s Day!!! Love Ronda, Al, Meeka (the dog who drank half my coffee this AM) and Max.
Posted by: Ronda Kinneberg on 6/14/2014 at 5:25 pm
Not much to report from our first full day at Basecamp. The team is enjoying a rest day filled with such exciting activities as sleeping in, eating a big breakfast of bacon and eggs, lounging around our weather port drinking coffee, getting checked out by the Argentine medical staff, and packing up for tomorrow's carry up to Camp 1.
We'll check in again tomorrow after our carry,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Hello again everyone,
After all the hard work to prepare for this trip we have finally arrived at the time to reward ourselves.Today we set off on our 3 and half days of safari and started off with a stop at Lake Manyara known for its plentiful flamingos and tree climbing lions. Although we didn't see the tree climbing lions, we did manage to see plenty of wildebeest, zebras, flamingos, giraffe, baboons, and got up close to several elephants. We even had a rare sighting of a green mamba.
We have arrived and are fully enjoying the hospitality of the amazing plantation lodge. See for yourself [url=http://www.plantation-lodge.com]http://www.plantation-lodge.com[/url]. Living the good life!
RMI Guide Casey and Crew
New York City ladies rule. Jessie, we’re so looking forward to your visit and triumphant return. Hugs and Kisses (for mom too).
Posted by: Uncle Jim & Aunt Carol on 8/28/2013 at 9:52 am
Ok, we have to stop reading your updates because Sam and Connor are getting jealous of your safari adventures! Couldn’t you just go climb another mountain?
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We love seeing your photos and updates. As you approach 22,000+ ft, all of us in Ann Arbor (861 ft at our house) are cheering for you and wishing the team our best. Have fun!
Posted by: Janice Lieberman on 1/16/2023 at 11:26 am
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