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We had a really great week! Lots of super successful training!
I wish we could have gone to the summit on the first day because it was such a spectacular day to be in the mountains, beautiful, sunny and not a breath of wind! We couldn’t, though, because we hadn’t completed our basic mountaineering training yet, and then the weather just closed the window.
The winds seemed to have hammered the slopes pretty hard prior to our arrival as everything was sporting a windslab. Nothing had released naturally, but we saw several releases propagated by icefall.
We really focused on our training and spent a lot of time outside. Avalanche hazard awareness, beacon searches, and the decision-making process of travel in avy terrain dominated much of the week. We also spent quite a bit of time on camp craft – building bomber snowcaves and setting up expedition-style camps. Of course, rope and anchor work, fixed line travel, crevasse rescue systems and other Denali-prep skills kept us busy as well.
A great week!
Greetings from Everest Base Camp. This is Seth.
Well our first wave has made the move to Camp One. Dave Hahn and Leif Whittaker are all set up there and are planning on spending three days acclimatizing before returning to Basecamp. Casey Grom, Chad Peele, Scott Jones and Rob Suero enjoyed a rest day today, while Wendy Booker and myself did a up-and-back mission into the icefall early this morning. Everyone is hanging tough and the teams down here are looking forward to joining Dave and Leif at Camp One in the next few days. We'll be working out the final details of the timing this evening.
Some of our Sherpa team is spending the night at Camp Two tonight. They are getting this set up and ready for the rest of the team to start using the camp. The Sherpas that have remained at Basecamp are resting up before going to the Lhotse Face to participate in the 'fixing party'. This is when Sherpas from many different teams install ropes from just above Camp Two to the South Col. Once those ropes are in place the teams can start moving gear up to Camps Three and Four in preparation for the summit bids.
The excitement is starting to build here. The climbing has begun!
Good weather today and perfect route conditions. We carried a load of food, fuel and gear to "low camp" and then returned -as planned- to VBC. Five and a half hours up, about thirty minutes to cache the gear and bask in the high altitude sun and then two and a half hours down. All did well, all are cheerful... More tomorrow.
Hello friends,
Summit day is finally here!
The team is doing great and we are all well rested. It's been a beautifully clear day with fantastic views of Elbrus and the Caucasus range. Most of the day was spent telling tall tales, eating lots of Russian food (plenty of borsht) and watching scantly clad russians dance (really). We will be waking at 1 am for breakfast and start our climb shortly there after. If all goes well, we should reach the summit in 6 to 7 hours.
Wish us luck.
We did it!!!
All team members safely back to high camp after standing on the “Roof of Africa”.
The team did a great job climbing and stayed positive even though it was tough at times. It was slightly chilly and busier than we would have liked, however, our early departure saved us from the more than 100+ climbers all stuffed together. We even had the summit to ourselves for a little while.
We spent about about 30 minutes on the summit celebrating, taking photos and even made a few phone calls to loved ones back home.
We are headed down the mountain to our final camp in the thick warm air at 10’000ft, where we’ll have dinner then head off to bed for some well deserved sleep.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy Kili team!
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 - 9:49 pm PT
Good evening,
We woke today to snowflakes dancing their way to our tent making a pitter patter noise. It was a calm morning with fluffy snow. The clouds rolled in and out throughout breakfast making it a touch and go if we were going to pack up. But then as we finished our cereal and hot drinks, the snow dissipated and blue sky was showing. We broke down camp and hit the snowy trail. Heavy packs and heavy sleds weighed us down but we pushed forward. It was a tough day but we rolled into camp as more snow began to fall. Seeing the tents at 14,000' Camp as we crested the last hill was a marvelous sight. It might as well had been a cheeseburger and beer. Once the camp was established we all crawled into our new home and dried our gear. Some good ole Annie's Mac filled our tummies before we all went back to our sleeping bags for what we all hope to be a great night sleep. As the weather remains squirrely, we will decide what our agenda for tomorrow will be. Could be a back carry or could be a rest day.
Goodnight,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
June 3, 2014 - 5:36 pm PT
Yesterday's icy winds gave way to calm, clear skies overnight. The temperature, however, was quite chilly when we woke for breakfast. The hot coffee and tea started warming folks up, and a couple of bagels with cream cheese topped by delicious smoked salmon rounded out this morning's feast.
We packed up the kits for the carry and were walking shortly after the sun broke in camp. Temperatures climbed quickly and soon we were sweating under the loads, but within three hours we had buried our cache at 10,000 ft. We passed a ton of teams as we returned to camp - let's just say that we were happy to be heading down while the rest of them were baking on the way up.
So now we're poised for a move to the next camp at
11,200 ft and looking forward to making more progress on the mountain. That's all for now, stay tuned for tomorrow's tales of wonder from the frozen north land!
RMI Guides Garrett, TJ, Bryan and the team
On The Map
May 28, 2014 - 10:18am PT
Good morning from
Base Camp!
We are listening to the snow fall while we sit in our tents, and although it seems bright and cheery from inside the orange nylon walls, this weather system has settled in and the South East Fork is thick with clouds.
We made quick work of the walk down from 14 yesterday, stopping in at 11 Camp to dig up our cache and say hello to Brent, Leah, Nick, and their team.
It's much warmer down here, but consequently the snow is wet, heavy, and saturating, so we are all enjoying more time sitting "indoors" of sorts.
Hopefully we get a break in the storm soon and K2 Aviation can get us back to Talkeetna!
RMI Guide
Mike Walter & Team.
We had an early wake up call this morning and were down in the hotel lobby by 4:30 am. The word was that the weather was cooperating and the flight would go as scheduled. We loaded up into the bus and headed out. We had a few more climbers to pickup on the way to the airport and then we went into the terminal for the standard boarding process. As we mentioned yesterday, there was going to be a stop en route to Union Glacier to re-fuel. This was the first time that this was done by our outfitter and it went very smoothly, only adding a little more time the flight. The group landed at Union Glacier around 2:00 pm local time. Now they are settled in and are enjoying their first night on the ice.
The plan now is for the team to spend a day or two at Union Glacier and then fly to Vinson Basecamp where they will meet up with Dave Hahn.
We might not get a dispatch out while the team is at Union Glacier, but will definitely dispatch once they start their climb.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
The Four Day Summit Climbs led by Geoff Schellens, Brent Okita, and Gabriel Barral reached Columbia Crest today at 7:09 am. The teams reported light winds (10-20mph) and blue skies. They began making their descent to Camp Muir at 8 o’clock.
Congratulations to today’s summit teams!
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Wow! Congratulations!!!!!! What a wonderful achievement and experience for you all! Good luck with the journey back down.
Posted by: Tania Walls on 9/11/2023 at 6:21 am
Congratulations from the NG CSMR Team! Especially to our truly fearless leader Rebecca Torzone! So exciting! Now for the easy part…? Safe descent to you all!
Posted by: Cristi Mello on 9/11/2023 at 3:24 am
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