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Posted by: Billy Nugent, Chase Nelson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,200'
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RMI Guide Billy Nugent calls in after successful summit.
On The Map
On The Map
Enjoying the blogs and the great photographs. The wind and falling rocks still sound to be giving you great problems. Most teams appear to have the same thoughts by putting the safety of their teams above everything else.It appears to be the same situation at both camps.I understand that SBC have a time limit on their expedition whereas CBC have a much longer window, until the monsoon season.I doubt teams would have the patience to hang about that long. I wish you all well with successful summits.Cheers Kate
Posted by: Kate Smith on 5/4/2012 at 5:36 pm
Go get ‘em guys. Love the updates.
Posted by: Charles Mixson on 5/3/2012 at 5:47 pm
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo (Swahili for hello/greetings) from Tanzania
All is well here in Tanzania and the team has finally all safety arrived after some very long flights. It was a short and peaceful ride to our lodge that is nestled in between Arusha and Moshi and not so far from the base of Kilimanjaro. The team had a quick dinner and headed for bed as the time change had us all feeling just a little off and pretty tired after all the traveling.
Today we had a leisurely morning with our group meeting after breakfast , where we did a round of introductions and then discussed the upcoming program for the days ahead. The team spent the remainder of the day getting our gear packed up, exploring the grounds of our peaceful lodge and dodging the gaggle of monkeys patrolling the grounds.
We wrapped up the evening with a delicious meal and plenty of friendly conversations.
Seems the team has had their fill of cake since we enjoyed celebrating our 2nd birthday in a row already.
Everyone is doing well and excited to be here.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASEY GROM!
Great to see the group picture! Looking forward to following your climb!
Posted by: Alicia Avila on 8/30/2022 at 8:11 am
Love the pictures of this adventurous group! What great memories you will create with these wonderful companions. I know Katy will keep you highly entertained and motivated. Have a safe and joyful climb!
Posted by: Cindy White on 8/29/2022 at 6:42 pm
Posted by: Peter Whittaker, Ed Viesturs, Zeb Blais, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Great work, team! Can’t wait to hear more and see some photos.
XO-Vanessa
Posted by: Vanessa Fry on 8/5/2015 at 3:27 pm
Congratulations guys! Sure it was awesome :)
Posted by: Kathy Rubio on 8/5/2015 at 9:00 am
On The Map
Great hearing about the venture. Good luck. Looking forward to photos and hearing about your ventures. Be safe. ABQ Uptown #985
Posted by: Rachael C. Lujan on 4/2/2013 at 9:43 am
I look forward to reading and looking at photos of your amazing adventure. Good luck team. “Mayor” Tucker is a great title. I can just see Mark holding a “town” meeting and getting the good citizens of basecamp rolling.
Posted by: Stephani on 4/1/2013 at 11:57 am
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Paul Maier
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410
In the words of Ryan Newton ” I’m so glad my dad got to climb all the way to the top of the mountain!”. Great job we can’t wait to hear all about it!!
Posted by: Kelly Newton on 6/14/2012 at 2:44 pm
Stephanie and Brian Ciske - did you summit today?
Posted by: Jean Ciske on 6/14/2012 at 12:39 pm
Posted by: Jeff Martin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Posted by: Geoff Schellens
Categories: Guide News
On May 9th Jake and I departed from Base Camp around 8:00 AM, skiing down the Southeast Fork through the cold, crisp morning air to the main flow of the Kahiltna Glacier. We continued down the glacier for another half hour and reached the West Ridge of Mt. Hunter. Here Jake and I cached our skis and began climbing. We approached this objective in a light and fast technique, known as “alpine style,” bringing four days of food, a small stove, a lightweight tent, and no comfort items. As we started climbing we found a very nice boot pack leading up the ridge that made for extremely efficient travel. At first we felt guilty drafting behind someone else breaking trail, but soon decided that each of us has done our fair share of trail breaking on other peaks and that we ought to just enjoy this one. As the two of us climbed higher on the West Ridge with ear-to-ear smiles we decided on a plan, “Lets climb until we’re not having fun and then camp there.” Well, the climbing on the West Ridge was extremely fun and after twelve hours of navigating the corniced ridge, peppered with exquisite sections of rock, steep snow and ice, we found ourselves at the 11,400’ bivy - tired but still smiling. We set our tent in a small notch and ate freeze-dried dinners with a fantastic view of the Alaska Range. It was truly an awesome place to be.
The next morning brought beautiful weather and a sense of excitement for where we were and what lay ahead. With our approach of simply having fun, we enjoyed the morning views and a few cups of coffee before breaking camp at noon. Moving quickly relishing every step and with a swing of an ice tool we ascended steep snow pitches and navigated gaping crevasses. Soon we found ourselves on the summit plateau at 13,000’ walking across the largest stretch of horizontal terrain we had seen in thirty hours. From there we ascended the final 55° slope that took us to the summit ridge. From there, forty more minutes of easy climbing gave way to the summit of Mt. Hunter. While standing on the summit Jake and I hooted and hollered with excitement, “What a fun climb!”
Soon we began our descent with the same approach we used on the ascent - climb until it is not fun and then set up camp. Down the ridge we went back to our bivy site, where we decided to descend via the Ramen Route. Quickly Jake and I realized that we had made a wrong turn into the entrance of the Couloir. This meant that we had to do a few tricky rappels and down climb through seracs to get ourselves back on route. Once we were back on track, we had a few more rappels before softer snow conditions allowed us to down climb to the base of the 3,300’ Ramen Coulior.
Now, for the second time in two days, we found ourselves again on flat glaciated terrain. At this point it was getting late in the day, but we were still enjoying ourselves and decided to continue our descent. Due to the time of day we chose to navigate the extremely broken-up glacier since it provided more camping opportunities if we needed to set up camp. This was a time intensive descent however as Jake and I soon found ourselves in a world surrounded by incomprehensible seracs and crevasses. A couple more hours brought us back to the main flow of the Kahiltna Glacier and our skis. After forty-two hours we arrived back at Base Camp exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and smiling. Employing our tactic of “climb until we are not having fun” had been the perfect strategy for this route.
_______
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens is a senior guide leading trips on Aconcagua, the North Cascades, Mt. Rainier, as well as, guiding Ice Climbing and Mt. McKinley. He is currently preparing for his next adventure this spring on Dhaulagiri, an 8,000 meter peak in the Himalayas. See more of Geoff's mountain photography on his website.
Day 14
What a sight to behold. We all stood in the morning silence watching the winds on the summit. So much change within a few thousand vertical feet. Snow was getting ripped off of the highest parts of the mountain above us, disappearing into the rapidly moving clouds beyond. We sure felt grateful for the calm weather we were experiencing around camp. Despite todays spectacle, the team remains optimistic.
Till next time,
RMI Guides Luke, David and Team
JOSEPH
Hunker down, do some walking about and take pictures for us.
We are so proud of you!! You’re in striking distance, Talking to the big guy for you all. Your climbing patner Daryl
Posted by: Daryl on 2/4/2022 at 7:00 am
Rooting for y’all from Vermont!! Some updates: Darius Garland was named an All-Star reserve (hell yeah), Olympics started today (US women’s hockey beat Finland 5-1 and Italy beat Norway in an 8th end heartbreaker in mixed curling), Harbaugh didn’t get Vikings job, Samuel L Jackson signed a 10-day with the Canton Charge, and Midd’s getting 12-18 tonight! Hope everyone’s doing well- y’all are crushing it!!! Relish this experience.
Posted by: Greg on 2/3/2022 at 6:46 pm
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Mark Falender, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: Summit
I was part of the 4 day summit climb on June 19 with Mark & Solveig. What a magical day it was and I feel extremely privileged to have been part of it. Thank you guys so very much for your guidance, expertise and support. This has truly been one of the greatest challenges of my life and I will cherish it for a long time to come. I have taken so much away from this experience - the challenges that this mountain presents, especially the Cleaver, had me digging deeper than I ever had to attain success. Mark, Solveig, Sean, Geoff and Levi - you guys are all rock stars!! RMI can and should be very proud of you. I was sad to see the program end. Hopefully, I will link up again with Mark for a climb up Grand Teton!
Thank you again very much!
Ben Elliott
Posted by: Ben Elliott on 6/21/2012 at 2:19 am
Hey Hans ....... GREAT JOB. Blue sky’s 365 !!! Gotta love it. xoxo Love and hugs greta
Posted by: greta hardwick on 6/20/2012 at 9:18 pm
Congratulations to Bruce and Michael. We are soooo happy for you! Rest, relax, and celebrate when you are ready! Cheers, Katherine and Reid
Posted by: Katherine Mitchell on 7/1/2014 at 7:55 pm
Congrats to Bruce and Michael Freedman and all the rest of the team. Great to see that you made it through all the weather. Cant wait to hear the stories.
Posted by: Ron Holt on 7/1/2014 at 7:07 pm
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