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We are back at the Plantation Lodge after a nice day of Game viewing. A few new animals and great scenery. Off to a new lodge and park tomorrow. Believe it or not, a bit of dust on us travelers.
Wishing everyone well back home.
Hey everyone. Hope all is well...
A quiet Sunday morning graced Mexico City as our team headed out towards La Malinche.
As we furthered ourselves from the capitol's carbon footprint, we stopped at a great vista of both Popo and Ixta, our first climbing objective.
We reached the resort of Malintzi and headed out for our first acclimatizing hike. We walked through pine forests and then up a broad slope to a ridge. Here we enjoyed the views of the surrounding valley.
A wonderful Mexican dinner awaits our group now...Tomorrow we head to Ixta. Everyone is excited for our first climb!
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir team led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Seth Burns has concluded their week of training and returned to Paradise. Although the weather threw a few curves at them, the team was able to get in lots of training including cramponing, glacier travel, ice climbing, rappelling, and crevasse rescue. We can probably consider it winter camping as well. They endured some cold temperatures but also enjoyed some beautiful sunrises and sunshine.
Nice work team!
The Mt. Rainier
Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Mike King turned at the top of Disappointment Cleaver this morning. The team made the prudent decision to call Disappointment Cleaver their high point after assessing the snow pack determined the avalanche danger to be high. The team will descend back to
Camp Muir before continuing their descent to Paradise later today.
Congratulations to our team of climbers on their climb today!
It wasn't easy, in fact far from it.
We started the day with a 10:30 pm wake up call that no one ever enjoys, but everyone made it to breakfast relatively quickly and seemed excited as the weather looked to be in our favor. We then hoped into our 4 wheeled vehicles and drove about 20 minutes to the start of the climb. The weather continued to improve as we made our way to the the start of the glacier where we put on our crampons and roped up for the rest of the climb. The initial part of the glacier was mostly bare ice which made for rather easy climbing and slowly increased in angle and crevasses. Everyone did a great job of taking care of themselves and stayed calm even though the terrain was challenging.
After several hours of climbing we reached the final headwall that looked to be too much, but with perseverance the team surmounted the last steep slope and made our way to the top of Antisana. All in all it took 9 hard hours to reach the summit where we enjoyed the views and took a few photos. The descent was no easy task either having to reverse the climb, but we all made it back safely in a couple of hours.
Everyone is in good spirits and maybe just a little tired ;)
Special thanks to Sally for the wonderful Sahale mixed nuts that were sent along, we enjoyed them!
RMI Guide
Casey Grom and a happy albeit tired crew
June 9, 2014 - 9:52 pm PT
The team remained at
7,800' on Mt. McKinley and chalked it up to a weather day. Apparently they spent the day composing poetry. A copy of their work is below:
We're below Ski Hill
Snowing, blowing, eating here
Hope to move up soon!
Cheers from 7800,
Katie, Leon, Jake, and Crew
RMI Guides Jake Beren, Leon Davis & Katie Bono
On The Map
When the alarm sounded this morning we stuck our head out of the tent and saw nothing but clear skies. The wind was blowing high up near the summit, sending whisps of snow flying off the ridge lines, but conditions between 14 Camp and high camp at 17,200' (17 Camp) were perfect: it was go time! It was cold again as we at breakfast and broke down camp but the team kept to task, by now everyone is comfortable working in the cold temperatures. Just after 8 am we headed out of 14 Camp, climbing the slopes back to the fixed lines and up to our previous high point at our cache at 16,200'. We climbed well to there, managing the bigger packs on the fixed lines without any problem.
After a break to eat and drink we set out up the West Buttress proper, climbing right along the ridge line for the final 1,000' to camp. The West Buttress is widely regarded as the finest climbing of the entire route and today did not disappoint: it was a simply spectacular afternoon of climbing. The sun was out, there was hardly a breath of wind, and the snow conditions were perfect. The team climbed strongly, weaving back and forth between the outcroppings of granite that pepper the ridge line and across the intermittent stretches of thin snow ridges between where the slopes fall away several thousand feet to each side. The big packs, high altitude, and exposure kept us focused and it was a hard day of climbing, but by the time we reached camp everyone was excited and smiling.
We set to work right away upon reaching 17 Camp, shoveling out a few previously used tent platforms that we're buried under several feet of new snow, touching up the snow walls in case the winds pick up, and setting up and anchoring down our tents. It was a calm and warm evening so we sat outside afterward, eating dinner and gazing across the patchwork of clouds below that stretched off into the interior of the North Slope of Alaska.
If the perfect weather that we have right now sticks around we're hoping to take advantage and make our summit bid tomorrow. The team is tired from the day but recovering well now that we're in camp and excited about giving it a shot tomorrow. We'll let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Another successful push up the hill brought us to our 14,000' Camp. The team performed wonderfully even with the big loads we were carrying. 14,000' Camp is a huge flat area that has a view up towards the summit looking one way and a view out towards Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter the other way. What an incredible place! The sun reflecting off of the snow that surrounds us causes it to be quite hot during the day. When the sun tucks behind the mountain around 9:00 PM, it gets COLD. Like Alaska cold! Go figure. Although our team is a bunch of animals, we are taking a rest day tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
Another day in the bank. We are still enjoying sunny days and warm, but pleasant, temperatures at our 9,500' camp on Mt. McKinley. We carried a load of gear and food up to 11,200 feet which will help our acclimation process and get us set up for climbing higher on the mountain. However the crew is most excited that they are done with the heavy loads...for now.
We are back at 9,500' resting and acclimatizing. We will check in again soon.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
Reluctantly, we got out of our beds this morning in preparation for our first day of the safari. After seven days in a tent and sleeping bag, I know we all could have used a few more hours in the wonderful beds at the RiverTrees Country Inn, but we had animals to view.
Initially things were slow but picked up after lunch. The highlight: watching a pair of elephants from 30' away. Now, we're bring spoiled at the Plantation Lodge, a truly special and wonderful lodge where the rooms are 5 star and the food just as good. We're all looking forward to getting horizontal because we have a big day ahead: the Ngorongoro Crater where we're sure to see thousands of animals
Lala salama,
RMI Guide Brent Okita
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Hey Team,
Well I was supposed to climb with you guys June 12-15, but I accepted a job and I ended up moving from Washington state to Texas and June 13 was my first day at the new job. I had to forfeit my position to climb, just a few weeks ago.
I know the feeling of training for months and then not getting to summit - it’s a bummer. This would have been my 4th time climbing with RMI on Rainier. I hope my message can reach someone new to RMI and mountaineering. Every climb is different and you learn something new each climb. It’s okay to be bummed for now, but don’t hangup your boots.
RMI is a class act and the more guides you meet, the more you will be inspired to keep climbing.
So, if you have that feeling of disappointment or being upset, know that it is normal and you can still tell your friends with pride, you are a mountaineer and that you will be back on Rainier soon. Happy trails. Matt
Posted by: Matt Stone on 6/16/2016 at 6:00 pm
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