Hello everyone.
Today we opted to take an additional rest day here in Pheriche. There's a cold going around and everyone could benefit from a little more acclimatization. Most of us went on a hike to stretch our legs and lungs a bit. It was one of the nicest days in the Khumbu yet, with plenty of sunshine and it was relatively warm today.
After our hike we relaxed once again in the sunroom and played a bit of cribbage. Currently Travis and Sean are winning, but I think their luck is about to change. Hopefully tomorrow we'll hit the trail and head further towards Everest Base Camp.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Clay and I are enjoying your days there vicariously. Photos are amazing, and we are loving having a glimpse of your surroundings. Norm, I’ve been wondering if that K-State cap is keeping your head warm—-or is it just your heart?......:) Stay safe and ENJOY! Judy E.
Posted by: Judy Edmands on 3/28/2014 at 7:43 am
Hi, Dad! Pete, Lynn and I check in on you each day- great to see the pics. Wishing solid legs and lungs for all. Much love- chris
Today started early for the team when a wind storm kicked up through camp in the middle of the night, snapping anchor lines and making sleep quite difficult. We did manage to grab a few zzzz's, however, in between resetting anchors. But the nighttime fun ensured we were all up with the sun, ready for hot drinks and a hot breakfast.
We spent a couple of hours after breakfast reinforcing the rock walls around the tent platforms, and then packed up personal climbing gear for a carry to Camp 3 at 19,600'. The team moved well as we got higher and higher, with the thin air forcing each of us to concentrate on good rest stepping and being as efficient as possible. The wind stayed with us all day, making our down layers feel nice despite the bright sun.
We dropped our cache at high camp and headed back down. Many personal altitude records were set today, as the team remains strong. An early dinner was in order and now we're tucked into sleeping bags, hoping for calmer weather and a more restful night.
Now it's just a waiting game; waiting for the right forecast and good weather for our launch towards high camp and the summit bid. Thanks for your support and we'll follow up tomorrow!
RMI Guide Garrett Stevens
Stef - Winds are decreasing Saturday night! Looking good for the summit attempt on Sunday. Good luck to all. All is ok back home.
Posted by: Steve on 1/10/2014 at 11:43 am
Go team! I checked the mountain summit forecast and it looks like the winds will be slowing down some on Saturday and Sunday, with a change of some snow on Saturday night. Y’all stay safe and warm. Sending love and good summit juju.
Amy
Sorry about the delayed dispatch. We were literally off grid and out in the African bush.
It's been one amazing adventure from start to finish and yesterday our last day on safari didn't disappoint. We spent the day in Tarangire National Park which is home to more elephants per square mile than any other place on earth. The elephants were plentiful as were many animals, but the highlight was seeing not one, but five leopards! We first came upon a male who had just killed an ostrich and then just few minutes later we pulled up on a mother and three cubs. Needless to say everyone has enjoyed the trip and are looking forward to getting home and sharing a few photos.
Happy 25th birthday Jess! Glad we were all able to share this with you.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Thanks so much Casey (and the whole A-team!) for the most incredible quarter century adventure and celebration! We’re back in NYC and missing the trip already. Casey, hope you haven’t shed too many tears yet since the team’s left—I hear if you put mayo on your eyes, it helps to soothe the tear ducts.
Until next time :)!
Posted by: Jess Tha Wienerschleider on 8/31/2013 at 11:35 am
The RMI Team led by Dustin Wittmier climbed strong from 17,000' Camp to the summit of Mt. McKinley. They gained the summit ridge at 4:45 pm local time and continued to the summit at 20,310' arriving at 5: 28 pm Alaska time on Saturday, June 14th.
After enjoying some time on top, the team descended to 17,000' Camp reaching camp around 10 pm local time where they spent the night.
It was a little tough leaving the Plantation Lodge this morning, but it was time to Safari on! We made our way to Tarangire National Park making a couple of short stops along the way. Treasures from a far off land were acquired and a stop at a local tribal village made for an interesting cultural experience for the day. We enjoyed singing and dancing and a demo of how rubbing sticks together to make a fire. A quick tour of the mud hay and cow dung hut they call home then off to the park for more game viewing. The park is a series of parallel rivers, shallow valleys and broad savanna. Also boasting that it has more elephants per square kilometer than any place on earth. It didn't disappoint us with plenty of other animals as usual. We are tucked into our new lodge inside the park call Balloon Camp. The camp has screened-in rooms out deep in the bush allowing Africa to envelope your every fiber.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guides Solveig Waterfall, Leon Davis and team reached the Mount Shuksan summit! The summit was a nice reward after weathering a storm that dumped 4" of rain on them at the beginning of their climb. Today, no precipitation as they made their way to the top. The team is currently on the descent back to camp and will hike the rest of the way out tomorrow morning.
Congratulations!
May 21, 2014 - 12:28am PT
After yesterday's blustery winds, snow, and ground blizzards, we woke up to silence. No shaking tents, no rumble from the ridge above, just a clear blue sky. Excited to move, we were the first team out of camp, cramponing up perfect styrofoam snow on Motorcycle and Squirrel Hill, then breaking trail through 5 or 6 inches of fluff on the Polo Field. The sun grew strong and bouncing off the fresh white snow, we were soon stripping layers. We cached 10 days worth of food and several gallons of fuel at 13,5k that we'll retrieve in a couple days after we move to 14 camp. It was a perfect day in the Alaska range, and everyone was excited to keep pushing forward. We were back in camp with several hours of sunshine left to dry sleeping bags and clothes. Hopefully tomorrow we 'll be packing up camp and making our way to 14.
We'll let you know how it goes.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Josh Maggard, Robby Young & Team
La Malinche summit!
Today was a busy day. After a fantastic breakfast at our hotel in Mexico City we met our driver and loaded the van to the brim with all our gear. By 9:00 we were bumping along the streets working our way out of the city and towards the hills. After a few hours we found ourselves winding through the forests on the flanks of La Malinche. We arrived at La Malintzi, an old Olympic training facility at 10,000 feet around noon and stowed our bags in our cabins. With day packs packed and the noonday sun warming us, we started our acclimatization hike. After two hours hiking through the forest, we broke out of the trees and began climbing up the scree trail to gain the ridge. At 4:30 we found ourselves on the summit of La Malinche, 14,640'. Higher than any point in the continental United States. With perfect weather we began our descent scree skiing through the sandy section and back into the forest. Happy and tired we all enjoyed our delicious dinner back at La Malintzi and headed to bed for some well-deserved rest.
Thanks for following us.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
The Four Day Summit Climb July 8 - 11and the Five Day Summit Climb July 7 - 11 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams reported clear skies with cold temperatures and 20 mph winds. The summit teams started their descent from the crater rim at 7:30 a.m. PT.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
This is Dave Hahn calling down from 14,200 feet on Mt. McKinley. It's 8:11 in the evening. It is a beautiful day, absolutely spectacular. We are way up above the clouds. The sun is still out, it hasn't gone behind the West Buttress yet. We did a great job getting up today if I don't say so myself. We started out this morning from 11,000 at about 9:15 a.m.. We weren’t really sure what the weather was going to do, but it did hold long enough for us and we made good progress coming up to 14. We came around Windy Corner and we were up here in six hours, which is always good. From having camp at 11 all to ourselves last night and being relatively alone on the mountain, so far, we're definitely in the community of guides and climbers up here at 14. A number of teams came down the mountain from up above including our friend Linden Mallory and his team. And it's great to be with those guys here at 14. They're spending the night as well, so we've got company.
Again, it's just perfect this evening there is not a puff of wind. We very are happy to be finishing up the approach to the mountain, and excited to begin the climb. Although, tomorrow we're actually going to finish up the approach. We're going to go back down and get the cache we left of food and fuel about 500 feet below camp. After we retrieve our cache then will be here for real. Bye for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from 14,000 on Mt. McKinley
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Clay and I are enjoying your days there vicariously. Photos are amazing, and we are loving having a glimpse of your surroundings. Norm, I’ve been wondering if that K-State cap is keeping your head warm—-or is it just your heart?......:) Stay safe and ENJOY! Judy E.
Posted by: Judy Edmands on 3/28/2014 at 7:43 am
Hi, Dad! Pete, Lynn and I check in on you each day- great to see the pics. Wishing solid legs and lungs for all. Much love- chris
Posted by: Chris Y on 3/27/2014 at 7:11 pm
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