Hi everyone!
Well today we went for Kahiltna Dome and we got higher than any other RMI seminar in recent history. Soft snow and punchy crevasse bridges put a halt on our upward progress close to 11,000 feet. Despite the early start, temperatures never allowed the snow to freeze solid enough to prevent us from dropping into the many cracks that guard the ridge. The guides put the question to our seminar participants about whether it was safe to continue and the entire team made some very rational common sense arguments on the decision to turn back. We do believe these folks are starting to understand their limits while making good decisions, as we hoped this seminar would help impart!
We are safe and happy back at 8700' camp hoping to fly off tomorrow if the forecasted snow does not interfere.
Good night and see you all soon!
RMI Guides Leon Davis and Eric Frank
We are in a routine... hitting our stride and finding a groove. It felt perfectly normal to wake up at 14,000 ft., pack the bags, guzzle the hot drinks, look each other in the eye for signs of a rough night due to tummy or altitude trouble, fight over who-ordered-what, eat breakfast and hit the trail in the midst of gargantuan mountains and outrageous vistas.
The trek to Lobuche began as an easy stroll up the broad valley that Pheriche sits in. Tawoche and Cholatse seemed to grow bigger and steeper, forming an impenetrable wall to our left. Pocalde and its many rock summits formed a corresponding barrier on our right. We merged into the flow of yak and trekker traffic for a time until the route steepened and narrowed. At that point, we began to pass numerous teams and individuals stopping to catch their breath. Rather than giving in to the temptation to pause every few steps, I urged Erica to treat the hills we were climbing as prep for the Khumbu Icefall. We certainly won't have the option there to pause in dangerous places just because our legs and lungs get tired. Erica has climbed a few good mountains and she understood the challenge I was putting to her. It was time for us to distinguish ourselves from trekkers and walkers and hikers, and to operate more like mountain climbers. Mountain climbers who actually would not have too many more practice stretches before things get serious above basecamp.
The rest of our own team was on about the same game plan. We gathered to check on one another at Thukla... or Dhukla, as you may prefer. In fact, the sign there says "Thukla+Dhukla." At any rate, there are just two teahouses at Dhukla and we sat outside one, sipping hot lemon drinks and chatting with some of the folks we've shared the trail with for several days. There are gigantic hills of rough rock piled near Dhukla, which are actually the terminal moraine of the Khumbu Glacier. After our break, as we climbed up a long and steady hill to 16,000 ft., we were finding our way to the lateral moraines of the Khumbu... the glacier that will essentially be our home for the next seven weeks. We came out onto level ground at Thok La, a pass of some significance and reverence for climbers. There are dozens of stone monuments, or chortens, at Thok La for dead climbing partners... fathers... brothers... sons, teammates and friends. Some of the chortens are elaborate, with engraved and polished brass. Others have chiseled stone tablets eroded and difficult to read after decades in the wind and driven snow. Some are for famous Western climbers, some are for anonymous Sherpas. It always seems appropriate to pause at Thok La in order to walk among the chortens and to appreciate the dangers we will subject ourselves to. And for some of us, it is an important chance to remember friends who didn't make it home.
Thok La is also a natural boundary between the inhabited valleys below and the vast and marginally hospitable world of rock and ice above. It took our team no more than an hour to cover the easy ground into Lobuche from the pass. The trail followed a stream which, I explained to those around me, would normally be a sizable frozen flow at this time of year. I was struck by how little water was in the stream. There was virtually no ice and no snow on the hills forming the moraine. Just as many Sherpas had already explained, the winter was strangely devoid of precipitation and we were seeing confirmation of that. We'd lost our view of several of the familiar peaks of the past week, but we'd gained unimpeded vistas of new and important ones. Pumori, Lingtren and Khumbutse, which tower over Everest Basecamp, only two short days' walk away. And Changtse, Everest's north peak, was visible over in Tibet. The Lobuche Peaks (East and West) crowd the immediate view to the west now and Nuptse's crazy spiderweb wall of dikes fills the east.
We are in yet another comfy teahouse, the "Eco Lodge," unpacking a few bags and getting settled for two nights and some more of that good old-fashioned acclimatization. The afternoon clouds have come over and it seems a good time for a nap.
It was a crystal clear and bright morning in Phakding. We started walking at 8AM along the charging, frothing, roaring river. Before long we could see Thamserku towering 10,000 feet above us. The rock and ice was in stark contrast to the lush farmland we walked through. A couple of hours in, we reached the entrance to the Sagarmatha National Park. The team ate an early lunch at a tea house in Jorsalle before getting on with the big work of the day -climbing the Namche Hill. It began with a walk across a very high cable bridge and then we set ourselves to walking slow and steady up switchbacks in a thick pine forest. Things clouded up -predictably- as the day went on. We gained 2000 feet and finally turned the corner into Namche Bazaar at around 2PM. We were relieved to pull into Camp De Base. Calling it a tea house doesn’t really do the place justice as it has become a fine hotel by any standard. We rested and rehydrated for the afternoon and evening, getting used to life at 11,300 ft.
Your first night at 15,000ft, you almost never sleep well. The team slept like babies last night. We woke up for five minutes, went to sleep for 15 minutes, tossed and turned for another five, until it was time to get up. Today is a training day, we’ll walk up to the glacier to review some glacier travel, rope, and crampon skills prepare us for our climb tomorrow. Time to make our summit bid!
The team was up before the sun hit camp for breakfast this morning. We filled our bellies with pancakes and eggs, and hoped that our bodies would turn those tasty morsels into uphill momentum. It seems like it worked, because everyone did an excellent job on today’s carry.
The carry to Camp One ends up being one of the longest days of the climb, second only to summit day. It is also our first day climbing above basecamp, and our first day with heavy packs. It is our first opportunity to really test ourselves on the mountain. Everyone passed the test with flying colors. We climbed to Camp One at 16,200 ft (that’s 2,400ft above basecamp), cached a bunch of food and gear, and hung out for about 45 minutes. There was not a cloud in the sky. The wind was blowing, but not maliciously. A calm day by Aconcagua standards.
What goes up must come down, and eventually we drew ourselves from our sunny perch to descend back to basecamp. The team did well on the ascent, but I am actually more impressed, and more excited, about how well they descended the mountain today. We moved back to basecamp in under two hours, everyone was under control, and everyone had energy left in the tank. People were even laughing, which doesn’t often happen during a descent of any portion of this mountain.
Tomorrow we’ve got a rest day. We’re going to eat a lot of food (gotta lock in those gains), probably nap a lot, and maybe eat some more food. Hasta mañana.
RMI Guides JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, and Avery Parrinello
Greetings!
We officially started our visit with a mandatory tour of the city, and some of the sights that proclaimed Kathmandu a Word Heritage City by the UNESCO.
After a full morning of enriching our cultural perspective, we proceeded to another big meal all together, tasting new Nepali dishes over vivid discussions at the table. Like the day before, the jet lag kicked in, and the afternoon was spent relaxing and packing for the mountain flights.
Our next dispatch will be from the mountains!
Stay tuned for our progress uphill.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Lindsay Mann called from the crater rim at 7:30 am as they were ready to begin their descent. Lindsay reported a beautiful day with a light breeze. The ESS-Paradise led by Ben Liken was also leaving the summit to return to Camp Muir. Both teams will continue their descent to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Summit! RMI Guide Dave Hahn reached the Mount Rainier summit at 7:45 this morning. With beautiful blue skies and 10-15 mph winds, the team enjoyed the summit views for over an hour before beginning their descent at 9:00 a.m.
July 6, 2014 - 10:18 pm PT
Today, our first day at 14K, wasn't very difficult. We got up just slightly ahead of the sun, which made it past Denali's West Rib at 9:20 AM. We had a big breakfast and then geared up to go rescue our cache from the ravens. It only took a few minutes to walk down to 13,500 feet. And then a bit longer to dig up our food and gear -which, thankfully, hadn't been attacked by birds. Then it was just about an hour in the hot sun to get back to camp. We had a short training session in the afternoon to review techniques that we'll employ on the fixed rope section between 15,000 and 16,000 feet. And around dinner time, we were happy to welcome Adam Knoff's victorious team back into 14 camp. They drank water and repacked while telling us stories of the upper mountain. Then they eased out of camp on their way to 11K while we dined, chatted, and headed for bed. The sky has clouded up again and light snow is falling, but we'll hope that tomorrow's weather stays good enough for us to carry up to 16K.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Wishing you all a very successful and safe journey to the summit!
You guys are an inspiration!
Posted by: Ahin Handa on 7/7/2014 at 12:21 pm
Hello Denali-Team!
Thank you for your reports, I read every day. So I can take part a little bit in your expedition. Really I haven´t seen so much snow before, even not on pictures.
Furthermore I wish you sunny weather and a good time for all of you! Stay healthy and in good condition!
Ute
Hey gang, this is Billy checking in for our McKinley expedition on our fourth day on the on the mountain. We moved up from Camp 2 to at 9,600' up to our Camp 3 at 11,200'. The team moved incredibly well. We were only 2 and a half hours from camp to camp, single carry, so no back carry in the future for us. We spent a lot of time this afternoon, digging out camp and building walls and building a pretty elaborate cook tent. It's been a very low snow year up here in Alaska. So with barely a meter of snow on the glacier definitely made for some creative cook tent construction. But our walk up was really nice. It kind of alternated hot and cold. We arrived in camp with perfect, sunny weather and we're sitting pretty at this point. Tomorrow's plan calls for a rest day. So, wish us luck. It's gonna be a trying day laying around the tent tomorrow. That's about all for now, and checking out from Billy, Solveig and the rest of the crew. Have a good one.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
It’s a long time to be in the the cold and wind. Keep focused, summit bid coming soon!
Posted by: Brent Wolfe on 1/6/2019 at 9:15 am
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