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Wednesday, June 23, 2021
At 2:30 this morning, things looked pretty optimal for moving on up the hill. There were still clouds coming and going, but the glacier surface had frozen up nicely and there wasn’t much for wind. We dressed up, ate, packed up and got moving by just after 5 AM. Ski Hill needed climbing. Definitely tougher terrain to move on than yesterday’s level stretches, but far fewer crevasses to deal with. One hour took us halfway up, a second hour brought us to the flat at 9,000 ft and a final pull got the team onto the rolling plateau at 9,500 ft. We were plotting out a new camp in the snow by 8:35, just before the sun hit the upper reaches of the Kahiltna Glacier. It was pleasantly colder in our new home… just the way it should be. We hope that any storms will now be snow rather than rain, but we shall see. One is forecasted for tomorrow. We may have to wait it out here, but our hope is to sneak up to 11,000 tomorrow morning before it hits. We rested away the afternoon as the clouds built up. Even with them we enjoyed some views far down the glacier. Not quite to its terminus 44 miles away, but in the neighborhood for sure. Dinner was devoured in our comfy dining tent on benches cut in the snow. All are feeling good and pulling strong.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Andy Bond and Team just called from the summit of
Pequeño Alpamayo a 5370 m peak in the Condoriri Group. Andy reported great climbing conditions and beautiful weather. The team climbed strong, and will be starting their descent shorty.
Congratulations Team!
Update: 5:19 pm PT
Hey just letting you know we’re back at camp safe and sound... well fed and ready for some sleep. Long day on a challenging route but everyone is doing great! We’ll update tomorrow with an actual blog post
RMI Guides Eric Frank and Andy Bond
The
Four Day Summit Climb teams August 23 - 26 led by
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King were approaching the crater rim just before 7 am. All of the climbers on Mike King's team were able to reach the summit!. Nice work team! JJ reported 10 mph winds and cold temps with climbers wearing their parkas. It's a beautiful day and a great climb. The teams will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Well, we're all safely out of the mountains after a great week of climbing and training on
Mount Shuksan's Sulphide glacier. Our climbing team gained proficiency moving in diverse terrain in the mountains, including crevassed glaciers, steep snow and ice, and 4th & 5th class rock. We also practiced lots of knots and hitches and crevasse rescue systems.
We packed a lot into the past week, and the weather was perfect throughout. Our team was strong and cohesive and we all reached the summit Mount Shuksan in good style. It was a pleasure to climb with everyone. Nice work team!
RMI Guide
Mike Walter
June 21, 2014 - 8:11 am PT
The transition from the sweet smell of blooming cotton woods, green grass, the easy access to showers to a life of arctic surroundings, grinding work and confined tent living comes abruptly! This morning that reality was as large as the towering mountains around us but the team motivated quickly and with resolve to get our grand adventure underway. The mental weight of shouldering a 60-pound pack connected to a 50-pound sled and then hauling it into an arena like the Kahiltna Glacier can be far more intimidating than the actual physical load. Faced with this challenge our team shined! We were thrilled to walk out of
Base Camp at 9:30 this morning onto the smoothest most user-friendly trail I have seen in all my nine trips to this glacier. Not only was the trail superb, we had the weather to match. Five hours after leaving BC we arrived at Camp One. At only 7,800 feet the vertical gain was not all that much but the distance was enough under monster loads to assure us this journey will not be an easy one. Tomorrow we will attempt to move again. Stay tuned.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff signing off
On The Map
Wow! The team enjoyed another day of awesome weather for our carry up to Camp 1. Everybody performed exceptionally well on our first push above 16,000' dropping off food, fuel, and supplies.
Upon our return to Basecamp we treated ourselves with prosciutto, fontina, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar baguettes! Then we ate steak for dinner! All in all a great day.
Tomorrow's plans call for a rest day which should line up nicely with some predicted squirrely weather.
We will touch base manana...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent & Team
Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom calling from the
Everest Base Camp Trek. Just want to let everyone know that all is well here in the Nepal. Unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties with our SAT phone and had some Wi-Fi issues here. We had a big storm the last couple of days which kind of knocked some things out. But everyone is doing great. In fact three days ago, we walked into Base Camp on a beautiful sunny warm day. We were welcomed by our gracious staff at Everest Base Camp, and they had a big spread of food set out for us and made everybody feel incredibly welcome. That evening we got a start of a snowstorm that dumped somewhere in the neighborhood of I don't know six to ten inches of snow. The following day, yesterday, they set up this big shower tent for us and we were able to get everybody through a round of hot showers there at Everest Base Camp. Literally just a couple of stone's throws from the Khumbu Ice Fall.
So this morning we woke up to pretty blustery skies and said our goodbyes to our team at Base Camp and and have made our way back down valley. We are currently back down in Pheriche, and there is snow still all the way down here. In fact, as I said, I think it knocked out their their solar systems for the last few days. So, we won't be able to get any pictures out, but hopefully tomorrow when we had to Namche there should be plenty of cell service, and there should be some Wi-Fi down there. So just updating everyone letting you know things are going well. Everyone's happy and look forward to getting down to even thicker air down there at 11,000'. I'll get some pictures out then. Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
After a relaxing evening last night at the Hacienda Casa Sol, we are currently enjoying the world famous market in Otavalo. Otavalo is an indigenous kichwa town in the Andes highlands north of Quito. The Otavalos are known for their woolen woven goods, art, jewelry, and music. The market here is a sight to behold, with both native Otavalos and tourists shopping side by side.
We're enjoying the morning roaming the streets and exploring the market. After lunch we'll drive up to the climbing hut on the volcano
Cayambe. The hut sits above 15,000' at the toe of the crevassed glaciers of Cayambe. It will be our home for the next two nights as we train and prepare for our ascent of Cayambe.
Cayambe is the third highest peak in
Ecuador at nearly 19,000', and the highest point on earth through which the equator passes. The mountain is situated in the eastern ridge of the Andes and, as such, is influenced by weather rising up from the rainforest of Ecuador and the headwaters of the Amazon. Over millenia the snowfall on Cayambe has formed a massive network of glaciers that we hope to climb.
We'll have our work cut out for us over the next few days on Cayambe. But for now we're enjoying the colorful culture of Ecuador.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Saturday June 13th 7:15 pm PT
Today has been fantastic. We left 11 Camp early this morning and enjoyed perfect conditions and weather on our way up to 14 Camp. The team climbed very well and we were again treated to supreme hospitality by the other
RMI teams at 14 Camp. Plenty of water and some pre-made tent platforms will make us soft if we aren't careful.
Now for some well-deserved rest before dinner. Tomorrow we will handle some training and wish our friends good luck as they move into position for their time in the stratosphere.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
On The Map
September 5th, 2014 - 4:10 pm PT
Hi Everyone!
This is Solveig checking in from our camp here on
Mt. Shuksan. We arrived in camp yesterday evening and enjoyed the sunset over dinner and hot drinks before crawling into the tents for a well-deserved rest. It took us the majority of the day to climb the 3,700' to camp and everyone did great carrying big packs and working hard in the heat.
We awoke this morning to warm temperatures and clear skies, and even clearer views of the surrounding Cascade Range. After we reached sufficient levels of nutrition and caffeination, we set off up the Sulphide Glacier to begin our day of technical training. Our morning was spent revisiting basic mountaineering techniques and by early afternoon, we transitioned to practicing moment skills on rock and and belayed climbing and rappelling.
Back in camp our team is relaxing and rehydrating in preparation for our summit bid early tomorrow morning. Wish us luck and we'll check in again after we return to camp tomorrow!
RMI Guides
Solveig Waterfall,
Leon Davis,
Garrett Stevens, and team
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Great job
Strong team
Way to go
Posted by: John Zabinski on 6/1/2018 at 7:19 pm
Wow!!! Great Job Team! From Anna, Shelby and Sammie!!!
Posted by: Anna Baldwin on 5/31/2018 at 6:09 pm
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