Saturday, June 16, 2018 - 2:22 PM PT
We had a foot of snow with enough wind to drift upwards of 3 feet in most places. We spent the morning relocating our posh due to being buried and partially collapsed. The team is putting the finishing touches on a toilet cave so they can see a man about a horse without getting a spin drift bidet in the process. Other then maintaining camp we'll eat, nap, shovel and repeat until the storm passes. Moral is still good and we are hopeful that a clearing will arrive early next week. The wind loaded slopes will pose an avalanche hazard so we'll need a few days minimum to settle the slopes leading to the fixed lines. That's all from 14 Camp.RMI Guide Mike King
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 7:30 AM. RMI Guides Brent Okita and Jordan Cargill chose to make their summit attempt today due to the nice weather. Brent reported no wind and a perfect day on the mountain. The team will return to Camp Muir and continue to their training until Friday when they will descend to Paradise. The top photos are from today's summit climb, the bottom two photos are from Tuesday's training above Camp Muir.
Congratulations to the climbers!
As promised, the storm hit Araucania last night. After a nice evening sunset on Villarrica, the rain came. We retreated from our camp this morning with heavy wet snowflakes falling from the sky, very happy to not be high up on Lanin. Now we are on our way to Peumayen, a beautiful lodge and termas (hot springs) outside of Pucon. This is our last night in Chile, and one to celebrate - this trip has been top notch. Great crew, great skiing conditions, a lot of great weather... Every year I'm always amazed how fast this trip goes.
Tomorrow we head for the airport and home to the US. Thanks for following along!
RMI Guide Tyler Reid and the Chile Ski Crew
June 23, 2016 - 10:07 P.M. PDT
At 3 A.M. Mount Foraker was bathed in streaks of pink light and not a breath of wind moved through 11 Camp as we packed our packs to move up the mountain. We climbed efficiently up Motorcycle Hill and Squirrel Hill, around a not so Windy Corner, and pulled into 14 Camp just as the heat of the day began. We found an empty fortress of expertly chopped snow blocks and after a few hours of renovation, moved into our new home. Our whole team ate and hydrated like champions. In high spirits we're snuggling up for the night under benign skies. Tomorrow will be a rest day - haircuts, Game of Thrones, Uno, and lots of sunscreen await us.
Love from El Siete
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling from RMI's Everest Expedition. We left Deboche this morning.... The team is now up here at 13,800 feet in Pheriche. We walked through snow today, about four inches of new snow over night. It was a beautiful morning for strolling through the last of the forest that we would be walking in today. We walked over to Tengboche and had an audience with Lama Geshe. He gave us his blessings and greeted us as always very friendly, and had a nice seating with him. We proceeded on our way towards Pheriche, had lunch in Somare and got here, Pheriche, by about 2:30 this afternoon. Everybody's getting comfortable now in the Himalayan Hotel, and enjoying the nice dining room here, under the stars, looking up at Ama Dablam and beautiful mountains all around. We will check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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
Hey this is Seth checking in from the top of Kilimanjaro! We had a great day. Super nice weather, really sweet. No wind when we left camp, just a little breeze when we hit the crater rim. We were all walking into the crater rim when the sun came up and we have been enjoying the top for a little while now. We are going to head down. Go back to camp and spend a few hours packing up and then we'll be down to about 10,000 feet, back where trees grow out of the ground. All is well. We'll check in later today.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall calls from the Kilimanjaro summit!
Another fine day on Kilimanjaro's trails has led us to high camp. The name of this camp is Barafu which translates to 'ice'. So you can tell it is not always the warmest spot. True enough, we have been getting some ice pellets or graupel hitting the tents since we arrived. Hopefully we'll have the normal evening clearing and a nice climb tonight.
The team members are all in our respective tents sorting gear and relaxing before we head out. Our crew just prepared a delicious lunch of hamburgers and macaroni salad. Perfect for the physical effort that awaits us.
Our plan is to get up at midnight and get on the trail by 1 AM. It should take us somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 hours to reach the top.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
hello team, it is 10:44 in New York. Thinking about 6:30 where you all are. We are all so incredibly proud of all of you! summit or not. You all rock!! congrats on a great journey!!! xxoo lizzie , thomas, kit and mary :-)
Posted by: liz Blaney on 8/23/2014 at 7:49 pm
Be careful dad! Your 75 and you promised me if it was too much you would turn back. I would rather have you return home safely rather than lose you proving yourself on one of your adventures. Are we still on for running with the bulls in Spain next year?
Posted by: Roger Rathburn Jr. on 8/23/2014 at 7:07 pm
Jambo from Tanzania,
Our African adventure has started!
The majority of the team arrived on the KLM flight from Amsterdam tonight. Definitely a tired group of travelers, but that is to be expected after the almost 24 hours needed to get here. Any arrivals hall is a bit chaotic, and Kilimanjaro International Airport is no exception. Safari teams and climbers alike look for their guides and drivers throughout the crowded maze of people. We found our team pretty quickly and got immediately out of the action and headed to our bus. We had an opened bottle of champagne waiting for us, and after a quick toast to Kilimanjaro, we were on our way to the hotel. One more performance of the "duffel shuffle", and we moved into our rooms where we will be spending the next two nights.
We are minutes away from sitting down to a three course dinner on the outside patio at the Dik Dik Hotel. I think roasted lamb is on the menu tonight.... Tough transition from airplane food, but someone's got do it.
La la salama,
Jeff
Hello from 17,000’. The increasing wind and snow have made the decision to go up or down an easy one, conditions dictate that we sit here and bide our time until the weather clears up. Nearly 2 feet of snow has fallen and drifted around camp and we take periodic forays into the weather to shovel out camp, clear off tents and do weather dances.
We are safely ensconced behind solid walls with enough food and fuel to weather some time up here. Cross your fingers and we'll keep you posted as things hopefully progress. Our spirits remain high and every few hours we will pile into one tent to swap stories and shoot the breeze.
For now a little forced R & R, is the best way to deal with the mountain. So, we'll sit it out until new options present themselves. That's all from 17. This is Jake, Mike and the crew hanging tough on Mt. McKinley.
Listen to Jake and Mike's "Tent Bound Things Considered" Commentary below...
Tent Bound Things Considered by Jake Beren & Mike Uchal
WHOOHOO!! Go Team! So great to hear you have reached 17’000… bring on the summit! I can’t even imagine how you are all feeling at this point but know that we are thinking of you every day and praying that the weather will co-operate. Barry we love you brother. Say a prayer for us too. It’s raining 24/7 here in Vang Vieng, Laos, South East Asia so we might not get to go “tubing”, everybody AWWWW (joking!). Obviously you have a lot more to be thinking about :) God bless you all and may you have the most incredible experience on reaching that summit. Irish love and hugs XXX
Posted by: Kathryn & Pearse Mc Kiernan on 6/28/2011 at 5:27 am
Gilbert are you there…...we have heard from Jake and Mike….where are you? Hope the wind calms down soon and you all can move to the top!
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Hi dad! Happy fathers day!! I hope your day is amazing. we miss you. Please bring me back a moose! Love you!
Posted by: Adleigh Faulkenburg on 6/17/2018 at 2:02 pm
Hi dad!!! Happy father’s day! Please don’t get eaten by a bear.
Posted by: Teagan Faulkenburg on 6/17/2018 at 1:58 pm
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