May 23, 2014 - 7:18 pm PT
Our first night away from the airstrip here at 7,800' and it's under beautiful clear blue skies. The winds above 14,000' are moving hard but here it is calm. We walked 3.5 hrs north on the Kahiltna Glacier to the base of Ski Hill and occupied some vacant sites. All told a pretty relaxing afternoon after adjusting to our pack & sled loads. Tomorrow we will gain 2,000' to our next camp at 9,800' which puts us near the base of Kahiltna Dome's east ridge.
Good night friends and family!
RMI Guide Leon Davis & Team
Freuen uns über die täglichen Berichte. Wünschen dem Team und insbesondere Katharina weiterhin schöne Tage und viel Erfolg. Beste Grüße aus dem wolkigen Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Papa, Karin & Lexi
Posted by: Joachim Schmitt on 5/24/2014 at 11:39 pm
Grandma (Dorothy) wants to say good luck to you Bob and Nikki, and also to the rest your expedition, and god bless. I also wanted to say climb high, and don’t die, and happy anniversary to you two! It’s a great way for you to celebrate it.
Posted by: Michael Lowry and Grandma on 5/24/2014 at 8:01 am
Greetings from Kikoti Camp!
It was a great day on safari. We started at the Plantation Lodge with a nice relaxed breakfast and then hit the road for a little shopping before we began our game drive in Tarangire National Park. Once we went in the park our chef made us another terrific lunch. After that we started the game drive and it was excellent. We got very lucky with the cats today, seeing both lions and leopards. The giraffes were the highlight of the day for my car while the other car sniffed out an extra leopard. Of course the elephants were plentiful as they always are in Tarangire.
Tonight is our last night together and we're all telling stories about the trip. The last two weeks have literally flown by but we all feel like, paradoxically, it's been a long time too. The venue here at Kikoti Camp is perfect for bringing the trip to a close. It's very comfortable and it has a distinctive African flair. It's a beautiful 'camp' for sure.
Tomorrow we start heading back. Most people are flying out tomorrow night, the rest leave the day after. As for me I'll be staying on for another trip. Hopefully it's every bit as fun as this one was!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Today we awoke to a blue bird sky and prepared for another day of trekking. After three nights at Namche Bazar (11,300 ft.), the team was feeling good and it was time to continue on towards Basecamp. As we hiked above Namche and wrapped around the hill side, the major peaks came into view. With the clear skies, we had magnificent views of Ama Dablam, Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse. The hiking was great and I was amazed at how well maintained the trails were. We passed many locals working on breaking rocks and stacking them into place, creating the feeling of cobblestone streets in many places. As we continued on the trail we eventually dropped down into the valley floor where we stopped and had lunch in Phungi Thanga (10,662 ft.) which Dave Hahn jovially refers to as "Funky Town"! After yet another gluttonous meal in the sunshine watching yaks, porters and trekkers go by, we decided it was time for us to continue on as well. After a river crossing on a swinging wooded style bridge, we slowly made our way uphill to Tengboche where the Tengboche Monastery is located. After resting and drinking Fanta's, Coke and water (with some making a quick dash to the local bakery for chocolate cake!), we hiked a short distance downhill thru a Rhododendron forest to arrive in Deboche (12,533 ft.). Now in Deboche, we are staying at the Ama Dablam Garden Lodge where we will spend two nights. Once again, things have gone smoothly and everyone is having a good time and staying in good health.
The sun is setting and it’s a radiant orange and pink sky surrounding our tents. This is our third night here and we are feeling good. Today we carried a load of gear up, up, up to Camp 3 - new altitude record for the whole team at 19,600 feet! The saying of the day was “stress the system, rest the system.” We stressed our bodies moving up to that altitude in the hopes that it will help us on summit day. But before our headaches were too bad, we started downhill back to Camp 2. We got back in the early afternoon and then it was time to rest the system.
We prepared for our summit push with a big talk about what to expect, what to carry, tips and tricks to stay warm and so much more. We know some anxiety is normal as there are so many unknowns as we head uphill but preparing as much as we can helps. Jack also led us in some improv games where we laughed and joked and that helped too!
Tomorrow we head to Camp 3 with a hopeful summit on the horizon.
The six day Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise August 1 - 6 led by RMI Guide Jackson Breen has enjoyed beautiful weather for their week of training, climbing and camping on Mt. Rainier. Yesterday, after several days of practicing anchors, crevasse rescue, glacier travel and snow camping the team packed up gear and ascended to Camp Muir. Today the teams left Camp Muir with an early alpine start and reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 5:30 am. They enjoyed an hour in the crater before starting their descent back to Camp Muir. The team will continue down to Paradise later today and conclude their adventure with a celebration of their accomplisments.
Nice work team! We hope you enjoyed your time on the mountain.
Thursday, June 6, 2019 10:06 PM PT
Greetings from 14,000’!
For the first time all trip, the weather was better than forecasted! We took full advantage early this morning, walking into the clouds for only a brief time before we were basking in the sun above 12,000’. It was a smooth move day up here to 14 Camp. We arrived early afternoon with plenty of time to completely set up camp, take naps, and then indulge in a veggie curry dinner. It was great to see our RMI friends JM and company as well as a plethora of other guides from other walks of life. It’s truly a city of friends up here at 14 Camp and our team is ecstatic to be here, especially given the squirrelly weather we’ve had over the last week. We’re all in the sleeping bags now, as it gets cold quickly up here; but we’re amped and ready to go back and pick up our windy corner cache tomorrow morning and be reunited with all of delicious lunch food and larger huge variety of meals. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.
Robby, Nick, Joe and Team ‘Clean Plate Club’
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
May 22, 2014 - 6:44 pm PT
We had grand plans of moving to high camp today, and awoke early to clear skies above and relatively warm temps. We started stoves and began the process of packing sleeping bags and organizing gear, but before the water even had time to boil, a cap began to build on the upper mountain and lenticulars formed over Mt. Foraker to our south west. We watched as plumes of snow, sublimating from the west buttress and 17,000' Camp, began to stream to the south.
Better to sit here at 14 camp and drink more coffee, we decided.... Although now we are out of coffee....
The team is in good spirits and we will keep you posted as the situation continues. Fingers aggressively crossed that this weather breaks soon!
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall
Hello, this is Adam Knoff here at 7,800’ on the Kahiltna Glacier with the West Rib Team. We have moved up successfully to this camp and we are enjoying perfect weather. We are going to take advantage of the weather and do a reconnaissance up the Northeast Fork of the Kahilta trying to establish a route up towards the West Rib. We will then be moving back to camp here and have plans to carry to 9,500' feet tomorrow and hopefully to 11,000' the following day.
Everyone is well and in good spirits. We saw Mike Walter and team coming down today and they are most thrilled to be heading out. We will update you tomorrow on the progress of a reconnaissance.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Freuen uns über die täglichen Berichte. Wünschen dem Team und insbesondere Katharina weiterhin schöne Tage und viel Erfolg. Beste Grüße aus dem wolkigen Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Papa, Karin & Lexi
Posted by: Joachim Schmitt on 5/24/2014 at 11:39 pm
Grandma (Dorothy) wants to say good luck to you Bob and Nikki, and also to the rest your expedition, and god bless. I also wanted to say climb high, and don’t die, and happy anniversary to you two! It’s a great way for you to celebrate it.
Posted by: Michael Lowry and Grandma on 5/24/2014 at 8:01 am
View All Comments