RMI Guide Nick Hunt and the Five Day Summit Climb reached the highest point in Washington State, the summit of Mt. Rainier, this morning. Nick's report from the summit said today was a beautiful day with light winds. The team left the summit to begin their descent just after 7:00 a.m. PDT. The will return to Ashford this afternoon.
Way to climb!
June 10, 2016 - 10:59 pm PT
Waking up at 17K camp this morning was tough after yesterday's big day. We were happy though to be on the move again, back down the mountain to thicker air. Walking down the West Buttress was beautiful, and this time we were actually able to enjoy the knife ridge views. Taking in views is much easier walking down when you're only using half the physical effort as the way up. The mountain treated us with pleasant weather all the way to 11K Camp until we hit the storm layer, walked through some high winds and blowing snow and eventually below the storm to 7,800 camp. Now we're enjoying a cheese, bacon and bagel fry up celebration and looking forward to the final leg of our journey back to basecamp tomorrow! See you all soon and thanks for the support!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Still trying to keep a little vertical distance from reality.
Posted by: Dad on 6/12/2016 at 5:41 am
Wow descending almost 10,000 feet and through a snow storm layer—thats a long day! I hope you’re all holding up well on this last leg down to base camp!
Ongun I can’t wait to hear from you! sending you my hugs!
xoxo
Karina
Thursday, July 3, 2014 - 3:01 PM PT
Howdy, ya'all from Alpamayo Basecamp.
Up here at 14,270' the air is a bit harder to breathe, but we are doing well and feeling strong. The hike today was a unique mix of open glacial plains and mossy paths through the woods which remind us of the land of the hobbits.
Currently the team is reading or napping in the tents to avoid the intense mid-day sun. We are all performing well and, weather permitting, plan to carry some gear up to a higher camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
June 14, 2014 - 10:55 pm PT
Well another day has come and gone, but Denali refuses to give us a decent weather window to climb.The team is all prepped to go, and we have had numerous conversations that will improve our efficiency and safety up high. At this point we are just keeping our fingers crossed and watching both the forecast and morning skies to decide when we will move upward.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Geoff Schellens and the UWR team
Eric——-I read your guide BIO , and saw that your were raised in Ohio. Being a Buckeye myself, I was wondering where you grew up? ( this is from John’s Mom)
Posted by: Patty Stenderup on 6/15/2014 at 9:23 pm
John- Your grandfather and Uncle Bruce send greetings your way, knowing that your 3P’s (preparation, patience and perseverance) will eventually pay off. We are all following these postings, so a big thank you to your fellow team members for keeping us informed.
Posted by: Rita and BruceWightman on 6/15/2014 at 3:34 pm
Hey this is Seth checking in from High Camp on Ixta, that’s just over 15,000’ for us. We came up today from our last camp. We spent about four and a half hours on the trail, everyone is doing excellent. Tents are all set up and we are firing up the stoves getting ready to have dinner. Then we will talk about our strategy for the climb and have an early bedtime. We will be getting up in the middle of the night and will head out for the summit. We will call you when we reach that point. Hope all is well back home.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall and Team.
Hello everyone out there following along in RMI Expeditions blogland... Our team made short work of today's hike and arrived at Plaza Argentina (our basecamp) early this afternoon. We started off early early, firing the stoves before sunrise because we needed to hitch a ride on muleback over the river. The herrieros were planning on running the rest of our gear up to basecamp and then running the mules all the way back out to the road so they requested the early start. Normally we'd cross the river on foot but it's running pretty deep this year and the mule option seemed like a safer one especially considering my lifeguard certification expired about 15 years ago.. . Anyway, the team is settling in to life at just under 14k feet and hoping for a good night of sleep after three consecutive hot and dusty days on the trail.
Hasta mañana,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Brent Okita, Leon Davis and Teams made it to the summit of Mt. Rainier today with clear skies, light winds, and a very beautiful morning.
The started their descent from the summit at 8:00 a.m.
Congratulations summit climbs!
A few inches of snow fell overnight, along with strong winds here at Camp 4; today is more of the same. Sounds like back at Camp 3 they got two feet of snow last night.
We're patiently waiting for a break in the weather. In the meantime, there's lots of reading, playing cards, eating and sleeping to pass the time. We're still doing pretty well with food and fuel supplies up here. And, as importantly, everyone's patience is hanging in there.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Looks like Monday might bring a window for ya’ll!
National Weather Service is saying winds diminishing.
Lets all hope that works out.
Go team!!
Posted by: David Hampton on 5/21/2011 at 11:34 am
Hi Ken,
It is still raining here. I can’t wait to see the sun. I won’t have to worry about turn on the sprinkler system. Ally and I had pedicures today after her program at the Works. Then we went out to dinner at the Fish Shanty. She is doing well but misses you. Take Care..I miss you too!! Love Cathy & Ken
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.
The Mexico Volcanos crew arrived last night to the Hotel Geneve in Mexico City. After some introductions, we made our way to a local taco spot and chatted about our upcoming trip.
This morning the crew was up early and ready to head to our first volcano, La Malinche.
Still trying to keep a little vertical distance from reality.
Posted by: Dad on 6/12/2016 at 5:41 am
Wow descending almost 10,000 feet and through a snow storm layer—thats a long day! I hope you’re all holding up well on this last leg down to base camp!
Ongun I can’t wait to hear from you! sending you my hugs!
xoxo
Karina
Posted by: karina on 6/11/2016 at 9:29 pm
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