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Posted by: Geoff Schellens
Categories: Guide News
On May 9th Jake and I departed from Base Camp around 8:00 AM, skiing down the Southeast Fork through the cold, crisp morning air to the main flow of the Kahiltna Glacier. We continued down the glacier for another half hour and reached the West Ridge of Mt. Hunter. Here Jake and I cached our skis and began climbing. We approached this objective in a light and fast technique, known as “alpine style,” bringing four days of food, a small stove, a lightweight tent, and no comfort items. As we started climbing we found a very nice boot pack leading up the ridge that made for extremely efficient travel. At first we felt guilty drafting behind someone else breaking trail, but soon decided that each of us has done our fair share of trail breaking on other peaks and that we ought to just enjoy this one. As the two of us climbed higher on the West Ridge with ear-to-ear smiles we decided on a plan, “Lets climb until we’re not having fun and then camp there.” Well, the climbing on the West Ridge was extremely fun and after twelve hours of navigating the corniced ridge, peppered with exquisite sections of rock, steep snow and ice, we found ourselves at the 11,400’ bivy - tired but still smiling. We set our tent in a small notch and ate freeze-dried dinners with a fantastic view of the Alaska Range. It was truly an awesome place to be.
The next morning brought beautiful weather and a sense of excitement for where we were and what lay ahead. With our approach of simply having fun, we enjoyed the morning views and a few cups of coffee before breaking camp at noon. Moving quickly relishing every step and with a swing of an ice tool we ascended steep snow pitches and navigated gaping crevasses. Soon we found ourselves on the summit plateau at 13,000’ walking across the largest stretch of horizontal terrain we had seen in thirty hours. From there we ascended the final 55° slope that took us to the summit ridge. From there, forty more minutes of easy climbing gave way to the summit of Mt. Hunter. While standing on the summit Jake and I hooted and hollered with excitement, “What a fun climb!”
Soon we began our descent with the same approach we used on the ascent - climb until it is not fun and then set up camp. Down the ridge we went back to our bivy site, where we decided to descend via the Ramen Route. Quickly Jake and I realized that we had made a wrong turn into the entrance of the Couloir. This meant that we had to do a few tricky rappels and down climb through seracs to get ourselves back on route. Once we were back on track, we had a few more rappels before softer snow conditions allowed us to down climb to the base of the 3,300’ Ramen Coulior.
Now, for the second time in two days, we found ourselves again on flat glaciated terrain. At this point it was getting late in the day, but we were still enjoying ourselves and decided to continue our descent. Due to the time of day we chose to navigate the extremely broken-up glacier since it provided more camping opportunities if we needed to set up camp. This was a time intensive descent however as Jake and I soon found ourselves in a world surrounded by incomprehensible seracs and crevasses. A couple more hours brought us back to the main flow of the Kahiltna Glacier and our skis. After forty-two hours we arrived back at Base Camp exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and smiling. Employing our tactic of “climb until we are not having fun” had been the perfect strategy for this route.
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RMI Guide Geoff Schellens is a senior guide leading trips on Aconcagua, the North Cascades, Mt. Rainier, as well as, guiding Ice Climbing and Mt. McKinley. He is currently preparing for his next adventure this spring on Dhaulagiri, an 8,000 meter peak in the Himalayas. See more of Geoff's mountain photography on his website.
On The Map
Posted by: JJ Justman, Dave Hahn, Billy Nugent, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
Elevation: 17,575'
On The Map
Nicole and team. We are so thankful that you and the team are safe and praying for the missing climbers.Your family are all sending you strngth and love. We love you so much Nicole, please take care of yourself. Spoke to dad, brothers, cousins, and we are praying for your safety. Aunt Mimi is with me now. Your loving Aunt Ginny
Posted by: ginny marasco on 4/18/2014 at 11:59 am
Nicole Lobiondo: Wonderful to hear you are all safe and staying confident. You are in great hands and praying for you all. You got this! Love, Nicole
Posted by: Nicole Howard on 4/18/2014 at 6:50 am
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo (Swahili for hello/greetings) from Tanzania
All is well here in Tanzania and the team has finally all safety arrived after some very long flights. It was a short and peaceful ride to our lodge that is nestled in between Arusha and Moshi and not so far from the base of Kilimanjaro. The team had a quick dinner and headed for bed as the time change had us all feeling just a little off and pretty tired after all the traveling.
Today we had a leisurely morning with our group meeting after breakfast , where we did a round of introductions and then discussed the upcoming program for the days ahead. The team spent the remainder of the day getting our gear packed up, exploring the grounds of our peaceful lodge and dodging the gaggle of monkeys patrolling the grounds.
We wrapped up the evening with a delicious meal and plenty of friendly conversations.
Seems the team has had their fill of cake since we enjoyed celebrating our 2nd birthday in a row already.
Everyone is doing well and excited to be here.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASEY GROM!
Great to see the group picture! Looking forward to following your climb!
Posted by: Alicia Avila on 8/30/2022 at 8:11 am
Love the pictures of this adventurous group! What great memories you will create with these wonderful companions. I know Katy will keep you highly entertained and motivated. Have a safe and joyful climb!
Posted by: Cindy White on 8/29/2022 at 6:42 pm
11 PM sure seemed like it came early last night. Some got a little sleep, some got none, but we all got up to go climbing. We had an 11:30 “breakfast” before leaving Barafu High Camp just after midnight. It was magically clear and calm. We could see the lights of Moshi and a thousand other towns. The moon didn’t rise until about three so there were plenty of stars to see as we marched by headlight. Naturally, all the other climbing teams were getting going at the same time, so Naiman -who led the way- had to do some bobbing and weaving to get us free of traffic jams. Eventually we broke free and were able to set our desired pace up the steep, zig zag of pumice and lava steps. We took short breaks every 60 to 90 minutes, generally adding clothing layers as we got higher and colder. It was still dark when we hit the crater rim at Stella Pt at 5:48. We took a short break and the guides broke out thermoses of sweet black tea which the team devoured. Then we walked the rim to Uhuru as daylight slowly came on. There is a lot to look at on a 19,000 ft stroll at sunrise. We hit the tippy top… Uhuru… at 6:47 AM There were a few tears and cheers, then a bunch of happy photographs. We sat to eat and drink and then -after 25 minutes on the top of Africa- we began our descent. The team made good time, boot skiing down thousands of feet of loose pumice. In three and a half hours we were back at High Camp. Our staff welcomed us with cups of fruit juice and joyful songs. Tosha -our chef- prepared a 15,200 ft pizza lunch to fortify us for our continued climb down. The team pulled out of High Camp at 11:40 AM and got down 5000 ft of rocky and dusty trail in three hours. It is clear and sunny still at 10,000 ft Mweka Camp. Our team is tired but happy. We’ll sit down to our final dinner on the hill in a few minutes and we’ll review the highs… and the hard parts of an excellent day. There will certainly be a few mentions of the amazing job our guides and staff did to get us living out a dream.
Best Regards
Congratulation all.
Well-written recap - Evokes memories of ‘‘09.
Waltero
Posted by: Waltero Glover on 8/22/2022 at 2:58 am
Wow! Wow! Wow!!!!! Congratulations everyone! So proud of you ALL!!!
Looking forward to hearing all about it Kim!! What a HUGE accomplishment!
Enjoy your last bit of time in Africa! Soak in that earthy smell for me!
Love,
Alisha
Posted by: Alisha Palmer on 8/21/2022 at 6:26 pm
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Yesterday we made a valiant effort on Cayambe. The team stuck together and supported each other along the way. We sat down for a break at 18200' anticipating one more hour to the summit. However, Mother Nature had a different plan, and we were privy to a surprise lightning show that was a touch too close for comfort. After packing up at the hut we made the trek south to Chilcabamba Eco Lodge where we are letting the bodies rest and reset. The team went for a neighborhood walk this morning and were delighted to have the neighborhood dogs join, although it seems the dogs had the ulterior motive of getting into mischief. Currently we are taking in stunning views of Cotopaxi and setting our sights towards our next high altitude adventure.
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier and Team
Sending Perfect weather thoughts for Cotopaxi!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 12/8/2021 at 7:28 am
Posted by: Linden Mallory
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Tuesday, May 30, 2023 - 10:55 pm PT
Yet another weather day, we woke up to snow covered tents and cold temperatures. We had our final bagel meal of the trip, paired with smoked salmon. As we sat in and out of the clouds, and snowfall we waited for the other RMI teams to descend from 17,000' Camp. Tomorrow morning marks a decision point. We need a three day weather window to open up before Thursday for us, otherwise we run out of food at 14,000' Camp, and then have to go retrieve our cache from 16,300' and then eat our summit food. Leaving us out of food if a summit window did open up later. Tomorrow morning we should have clarity if Wednesday, Thursday, Friday will be a viable option. The other tricky component is a very large system seems to be slated to hit the mountain Friday, bringing more snow and more wind. This storm could run it's course as late as next Tuesday or so. Leaving us completely out of food by the time weather improves. All that said, with an updated forecast tomorrow morning we may make the call to either go for it, or to grab the cache and get out so we don't get stuck for the entire storm. We will check in tomorrow with whatever we hear!
Proud of you Matt and team for all you have accomplished!
Posted by: Kathleen George on 6/1/2023 at 2:56 pm
Positive vibes headed your way for a good weather window! Keep it up Dawn, you got this!!
Posted by: Kendyl on 6/1/2023 at 4:47 am
Hello again everyone,
The team had a good night’s rest last night and today was just a short 3 hour hike up to 15’000' to our high camp. It started out sunny, but then quickly clouded up thankfully for great hiking temperatures. The Equatorial sun at this elevation is quite intense, a little break was needed.
The team has just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what we’ll be wearing, what will be in the pack, as well as the schedule.
Our game plan will be to wake at 11pm and have a quick breakfast at 11:30pm, then hopefully hit the trail right at midnight. The team has been doing great thus far and I’m expecting us to reach the summit in 7 to 8 hours if things go according to plan.
As per usual on a Casey climb, one lucky trivia winner will get a phone call from the summit.
So everyone back home please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer. We are 8+hrs ahead of the east coast time zone.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Summit Bound Crew
Congratulations Eric, what an amazing accomplishment! Can’t wait to see the pictures and hear the stories!
Posted by: Kim and Jack on 9/4/2022 at 8:24 am
Great job John and Bob and all the climbers!! I hope you loved the summit!!
Posted by: Brigid Miller on 9/4/2022 at 7:10 am
Hey Steve and Brian! Been following your progress all week. If I’m getting it straight, tonight is the night! So good luck and enjoy every minute of it! You guys rock.
Posted by: Dave L on 8/24/2013 at 9:17 am
Hey what’s that hat you’re wearing Chambo? WHat a nice bunch of smiles you all have on. Clearly you need more challenge. : )
Posted by: jordo on 8/23/2013 at 8:09 am
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