Thanks everyone for following along and once again, a shout out to Farmer Dave for all the encouragement!
Climbing Orizaba is never easy. We ended up having a great weather day and route conditions were also favorable. But it still felt like a hard push after the long week of being rained off of big mountains and spending hours drying gear. The team can take pride in their perseverance and their summit of Pico de Orizaba, the third highest peak in North America.
Last night we celebrated in Tlachichuca at the Servimont hostel, where there is always a nice meal and cold drinks. Most people were in bed by 8pm, it was quite the party. Now we are on one final bus ride, to the airport this time, and will return to normal life tomorrow. The muddy, dusty gear we are bringing home will remind us of the good times we had in Mexico.
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guide Mike Walter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI Guide Nikki Champion reported good weather with moderate winds on the summit. The team began their descent at 7:30 AM. They will return to Ashford this afternoon.
Way to climb!
Saturday, June 22, 2019 - 4:07 PM PT
We got an early start, up at 12:30am at 11k Camp and got to the airstrip by 8:30am. In the process we kicked, pulled, punched and cussed our heavy sleds as they barrel rolled, tipped and flipped down Ski Hill into 7800’ Camp. From there the clouds and ominous skies that had hung over us from Kahiltna Pass began to clear and we got some spectacular views of the surrounding peaks. We hit the bottom of Heartbreak Hill and 50 minutes later were at the airstrip. All sorted and ready for the De Havilland turbo Otters to arrive we kicked back for a few moments to reminisce on a great trip and felt kind of bad for the fresh meat just heading out for their first day on Denali.
Currently back in Talkeetna, a quick breakfast at the Roadhouse and now sorting gear for flights home. Looking forward to showers, burgers and beers, not necessarily in that order. We will reconvene for dinner and a session at the Fairview to bring a close to a wonderful 3 weeks on Denali. RMI-5 signing off, thanks for all the blog comments and support along the way.
RMI Guide Mike King
Congratulations to you all. What an unforgettable experience.
Enjoy your achievement - and the beers burgers and showers.
Awesome!!
Thanks to your great guides as well.
Posted by: Stephanie on 6/23/2019 at 10:38 am
Fantastic!! Congratulations to you all. Thank you for the updates it’s been good reading them. Take care xx
A good nights rest brought us yet to another unseasonably sunny Ecuadorian morning and our first acclimatization hike up Rucu Pinchincha (15,700ft). The day started with a taxi ride from our hotel to the Teleferique de Quito, a gondola ride that would take us to 13,500ft on the eastern flanks of the active volcano. The hike starts by following a rolling ridge through high alpine meadows until we traverse to the peaks northern side where a different character is shown. We leave behind mild grassy slopes for volcanic rock and loose scree. The climb finishes with a challenging but fun Cass 3 scramble past several ledges to the mountains summit. The crew did great with the new altitude and the weather held clear and gave us panoramic views of the Ecuadorian Andes, including Cayambe (18,996ft) our first objective of the trip. We spent a few moments on top taking photos and hydrating before descending back to the Teleferique and the thicker air of Quito! Off to dinner in a short while to enjoy the traditional dishes of Ecuador. Tomorrow takes us to Fuya Fuya for more acclimatizing and the city of Otovalo! Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Steve Gately
May 29, 2015 10:41am PST
As the sun hit our tent we woke up ready for our back carry to above windy corner. We could hear the wind in the distance scouring the buttress above us. But here at camp it was calm and brisk. Since we worked hard on our move to 14 camp and our back carry would only take a few hours, we opted for a relaxing morning before our work had to be done. After lounging in the posh till late morning we geared up and retrieved our cashed equipment and food.
When we got back it was only mid afternoon, so the next task was to fortify camp with walls in case the wind decided to give us trouble. Little did we know that our team consisted of Egyptian craftsman. In no time or camp was secure.With much of the day left we took a solid break and made some fresh coffee, which is a real amenity up here. After being properly caffeinated we practice fixed line travel which will be a well needed review before cashing at 16,200.
We are feeling good and are putting ourselves in a position to head higher on the mountain. With a little more acclimation and calm weather we will be ready for high camp and a bid at the summit. We are all very excited.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff & Team
Though the tents shook with the wind again last night, the gusts came fewer and further between. As the sun rose this morning the gusts became rarer, and we decided that this was our day to move to our high camp at Colera (Spanish for anger, not the disease). We were still prepared to face strong winds as we moved into more exposed terrain on the way, but Aconcagua gave us a pass and we climbed with gentle breezes and brilliant sunshine the whole way. We are now settled in, working on heating water for dinner- which takes a long time at 19,600'- before we rack out early to prep for a hopeful summit attempt tomorrow. All of the days of hard work have gotten us here, and everyone is excited to be in place for the final push to our objective. We'll be in touch tomorrow to let you know how it goes.
Best,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Alex Barber, Juan, and the team
Windy today... After an all-things-considered-decent night last evening at Camp 1 we woke this morning to clear skies and calm winds. Perfect, we thought, for a push up to Camp 2 to drop off another cache of supplies. The team made good time and dispatched the uphill portion of the carry in three stretches moving smoothly and in good style. The wind beat us up a little bit but in the end it was nothing but a nuisance as we passed through Ameghino Col. We saw some of our first views of other big peaks in the range as we passed underneath the toe of the Polish Glacier. The mountain is VERY dry right now and we've heard that getting snow for water up at high camp is problematic, at least there's still a good flow of water coming through the stream at Camp 2. We are all back down at Camp 1 safe and sound, looking forward to a rest/acclimatization day tomorrow!
Ciao, for now.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Thank you for the updates. I loved your song!
Lots of Love from 8000
Babs xox
Posted by: Barbara Lynn Bloemsma on 1/22/2015 at 9:18 am
Linz - I’m getting a desperate feeling that I need to walk on some rocks. Does walking down the gravel road in Indiana qualify as scree? Wish I was there. Rock on girl! Pop
Buenas tardes from Huaraz!
What a day we had! We were greeted by a sunny morning in Huaraz, with excellent views of the Huascaran and Copa mountains right from our hotel. After breakfast, we headed without hesitation to the "Laguna Churup" trailhead for a morning stroll (which by the way, felt really good after two days of flying and riding a bus.) It was the perfect acclimatization hike, since we were taken from 0' to 10,000' by a bus, so exercising a bit at this elevation we found very beneficial. From the trailhead at 13,000' we hiked a good 2 1/2 hours towards this glacial lake at around 14,400' (oddly enough, similar height of Mount Rainier) and we all got a better chance to start getting to know each other a bit better. Governed by "Nevado Churup", a small but steep peak on the southern end of the Cordillera Blanca, the turquoise of its waters, inspired the better picture moments of the day. After a short snack, we began our descent to the trailhead. Once back in town, we run the logistics of buying some extra snack food, a couple gear items and final arrangements with our outfitter to hit the trail towards Ishinca Valley tomorrow at 8am sharp.
Our next dispatch will be from Base Camp and from our satphone. Best regards to everyone back home!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Greetings from Talkeetna!
So we made it off the glacier just in time! This morning we woke at 3:30 am to start the 5.5-mile walk back to basecamp. The forecasted storm was slowly creeping in from the southwest and as we walked down glacier in the twilight, clouds came spilling over Mt. Foraker, threatening to shut down visibility. At 11:30 we could hear the mosquito hum of K2's Otter as Randy flew in just below the cloud ceiling and set the plane down on the runway. Forty-five minutes later we were in sandals and t-shirts in downtown Talkeetna enjoying the warm air and flowering fauna. It has been an excellent experience for our folks. As we dry our gear on the lawn, everyone is quietly reflecting on the last six days spent in the Alaska range.
RMI Guide Leon Davis
After that slight worry that the weather was going to fall apart on us yesterday, we experienced our calmest and warmest night of the trip so far. Followed by a perfect and cloudless morning at Camp One while we knocked the tents down and loaded up for the move to high camp. The route is now familiar and we chugged along with very few other climbers in our vicinity. First to the pass between Aconcagua and its neighbor, Ameghino, and then up a broad shoulder until we traversed slightly to the North and made our way into high camp in virtually windless conditions. We got our tents up, tried to drink a bunch of water and did some easy review of the climbing techniques we'll rely on for our ascent tomorrow. We sat out in the strong sun for dinner with the Aconcagua veterans on the team explaining that they'd rarely experienced such perfect summer weather so high on the hill. The views are tremendous from this camp, and the remaining slopes of Aconcagua are formidable- towering steeply above us, but the team did great moving up today and everybody seems primed for an alpine start and a chance at the summit tomorrow.
Fingers Crossed,
Dave
Hey Dustin! Way to go getting your Team to the Top!!! Brought back Awesome memories!!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 10/15/2023 at 10:33 am
View All Comments