RMI Guides JJ Justman, Mike King with their summit climb teams reached the nose of the Cleaver this morning. Due to route conditions, this was their high point for the climb. Both teams began their descent from Camp Muir at 8:30 a.m.
We packed up our gear, loaded up the van, and left Quito, heading north towards the town of Otavalo this morning. On tap was another acclimatization hike up the extinct volcano Fuya Fuya. The hike started at Lake Mojanda, high up in the Andes. The trail wove through the high Andean grassland, with increasing steepness with every step. A short rock scramble culminated in a 14,000' summit with great views and not a breath of wind. A quick descent followed. We are now at our hacienda for the night, Casa Sol, where we are looking forward to a hot shower and a nourishing meal...I'm sure we won't be disappointed.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Tyler - Ecuador..Mountain climbing?...I guess that means my Fathers Day card will be late… ha ha…Have a great trip and Text when you can. We love you! - Mom and Dad
Greetings from Talkeetna, Alaska!
We are wrapping up our first day of the Alpine Skills Seminar. Everybody arrived on schedule to Anchorage yesterday, and a rainy drive took us to the gateway of the Alaska Range. As planned, we spent the morning getting ready with the pertinent logistics prior to loading the bush plane equipped with skies to take us to the glacier. As our appetite climbed for what we hoped to be the last served meal of the week, the thick clouds brought the rain (snow in the range) that would keep us grounded.
We took advantage of the delay, and practiced some skills at the K2 Hangar. We got familiar with our tents, reviewed knots and hitches and mastered crevasse self extrication to make the most of a wet afternoon. Our hopes are to fly tomorrow morning straight onto the Pika Glacier. We´ll keep you posted!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
This is Zeb Blais and team checking in from 16,200ft at Camp 1 Aconcagua. Today our team left Basecamp and all the creature comforts there in and moved up on the mountain. Now we have all our supplies with us and will only move up hill from here. Our team is strong and psyched to do a carry to Camp 2 tomorrow. We will check in as soon as we are back to Camp 1.
RMI Guide Zeb Blais
Another no-fly day at Vinson Base. We were at the edge of a thick sea of clouds for much of the day and from what we heard, weather wasn't very nice at Union Glacier either. Temperatures were low again today, reportedly -23 C but most of the team felt more comfortable with the conditions today, perhaps we are acclimating. It was a little tough to be anchored down in VBC today as a couple of our neighbors and friends pulled out and moved up to "Low Camp" but we'd very much like JJ Justman to be along for that journey. So we did a bit more training and preparing. Tomorrow, perhaps, we'll have the whole team in one place... the way we like it. And we'll go climbing.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Climbing…always testing the patience. Training, preparing and having the whole team in one place sounds like a good idea. Soon. Hang in there GB and team! Hopefully, you have some good reading material : )
Posted by: kerry on 11/28/2014 at 9:55 pm
Well, sit tight, wait for JJ and better weather! That’s my advice from my seat in front of my computer in my house warmed by a wood fire!
Hi Haldis! *waves*. Saw you in the picture where you were weighing in your gear! :)
Hi to Tom too!
Your loving sister/in-law.
Posted by: Monica Glasenapp on 11/28/2014 at 8:04 pm
A half dozen of us managed to rally before the sun this morning -aided by flasks of milk tea and milk coffee- in order to get out for hikes and first-light photos. As usual, yesterday had finished cloudy and mysterious- making the morning's clear sky and unlimited visibility seem special. Already at 5:45 AM, Cho Oyu was in full sun, while the ten neighbors which had earlier seemed equal to it remained in shadow. The world's sixth highest peak was perhaps twenty miles to the North and reminding us just how lofty 8200 meters really is. Walking onto the ridge separating Pheriche from its sister city Dingboche we could see Makalu, the fifth highest mountain, some distance to the East. And of course, Lhotse, the fourth highest in the world was pretty close at hand and appeared brutally difficult from the side we were looking at. Being too close to the 25,000 ft. Nuptse wall, we couldn't see Mount Everest behind it, but we will get around that in a few days. Ama Dablam and Tawoche caught the sun in their time, along with Kangtega and Thamserku. And finally, the sun was on our little hiking team and we stripped off a few layers to enjoy the warmth.
The ridges around Pheriche offer great hiking and we were happy to stretch our legs and work our lungs in the thin air. We each strive to hit that delicate balance between rest and exercise which is crucial to proper acclimatization. Some of our team got up to 16,000 ft and even 17,000 ft today, while others just took it easy around "town". Pheriche is a collection of maybe eight tea houses, a few farms, some yak pasturing lands and the Himalayan Rescue Association's clinic. Thirty minutes away, over in Dingboche, they have a few more teahouses and yes, you guessed it, one more last, last, last chance at internet. It is basically the same system that we tapped into in Thyangboche and Namche, utilizing a series of reflector dishes to bring the web into some otherwise remote places. Of course, the farther one goes up the valley, the higher the price. Word was that it cost about 1200 Rupees per hour this morning in Dingboche, which with the exchange rate around 76 Rupees to the dollar makes it... oh I don't know... we are too high for math now. Let's say that it probably makes the web in Dingboche about the same price as in the less user-friendly American airports. The key difference might be that they grow a fair number of potatoes in Dingboche.
Cokes and Snickers bars cost more up at this higher end of the valley... really the end of the normal settlements... but that is only to be expected since we are getting a daily look at how tough it is to porter such loads to Pheriche and beyond. Most of us are still happy to indulge in some expensive snacks and drinks though. It isn't so strange to observe that the longer we are out , the more we crave familiar junk food -while craving money slightly less. Back from the hikes, we mostly spent time mingling with other climbers and trekkers, strategizing, book reading and napping through chunks of the afternoon. Erica, Ed Dohring and I attended a fine talk on altitude illness given by one of the docs at the HRA clinic next door. We like to think we know a fair bit about such things, but it never hurts to hear a good overview again, and to meet the good people (in this case Tracy and Madeline) who volunteer their doctoring skills for weeks on end at the HRA clinic.
All are feeling reasonably well and with any luck, we'll all be loping along to Lobuche tomorrow.
Well, that was a thorough soaking. On night one of Ixta we camped at the trailhead. It rained all night without a break. In the morning it was still raining, but showing signs of clearing so we packed up and headed towards high camp. About an hour in to our hike, the sun came out, revealing our surroundings. We were treated to views of Ixta proper and Popo with a dusting of snow. However, around 5pm the clouds rolled back in and it rained hard again.
It rained throughout the night, a very cold rain. When I woke up to check the weather on a few occasions I was pelted by sideways sleet. Oh right, it was quite windy as well. Sustained moderate winds and precipitation throughout the night thwarted any chance of making a summit attempt. But we can chalk the whole experience up to more acclimatization and for some members of the team, 15400' was a new altitude record or sleeping altitude record.
This morning we descended from high camp, following the direction of a new dog friend. If not already soaked from the night prior, this hike ensured everyone was completely wet. Needless to say, we are all looking forward to some good meals and rest in Puebla tonight and tomorrow. We are keeping our optimism alive for Orizaba and are honestly feeling prepared. Hopefully this weather pattern clears out before Saturday.
Hello folks back home.
We’re still here on Kilimanjaro.
Day 3 for us was pretty similar to yesterday. Cloudy and rainy for almost the entire hike. This team is in good spirits though despite the weather being less than ideal. We haven’t completely ruled out descending and making a run to the beaches in Zanzibar!
Our morning ritual has been waking around 6:30 and getting everything in our tents packed up before heading into our very spacious dinning tent for quite the feast. Normally there is fresh fruit, fried eggs, bacon, and plenty of hot coffee awaiting us, obviously we’re being spoiled up here by our wonderful staff!
We hit the trail usually around 8am and hike for an hour before taking our 15-minute break, then back on the trail for another hour. All total today we hiked for just over six hours before reaching camp which was set up and ready for us thankfully.
Along the way we passed around the famous and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000 feet setting new altitude records for some.
Please send us some sunshine for tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 - 12:29 AM PT
Victory!! Eight climbers and four guides made their way -with heaps of luggage- from various far away places in the “lower 48” to Talkeetna, Alaska. We met this afternoon down in the Anchorage airport and boarded the venerable Denali Overland van for a three hour commute to Talkeetna. Of course we broke things up a bit with a last stop for provisions in Wasilla. Not much in the way of spectacular views today as the Alaska Range was cloaked in cloud, but there was plenty of pretty scenery a little lower down and closer in to the highway. We’ll dial down on lots of details tomorrow as we get oriented, prepped and packed for Denali.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb, led by JJ Justman, made the decision to turn early this morning. With winds gusts reaching 50 mph and new snow, the team spun at Ingraham Flats (11,200'). Safe and sound back at Camp Muir, they will eat some breakfast before the begin their descent back to Paradise.
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Tyler - Ecuador..Mountain climbing?...I guess that means my Fathers Day card will be late… ha ha…Have a great trip and Text when you can. We love you! - Mom and Dad
Posted by: Andy Hardin on 6/20/2015 at 6:29 am
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