Today was a day of rest and a small excursion. After breakfast we roped up and took a short stroll to the Edge of the World. From here we can see all the way down to the Kahiltna Glacier, thousands of feet below. Everyone got there hero shots on the rock and will have their new profile picture. The rest of the day was resting and organizing and of course more chess. The weather seems to be cooperating so tomorrow we are going to move up to 17,000' Camp and try for the summit on Monday. This is when we need all the good weather vibes, the strong leg vibes, and health vibes from all you loyal readers. This is what we have been training for. This is our moment. Tonight is our last sleep before we hit it hard for the next 4-5 days. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers! Goodnight all.
So glad to hear it is going well. Shane I’m sure you’re doing well in the chess games too. Our prayers are with you and everyone involved. Good luck on your next leg of your climb.
Posted by: Sonny Digiovanna on 6/17/2024 at 7:03 am
The team had a good night’s rest last night and today was just a short 3hr hike up to 15’000ft to our high camp. It started out sunny, but then quickly clouded up thankfully making 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 10:30pm and have a quick breakfast at 11, then hopefully hit the trail right around 11:30pm. The team has been doing great thus far and I’m expecting us to reach the summit in 7 to 8hrs 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.
The Five Day Climb August 15 - 19 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by RMI Guide Nikki Champion. It's a beautiful day on the mountain with moderate winds and cool temperatures. After enjoying two nights on the mountain before their summit climb, the group will return to Camp Muir to pack up and then will continue down to Paradise. Their program will conclude with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Five Day Climb team!
Sunday, May 26, 2019 - 9:37 PM PT
Snow fell from the sky all day today. A wet, heavy snow. Sounded like rain pitter pattering on the tent. It made for a great background noise for afternoon siesta. But the snow didn't stop us from more learning. Today's topics were anchors and crevasse rescue. We did practice rounds on flat ground by our tents of making a 3:1 pulley system to haul out a fallen climber. Next time we practice we will be able to practice in a crevasse. Very exciting. We will see what tomorrows weather will bring and roll with what ever mother nature throws our way. As for now, we will fall asleep to the sound of snow falling onto the tent, which sounds like the snap crackle pop of rice krispies.
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
Friday, July 20, 2018
We made it to High Camp on Mt. Shuksan Fisher Chimneys route and the crew is feeling great. There is more snow up here than I've ever seen!
We've settled in and are going to have dinner and get to bed as early as we can.
We'll check in again after our climb.
RMI Guide Zeb Blais and team
Greetings from Antarctica. Sure enough, we got the call during breakfast to be ready for flying. It wasn’t a “hurry up and wait” morning though, more a “slow down and wait” type of deal. We got picked up from the hotel before 9 AM but it wasn’t until about 11:35 AM that we lifted off from Punta Arenas. The weather picture was fairly complicated today and it took some strategic thinking to figure just when it was appropriate to commit to a flight. Four and a half hours in the cargo bay of a four-engine Russian jet was made endurable by comfy airline seats and “Pretty Woman” playing on the big screen -with subtitles- (the IL76 is a noisy ride). The captain brought us through somewhat murky conditions to a perfect landing on the blue ice runway of Union Glacier. It was cold, windy, cloudy and a little raw with blowing snow. A perfect Antarctic day, actually, but we didn’t spend much time taking pictures down at the runway. A souped-up van with big tires took us on an ice road over to Union Glacier Camp where we were warmly welcomed and given a briefing and tour. After a great bowl of soup and an excellent dinner, we ventured out to build our tents. No flights to Vinson tonight, due to the sloppy weather. Nonetheless, it was a very pleasant evening of chatting with other climbers and adventurers from a dozen different countries and of catching up with acquaintances from mountains far and wide.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Woke this morning to four inches of new snow. It was full on snowing when we went to bed last night and Viesturs and I, like expectant little kids, peered out the window to see how much had fallen. Lobuche had turned into a winter wonderland overnight. Nonetheless, at 16,200' the sun is quite powerful, and by late morning the temperatures were balmy, with some of the porters staging snowball fights!
After breakfast, we received a bit of disheartening news that 22 of our expedition loads are still in Katmandu. We were under the assumption that just four were there and that the rest were on their way to Base Camp. After a morning powwow, we decided to send Linden Mallory (Base Camp manager) up to Base to get a physical count of bags and inventory what was there. Our agenda does not have us occupying Base Camp for two more days, but we must have adequate gear and equipment to make our move up. We should be OK but we'll know more tomorrow.
The team is firing on all cylinders. It is an honor to be a part of such an accomplished group of climbers. We have a wealth of mountain experience and knowledge starting with Viesturs and Hahn, with 16 Everest summits between them. Our climbing team will function the same way we do on Rainier when we are stacked heavy with experienced guides. Though there is an expedition leader and climbing leaders, all team members share in the decision-making process. Our production team rocks as well, as Gerry Moffatt and Jake Norton have both stood on top of the "Big E." This is a talented team, deep on experience.
Now, with a little luck our Katmandu bags will find their way up the Khumbu to Base Camp and we can put our team's mountain experience to work.
Uh-oh, it is beginning to snow again outside...
The clouds cleared with sunset last night, but enough of them stuck around to make the moonrise spectacular through bright pillows of distant cumulus with lightning bolts adding to the show. It was an easy night at basecamp although it was somewhat curious -so far up a mountain- to be serenaded by latin hip-hop and rap tunes well into the evening as a dance party -presumably held for some returning and victorious summit climbers- went on for hours, long after we'd all climbed into our sleeping bags and clicked off the headlights. This didn't seem to adversly effect anyone's mood in the morning though. All seemed to have gotten the neccessary rest. We were excited for the day's climbing. Heavy loads were shouldered after a great breakfast. We hit the trail in bright sunshine at around 9 AM and made steady progress up on narrow trails of broken rock and volcanic dirt. Without much trouble at all, we crossed the "East Glacier" on piles of rocky rubble and enjoyed some great views of the Polish Glacier above. We'd prepared ourselves for six hours of uphill toil if that was what it would take to get food, fuel and gear to our planned site for Camp One, but in the end, we did it in much less time as all were feeling good and enjoying the exercise. Peter, Ed and Melissa, our veterans of previous Aconcagua climbs, were each happy to see that a good portion of our route today was snow covered. Our photographers and videographers were charmed with the nature of that snow cover since we walked for some time up a steep track through neve-penitente. Intense sunlight on the snow surface, with the addition of a little dirt blown onto that snow from surrounding ridges had formed its surface into a series of eight-foot high pinnacles. Artistically wonderful, such snow formations would be tough to travel through without the established track. Jake Norton could often be spied wedged between pinnacles with his camera pointed through the jagged openings onto the trail. Kent Harvey, Thom Pollard and Gerry Moffat set up ambush after ambush to capture images of our climbers, seemingly climbing the back of a great white porcupine. Rachel broke her altitude record as she came smiling into the site of our intended gear dump at 16,304 ft. Ever gracious, she thanked Chad and Seth for their guidance and hints while Tim, Andrew, Clark and Kelly were doing high fives and fist bumps with the rest of the guide team. We were already caching the gear at 1 PM and enjoying a look at the route ahead. Peter scouted a bit higher to find the perfect place for our tents following tomorrow's move. Melissa pointed out the ever-so-close sites for Camps II and III (those sites are not far distance-wise, but each represents a significant gain in altitude and so we all know that we'll be taking our time to get up to what we can now easily see... acclimatization is a slow but essential process to avoid altitude illness) We eventually left a gear cache and beat feet down the path and penitentes. We passed dozens of slowly trudging heavily laden upward-bound climbers... perhaps they were attendees of last night's dance party and thus on a late schedule for rising and seizing the day. Our work was all done by 3:30 PM as we pulled off boots back in basecamp and enjoyed the afternoon sun.
Tomorrow, if all goes well, we'll report in from Camp One.
Our team woke to winds high enough to hold you still and push you around. We pushed to first break at Ingraham Flats where we decided that would be our high point. A lot of steep terrain above would not have been fun to be on in any amount of wind. Everyone has been enjoying a bit more rest before making our way back down to Paradise later this morning.
On a bright side, a fox was spotted in camp. It appeared to be healthy and quite quick at running across glaciers.
What a day?! The sun glistened off the blue icebergs and the breeze kept us cool on the trail. This group has really found their stride. Breakfast of eggs and freshly baked bread, walking with lots of photo breaks, lunch time, and more walking. What more could we want? We all support one another by reaching people's water bottles for them or offering around sunscreen. But the couple from Nashville truly steal the show when it comes to generosity. This couple is the first to share their favorite trail snacks (honey stinger gummies) and even offer to take more weight. They are the kindest badasses around and have many more trails to hike and mountains to climb in their future!
Other than this great group of people, some trail highlights have been watching the condors soar, seeing the granite towers, and being surrounded by turquoise waters. The food is also worth mentioning; grilled salmon, stuffed chicken, pork on chili mashed potatoes...it's a treat. But I'm sure we'll all return home looking like svelte explorers. ;) Now I'm off for another amazing dinner with a view.
RMI Guide Christina Dale and team
So glad to hear it is going well. Shane I’m sure you’re doing well in the chess games too. Our prayers are with you and everyone involved. Good luck on your next leg of your climb.
Posted by: Sonny Digiovanna on 6/17/2024 at 7:03 am
Good luck everyone!
Posted by: Gary Nutt on 6/17/2024 at 5:40 am
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