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Hello, this is the May 31st RMI McKinley Expedition checking in. We are all packed and ready to go. Everybody is super psyched, looking good and strong. It looks like a great crew and we are all super excited.
Unfortunately, the weather is not being super cooperative for us to fly from Talkeetna to the Kahiltna Glacier. We spent today getting packed up, rigged and ready for the glacier so as soon as we have a break in the weather we'll take it and get flown on.
All of our gear is packed in the K2 Aviation Hangar and we are staged and ready to go. We will return to the hangar in the morning and hopefully we'll be able to fly.
We will send more dispatches as we get further along in our expedition.
RMI Guide Garrett Stevens
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Tyler Jones reached the Summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Casey reported increasing winds, and a cap forming as they climbed. The teams are on their descent and will be celebrating back at Rainier Basecamp early this afternoon.
Congratulations to Today's Team!
Huaraz City, second to none when it comes to stunning mountain dwellings. Today, we dialed in our gear and took an acclimatization hike to 12,000', a perch called Puca Ventana (Red Window). Views of Huaraz City, and the highest massif in the range, Huascaran, were our rewards. After our hike we enjoyed lunch at a climbers' favorite, Cafe Andino. More rest, relaxation, and prep took us into the evening as we look forward to moving into the mountains tomorrow. Ishinca Valley will be home for the next week and we're excited to finally get eyes on these incredible ice-covered spires. We'll touch base tomorrow from
Ishinca Base Camp. Stay tuned.
RMI Guides Robby, Steve, William, and your favorite ESS-Peru team
RMI Guide Zeb Blais led the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons to the summit of Mt. Rainier yesterday morning. The team enjoyed sunny breezy conditions during their climb. After celebrating on the summit, the team descended to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain.
Today the team will spend some time training as their descend to the White River Campground from Camp Schurman. We are excited to welcome them back to Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations!
June 11, 2016 - 11:57 pm PT
Hi all, we are at
Base Camp. Just when you think it's over it's not till the fat lady sings. We packed our camp for what what we had hoped was the last time early this morning. The crew as always on this trip was ready to roll early and we arrived at base camp at 8:30 this morning with lite snow and cloudy skies. With all our will we wished the fog and snow away. Our wish was only met after the planes has powered down for the day. A long day of anticipation of burgers, beer, and more was lost so we enjoyed each others company and reflected on our journey in the Alaska range. With the weather on the lower glacier clearing a bit this evening we're hopeful to see all the colors of the outer world we departed from 16 days ago. Hoping to smell the summer in the low lands and eat like kings tomorrow. Blow some good weather vibes our way!
Cheers,
RMI Guide Tyler Jones & the team
On The Map
The team got together several times today to eat, drink and discuss the trek and climb to come. We enjoyed the comfortable calm, immaculately cared-for gardens but at other times, got out into the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu streets to run errands. We were pleased that our bascamp manager,
Mark Tucker, was able to fly into Lukla to begin working his way toward base, some 35 to 40 miles distant. Most worked to get bags properly packed and organized for an early start in the morning. As team leader, I was asked to stop by the legendary Elizabeth Hawley's home office for my yearly interview as to the makeup of our team. Miss Hawley has kept track of climbing in Nepal and Tibet for more than fifty years and has known every famous and want-to-be-famous climber along the way.
Jet lag remains a big challenge for the team, but our hope is that walking out in the fresh air of the Khumbu Valley will begin to work magic on us.
Fingers crossed for clear weather and smooth flying in the morning.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
June 18, 2014 - 9:00 pm PT
We went around Windy Corner! We dug a hole (or chipped one out of extremely hard snow)! We buried some stuff (food, fuel, overboots, etc.)! And then we came back down to our camp at 11k'. All in all, we had a great day; the team is moving well and getting more and more psyched as we make our way up the
mountain. The weather is gradually improving and we enjoyed blue skies and beautiful views of the Messner Couloir and the Orient Express on the upper mountain from the cache site. We filled up with an early dinner tonight and are racked out in anticipation of a big day tomorrow on our move to 14k' camp.
Check in again tomorrow...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Leaving Papallacta behind today wasn't easy. We only spent a single night there, relaxing our muscles in the natural hot springs, but I'm sure many of us were ready to call it home. Wifi, beds, good food, cozy cabins... But alas, we must move on and continue what we came out here to do. The glistening white slopes of Antisana are calling out to us!
Our day did began with some sad news, however. Two of our climbers made the difficult decision to head home early due to a debilitating illness. We will miss them on the rest of our journey and we hope for a speedy recovery once they get back.
On paper, today's objective was to establish base camp at
Antisana. In practice, however, it felt like our objective was to eat as much food as possible! After packing our gear, we ate a hearty breakfast at our hacienda, complete with fresh fruit, cheese, eggs, and bread. We loaded our gear and headed down the road toward Antisana. En route we stopped at a beautiful eco-lodge nestled at the base of a rocky cliff, famous for its native condor population. There, before our breakfast really had a chance to digest, we sat down for a delicious four course lunch. In truth, most of us probably could've stopped eating after the appetizers, but our insistent hostess made sure we finished the full meal. From there, another thirty minutes of driving brought us to the field that we'll call home for the next few days.
We spent the evening setting up camp, practicing various knots, hitches and bends, and (you guessed it!) more eating! Now the night is coming to a close, and everyone is inside their tents, resting up for another full day of training tomorrow.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Greetings from Barranco Camp.
We are enjoying great weather and everyone did well last night. We had a nice hike today and the team is doing great. From our camp we have beautiful views of the summit and the Barranco Wall. We gathered in the dining tent for our afternoon snack of tea, fresh popped popcorn and hot peanuts. This is the life!
Well, after a lot of hustling around Mendoza; scrambling to both purchase and obtain permits (not done in the same location) and then go grocery shopping, we made it out of town and into the mountains! After a late evening and early morning of packing all our supplies at the Grajales facility in Penitentes, we were finally ready to hit the trail. We will spend tonight at Pampa de Lenas, our first trek camp.
Unfortunately, after a day of hiking we are still minus one Walter Hailes. Airline cancellations have kept him one step behind us for most of the trip so far. If all goes according to plan he should catch us at tomorrow's camp at Casa de Piedra. The weather has been spectacular and the team is in great spirits!
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Have a safe and fun climb Larry Seaton! Keeping an eye on you from So. Cal.
Posted by: Debbie & Mark Worden on 6/3/2011 at 7:10 am
good wishes for your climb Larry Seaton,
Holly
Posted by: holly on 6/2/2011 at 6:16 pm
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