Monday, June 17, 2019 - 11:43 PM PT
We were excited to fly up to Denali Basecamp this morning. We hurried through breakfast and headed to the hangar where our gear was organized and ready to go. Even when we got the word that there was too much fog in basecamp to fly, we were optimistic that it would happen today. We waited into the afternoon when we finally got our chance to fly on. We got everyone and all the gear loaded up and headed to the mountain. About halfway there, the pilots could not find a way through the clouds and were not about to poke around in the big mountains without visibility. We thank them for trying and for using good judgment.
We are currently in a holding pattern and definitely not flying today. Hopefully tomorrow will be our day! Fingers crossed.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen & Team Siete
Bummer about the weather. Stay safe and tell our side salad we miss her. Who’s side salad, you ask? Ask around the mess tent for her to reveal herself!
Sunday, June 2, 2019 - 8:13 AM PT
We took advantage of a lull in the weather to pack up our kit and descend from 14,000' to Basecamp. We encountered light snow, but generally pleasant travel conditions during our 8 hour descent.
Here at Kahiltna Basecamp it is a crowded scene, as no planes have been able to land here in a few days. Hopefully the weather breaks and we can fly to Talkeetna today. That's it for now. There's still a lot of work to do organizing gear to prepare for a flight.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
We’re all relieved, knowing that you’re off the mountain and safely onto base camp! So happy for the successful team members too!! Tell Dan Koster hello from his family and friends. We can’t wait to see him soon!
-Godspeed
-Mark Koster
Posted by: Mark Koster on 6/2/2019 at 5:25 pm
So glad to hear you are all safely back at base camp and I hope the weather cooperates for you to fly out of there. Congratulations Jim and team on your successful summit - what an amazing accomplishment! Jim, we cant wait to hear more about it.
Hello world!
We're back in the comfy confines of Hotel Andino in Huaraz City! We're indulging in the excellent cuisine here at the hotel, enjoying some clean clothes, and doing the "climbing gear shuffle" as we unpack and repack for our next adventure. Upcoming, Pisco Oeste, a nearly 19,000' peak located in the beautiful valley of Llanganuco. We've trained, we've acclimatized, we've climbed hard, and we've learned a lot this past week; and we're ready for the expedition ahead of us! The adventure begins tomorrow with a beautiful drive and a four-hour hike to Pisco Base Camp at 15,500', before a move to high camp the following day. It's been a wonderful stretch of climbing here in Peru so far, and we hope our good luck with weather will continue (fingers crossed!). For now, enjoy some photos from our last week in the Ishinca Valley. More to come!
RMI Guides Robby Young, Alan Davis, William, and Peru Team "Cuy"
May 26, 2017
When I awoke at the frigid hour of 5 am (temp -23F), I was greeted by a beautiful blue sky above Denali's summit. I layered up, got out of the tent, and fired up the stoves. By the time the stoves came to life, winds picked up and a cap had formed on the summit. It quickly grew in intensity and size, reaching all the way down to ~16,000'. We had hot drinks and breakfast and them retreated to the tents to stay warm as we monitored the situation. The weather continued to deteriorate and now we find ourselves once again at 14,000' Camp waiting for our shot. The forecast still looks favorable, and we have a few more days left to make it happen. We'll stay in touch...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Almost one in the morning now. It has been a long, but very fine day. We took off from Punta Arenas just after ten AM. The flight -in airline seats within the cargo hold of the IL76- was smooth as anything. It took about 4.5 hours to get down to Union Glacier. By then we were wearing plenty of clothing in anticipation of setting foot on Antarctica. Sure enough, it was cold and windy at the ice runway, although it was also brilliant, sunny and beautiful. We caught a ride over to camp in a modified big wheel van. As is normal, there wasn't much wind blowing at all in Union Camp and so it was quite pleasant to sit outside talking. We peeled off our down coats and mingled with the camp staff and the other climbers and adventurers in camp. It took a bit of time for all of the cargo to come off the big plane and be transported to camp, but not long after being reunited with our gear, we were loading it into a ski equipped Twin Otter for the ride out to Vinson Base. The team took plenty of pictures of the ride through the Ellsworth Mountains. Our second perfect landing of the day put us exactly where we wanted to be... At 7000 ft on the Branscomb Glacier, at the foot of Mount Vinson. There were no clouds to hide the spectacular peaks and glaciers surrounding us. We had plenty to do in getting a camp established and gear and food sorted, but of course the sun just kept beaming down after midnight, so we kept at it until all were fed and in bed. It isn't going to get dark tonight, but soon the sun will duck behind the mountain and it will get cold. So we'll sign off for now and check in again tomorrow... today.... whatever.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Kel Rossiter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Kel reported clear and cool weather with light winds. The Four Day Summit Climb team left the crater rim at 6:50 am to return to Camp Muir.
We look forward to seeing all the climbers at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
June 5, 2015 - 6:53 pm PT
We woke this morning to silence, my first thought was that the weather had become good. Soon I rubbed my eyes and realized the we were completely snowed in. After digging out of the tent we spent another hour excavating camp before we could even start making breakfast. Obviously not a move day. Once camp was dug out and coffee was coursing through us we spent the day sharing stories, reading, and napping in our tents. The wind and snow let up for most of the afternoon and we are all hopeful that tomorrow will bring good weather for us. The team is antsy to move higher on the mountain but there is nothing we can do about the weather. Spirits remain high and everyone is healthy and happy. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow. Thanks for following along with us.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
Hi Kim, Hope you and the team are on the move today! You guys must be getting tired of “snow days” and nearing reruns of your movies Have a great, safe journey upward! I was just in NY and Katie sends a BIG hello from Brooklyn. x Trish
Our Four Day Summit Climb stood on top of Mt. Rainier today. They had clear skies and warm temperatures. After spending several days training on the mountain the Expedition Skills Seminar – Paradise Team led by Adam Knoff also reached the summit of Mt. Rainier. Both teams doing well and are en-route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's Teams!
Hello from 17,000’. The increasing wind and snow have made the decision to go up or down an easy one, conditions dictate that we sit here and bide our time until the weather clears up. Nearly 2 feet of snow has fallen and drifted around camp and we take periodic forays into the weather to shovel out camp, clear off tents and do weather dances.
We are safely ensconced behind solid walls with enough food and fuel to weather some time up here. Cross your fingers and we'll keep you posted as things hopefully progress. Our spirits remain high and every few hours we will pile into one tent to swap stories and shoot the breeze.
For now a little forced R & R, is the best way to deal with the mountain. So, we'll sit it out until new options present themselves. That's all from 17. This is Jake, Mike and the crew hanging tough on Mt. McKinley.
Listen to Jake and Mike's "Tent Bound Things Considered" Commentary below...
Tent Bound Things Considered by Jake Beren & Mike Uchal
WHOOHOO!! Go Team! So great to hear you have reached 17’000… bring on the summit! I can’t even imagine how you are all feeling at this point but know that we are thinking of you every day and praying that the weather will co-operate. Barry we love you brother. Say a prayer for us too. It’s raining 24/7 here in Vang Vieng, Laos, South East Asia so we might not get to go “tubing”, everybody AWWWW (joking!). Obviously you have a lot more to be thinking about :) God bless you all and may you have the most incredible experience on reaching that summit. Irish love and hugs XXX
Posted by: Kathryn & Pearse Mc Kiernan on 6/28/2011 at 5:27 am
Gilbert are you there…...we have heard from Jake and Mike….where are you? Hope the wind calms down soon and you all can move to the top!
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
Bummer about the weather. Stay safe and tell our side salad we miss her. Who’s side salad, you ask? Ask around the mess tent for her to reveal herself!
Posted by: The henhouse on 6/18/2019 at 9:55 pm
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