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Saint Petersburg!!!
We
traveled all day and have finally arrived in one of the most beautiful cities of Europe. Things went relatively smooth considering we had two van rides and one flight. We got checked into the hotel and then ran out for a quick dinner followed by a short but scenic stroll.
Everyone is very excited to explore and see this city tomorrow.
RMI Guide
Casey Grom and team
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
RMI Guide Zeb Blais and the
Five Day Summit Climb August 2 - 6 team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Zeb reported a little cold and a little windy on their climb this morning but overall very nice weather. The team ascended to Camp Muir on August 4th after spending a day and a 1/2 training on the lower slopes of Mt. Rainier. They spent two nights at Camp Muir resting and preparing for their summit climb. We are glad they had a beautiful day today for their summit climb.
Congratulations to the team!
Tuesday, June 5, 2018 - 7:21 PM PT
This is Mike checking in from Talkeetna, Alaska. The Team arrived with all bags in tow and in high spirits. We spent the day packing and sorting our gear and food that we’ll depend on for the next three weeks. The weather is beautiful here in town and with an estimated 100 climbers heading towards the summit of Denali today. We hope the pattern holds so we can fly in tomorrow morning.
There are some itchy feet and anxious minds amongst our group, which is to be expected. They have been training and dreaming of this expedition for a long time now. There is nothing like getting into the Alaska Range on a ski plane and letting all of life’s little pressure points disappear.
The trade off is that when we drop out of society, we loose the convenience of that part of our lives. We will be hauling 22 days of food, fuel and equipment (100+ pounds per person) up the
Kahiltna Glacier causing very real pressure points. We will be checking in each day and keeping our fingers crossed for sunshine and light winds.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Mike King, JT Schmitt and Ben Ammon
Today we headed out while all of Kathmandu was still sleeping and got onto a small Twin Otter plane as the sun was rising. By 6:30 we were airborne and treated to the smoothest flight I've ever had to Lukla. After a perfect landing on one of the world's shortest runways, we finally sat down to breakfast in Lukla. Surrounded by mountains the group had a wonderful day
walking to Phakding. Once at our Lodge for the night we played some heated cribbage games (where the ladies won) and went for a walk up to an old monastery. We are all happy to be in this amazing place of rich culture and big mountains. Looking forward to getting to Namche tomorrow and into the heart of the Himalayas.
RMI Guide Christina Dale
On The Map
June 7, 2015, 4:47 pm PT
It is difficult to find a place to begin the final dispatch of our group's grand adventure. No mountain climbing objective quite compares to the raw and unprecedented challenge of
Denali. Having been here nine times before, the burrito of emotions ranging from excitement and joy to anxiety and fear all get rolled into one and when the plane takes off and you go past the point of no return, managing all these feelings becomes more than half the battle. I have seen this mountain crack the hardest of nuts. Climbers who have summitted 8000 meter peaks routinely come here and say it is the hardest mountain they have ever attempted. In the broad scope of mountaineering landscapes, "The High One" stands alone, both on the tundra and in our lives.
With this said, no one is prouder of the group than I am. Two days ago we began our march from 14,000 feet down into the unknown. With wind gusts strong enough to make walking feel like a mosh pit and snow conditions making hide-and-go-seek with crevasses a heart-pounding game, we honestly didn't know what the next hour, let alone day, would bring. After a brief visit at 11,000 feet we kept going into the ginormous ping pong ball navigating only with GPS. At 9,000 feet we had to stop. This sort of challenge became par for the course. Yesterday morning, despite the feet of new snow, everyone's energy, motivation and attitude never wavered. Four hours after leaving camp we were at the air strip and 45 minutes after arriving we were on a plane back to civilization. We fly into Denali as someone and we fly off of Denali as someone else. I have been changed by the mountain many times. Very rarely has a group such as this had a profound influence on that change. It was an honor to lead you all.
Thanks again to
Nick and
Andy for being such hard working and trustworthy partners on the guiding front. You both rock!
Thanks also to those who followed along. The stories of what happens the night you return to food and drink will have to be shared in person.
Until the next adventure. Keep climbing.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Today was an easy one; rest and relaxation plus a little hiking and exploring. We are staying in
Namche for three nights in order to get used to the altitude. Early wake up was optional, giving a chance to swill a little 6 AM coffee before hiking to the top of town in order to see daybreak and a first look at Mount Everest. The mountain didn't disappoint. The first rays of sunshine turned summit after summit into golden monuments around us, but our eyes kept returning to Everest... still about thirty miles away, but regal nonetheless. Those who slept in hoped to see the mountains a little later as we day-hiked up to the "Everest-View Hotel" but by then the clouds had rolled in and obscured the great range. We hiked on to the village of Khumjung and then made a circuit of things, crossing the misty ridge one more time to return to Namche. The gang was back at the hotel in early afternoon, just before rain began to fall. That made it pretty easy to lie in and relax away the afternoon, although some made their way down to check out Namche's well-regarded bakeries.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
With our departure from
Aconcagua Basecamp imminent, the group took full advantage of the amenities today, ordering pizzas for lunch, taking showers, and sipping coca colas. Cards came out and heated games ensued. A few folks headed back down the trail to take photos and stretch their legs, but ironically, the blue sky turned dark gray and a short but intense hail storm chased everyone back to cover. We enjoyed our last base camp dinner for a little while, with several people heading back for seconds on lasagna. As dinner wrapped up, we stepped outside to another gorgeous pink sunset, but today the shadow of
Aconcagua imprinted itself on the sky as well. We're heading to bed ready and excited for the move to Camp 1 and the continuation towards our goal that it signals.
We'll be in touch,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Alex Barber, Juan, and team
On The Map
Our last rest day at
Plaza Argentina brought blue skies and gentle winds. The crew spent a fair bit of time chatting idly over hot drinks, covering topics like:
The Seattle Seahawks
And are Americans actually hated or loved around the globe?
Tomorrow we move to Camp 1. The crew is less than excited for the steep scree we have to ascend, but looking strong and optimistic. We look forward to congratulating the successful descending climb.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
On The Map
Jambo Everyone
All is well here on Kilimanjaro!
Today we woke to beautifully clear skies with even better views of Kilimanjaro and clouds obscuring the valleys below. 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.
We hit the trail once again around 8 am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 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 is set up and ready for us.
Along the way we passed around the famous and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000', setting new altitude records for some and we also chatted with a few other climbers who are on the same schedule with us. All in all it was a really nice day with clouds gathering in the afternoon to help keep the temperature comfortable for hiking.
That’s all for now.
RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jess Wedel and the Kili crew
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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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