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Posted by: Mike Walter, Alan Davis, Alex Halliday
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 348'
The RMI Denali May 8th Team led by RMI Guides Mike Walter, Alan Davis & Alex Halliday returned to Talkeetna yesterday. After lots of waiting at 14,000' Camp on both the ascent and descent, the weather allowed the team to depart Kahiltna Basecamp. Once in Talkeetna the team sorted gear, arranged rooms, shuttle transportation and flight homes. The trip ended with a celebratory meal before spending their final night in Alaska. All team members should be making their way back to their respective homes. We would like to congratulate them on a safe and successful expedition.
Thanks for following along on their adventure.
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Lucas Haaland, Luke Wilhelm
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 7,300'
Saturday, May 25, 2019 - 9:31 PM PT
Good evening all. We crawled out of our tents today to clear sunny skies. A perfect day to take a walk and learn some skills. After filling our bellies with bagels and cream cheese, we learned about rope travel. The best way to learn is to do, so we took the learning on the road. After a short stroll we came across a perfect place to park it for the day and learn different techniques to walk efficiently and also how to self and team arrest. Our day finished with a lesson on knots and hitches as the clouds descended and snow flurries danced from the sky. It looks like some weather might be moving in, but that's alright. We will just learn about defending camp and how to stay occupied in our tents. Crucial skills on big mountains.
Nighty night,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
Posted by: Mike King, Nick Scott, Gloria Roe
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,400'
After spending four nights at Plaza Argentina the routine began to feel a bit like the movie, Groundhog Day, same people in the same clothing, tasty but similar meals, etc. We packed up our remaining gear and clothing and headed uphill around 9 am. The most advantageous aspect of our time at PA was the acclimatization. It showed today, with lighter packs the Team was in camp in under four hours and they felt good enough to descend to 15,500’ and back carry our heavy cache from two days ago.
We are currently snacking and relaxing in our tents, organizing gear and getting ready for a well earned meal at 16,400’. The wind is light and should remain until the 26th. Camp 1 is located on a large flat ‘bench’ with Ameghino flanking the northern slope. On most days you can lie in your tent and listen to the wind above as it builds up and then comes crashing down like a wave. Our agenda for tomorrow is a bit in the air due to the extra work of the back carry. I think we will have a casual morning and see how people are doing then ideally carry some food, fuel, and equipment to Camp 2.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
sounds like an incredible experience. glad everyone is doing well. Hope u r sharing some of your funny stories during rest time , Neil. Merry christmas. Love u Mom
Posted by: Lois Yoder on 12/23/2018 at 8:46 pm
Glo, I am living vicariously through you. Love you Aunt Char
Posted by: Charlene Lindsey on 12/23/2018 at 5:48 pm
Posted by: Robby Young, Alan Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 15,200'
Thursday, July 12, 2018 - 4:44 PM PT
Hello,
It’s an incredibly rare event to be held down by weather here in the Cordillera Blanca in the months of July and August. The dry season here is wonderfully tranquil, for the most part, yet today, was a day the mountains were not their warm and welcoming selves. We had originally planned to move to high camp on Pisco today, but threatening clouds, wind, and snow showers kept us out here at Base Camp at 15,200’. Luckily, we’re acclimatized, and Pisco can be easily climbed from here at Base Camp in one day. We’re saving the energy of hauling heavy loads up high, and are going to make a go at it later tonight from Base Camp, if the weather allows, of course. We get really spoiled here with weather here in Peru for the most part, so is certainly out of the ordinary to need to improvise. Despite all that, we’re excited to go climb tonight, we’re well rested, and we just ate steak and French fries at 15,200’. Life is good! We’ll let you know how our climb goes tomorrow! Wish us luck!
Robby, Alan, William, and team Papas Fritas
We spent a casual day off in historic Puebla yesterday looking at murals, eating tacos and checking out the local pottery made in the area. There were bands and peaceful protests in the Square, surrounded by beautiful and ornate cathedrals.
This morning we woke early to meet our transport and head to Tlachichuca where we outfitted for Orizaba. Senior Reyes runs a climber's hostel that is housed in his family's historic soap factory. The mountain has been covered in clouds and there is some snow flanking the lower slopes. This has been an extremely dry winter for the area and new snow is a welcome sight.
For the remainder of the day we'll take a short walk up hill to see the Labyrinth, a scree and rock maze of ledges and chutes that makes up the first two hours on our summit day.
The Team is excited to be here and out of the 4x4 trucks that crawl their way up the dusty roads through corn fields and beautiful pine forests. Hopefully we will be calling in from the summit tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather and clear skies!
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Posted by: Mike King, Jenny Konway
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
March 4, 2018
Everyone arrived yesterday with all luggage in tow and today we set out for a hike on La Malinche. The three hour drive through the countryside is very scenic and due to how dry the weather has been the haze began to thin as we started driving by Ixta (our first climbing objective in a few days). After arriving at a former Olympic training site we hiked up through a dense pine forest, which gave off pleasant scents reminding people of home. We walked to about 13,900' before turning around due to heavy traffic above and rock fall hazard. The goal today was to stretch the legs and lungs a bit and dust off the cobwebs of travel days ad all those tacos we ate in Mexico City. Everyone is enjoying the trip so far. Tonight we will sleep at 10,000' in little cabanas to continue acclimatizing. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Mike King & Jenny Konway
On The Map
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jessie Poquerusse
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 14,900'
Today we departed from the warm showers and soft beds of our Puebla hotel to rough it one last night up high. After a luxurious breakfast at our host Dr. Reyes’ re-purposed home (from an ancient soap factory) followed by a three-hour stomach-churning ride through local farms and a long windy road up to Pico de Orizaba National Park, we settled straight into our camp site for the night, sitting well above the clouds at 14,900ft. Everybody has been working well, setting up camp and prepping meals, but we’re also very grateful for the efforts and support of our local porters and guide, who have been fantastic resources and friends. Burritos and more laughter on the dinner menu, then an early bedtime for us in order to be fully charged to tackle our final objective tomorrow, the roof of Mexico, the Pico de Orizaba.
RMI Guide Jessie Poquerusse & the crew
Today's Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guides Solveig Waterfall and Robby Young reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver. With the warm temperatures and smoke from wildfires burning in Western Washington, the team chose to make this this high point of the day. The team has departed Camp Muir and are on their descent to Paradise.
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
Thursday, June 4, 2015 6:45pm PST
The snow is still falling and the winds continue to blow here at 11k camp. This morning, the Upper West Rib team woke to another six inches of accumulation and drifts ranging from mid-calf to mid-thigh. We quickly shoveled our camp back into shape, then lingered over breakfast bagels for several hours while we discussed potential future schedules.
Overall the team is doing an excellent job of staying busy and motivated while utilizing these imposed rest days. Between bouts of shoveling, we are able to sneak in hours of reading, naps and movie watching. Once the weather improves we will be strong and ready to cruise uphill. RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
Overall the team is doing an excellent job of staying busy and motivated while utilizing these imposed rest days. Between bouts of shoveling, we are able to sneak in hours of reading, naps and movie watching. Once the weather improves we will be strong and ready to cruise uphill. RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
Hi Kim - Re: the “hours of reading, naps and movie watching?!” Seems I’ve been “training” for this trip my whole life without even knowing it. I’m signing up for the next one!
-michael
Posted by: Michael on 6/5/2015 at 4:27 pm
We are in Atlanta. Hope you guys get to start moving soon! Sophia’s haircut is great. Love momma
Posted by: Jane on 6/5/2015 at 10:44 am
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
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Sunday, May 31st 11:17 a.m. PDT
The Upper West Rib team covered some serious mileage today. We had a casual morning in Talkeetna with a big Roadhouse breakfast and then strolled to the hangar to put the final touches on our packing and preparations before flying into the range. With such warm temperatures (Talkeetna was as warm as 77 degrees) we pushed our fly time back to the afternoon to accommodate our night schedule on the lower Kahiltna Glacier. We loaded our DH Otter at 3:00 PM and shortly thereafter were flying. The flight into the Great Alaska Range is one of the most spectacular mountain flights I have ever experienced. As our small plane maneuvered through the peaks and up the the glaciers, everyone's eyes were glued to the windows. After landing at base camp we began rigging our sleds and getting ready to move. With such good weather we wanted to take advantage of the cooler temperatures in the evening for our move to 7,800' camp. We left BC just after 8:00 PM and soon found ourselves walking past beautiful peaks like Mt Francis, Foraker, and Crossen. Despite the heavy packs and sleds, the team moved very well . We arrived just before 1:00 AM and set camp, had some dinner and racked out. Everyone is climbing very well and excited to have the expedition underway. That's all for now.
Thanks for following along with us as we make our first steps toward Denali.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
Have a great climb
Posted by: Marilyn Frank on 6/1/2015 at 4:02 pm
Best wishes for an outstanding trip!
Posted by: Leia Simmons on 6/1/2015 at 7:07 am
Is it cold and snowing up there? What do you do when you are stuck in your tents because of bad weather?
Posted by: C_shears on 5/26/2019 at 7:02 pm
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