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Remember yesterday when the weather was nice for us...not so much today! We woke up to howling winds and snow. Instead of carrying a load to 17,000', we spent most of the day reinforcing our camp by making our snow block walls higher. It was a good team building exercise. We decided that the team had not really gotten the full "Degnarly" experience before today since our weather and travel has been pretty easy (relatively speaking). We are all safe and sound, hunkered down in our warm sleeping bags, and waiting to see what tomorrow's weather brings. We couldn't possibly have two days of bad weather on Denali right!?
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
Well, we now sit at the base of a huge mountain. All the acclimatization, organizing, bus riding and patient waiting has brought us here. Now just one last piece of preparation, which is to have our glacier school tomorrow. Tonight, we are in the lower hut at Cayambe and enjoying a quiet evening that included a delicious, traditional Ecuadorian dinner. The team is really bonding and Joe's preamble to tomorrow night's motivational speech already has us feeling excited.
Today was also an enjoyable travel day. We left the Intiyaya residences at a reasonable hour this morning, most of us getting a great night of sleep. That was followed by using our haggling skills to shop at the Otavalo market and get some last-minute supplies or souvenirs. We then had a nice lunch at a cozy little sandwich shop in the town of Cayambe. This place is generally a relief for folks as the owners are English, so the only things lost in translation are things like "chips" (french fries) or "rocket" (arugula). And now we are settled in for an early bedtime as we adjust to the early wakeup schedule.
Our plan at this point is to be standing on top of Cayambe in less than 36 hours. Of course, Mother Nature always has the final say, but if the weather continues to hold, this team is prepared!
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier
We wanted some sunlight on the Easton glacier so route finding would be a little easier after several days of rain and no summits of
Mt. Baker. By sunrise we had tried three different tracks through the broken up glacier, which all ended in absent snow bridges. Two of the guides went out to sniff out a 4th option that we could see from our break below 8,000’. The Team kept uphill for another 700’ before encountering warm snow and a snow bridge that didn’t look like it would last much longer let alone allow nine people to cross it. Being late in the morning and deteriorating visibility above us, we made the difficult decision to turn around and come back to camp. We enjoyed some great climbing and views of the surrounding peaks as we descended. At camp now after a good nap we are learning some skills and going to eat dinner. Tomorrow morning the team will pack up and descend to the trailhead.
RMI Guide Mike King
Today we got busy getting ourselves ready for the big climb. Following another great breakfast our thoughts turned towards the mountain.
As members introduced themselves it became even more apparent what an interesting and diverse team we have. We all have special reasons why we climb, and why we chose
Kilimanjaro. It was with rapt attention that we listened to the stories behind the individuals on the trip. Inspiration was had by all as we heard these tales of life changes that led to us being here.
It was apparent that everyone had come prepared for this challenge and taken it seriously. Even more important was the great attitude folks were bringing into the climb.
An in depth review of mountain life and our upcoming time at altitude preceded a thorough review of gear we'll be bringing with us.
All that hard work was rewarded with another great lunch (curry for me), and some R&R. Some stretched the legs around hotel grounds while most of us got in some quality pool time just as the sun asserted itself enough to bake our bodies for a few hours.
We're psyched and set and ready to meet the mountain staff tomorrow morning and get underway. Next time, we'll be dispatching from Machame Camp at almost 10,000'.
Good night from the Arumeru River Lodge,
RMI Guide Brent Okita
February 5, 2017
After a very snowy and windy period here at Base Camp the sky's finally broke and the sun started shining. So we got a load of gear together and carried it up to 16,200 ft. It was a perfect day for climbing, not to hot and not to cold. We are now back a base resting after a hard days work. I think I smell some chicken dinner coming from the cook tent, can't wait!
February 4, 2017
After three days of approach we have arrived at
Plaza de Argentina, our Base Camp. The day began with an icy creek crossing on mule back just as the sun came up over the mountains. Then we were off on a 6 hour jaunt up valley in pleasant overcast conditions. But by the time we arrived at camp winds were howling and snow was falling. The rest of the day felt like full on winter. Tomorrow is a rest day that will be met with lots of eating and some prep for the next day. Spirits are high!
RMI Guide Ben Liken
On The Map
The
Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides
JJ Justman and
Solveig Waterfall were unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier due to unstable snow conditions. The Teams turned at 11,654’ on Disappointment Cleaver and are now safely back at Camp Muir. They will start their descent and be back to Rainier Basecamp in the early afternoon.
Hi all,
The whole team arrived in Lima late last night for our
Alpamayo Expedition. We gathered for breakfast this morning at the hotel and excitement is running high. Shortly after breakfast we packed and loaded our van for the long drive to Huaraz. Huaraz is a beautiful town in the foothills of the Cordillera Blanca at 10,000' surrounded by stunning peaks. After arriving at our hotel we met our Peruvian guide, William, and discussed some logistics for the up coming days, spent some time relaxing, and had a fantastic dinner. Tomorrow we will go for a short hike before resting and packing for the approach.
Thanks for following along with us,
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
Annapurna Expedition
March 27 - Update
Enjoying the hotsprings of Tatopani while the helicopter does all the heavy lifting... sort of a ridiculous way to start an expedition.
March 26 - Update
In Tatopani tonight, we made several attempts to fly into Annapurna Base Camp today through low visibility and heavy rain. The low visibility prevented us from touching down though. Flying with less than 1,000 m visibility is quite hazardous with cliffs rising high above all around you. Hopefully with the more stable weather in the morning we will be able to fly into Base Camp tomorrow. For now our Helicopter is parked in a rudimentary soccer field in the small village of Tatopani. Pretty comical and has created quite the stir among the local population.
RMI Guide Alex Barber
Now we feel lucky. It was another perfect day at
Vinson. We were out of the tents at high camp by 8 AM and out of camp itself by 10. There wasn't even a hint of wind to distract us from the hard work of descending the fixed ropes with heavy packs. We made it down to low camp, took off the crampons and repacked for hauling sleds. Snow conditions were ideal for walking and there were rumors of aircraft anxiously anticipating our basecamp arrival and so we didn't waste too much time in transit. Arriving at VBC at 3:20, we had to then hurry in yet another gear sorting extravaganza to be ready for flight. The Twin Otter came in, we loaded up and took off into the cloudless sky. Exiting the plane at Union Glacier then seemed like a walk in the park compared to life back in the big mountains. True, it is still a snowy park, and we had to put up tents one more time, but we also got to sit at tables and eat excellent "real" food that we didn't need to start stoves or melt snow to produce. Life is easier at Union. Before the evening was out, all the teams had caught their own flights and the dining tent filled up with happy and successful climbers and adventurers. We are all right on schedule for tomorrow's Ilyushin flight... Should the weather allow it. At the moment, most are figuring it will happen, but most are still pretty excited to be in
Antarctica.
Best Regards ,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
A sunny morning greeted us on our way to high camp on
Ixta today. We have our fingers crossed that the weather holds for our summit bid tomorrow morning .
The team is packed up and fired up to climb - Wish us luck!
RMI Guides
Zeb,
Robby and team
go daddy go! stay warm, stay strong, see you SOON.
love,
meer
Posted by: meera on 6/25/2011 at 11:01 pm
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