Today was another magnificent Russian day on Mount Elbrus. The team did an acclimatization day to exactly 15,000 feet. Not only did they do it, they rocked it! The stage has now been set. We are back in camp hydrating and recovering with a great lunch. As I told the team, sure, we could summit tomorrow. They are strong! However, there is no need to rush. Tomorrow is calling for a little snow so we are going to have a rest day. That way, come Saturday, if the weather allows, everyone will be feeling even stronger.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
June 22, 2016 - 2:33 pm PT
Hey gang,
Here's a soggy hello from just south of the Canadian border. Caleb and I are sitting in a coffeeshop in Bellingham pouring over radar maps and weather forecasts, while our boots dry in the parking lot.
Yesterday we were suppose to have climbed Mt. Buckner, but both the weather and route conditions shut that down. On Monday we made it to one of our potential camp locations after eight hours of climbing only to find that it was buried in snow. We had to dig for 20 minutes to make snow platforms for our tents. It started raining later in the night and by the time we woke up at 3am to launch, everything was rimed over with several inches of ice. Because the first hour of the climb requires scrambling on six-inch rock ledges and the use of bare hands, we knew it wasn't an option.
After checking the weather every 20-30 minutes until 8am, we gave up and went back to bed. The wind continued to blow and spit light precip. Around 10am, there was a clearing and we decided to capitalize on the opportunity by making a quick trip to the summit of nearby Sahale. From the top, we had incredible views of our camp and the surrounding peaks before the clouds obscured them again.
In the early afternoon we packed up camp and started the trek downhill. As a group we decided to focus our efforts of the next objective, Mt. Shuksan, and take a full rest day in Bellingham to dry our gear and prepare.
Wish us luck and a drier next few days.
RMI Guides Eric Frank and Caleb Ladue
This was a great day of climbing. It dawned crisp and clear at Shira Camp. Kibo, Kilimanjaro's main peak, was visible in all it's glory. We still couldn't see much out to the west because of clouds and murk, but everything was nice and blue up above. We got walking at 8:30 AM and made good, steady progress climbing toward Kibo. Inevitably, the clouds formed up as we went along, but we still enjoyed dramatic views of the hanging ice fields and steep mountain flanks ahead. We reached the 15,000 ft Lava Tower in early afternoon, and shattered everybody's previous altitude records in the process. Then our long descent into the Barranco Valley began. The good weather held for us and we even had a few sunny moments again as we got into the garden-like surroundings of our camp for the night. We passed under 30 ft high Giant Senecio plants... Seemingly straight out of a Doctor Suess book, and reached camp at 13,000 ft shortly after 3 PM. We are now camped below the Great Barranco Wall, but that of course, doesn't need to be climbed until tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide Brent Okita and the Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 6:45 am. Brent reported good weather with 25 mph winds. The teams spent about an hour on the summit before beginning their descent at 7:45 am.
July 11, 2014 - 4:31 pm PT
Hey Everyone –
This is JJ Justman with team #1 here on Mt. Elbrus. It’s about 3 am in the morning. We have the crampons on, it’s a breathless night here for climbing. We are about to jump on the snow-cat, which will give us a little lift higher up on the mountain.
It’s a gorgeous evening, it’s going to be a gorgeous day tomorrow. We will touch base again. And I am pretty darn positive we will be doing that from the highest mountain here in Europe.
Take care everyone, talk to you soon.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman checks in just before summit attempt.
After our success on Ixta, Team Mexico Volcanoes settled into a very well deserved couple of nights and a day of rest in beautiful Puebla, Mexico.
Everyone got some sleep, washed off the mountain, and checked out the colonial buildings and many cathedrals and artisan markets.
After a great team dinner and another night of rest we got up early and hit the road to Tlachichuca, and our final and largest mountain, 18,500’ Pico de Orizaba.
We couldn't hang around Talkeetna long enough for breakfast this morning. Denali was calling and we heeded the call. We snacked as we were gearing up to fly. The planes took off at 9 AM and at about 9:45 we were in basecamp unloading. We built camp. It is pleasantly cool for mid June. We made it a training day. We watched airplanes and helicopters come and go as we reviewed glacier travel techniques. Tomorrow we're going climbing.
Today was our first day of safari and we headed west to visit the beautiful Lake Manyara. The lake is a brief stopping ground for many migratory animals and home to more than 300 different birds. Everyone enjoyed the day cruising around in our safari vehicles with cold beverages in hand while seeing the animals up close.
We manage to see a few wildebeest, zebras, Cape buffalo, lots of baboons, a few impalas and many hippos, and one elephant pretty close and even managed to see a few lions relaxing in the trees. It was a pretty nice introduction to the incredible diversity of wildlife that Africa has and the team is looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.
We wrapped up the evening with a wonderful meal at our new lodge [url=http://www.plantation-lodge.com]http://www.plantation-lodge.com[/url] see for yourself!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew
It rained over night and we slept in a bit until it stopped around 9 am. The clouds persisted until around noon and then the sun poked out a bit. We fit a very full day of training in despite the rain: snow and ice anchors, anchor systems, crevasse rescue, and belaying and top roping techniques were some of the topics we covered. The weather forecast looks better for tomorrow and we hope to go for the summit. I'll check in from the top!
RMI Guide Mike Walter and Team.
Wednesday, June 19, 2019 - 4:56 PM PT
We got an early start today, leaving camp at 8:15 am headed up loaded with food and fuel to cache around Windy Corner. The weather was beautifully clear and calm and the temps were perfect for climbing. By 11:15 we were at our cache sight at ~13,600'. After digging a deep cache hole to protect our food from hungry ravens, we started off back downhill at 12:25. By 1:15 we were back at camp with plenty of time to rest and relax. The plan is to hit the sack pretty early tonight with the intention of moving our camp up to 14,200', colloquially known as Camp 4. We'll check back to let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Keep on going and stay safe!
Posted by: Elese on 9/6/2015 at 8:56 am
Congrats on hitting the 15,000 Mark. The best is yet to come. Stay strong!
Posted by: Jackie on 9/5/2015 at 10:10 pm
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