Friday June 19th 11:15 pm PT
After a much needed full night of sleep, we woke up to sunny, perfect weather. The Uchal-Dee power duo made us some delicious pancakes for breakfast. We did some training for our next adventure on the fixed lines that we will find on the steep slopes that lead us up to our next camp. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the great weather. We are going to bed with a light snow showering down on our tent. Our plan is to try to carry some gear up towards 17k camp...if it clears that is.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
Please tell my dad “Happy Father’s Day” from his family. We love him and are thoughts and prayers are with him.
We can’t wait to hear the stories…
Thanks for your posts.
Josh
Posted by: Josh on 6/20/2015 at 11:52 pm
Beautiful pictures! I am glad the blueberry pancakes materialized for the hungry gents. Hope the weather holds for you guys. We are at our cabin on the lake riding our ATV’s and fishing in the lake for Father’s Day weekend. Our adventures are much more mild. Enjoy your Father’s Day adventure tomorrow, Doug, and we will enjoy ours.
Start to finish... another grey day of clouds and snow at Union Glacier... with no horizon, no contrast, not much visibility and zero chance of escape. Except... today was the Antarctic Ice Marathon and everybody was excited. Our own Abdul surprised his climbing team at breakfast by inquiring as to whether he might enter the race... scheduled to begin in an hour. It turned out that he could and did. 26.2 miles was going to be run in whiteout conditions over four laps on a ten kilometer groomed loop. But with new snow falling, the grooming wasn’t all that good. It was a lot like running in sand at the beach. Abdul took off with the crowd at 10:30 AM... his first marathon-and the only one of 59 entrants to have climbed to Vinson’s summit three days earlier. Skeptics expected one lap from him. Abdul finished the marathon, completely comfortable and in control. The winner took 3.5 hours and the final contestant 13 hours with Abdul very respectably in-between.
The evening was a memorable and international celebration, with cheers going up from the Chinese, the Australians, the Dutch, the Austrians, the Russians, the Indians and the Sri Lankans... not to mention the Americans and Brits.
The end of the day was exactly like the beginning... snow, cloud, murk, calm and quiet. But pretty fun too.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Leaving camp this morning to the sounds of sheep being moved into the high pastures we walked along the Inca canal and eventually down a steep valley. The vegetation began to change and soon we started to see several types of wildflowers and a few different species of hummingbirds. After a few hours we arrived at our first Incan ruin, Inkaracay.
At the village Wayllabamba (10,000'), the famed Inca Trail joins our trekking route for the remainder of the trip. We said our good byes to the horseman as our porter team joined since we are now in the National Park and horses would have difficulty with the trail ahead and destroy the trail itself. The Inca used llamas as pack animals, they do not have hooves, instead their feet are soft pads like a dogs feet thus gentle on the stone trail.
The team is adjusting to the 'Incan steps' and resting after a long day. We are camped on a scenic mountain bench called Luluchupampa (12,300') looking at the valley below, Salkantay in the distance, and the cloud forest all around us. Two more full days of walking brings us to Machu Picchu.
RMI Guide Mike King
Good evening from Taullipampa, the meadows where our Base Camp sits. We had a beautiful hike up Punta Union Pass, 4,700m, and then down to Artesonraju Base Camp at 4,000m. The journey, while long, will sure help with acclimatizing. Upon arrival, we enjoyed another incredible meal from our cook and had time to relax, listen to some music at the dining tent and share some stories of High School prom. We are looking forward to a full day at BC tomorrow before the action starts.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Tyler Reid and Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Pete reported clear skies, a light breeze, and warm temps. The teams began their descent from the summit at 8:25 am. We look forward to welcoming them in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations!
Hello from High Camp on Kilimanjaro. We are having great weather on this trip so far. We're hoping it keeps holding for a couple more days.
Today was a pretty light day on the trail. We were under three hours moving up from 13,000' to 15,000'. Our plan for the rest of the day is to relax and get ready for the climb. If all goes well we will be near the summit when the sun rises in the morning. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Jared- the summit is almost yours! I cannot imagine what you & Scott will see & feel once you scale the mountain & are on top! So glad you are with Scott. Bless your hearts! Love you, Mom
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
Hello this is Elias with the Machu Picchu Trek. We are at our camp right below Nevado Salkantay under the impressive north face. We had a really good first day of hiking. We are in the vicinity of 13,000 feet. Everybody did really well. We are about to enjoy a nice dinner cooked by our amazing cook, Alejandro. Tomorrow we will visit Incan ruins and the Inca Calendar. and will keep you posted when we get to the next camp.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Elias de Andres Martos calling in from the Machu Picchu Trek.
Strive for greatness and conquer that mountain, like my GOAT LeBron James! I’ll think of you all when I’m enjoying Space Jam 2 tonight! (My personal favorite) ❤️
Posted by: Patrick on 6/5/2024 at 6:11 pm
Good luck, learn lots, and have a great time team! Meganne, you are just the most incredible badass I know, you’ve got this
Wonder of wonders, all ten climbers made it through to Tanzania and Kilimanjaro International Airport without missing flights or losing baggage. We’ve got the team assembled at the Arumeru River Lodge on the outskirts of Arusha...folks have eaten dinner and are now attempting to sleep away some of their jet lag. In the morning we’ll meet to get into the nuts and bolts of preparing for a Kilimanjaro climb.
Best Regards,
Dave Hahn
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Mike,
Please tell my dad “Happy Father’s Day” from his family. We love him and are thoughts and prayers are with him.
We can’t wait to hear the stories…
Thanks for your posts.
Josh
Posted by: Josh on 6/20/2015 at 11:52 pm
Beautiful pictures! I am glad the blueberry pancakes materialized for the hungry gents. Hope the weather holds for you guys. We are at our cabin on the lake riding our ATV’s and fishing in the lake for Father’s Day weekend. Our adventures are much more mild. Enjoy your Father’s Day adventure tomorrow, Doug, and we will enjoy ours.
Posted by: Chris on 6/20/2015 at 4:47 pm
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