Friday, June 1, 2018 - 6:21 PM PT
The sun warmed our tents before a majority of the team was up and about this morning. We decided to sleep late and take advantage of some well deserved rest after our climb of Pequeno Alpamayo the day before. Cups of tea and coffee, bread with honey and scrambled eggs with ham rounded out breakfast.
Today was a move day. After breakfast, we slowly packed up our camp and walked back out of the Condoriri Valley to the awaiting Land Cruisers. With our duffles loaded tightly in the trucks and above on metal racks, we quickly drove the 20 miles back out to the highway and headed south toward Zongo Pass, the basecamp for Huayna Potosi.
The refugio here is a nice change from the tents that we have spent the last few nights sleeping in. Heated rooms, ample storage and electrical outlets seem like a real luxury.
The plan tomorrow is to move up to a hut higher on the mountain to get in position for our climb. The trail uphill is steep, but we will have porters helping with our load and expediting our progress.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
We last gave a shout from 7,600’ at the base of Ski Hill on our descent. It was a long day, beginning with the sun hitting 17 Camp, where we packed up all of our belongings, and headed back down the West Buttress. Conditions couldn’t have been better, and before long we were shedding layers as quickly as we could as we walked into the heat of 14 Camp. An hour of repacking and grabbing more of our gear that we had cached there as well as visiting with RMI Guide Tyler Jones’ team had us ready to move out again. By 11, the air felt thick and the temps were even warmer. RMI Guide Jake Beren and team had been nice enough to dig up our cache, so once more we repacked, adjusted our sleds, traded crampons for snowshoes, and kept beat footing our way down the mountain. We rolled into 7,600 at 10 pm, and though there was a lot of discussion of just continuing on to Base Camp, we decided to throw up the tents for a few hours. We were rewarded with spectacular light as the sun dipped behind the surrounding peaks, and it was a special last night on the glacier. By 4 am we were up and walking again. The few hours of sleep had added some spring to everyones’ step and we flew down glacier, reaching Base Camp in 2.5 hours. We parked next to the runway just as the sun hit. At 9 am on the dot, our good friends from K2 Aviation showed up in three Otters to pick up ourselves and Mike Walter’s team, and by 10 we were in flip-flops back in Talkeetna. Everyone enjoyed the ensuing leisurely day of sorting gear, showers, ice cream, coffee, a celebratory dinner, and a few hours in the classic Fairview Inn. Everyone has split now, finishing plane journey’s back home to loved ones.
Thanks so much to our team. They climbed in great style, were equal to the task when things got difficult, put up with a lot of tent time and waiting, and ultimately were able to power through a move to 17 and a summit day without having carried there. We summited an hour or so after Mike Walter’s group (the first guide service summit of the year), on the first viable summit day that had presented itself during our entire stint on the mountain. We were rewarded with incredibly clear views, warm temps, and an overall fantastic day. The views on the way out were pretty stunning as well. Thanks also to all of you for following along. Sore feet and legs are fading away but folks are already talking of their next climbs to come. We look forward to it!
Best,
RMI Guides Pete, Jess, and Jenny.
Congrats for making it to the summit Rachel ! :) Pallavi.
Posted by: Pallavi Chahal on 6/8/2017 at 12:46 am
Congratulations Rachel Calvert, Pete and team! Have been following the blog and was so pleased to hear all made the summit safely and saw the beautiful Alaska range on a clear sunny day.
Rachel - will have to catch up with you and see your photos when you are back in Australia.
Renee Duvoisin (2015 summit team)
After waking up to a nice breakfast of huevos Mexicanos at the Altzomoni Hut, we loaded up our packs and departed for our Ixta high camp! We hiked under mostly cloudy skies and chilly weather but were greeted by some sun breaks in the afternoon. Great views all day of Ixta's actively erupting neighbor Popo, as well as the cities surrounding the mountain. We made it to the Refugio with plenty of time for some last minute prep and an early evening. The team is looking good and acclimatized for a summit bid tomorrow, it should be an exciting day!
RMI Guide Chase Nelson
Hi from 13,000' on Kilimanjaro!
Today was a long day on the trail for the team but we did great. It was a little chilly when we woke up at Shira Camp with ice on the ground and some frost. After the sun came up we started to warm up and after the first hour of hiking everyone was in one or two layers of clothing only. We spent about 4 hours getting to our high point at 15,000' and by the time we reached it the skies has clouded over. No rain or anything for us but it was a bit chilly. It's warmer down here at camp but the clouds are still in and out. Everyone is feeling just fine and we are all looking forward to heading out again in the morning.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall & Team
Greetings from the beautiful Eco Lodge of Tambopaxi, located inside of Cotopaxi National Park. We are all resting nicely despite our elevation being well above 12,000 feet. In the ten days we have been in Ecuador, eight of them have been spent living or climbing above 14,000 feet so despite this lodge being higher than any staffed tourist joint in the US, we are all feeling dandy. It is amazing how after three days away from civilization the internet can trump even a shower. But now that we all got our fix, 19,400-foot Cotopaxi is taking center stage in our heads and out the window.
It is quite a quick transition from mountain to mountain but the team's successful summit of Antisana, the first by any RMI team, is proving a strong motivator to push our tired legs upward one more time. Our legs won't be the only tired things because with the famous Cotopaxi hut closed for the time being, Tambopaxi sits a short 45 minutes away from the trail head, which in turn sits a short 45-minute hike from the mountain's normal starting point so our wake up call will casually be at 9:30pm. We expect a long night and day so resting now is crucial. We will be taking dinner in an hour then getting ready for our final mountain climb. We will report tomorrow with the outcome.
Wishing all of our families and friends the best. We miss you all and look forward to coming home soon.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Thursday, December 4, 2014 3:25 pm PST
Buenos tardes (good evening) everyone!
Today the team spent the day resting in preparation for tonight's climb. The day was mostly filled with reading, waiting on the wifi, exploring the grounds near the hacienda, and a world championship of cribbage, where Leon and Topo were crowned. We also took a ride to visit a ancient pre-Incan ruin, and a beautiful hidden spring.
We spent the afternoon discussing our plan for tonight's climb and have everything squared away. The team is very excited and looking forward to tomorrow, or perhaps I should say tonight, as we'll be getting up very early.
On another note, we had a trivia challenge today and the winner will receive a free one minute satellite phone call from the summit if all goes well. So for those of you out there following our blog, keep your phones handy tomorrow morning!
Wish us luck!
RMI Guides Casey Grom, Leon Davis, and crew
June 15, 2014 - 10:31 pm PT
Greetings from Camp 3 at 11,000'... We enjoyed a sunny and warm wake up today while we packed for a quick move up to 11,000 ft on Mt. McKinley. After a few hours on the trail in mostly whiteout conditions we arrived and set to work digging and building platforms and walls to protect our tents and posh (dining tent). The weather has been coming in and out all day with sun breaks punctuating a generally cloudy day. It's actually begun snowing moderately as I write this... Anyway, we left a sizable cache of food and fuel buried down at 9,600' that we hope to retrieve tomorrow morning after sleeping in and enjoying a more substantial breakfast. Breaking camp every morning for the last 3 days has meant quickie breakfasts like oatmeal or granola. We also got to enjoy a visit with some of our comrades from higher on the mountain as they came through camp. Good vibes all around.
All for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Bruce, I hope the weather improves. Just pretend you are in Mexico again going an easy summit. Best of luck on summit day. I will get all the details from Katie at GFH3 tomorrow.
Posted by: Reid on 6/17/2014 at 3:45 pm
Michael. I printed the leopard photo from your Kilimanjaro trip in two sizes and it came out great! It will look good matted and framed. Hang in there and stay warm. Say hi to your dad. What a great way to spend Fathers day. Love you. Mom
With today's move to 11,000' complete, we are done pulling sleds uphill, and are retiring the snowshoes until we come down! There was much celebrating. It was sunny in camp this morning and we let that dry tents and sleeping bags for a bit, then pulled it all down, packed it all up, and started walking back up Ski Hill. It was an incredibly pleasant day and we trundled along to 11,000' in good time. The team is clicking at getting stuff done, and tents were up in no time. Good thing to, as a big black wall approached from the west and enveloped us in fat snow flakes. It's incredibly calm, but we are building an inch or so of snow an hour, falling quietly, straight down. At another time of year it would evoke holidays, wood stoves, and cozy winter vibes, but right now it's making summer feel quite far away. Our intention is to take a rest day tomorrow at 11, refresh some climbing skills for the terrain above, and get ready to cache higher the next day.
Hi Jackson! This is your grandma Breen. Just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you and how amazed I am of all your adventures and accomplishments! I love you and be safe!
RMI Guide Mike Walter and Team reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan today with beautiful weather. They climbed the Fisher Chimneys route and didn't see any other climbers on the route. They enjoyed having the mountain all to themselves.
Congratulation to the team!
May 30, 2017
Greetings RMI Denali followers, this is Robby Young with the May 3rd Denali Expedition calling you from Day 26. We are sitting in the sunshine here at 14,000' Camp. We awoke this morning to some cloudy skies, some high winds and snow which delayed our progress uphill just one more day. It looks like the weather is going to be beautiful tomorrow and the next few days giving us our opportunity to finally climb higher on the mountain. We are looking forward to a move to 17,000' Camp tomorrow morning if the weather does in fact allow. Until then, we will talk to you soon.
Caio,
RMI Guide Robby Young
RMI Guide Robby Young calls from 14,000 ft on Denali.
The bet was that the Eagles Greatest Hits sold more than 29 million, which it did…I agreed that Thriller sold more.
:0
Also, amazing that you guys summited! Nicely done dudes.
- Mark
Posted by: Mark on 6/7/2017 at 11:54 am
Pretty sure it still isn’t close to Thriller at #1 all time. You can mail me the $50 or send it PayPal. Glad you guaranteed the Eagles was the highest selling all time.
The angels are watching over of you
Good luck on your next climb
Go Team Frank
Posted by: Tina and John on 6/2/2018 at 9:41 am
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