Not much wind at high camp this morning, but a heck of a lot of cloud when we checked it at 7 AM. Seemed like this was to be our opportunity though. We breakfasted in fog and light snow and got ready to climb. Nothing had changed by the time we got roped up at 9:45. We set off into the murk. Not a great day for pictures... but walking in a whiteout means there are few distractions. We took a quick rest break every hour or so and went steadily higher and colder. Light winds came up with face freezing potential as we neared the top, but almost miraculously, we lost all wind and even got a touch of sun as we went out the summit ridge. We hit the tippy top at 5:30 and liked it so much we spent 30 minutes up there. It took us three hours and ten minutes, mostly in cloud, to get back to high camp. Thankfully, there we got some late night sunshine to enjoy dinner by. The team is tired, but as you can imagine, we're also pretty happy right now as we drift off to bed.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn[Transcription of audio call from the summit]
Hey, this is the RMI 2016 Mt. Vinson Climb, We are on the summit of Mount Vinson, all of us! 100%, a team of 5 right up here on top! We climb through clouds all day, but here on the top we are looking up looking up at blue sky. It is calm on top. This team is done a great job. We'll let you know we get back to high Camp and everything is good, and that's what we expect because everybody is climbing strong.
That's all for now, high from the top of Antarctica.
Dave Hahn Calling from the Summit of Mount Vinson.
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, June 28, 2015 - 10:15 am PT
It was touch and go at base camp. We woke up to clouds and some very wet snow. As expected, as soon as we started to fire up the stoves to make breakfast and hot drinks, the skies started to open just a bit. I still didn't think that the weather was flight worthy, but I was glad that the pilots did. We were told that we had 20 minutes to be packed and ready because the planes were already approaching. We were ready in 10! We got the first half of our team onto a plane and off the glacier before the weather started to sock back in. We had to wait for the first plane to go back to Talkeetna, drop off our first group of climbers, and then return. Luckily the weather cleared back up a bit and we squeaked out the rest of the climbers for the amazing flight back to the world of great food and pillows. After a couple of great meals and a series of showers, the now legendary "El Siete" crew is fresh, semi-recovered, and ready to be reintroduced into society.
Thank you to the group for being such a great team and for all of the families and friends that have supported us.
RMI 7 "El Siete"
I want to say, once again, to Mike Haugen about these daily posts and pictures: it has meant so much to the families of these fine climbers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Posted by: Chris on 6/28/2015 at 6:06 pm
Whoopee! So glad to have you off the mountain safe and secure at last. Doug is that you standing to the left? I can see everyone is proud and delighted to have had this grand adventure.
May 10, 2015 11:50 am PT
RMI Guide Leon Davis checked in from Talkeetna. The weather improved this morning allowing RMI Mt. McKinley May 5th Team led by Mike Walter to fly to Kahiltna. This same plane then loaded Leon and Team to fly from Kahiltna Base Camp to Talkeetna.
The Alaska Mountaineering Seminar - Alpine led by Elias de Andres Martos was also able to fly from Talkeetna today and have been flown to the Pika Glacier to start their expedition.
RMI Guides Zeb Blais and Leon Davis reported beautiful conditions for their climb to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Two groups of climbers on the Four Day Summit Climb September 12 - 15 reached the summit around 7:30 am and were able to enjoy some time on top with clear skies and a light breeze. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short rest and to repack before continuing down to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Four Day Summit Climb teams!
Today we saw the first real clouds of the trip, accompanied by a dusting of snow. The clouds cleared out in the afternoon and it turned into a beautiful, but breezy evening.
We weren't terribly concerned with what the weather did today, as we took a complete rest day in order to have more time to acclimate to the altitude and recover from the past five days of hard work in the mountains.
Everyone is doing well and, if the weather lets us, we'll move up to the 14,200' Camp in Genet Basin tomorrow. The weather forecast for tomorrow is calling for clear skies and moderate winds, so we'll just have to see how things play out.
We'll keep you posted with our progress.
Caio for now,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, considered by many to be the eighth natural wonder of the world. The crater is roughly 100 square miles of what was once an enormous volcano similar to Kilimanjaro that erupted and collapse on its self. It is known for its abundance of animals that call the crater home with some estimates as high as 30,000 mammals.
We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few of the big cats before the heat of the day.
There were many sightings today of hyenas, zebras, wildebeest, Cape buffalo, ostrich, and countless other birds. We managed to see several lions, including one huge male very close.
We also saw a few Black Rhinos far in the distance, which have become very rare due to poaching.
We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge.
Thursday, June 20, 2019 - 6:54 PM PT
We rose early again today with another beautiful morning to greet us. In the cold we packed up camp and headed up Motorcycle and Squirrel Hills, traversed the Polo Fields and climbed around Windy Corner. After 4 1/2 hours we arrived at our current camp at 14,200' in Genet Basin. It's been a warm and sunny afternoon here as we look down over the clouds and out to Mount Hunter and Foraker to the south. The afternoon was spent excavating and erecting camp. Tomorrow we will go back downhill to Windy Corner (13,600') to retrieve our cache. That will be a short mission, so we'll get the rest of the day to rest and home our skills for the upper mountain.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The winds went all night but didn’t cause much damage. Morning was a familiar mix of grey and greyer with light snow falling. Nothing was going flying today... too much of a mid-storm feeling to the world. We ate breakfast and attended lectures for the morning. After lunch, my gang eagerly showed up for a field trip in the Tucker snow bus. There were about 18 of us rambling along a flagged and gps-ed ice road in the big tracked vehicle. The snow storm continued, but we went on instruments to find the “wind scoop” by Mount Charles. We got out and donned stretchy traction aids to help our boots on the hard blue ice. We then walked toward an enormous snow and ice formation, the wind scoop carved out by patient and endless winds around the base of an Antarctic mountain. Simple... except it was also beautiful and primal. It snowed on us as we walked, and the winds kept up, but every now and then, we could see enough to be impressed and awed by the scale and the relentlessness of ice, snow, wind, sun and rock.
When we got back to the comfortable dining tent at Union Glacier, it shocked us for a moment that the staff had put up all of the Christmas decorations. We haven’t given up on getting home for the big event, but dinner with friends in this wild setting was still pretty fun.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
We loved our Kilimanjaro climb... but each and every night of it was spent sleeping on a tilt in one or more directions. Last night at the Arumeru River Lodge, we were on the level. Consequently, there were a bunch of relaxed smiles at breakfast this morning to go with all the clean hair and shaved faces. At 8 AM we met our Safari guide/drivers -Edson and Ibrahim and loaded up the Landcruisers for an adventure. We started out by heading west through the outskirts of Arusha. As we got away from Mt Meru’s flanks, the clouds got thinner until we were out in dry and open land under clear skies. We passed many herds of Maasai cattle tended to by small boys in tartan blankets. Even before reaching Lake Manyara National Park, we spied a few giraffes eating acacia trees near the highway. Once in the lush and green park, we began seeing wildlife almost immediately. Logan got the coveted “first pumba” prize for spotting a tusky warthog digging up lunch. Unexpectedly a small gang of Cape Buffalo kicked up dust as they charged across the road. A few minutes later, we saw our second of the “big five” with a memory of elephants eating their way through the thorn trees. There were troops and flanges of baboons everywhere we looked. After a great picnic lunch with superb starlings singing in the branches overhead, we encountered a tower of giraffes, a bloat of hippos, and a dazzle of zebras. Along the way, there were silver-cheeked hornbills, a small implausibility of gnus and a herd or two of impalas. We looked high and low for big cats but they eluded us today. Perhaps tomorrow. In late afternoon we drove out of the Rift Valley and into the highlands. It was a great pleasure to pull into the meticulously manicured grounds of the Plantation Lodge near Karatu. We enjoyed cocktails and appetizers as the light faded and the stars came out... then we moved inside for a fine dinner to celebrate Phillip and Emily’s fourth wedding anniversary.
Ngorongoro Crater tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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Congratulations to Mt. Vinson Team!!
Charlotte
Posted by: Charlotte Williams on 12/8/2016 at 1:16 pm
Bravo!!! Well done!!! Safe journeys home!!!
Posted by: JP on 12/8/2016 at 3:18 am
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