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Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 8:55 PM PT
Well, today we finally got out of 14 Camp. We had spent eight nights there and by an early season
Denali trip that’s nothing but for us and the weather we have had, it felt like an eternity. Today proved to be no cooler temperature wise, HOT going up the fixed lines and once we gained the West Buttress proper it was some of the figurative coolest ridge walking this group has done. We didn’t get great views due to thin clouds but that’s ok, our entire trip has been good views.
We don’t know what tomorrow holds and we could take a rest day if needed. High pressure is building over Denali and we are hopeful to summit tomorrow. Getting to 17 Camp can be a chore, but once you're there Camp must be built, 6 XGK stoves must be managed to make drinking water and hot water for meals. Camp is situated in a glacial depression and we can see the Autobahn which plagues climbers for the first two hours on summit day. This section gets its name from how fast you can get going if you fall and are not clipped into the running belays. Other than a long day, the Team is doing mostly well. It’s normal to not feel 100% here at 17,200’. None of us are living our best lives physiologically, but we are really excited to have a crack at 20,320’. Thanks for the support and blog comments, I’ve been saving them for an alternative pep talk tonight instead of my traditional surly high school gym coach style motivational speech.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Eric Frank and Bryan Mazaika reached the Camp Comfort head-wall at 12,500' and were turned due to weather. Eric reported fresh snow on the route and 15 - 30 mph winds. The team is en route back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to Today's Teams!
Greetings from our camp on
Llaima. We’re nicely nestled in at 7,000’ and the weather is beautiful. The winds are mellowing out and we’re looking forward to what is supposed to be a nice day tomorrow. Today was a fun adventure getting here including two hours of exciting four-wheel drive roads. This afternoon we went for a little scenic tour above camp and got some amazing views of the surrounding volcanoes. All is great with us...
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
May 24, 2017
Well, the weather has changed, and not for the best. Wind and snow intensified this morning, so much so that we postponed our departure to retrieve our cache from 10,000' for a bit to make sure a big storm didn't move in.
But the weather held off enough for us to bring our cache back to camp. Now we're set.
This continually amazes me. When we got back I thought we all deserved a break, figuring an hour or two of tent time to rest up would be most welcome, 20-30 minutes later I hear most everyone out cutting blocks to beef up the walls we already had. Impressive!
We're sitting pretty now, ready for anything. Should tomorrow's weather preclude a
carry to cache at 13,500', that would be just fine. Everyone has been working so hard and so well that some tent time is probably in order. Even, I am looking forward to a rest day soon.
And we're all looking forward to some better weather. Our peek at the mountains surrounding us last night just made us want more.
Oh, and in case you were wondering what was on the menu today. Scrambled eggs, hash browns and bacon for breakfast. An assortment of Indian food, served on a bed of rice and chicken, followed by a nice pudding for dessert. Mmm.
That's it from 11,200' camp. Good night.
RMI Guides Brent, Christina and JT
On The Map
Hello from
High Camp, Barafu, at 15,000' on Kilimanjaro -
A left camp and made our way up hill to our High Camp. There are a few clouds above us but we aren't going to worry about that for now. We are settling in to camp and getting ourselves ready for summit day. The creature comforts provided by our great local outfitter The Dik Dik Lodge continues to help make life a bit more manageable. We will have an early dinner before checking our gear and re-packing one more time before we try to get a few hours of sleep before our summit attempt. Wind, clouds and cool temps is the report for now but it's not unusual to wake up to a clear, calm night for the climb. The team continues to do an awesome job and are all in great shape for the push tonight.
Wish us luck! We will check in soon from our summit attempt!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
We are up at the
Cayambe climbers hut at around 15,300 ft. The weather is quite windy with alternating rain and snow showers. We're comfortable inside the hut. We have been going over knots and crevasse rescue systems. Hopefully the weather improves so we can head out on our summit bid with an early alpine start tonight. For now we're staying dry and warm inside the hut. We'll touch base again tomorrow to let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Hello from
Lake Manyara National Park. Today most of the team headed out for some game viewing while two of our members went directly to the hotel. One of them was feeling under the weather.
The rest of us have been on the road, looking for animals, at Lake Manyara. It feels great to be toasty and warm after being cold on Kilimanjaro. Most everyone has legs that are still a little tired from the climb so it's also a treat to ride in the safari vehicle.
Tonight we'll overnight at the beautiful Plantation Lodge and tomorrow we head to the famous Ngorongoro crater.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
At high camp, I had a dream about eating cheesy hash browns and eggs. This morning, that dream became a reality. We ate breakfast burritos, lunch burritos, and dinner burritos. We lived a life of luxury that was not possible at 17,000 feet.
We also came up with a plan for the coming days.Tomorrow, half the group will walk out towards base camp and a flight towards Talkeetna. The rest of us will stay here at 14 just in case we have a summit window within the next few days. The forecast is calling for light winds this weekend, which has us hopeful. Regardless of what happens, we will certainly be eating more burritos.
RMI Guide JM Gorum and Team
Friday, May 31, 2019 7:58 PM PT
Today we woke to relatively warm temperatures and light snow. As we looked up to the ridge of the
West Buttress there didn’t appear to be any winds, although a bit of snow continued to fall. After a speedy breakfast we decided to make moves and head on up the mountain to cache gear somewhere above the fixed lines. Throughout the first few hours of the day we progressed apprehensively, wary of some menacing looking clouds that were lingering higher up on the mountain, but as we cruised up the fixed lines we were treated with warm temperatures and light winds. This enabled us to progress to 16,600 feet to dig a cache to store some gear to support ourselves for our summit bid. After a quick break we turned around and headed back down to 14 Camp where we are now relaxing and waiting to eat some dinner! Spirits are high and we are all looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.
RMI Guide JT Schmitt
You do you muffin, you do you, is how I would describe today. We all enjoyed different activities to recharge our mind and body before we make our move uphill tomorrow. Two of us went scrambling on some not so quality rock, while others went up the rolling grass hills above Base Camp. Some enjoyed a relaxing day listening to music, reading books, making jewelry or braiding hair. This afternoon we all gathered to sort out a game plan for our climb on Sunday and for the handful of days after. We have to schedule for porters to come up and help us break down Base Camp before we head uphill. We are all rather excited for the coming days. We have been waiting for this moment to climb something for roughly two weeks, with one of those weeks spent at Base Camp. Tomorrow everyone will make their way to the High Camp at their leisure and settle in before we climb the next morning.
Talk to you all at high camp,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith
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Go team go! We’re rooting for you Allan and today’s possible summit!!!
Posted by: Bryan C-G on 6/20/2019 at 12:59 pm
Is so amazing what you are doing!!! Keep up the good work!!!
Please send my regards to Boris! We miss him!
Posted by: Laurent Villa on 6/19/2019 at 5:59 am
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