Friday, May 29th 11:00 pm PDT
Expedition life lends itself to improvisation and today gave us the perfect opportunity to think on our feet. Our original plan was to carry a load of group gear to the top of the fixed lines at 16,500' and rest a full day tomorrow. However, a strong high pressure system moved over the mountain, opening the gates to the upper mountain for all of the other teams that have been stuck at 14,000' for days. As a result, camp was extremely active today as well over a hundred climbers woke up early and began a move to high camp. The fixed lines were jammed up all day with climbers, and rather than wait in that line ourselves, our team formulated a new plan.
Today became our rest day. We relaxed in the beautiful weather at camp and took an afternoon stroll to the Edge of the World. Guides Adam and Andy, studs that they are, completed the high cache on their own in the evening once the fixed lines cleared up from the folks that were moving up. Our goal tomorrow is to pack up camp early, and move ahead to high camp, putting ourselves in the perfect position to attempt a summit bid in the next few days while the good weather lasts.
The team is in high spirits and feeling strong! Goodnight!
RMI Guide Nick Hunt and the rest of the team
Booyah - a high pressure system! Thinking of you all scrambling up those fixed lines. G Barber, you have these dialed! Hats off to the guides for putting your team in a good summit position. Enjoy the amazing views to high camp! xoxo, Ker
Posted by: Kerry on 5/31/2015 at 11:26 am
Wow! You have amazing guides! Looks like the weather is perfect for you guys! Go for it!! Good luck at high camp and on summit day. We’re thinking of you. Take care!
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
RMI Guide Mike Walter and his team are on the summit of Mt. Shuksan. They climbed the Fisher Chimneys and then the southeast ridge to the summit. The team will descend back to their high camp to stay for the night.
Congratulations to the team!
Sunday, June 3 - 6:18 AM PT
Hey, this is Eric and Andy checking in from Bolivia. Just letting you know that everyone made it up to the top of Huayna Potosi this morning. We are in a cloud right now and experiencing a little bit of snow, but have calm winds and we're making our descent. Everyone is doing well and it's a beautiful day in the mountains.
RMI Guide Andy Bond
Hola amigos!
We are checking in from 13,100 on Ixta, reporting light rain and overcast skies, but with loads of optimism for clear skies tomorrow for our hike to high camp at 15,000 feet!
Today was spent in preparation for our ascent of Ixta, which included a stop in the town of Amecameca, which was devoid of tourism and gave us a wonderful insight into authentic Mexican culture. After stocking up on water and last minuet supplies we drove to the park entrance where we stretched our legs with a walk to our abode for the evening. The rest of the evening was spent packing and eating a delicious meal prepared by our wonderful host Rogelio. The meal was a delicious concoction of beef, rice, guacamole and beans.
We will wake tomorrow and start our way up the trail to Ixta high camp!
Buenas noches from RMI Guides Christina, JT and the rest of the Mexican volcanoes team!
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Shuksan led by RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan this morning. Solveig reported warm, windy, clear, and smoky conditions from the summit. The team will descend back to camp for their remaining nights on the mountain.
Congratulations to the Expedition Skills Seminar - Shuksan team!
After a late dinner last night the team enjoyed a good nights rest at our hotel, La Cienega. Our agenda for today was quite simple, gorge ourselves on burrito's and drive to our climbing hut on Chimborazo.
After a simple breakfast of sliced fruit and eggs we hit the road at 10:30AM. We made a short stop at a grocery store to buy water and last minute items before heading to El Rey del Burrito and the biggest challenge of our day, surviving lunch. The small restaurant, located in the bustling city of Ambato is home to the infamous 50cm burrito. That is nearly two feet of tortilla, meat and cheese! Fortunate for us, Jason, was willing and turns out quite up to the challenge, finishing the burrito as if were an afternoon snack! The rest of us were content with spectating. With full bellies we loaded back onto our trusty tour bus and our driver Victor speed off to Chimborazo.
We are all now safely nestled in at 15,000' on the side of the tallest peak in Ecuador. We will get another well needed full nights rest before moving to our high camp tomorrow in preparation for our summit attempt. From everybody on the team, thanks for following along!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
Nap time at 13,000+. Team is doing great! Said goodbye to La Malinche this morning and hello to the mountain Ixtaccihuatl (The Sleeping Woman ). A four-hour drive has brought us to a nice hut. Our local staff made us a fantastic dinner so we are well taken care of and fired up for an early morning ascent to our high camp. Loads are reasonable but not light. Weather has been a bit unsettled but not bad. Lots of gear shuffling and we are looking prepared. All is well.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
May 15, 2016 - 10:35 pm PT
The day started with our camp above the clouds deck and good views of Mt. Hunter and Foraker. After breakfast we headed downhill with empty packs to retrieve our cache at 13,700'. After a fifteen minute walk downhill and an hour back to camp, we are all set with all of our gear at 14k.
After we returned to camp, the clouds lifted and it began to snow. It snowed all afternoon, with about a foot of accumulation. As I write this dispatch from my sleeping bag tonight, there is blue sky above us. Hopefully the snow is done and tomorrow we can climb. We're hoping to carry a cache of supplies up above the fixed ropes tomorrow, up above 16,00'.
We'll touch base again tomorrow to let you know how it goes, thanks for following our trip.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Absolutely beautiful pictures. Glad for all information. Cheers to the team.
Posted by: Donna on 5/16/2016 at 4:57 pm
Hi Rogan and team, well done, it’s been marvellous following your trip. Congrats so far!
Rogue your beautiful wife is fine, the op looks as if it was really successful and by the time I fetched her she had already walked and climbed stairs with the crutches. In fact she could probably climb Denali with a bit more practise!
You are well past the halfway mark, according to the map, one more stop and then the summit. Never give up! Ever! I didn’t with Wfm and that was also really difficult.
You trained so hard, you are quite capable of reaching the summit, your Angels are with you!
I’m so looking forward to seeing all your photos.
I suppose you know that 4 guys reached the top of Everest, the first in two full years!
I wish the blue skies remain, you must be sick of snow by now? Focus on the wonderful scenery, not seen by many, it’s such a privilege you are experiencing.
Hope you all have a great climb tomorrow, it will be different by the looks of things. Good luck and vasbyt!
Love you so much, mom xx
Wednesday June 10th 5:30 pm PT
Today brings more snow to Mt. McKinley at 14,000ft. After coffee, bagels and bacon everyone spent a few hours lounging in their tents before starting the afternoon projects. The camp project consisted of building an enclosed toilet. A true architectural feat, I might add. The secondary project was a remodel of the posh tent, which consisted of lowering the floor to give us a bit more headroom.
Our camp looks great and hopefully we will get some good weather coming our way this weekend.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
DG, Tyler,
Sounds like the Taj Ma Staul is the evnv of camp 14 again now to stand guard to keep everyone else from using it. Hope the weather gets better for you guys so wish I was there. Have a safe and fun climb.
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Booyah - a high pressure system! Thinking of you all scrambling up those fixed lines. G Barber, you have these dialed! Hats off to the guides for putting your team in a good summit position. Enjoy the amazing views to high camp! xoxo, Ker
Posted by: Kerry on 5/31/2015 at 11:26 am
Wow! You have amazing guides! Looks like the weather is perfect for you guys! Go for it!! Good luck at high camp and on summit day. We’re thinking of you. Take care!
Posted by: Joyce Tocher on 5/30/2015 at 2:47 pm
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