Hello from the Chimborazo Lodge located literally at the base of the mountain. From our windows we watch herds of llamas grazing in the pastures, condors buzz the hillsides and the mountain, straight up valley, show us she is certainly not done being angry at something. Which sets the stage for this upcoming tale.
It is no secret that lessons surround us. Whether learned from business, school, love or mountain climbing. If we are aware and observant enough we should be able to find value and see reason through the events of everyday life. Today was one of those days we all learned something.
Our time at high camp began with teaching our seminar crew the correct way to level tent platforms, secure the guy lines and properly tie down your house so the big bad wolf doesn’t come and blow it all away. Once settled in, we were treated to a great meal by our cooks and hit the rack about 6:30 pm. At that point the full moon was rising over the mountain and the wind was calming just a bit. By our wake up time at 11:45 the wind was calm but the clouds had unleashed some freezing rain which coated everything in a smooth sheen of verglass.
By the time we departed camp the wind had picked up a bit and the mountain was sporting a nice cloud cap, beautiful in the full moon light.
The terrain right out of camp was challenging but by the time our climbing team reached an elevation of 18,500 feet, a few had turned around due to fatigue and the unruly steepness of the route. The weather had also begun to deteriorate with gusts reaching upper 30s and a heavy coat of rime ice building on our Gore-Tex shells. By 19,300 feet only two climbers remained headed up. But that upward progress didn’t last much longer. By 19,800 feet the cloud was now fully upon us and the wind and rime became too much to safely continue toward the summit. So at 6:15 our final summit climbers turned around.
The climb down can be as arduous as the climb going up because of tired legs, heavier muscle strain and outright exhaustion. As they have this entire trip, our team performed like seasoned veterans, all arriving back at camp by 8 am. Usually getting back to camp provides a deep sense of relief and comfort, knowing the hard part is over. This morning that was not the case as the winds increased moderately on the upper mountain, they increased dramatically at camp. I almost wanted to start climbing back up the mountain just to avoid the scene. The tents were being held down by rocks and people just to be kept from blowing away, the dining tent was literally beginning to tear itself apart and the noise of flapping nylon could likely be heard ten miles away. But through incredible teamwork we were were able to keep our houses from blowing away and got things packed in relatively good order considering the mountain’s jet engine was on overdrive.
On the descent, some of us had to literally crawl on all fours to keep from blowing over. It was one of the windiest days I’ve ever seen. Thirty minutes after leaving camp we were sheltered enough to take a sigh of relief and walk normally to the bus waiting in the parking lot.
After a brief time to reflect and sit down, we loaded up and headed to Chimborazo Lodge where we are about to take dinner and give a final toast to a mountain that has taught us much more than just climbing skills.
So even though we didn’t reach the summit, we by no means consider this a failure. On the contrary, like our journey as a whole, we consider this a great success! It has been a wonderful two weeks!
Team Ecuador signing off.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
After a fun filled day touring around Quito yesterday, today was our first acclimatization hike. Our target Rucu Pichincha, a 15,696' extinct volcano. With sun breaks and patchy clouds the hike was a success, getting back to the hotel by 3 in the afternoon.
There was plenty of time for more exploring and shopping around Quito before the team had a good dinner at a local brewery.
RMI Guide Chad Gaffigan
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 - 9:52 PM PT
This is one lucky team of climbers. We woke in Talkeetna under cloudy skies... pretty much the same cloudy skies that had kept anybody else from flying during the past six days. It sprinkled rain on us as we ventured out for breakfast but by the time we’d eaten, our pilots surprised us by announcing that basecamp was in the clear and that it was time to fly.
We geared up, loaded the planes and lifted off by 9:15. The ski equipped DeHaviland Otters got us through to Kahiltna Base Camp by about 10 AM. Views while flying weren’t stupendous since there was still plenty of cloud hiding the big peaks, but as we got into the center of the range, the lower parts of the big peaks were stupendous enough in their own rite. Basecamp at 10 AM was a very busy and bustling place after a week of no-fly days. Tyler Jones and his RMI team loaded onto the planes we vacated. They’d finished a storm plagued trip and hadn’t been able to move to high camp or summit but they appeared happy and healthy just the same. We built camp and spent the day reviewing glacier travel techniques and sorting gear and supplies. The team seems pretty at home in this world already. We’re hopeful this break in the weather will last... that said, now -at 9 PM- it is snowing lightly. So much recent snow has sure been a good thing for healing up the lower glacier. Word is that open crevasses are few and far between and sketchy bridges are scarce.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Monday, May 28th - 9:48 pm PST
Just a quick update: We had beautiful weather today and we took advantage of it by carrying up to 17,200', our future high camp, to establish a cache. It was a long day with beautiful climbing. I'll write more tomorrow as there is still a ton to do at camp and the sun is already behind the ridge.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Keep on keeping on Tom! Ralph and I were chatting about your climb yesterday while we wandered around S.F. with a few other souls around for the weekend. Sending positive vibes and hopefully high pressure systems bringing stable weather for your trip to the summit and back down to the thick air afterwards. And remember, don’t get stuck with the Turkey tetrazini…blech.
Posted by: Michele on 5/29/2018 at 4:55 pm
Keep it up Alexander and team!!! Proud of you and miss you!
Good afternoon everyone!
The team woke today to a fresh dusting of snow. It looked as if the heavens above had sprinkled powder sugar on all the peaks. We packed up all our belonging and hit the trail to our new home, Camp One at 16,200 feet. After walking a handful of hours in an environment that looked like Mars we arrived at camp in some snow flurries. In no time our tents were up and we were enjoying some well deserved relaxation. The snow continues to lightly come down as we get ready for dinner. The team is doing fantastic and is climbing strong. We hope to carry to Camp Two tomorrow. Till then, enjoy your day everyone!
RMI Guides Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello, and Mark Tucker
To all you hardy souls…sounds like the trek to Camp 1 must have been quite extraordinary. Hoping you’re all enjoying every moment. Have a great day!!! To my girl..Mly 1T
Posted by: Geri Kuehn on 1/21/2018 at 7:53 am
Do well team…6 years ago yesterday summit day with Pete-Gabby-Gilbert.
“Powdered sugar” really :) !
Another pretty perfect, successful day here in Russia. Sunny, clear skies beckoned us up towards Lenz Rocks, where we will make high camp. The plumes of snow we saw yesterday were still twirling their way our of the col between the east and west summits, but we had only a fresh breeze to face as we made our way up. Everyone climbed really well, hitting their high altitude glacial climbing stride. We left a small cache of food and fuel at Lenz, then opened up our strides and cruised back to camp. We'll do it again tomorrow if the weather lets us, and move up with our tents and summit gear to get in position for our summit bid. It's getting close!
Best from the Caucasus,
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Hey, this is Eric and Avery calling from the lower bivy and Boston Basin Camp here in the North Cascades. We started a West Ridge of Forbidden climbing program today. Things are going really well. The team did a great job climbing up to the lower bivy. It's beautiful up here. Just the right amount of snow and flowers that are about to bloom. We're hoping to climb Sharkfin Tower tomorrow and then our main objective, Forbidden Peak, the following day. Thanks for following along. I'll give you a call tomorrow let you know how things are going.
RMI Guides Eric Frank and Avery Parrinello
RMI Guide Eric Frank and the Forbidden Peak - West Ridge team check in from Boston Basin in the North Cascades.
The team was on standby this morning to potentially move up to 17K camp. But the early morning "now forecast" looking out of the tent wasn't as good as we were hoping for with snow and building clouds that ended up developing all day. We once again got to spend the day at 14K camp preparing the rest of our gear to go up to 17 and stretching our legs. Tomorrow morning we hope to move up and that the forecast holds true for a summit bid in the next few days! Stay tuned!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
praying for a safe summit tomorrow! can’t wait for you to be home and tell all your stories.
-Alyssa Gunn
Posted by: Alyssa Gunn on 6/13/2017 at 9:48 pm
Tym, Tyler, and Team,
You all get an award for patience and persistence! My fingers are crossed for you for 48 hours of good weather. Best wishes, and thinking of all of you. GO TEAM GO!!
I hope you paid your kitty sitter until you return,Tym, or you will have two very hungry felines.
And Tym…Satoshi says, $2779.00
Love Mom and Zeppelin
Posted by: Kristi Kennelly on 6/13/2017 at 6:57 pm
Hi, this is Eric Frank calling from the summit of Mount Shuksan. We had a cold and windy, but enjoyable, morning climbing up here today. It is gorgeous! We can see into southern Canada, over the city of Vancouver, out at Mount Baker, and even down all the way to Mount Rainier. We feel pretty fortunate to have the views that we have today. We will talk to everyone soon.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank calls in from the Mount Shuksan summit.
Hello again everyone!
It was another beautiful day here in Africa with clear skies and a gentle breeze that kept the temperature perfect for climbing. We have left Karanga Camp and moved up to our high camp that's called Barafu. This camp sits on a ridge line around 1,000 ft, which eventually leads to the summit of Kilimanjaro. It's a relatively large camp spread up and down the ridge and we are sharing it with all the other climbers using this route, I'd guess that there's around 70 other climbers here with us.
Everyone is doing very well and we are excited to start our climb early in the morning. The team will have a early dinner and If all goes according to plan we hope to have breakfast and be hitting the trail right around midnight. We'll have a nice slow pace that should take us around eight hours to reach the summit. So keep your phones handy as I said one lucky climber will get to call home from the "Roof of Africa". That will be around midnight for those on the east coast.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Good job to all of you. Will be happy to see you all safely home.
Mom (Chris Condon’s Mom)
Posted by: Mary Accettura on 1/21/2019 at 8:37 pm
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