Hello Everyone-
We had a nice relaxing day here in the beautiful Highlands of Ecuador. Some of the team took naps while others explored the local town of Machachi. Everyone enjoyed our down day here and and are excited to head to Cotopaxi tomorrow for a little climbing.
The staff here at Chilcabamba has been keeping us well fed with plenty of home cooked food, and very warm with fires in our rooms.
One last night of good sleep to recharge us for our next adventure.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Monday, June 10, 2019 - 6:58 PM PT
The good weather train continues to roll on Denali. If your looking at the forecast, it’s been inaccurate aside from the calm wind speeds. The Team got a good workout today as we packed up camp and moved to 14,200’ and while we did well, the higher altitude, calm air and insane heat reflecting off the glaciers gave us a good challenge. We have been moving gear, food and fuel uphill for 6 straight days and tomorrow will be no different. We will sleep in, eat a big breakfast and then need to descend 800’ and retrieve our cache. Now that we are at “Denali City” there are lots of climbers, great views of the West Buttress and the greater Alaska Range. We’ve been eating good, burritos, buffalo chicken wraps, salmon cream cheese bagels, etc. Everyone is feeling some minor aches and pains from the hard work but they are smiling and happy to be at 14 Camp to begin the climbing above here once our bodies acclimate and the weather and mountain give us the thumbs up to headed to High Camp. Thanks for following along, more from Genet Basin and the 14 Camp hang to follow.
RMI Guide Mike King
Friday, May 31, 2019 - 9:41 PM PT
What a great day it’s been! We were optimistic when our alarms went off at 4 am that very little snow slid off the top of our tent. The snowfall forecasts under produced and we were up and attem and out of Camp by 6:30 am getting a carry and cache in at the 10,000’ corner. Light snow and clouds kept us cool and happy all day, and despite the lack of views, we were treated to some amazing light on the surrounding glaciers off and on all day. We made it back to camp in time for some afternoon naps and finished our day with a Nick Scott Quesadilla Fiesta for the ages. Gourmet salsas, perfectly hydrated beans, and chicken pepper combos were the rage. Seconds were in high demand. Good conversations were had and then it was time to hit the hay for what looks to be a good day to move camp to 11,000’ tomorrow.
Until then, have a great night and we’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe and Team Quesadilla Fiesta
I’d love to be there just to taste Nick’s fabulous sounding food. Keep up your safe efforts, and enjoy all you can. Step safe y’all! Positive thoughts for fair to great weather, as well as reaching that beautiful summit!
Posted by: Susan Moore on 6/1/2019 at 11:48 pm
Steve, keep it up and be safe! Charlie insists we toast your progress with a few glasses everyday! Cheers. Fred
It is possible that someone picked out the shape of the sun behind the clouds today... at some point. But most of us just saw light snow falling from thick, low, constantly gray skies. The wind took a break, which certainly made sleeping easier last night. At breakfast, the notice was already up on a whiteboard “no flights today” with a frowny face after it. No suspense. My team made the best of it. We went out at mid morning for a trudge around the marked 10k course. It hasn’t been groomed lately, but we found the walking to be manageable without too much sinking in. Call it a day of walking in beach sand. With the usual slight danger of freezing one’s face, hands and feet at the beach.
We were back at Union Camp for lunch and afternoon lectures. Following dinner, ALE guide Rob Smith gave a riveting talk on climbing K2 this past July.
Anybody’s guess as to whether the weather will break to allow a flight tomorrow. Eddie, the Kiwi cat driver extraordinaire, doubled the height of our already impressive snow wall. We can handle a small hurricane now.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Wednesday, May 23, 2018 - 5:21 PM PT
Our Denali team had another great day today as we carried supplies up to establish a cache around Windy Corner (~13,700'). The weather was perfect, with scattered clouds keeping the temps pleasant throughout the day. The climbing conditions we also perfect, with great, consistent névé for cramponing. In fact, the whole route so far has been in great shape.
Now we are back at our 11k camp, where we are lounging around, eating, and rehydrating. Tomorrow we are planning to take our first full rest day, as we need to recover and get used to the altitude before we move up to 14,200'
RMI Guide Mike Walter
July 2, 2017 6:32 pm PST
Hey, this is Dave Hahn, guiding the last RMI Denali trip for 2017. We're on the summit. We are up top on a beautiful day. Everybody's climbing strong. There are ten out of our original twelve, and we're quite proud of ourselves and feeling very lucky. It's a beautiful day, and we're going to climb safe and strong back down to High Camp and then give you a dispatch to let you know we got there safe. Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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
What is the best way to maximize your training before an 8,000m peak climb? Well, probably not rock climbing, but it sure is a good one to maximize your time in Kathmandu while waiting to fly to Lhasa. Today we spent the day having some fun, as the pictures show, but also starting to get excited with planning, strategizing and dreaming of the climb of the "Crest above the grassy plains". Tomorrow we're flying to Lhasa early in the morning, and the Tibetan adventure will begin... Stay tuned!
RMI Guides Elias, Adam, Robby & Team
The April 10th Winter Seminar had a beautiful day on the Muir Snowfield. The strong crew made their way up to Camp Muir taking in the Cascades and surrounding views. The team, being led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Elias de Andres Martos, checked in this morning. The winds during the night at Camp Muir had some strong gusts but are currently tapering off. The team checked in via radio while having breakfast and getting ready for a day of training.
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Jake Beren and Lindsay Mann reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Jake reported cloudy, smoky skies, light to moderate winds, and mild temperatures. The teams left the summit just before 8 am to start their descent to Camp Muir. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations Climbers!
Sounds like a great adventure and challenge! Enjoy. Joe Parrinello
Posted by: Joe Parrinello on 6/12/2019 at 8:58 am
By God thats a lot of snow! Let’s go birkan!
Posted by: AlexK on 6/11/2019 at 11:29 am
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