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Dave Hahn reporting from Today was our planned rest day. All is well and all are feeling good. We enjoyed a calm night with a huge moon that kept Jake Norton out snapping pictures until quite late. There were a few minor headaches reported and some of the normal insomnia that comes with a first night at real altitude, but for the most part our team was bright-eyed and ready for action today. That action consisted of a relaxed breakfast and then a few sessions of organizing gear and supplies for going higher. The event of the morning was Seth Waterfall's arrival with the last of our cargo. Production people dove into cases full of new gadgets and guides sorted a few more bags of upper-mountain gear and all were happy to see Seth who'd come in at an accelerated pace to catch up with us.
Basecamp is a fairly elaborate village of tents with a few semi-permanent structures thrown in for park and medical personnel. There are about five outfitters here with independent "kitchens" and communications set-ups along with dining tents and latrines for their customers and staff. We set up the RMI tents within a stone's throw of our own outfitter -Grajales Expeditions, and they've been taking great care of us. Peter, Ed and Chad worked today to help our climbers choose what to carry higher while Melissa made contact with the park rangers and finalized the permitting process.
We became aware of an intense and sad story which had played out high on Aconcagua during the days of our trek in. A team of five had apparently been caught out in the open near the summit and had needed to endure several days of extremly bad weather before a rescue party could reach them. From what we are hearing, the rescue effort was massive, with perhaps fifty people trying to get to the stranded team from both sides of the mountain. Ultimately, there were three survivors and tragically, two deaths. Our entire team was saddened and sobered by this news, but our guide team was particularly saddened to learn that we'd lost a friend and colleague in the accident. Federico Campanini guided his own programs internationally, but on Mount Rainier he'd become one of RMI's hardest working and most dependable guides over the past three summers. We have each spent the past days and nights thinking of his skill, strength and competence as a guide... but also of his unfailing good humor and friendly nature. He will be missed. Our best wishes go to his family.
Our plan for tomorrow is to carry loads to 16,000 ft and to then return for a final night at basecamp before moving up. We'll hope the weather improves some as today finished with a fair bit of cloud and and some light snow on Basecamp. All for now, we'll let you know how things go tomorrow... new heights and new sights.
Posted by: Mike Walter, Taylor Bickford, Nikki Champion
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
Monday, June 17, 2019 - 10:15 PM PT
Today was very productive for our team. We woke at 1am, packed up camp, and hit the trail at 3am. By 8:30 am we had made it to the 11,200' Camp, colloquially known as Camp Three. We set our tents up, had breakfast and coffee, and a few hours of rest, and by 1 pm we were back on the trail headed back down to pick up our cache at 10,000'. By 3:30 pm we were back at camp with all of our supplies. But there was still work to do flattening tent platforms, building a kitchen, and fine tuning camp. Dinner by 6 pm and bed by 7:30 seemed appropriate for today.
And tomorrow we earned a rest day. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow, so we won't be missing anything.
We'll touch base again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Posted by: Steve Gately, Ben Ammon, James Bealer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
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Friday, May 24, 2019 11:19 PM PT
After awaking to an uncertain forecast and thick clouds passing through camp, the team gathered for breakfast to wait and see what the day held. After a short wait, the clouds began to break and we were greeted with views of the West Buttress. The day went on to deliver excellent weather and we were able to establish a cache at the base of Washburn's Thumb, around 16,400 feet. With our final cache in position, we are now resting at 14k camp and waiting for a weather window to move to 17k camp and then make our attempt on the summit.
RMI Guide Steve Gately & Team
Inspirational to observe the daily progress. Love the commitment! Eyes front, steady as she goes & God Bless!!
Posted by: Tom & Susan Dietz on 5/25/2019 at 12:33 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Nick Scott, Gloria Roe
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 10,550'
The Team enjoyed a calm night at Lenas. When the moon is new to half-full the shooting stars are so plentiful that one person said, “it is as if the sky can’t hold all of them”. The Milky Way runs right down the valley skyline, the southern cross is unmistakable and the flashes of heat lightning over the horizon makes this night absolutely spectacular to sleep out of the tent.
We walked a little over 9 miles today and enjoyed a consistent breeze that kept us cool. From a casual glance the scenery doesn’t change to much and when taking a closer look one has never seen so many shades of brown, red and orange. The Team is doing well, acclimating to these higher altitudes and slowly adjusting to the dry desert air. Tonight we’ll dine on the second best chicken on the plant along with grilled vegetables and a bow tie pasta salad. You might be asking yourself where the best chicken is located at? For that you will have to head to Mexico with RMI to climb the Volcanoes and find out. Thanks for following along, we’ll check in from Plaza de Argentina tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike King and Team
Hey Mike & Nick! I’m following along with you and wishing you and the team all the best with weather and strength. I had the 2nd best chicken with you last year. Looking forward to the best chicken in Mexico in March. Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 12/18/2018 at 3:29 am
Update August 14th at 10:56 am PST:
The nights are long in this part of the world... approaching 12 hours. My Kilimanjaro climbing team knows this all too well after today’s climb to the tippy top. We set out from high camp at 12:40 AM and it was nearly six hours before the sun made an appearance. Our first few hours of climbing weren’t so bad... it was pitch dark -with no moon- but it was also nice and calm. When we reached 17,000 ft though, a 20 mph wind found us and stayed with us, dropping temps and making us all crave sunshine. When we got it -at around 18,500 ft- the sunrise itself was gorgeous, and the winds dropped away, but only until we hit Stella Point on the crater rim at 7:15. Our victory lap along the rim to Uhuru was made in winds up to 35 or 40 mph. That certainly made it tough to do much sightseeing. We each just concentrated on walking and breathing. We hit Uhuru, the true summit, at 8:20 and stayed exactly eight minutes. That was long enough for a few high fives, hugs and hero shots... and then we boogied. We got out of the worst of the wind when we left the crater rim and temperatures got reasonable. We skied the scree to get lower fast. The goal was obviously to get off the mountain safely, but it was also to get back down to the altitudes that don’t hurt one’s head and rile one’s stomach. Our great Barking Zebra staff helped us immensely in getting home to Barafu in good time. We were there at 11:30 AM just in time for brunch in the dining tent. Then -although we were all in the mood for naps- we packed up and got walking down for another 3.5 hours. We shed another 5,000 vertical feet to reach Mweka Camp down in the trees at the 10,000 ft level. It turns out that the days are pretty long in these parts too... in any case, we’re all looking forward to a long night’s sleep tonight.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
[audio transcription]
Hey, this is Dave Hahn with the Kilimanjaro Climb. We made the summit today. We're back at high camp now at Barafu at 15,000 feet. At 8:20 this morning we were at Uhuru,19341 feet above sea level, highest point in Africa. It was a windy cold morning. It was a hard climb, but we did it and we're safely back at high camp and we're going to head down to Mweka Camp, 10,000 feet to finish the day. All for now. Bye.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls in post-summit of Kilimanjaro.
On The Map
So proud of you all!! Way to go!! That is so awesome. Excited to hear about the trip. Safe travels home.
Posted by: Brenda Drezen on 8/15/2018 at 8:00 am
Congratulations, Lory Beth!
Posted by: Leonard Brendel on 8/15/2018 at 5:38 am
Posted by: Mike King, Jess Matthews, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 22,841'
Update from Mike King at 10:30 am PT:
If you haven't listened to my hypoxic voicemail from today, you should know that we stood on top of Aconcagua, 22,841' around 1pm local time. The climbers are back in camp trying to avoid these late afternoon snow/heat waves...ya doesn't sound fun does it? The climb had wind, snow, heat, drifted snow in the trail and lots of other parties attempting the summit. I'll leave the details from the summit day for your loved ones to tell...but the guides are in agreement, one of the harder days we've had in the mountains. Tomorrow we will start our downward retreat to the thick air of base camp.
Summit call transcription:
Hey, this is Mike with the RMI Aconcagua Team. We are standing on top of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalaya. The team did well, we had a really cold morning, probably about 25 mph winds in the face for the first several hours. Now we are sitting up here, we could be in jeans shorts and tank tops. The team did well and we're going to hang out here and take some photos. Then we still have to descend. We will call in or send a dispatch once everyone is safe back at camp. Thanks for following along. Everyone sends their best.
RMI Guide Mike King
RMI Guide Mike King calls from the summit of Aconcagua.
On The Map
Congratulations everyone!! Sounds like it was a tough final push to the summit. Can’t wait to hear all about it Katja! Be careful on the descent.
- Wilton
Posted by: Wilton Farmwald on 1/14/2018 at 5:35 pm
Congrats everyone!!! What an accomplishment.
Posted by: Adam and Candice on 1/14/2018 at 8:19 am
Happy New Year from Quito, Ecuador. I am happy to report the entire Expedition Skills Seminar team has arrived safely and is ready for a fun evening enjoying local culture and spirits. Our fiesta will come on the heels of a great day which involved a number of interesting and fun activities.
To begin our first official day together we met after breakfast going through a quick team introduction and itinerary overview. At 9 am the streets outside were already filling with eager New Year’s enthusiasts, some dressing in drag and some wearing colorful wigs, but we passed on joining them and loaded onto our tour bus bound for the middle of the world. Once at the equator, we observed fun physical anomalies only present on the actual equatorial line. Much of our group earned their “Egg Master” awards, balancing an egg on a nail, while others tried to shut their eyes and walk the line without tipping over. Why an egg will balance on a nail but a human can’t balance with their eyes closed is beyond me but proves to be the case.
Outside of the museum, the team encountered a group of locals partaking in the local custom of burning large dolls supposedly filled with the year’s bad energy. As it burns you are supposed to make a wish for better things to come, then leap over the burning pile to make that wish come true. Stephanie showed no fear in giving her wish the best chance.
From the equator we traveled south into the old town of Quito where we gained beautiful vistas of this 40 mile long city atop a hill called El Panacillo. Unfortunately, there were no views of our snow capped peaks but we know they are out there. After this we descended into the old town where we toured some traditional shops and streets then finished in the main square of Quito directly across from the presidential palace.
Despite most of the team feeling a bit tired from traveling and jumping straight to 9000', we left time to have a late lunch at a great little micro-brewery trying it’s best to replicated those in the states. Although the IPA needs a bit more hoppiness, the stout proved our favorite.
Tomorrow we gear up for our first acclimation hike. Stay tuned to see if a few in the group break their previous altitude high points. Late night or not, I have high hopes…..
Happy New Year once more. Salud.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
that certainly sounds like my Stephanie! Happy climbing and be SAFE! Love Mom xxxooo
Posted by: Karen Norris on 1/1/2018 at 11:33 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Steve Gately, JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9,500'
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June 27, 2015 10:32 pm PST
We intended to get stirring by about 2:30 this morning, but to no one's disappointment, that didn't happen. It was socked-in and cloudy then with wettish snow in the air. Likewise at 3 AM, not so good, and not at 3:30 either. But then things started looking up. We got up just after five and were climbing by 8:45. Conditions were once again great for climbing. With snowshoes on, we stayed right on the snow surface, as did our sleds. Without too much trouble, we got up "Ski Hill" and hit our intended camp at 9,500 ft around noon. By then we were in the clouds again and light snow was falling, but we'd gotten high enough to make things cold and so wetness was no longer a problem. The team all pitched in admirably to build a new camp and then retreated for afternoon naps. It was burrito night in the POSH tent where we were comfortably seated on snow benches out of the weather.
We'll see about moving up to 11,000' tomorrow if folks are feeling good and the weather gives a break.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
not enuff blog not enuff pics! the suspense of the venture is killin us
Posted by: kathie grengs on 6/29/2015 at 10:31 am
For Gary Ross/Team 4 (Hahn Team):
Gary - Take the “Top of the Line” to the Top of Denali.
Rangers Lead The Way!!!!!!!
Chip Sniffin / Executive Director, Sherpa Support Team
Posted by: Chip Sniffin on 6/29/2015 at 8:24 am
It is not often that a group has a camp to themselves on Aconcagua, that is where we find our team today. After enjoying a sunny and near windless morning the team is organizing personal gear, reading and relaxing. The little headaches and discomfort from our carry to Camp 2 yesterday have dissipated and everyone is adjusting to life at 16,200ft.
The weather has been great with lots of sun, warm temperatures and light wind. We would like to climb higher during this high pressure system, and the team is taking every opportunity to acclimatize appropriately.
As I am typing this dispatch, all I hear is laughter and conversation coming from our tents and that is a welcome sign after two hard days of climbing and caching equipment. We move to Camp 2 tomorrow to begin a holding pattern for our move to high camp and summit day.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Posted by: Seth Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
It's been another great day on safari. Today we got an early start and headed to Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area. This is different from the national parks here in Tanzania in that the Masaai people are allowed to continue their traditional way of life in the conservation area but no one is allowed to live in the national parks.
The entrance to the crater is only 15 minutes from our hotel but then we have to drive around the rim to get to a descent road. So along the way we stopped at a Masaai village where they showed us how they organize the village and what their homes are like. It was all very interesting.
After we got down to the floor of the crater we started to see all of the animals that we came for. We did get the chance to see a female lion and her cubs but it was very hot and they we just relaxing in the shade. After that we got to see two fairly active rhinos fairly close to the road and that was a real treat. But I would have to say the best sighting of the day was a few hippos feeding on grass very close to the car.
Now we are headed back to the Plantation Lodge for the night. Tomorrow we'll sleep in a little and then head to Tarangire National Park and Kikoti Camp which are our last destinations on this trip.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
WOW! Sounds like an amazing experience! Patty, we can’t to see you and hear all about this incredible adventure!! Take lots of pictures… We love you… Be safe…
Posted by: Sally on 2/5/2015 at 4:18 am
Patty—-get as many selfies as you can with ALL of the locals… 2 legged and 4 legged as long as it’s legal, and of course safe! Love you! Regina
Posted by: Regina on 2/4/2015 at 2:11 pm
GO Brendan and Min Wo!
Posted by: Arie Rowaan, Marlene Rowaan on 6/19/2019 at 1:17 pm
We’re all excited Casey and enjoying the blogs. Go team Walter!
Posted by: Cheri Kenney on 6/19/2019 at 12:58 pm
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