The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Andy Bond climbed throughout the day yesterday and reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Emmons Glacier. Andy and team have spent the week honing their alpine mountaineering techniques including: crevasse rescue, anchors and running belays, route finding, and fixed line travel. It is currently snowing, so the team is breaking down camp and will be descending and making their way off the mountain today.
Congratulations team!
I was part of the two person team that climbed along side you guys. Congrats to everyone on the team. Also wanna say thanks for keeping others in mind you guys had a fantastic professional team and it was great hanging out.
Posted by: Donnie Stephens on 7/4/2019 at 3:47 am
That’s awesome!
Posted by: Jenni Campbell-Watt on 6/21/2019 at 8:33 am
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
We are that much closer to touching the ceiling of Europe. After a bit of a blustery night, things were beautiful and calm this morning. We packed up our tents, said goodbye for now to Alaska, the camp comfort dog, and headed back up our boot track from yesterday. Clouds built quickly and we wondered whether we would get wet, but the precip stayed away, and the respite from the sun was quite pleasant. We reached our new camp at 15,300' in short order, and settled into pouring our homes back together. As we crawled in for a siesta, the clouds caught back up with us, starting with first hail, and then transitioning to snow. We are now enveloped in a bit of a winter wonderland, though the first hint of sunlight will change that.
We hope to see a clear sky and calm conditions when we wake up in the morning to give us our shot at the summit. We're ready!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Following this exciting climb!. Thinking of my cousin!... So amazing you can do this Robin!... Lying here warm and toasty. Hope the same for all of you!
Posted by: Stacy and Seth on 8/9/2017 at 7:44 pm
Good Luck Sonam and your climb team! We are all rooting for you at SkyKick!
Kelly and Team.
First, and most importantly, we'd like to wish Kathey Uchal a very happy birthday. We hope it is a great one!
We fell asleep listening to the bass tones of the nearby river last night and woke to sun early. The sun rises at 4:30 or 5:00 up here, and once out there's not much sense trying to sleep, so we crawled out, fired up coffee and breakfast, and got set for the day.
With packs full of food, fuel, a spare tent and some other odds and ends, as well as our personal gear and food, we headed uphill towards camp one, in a moraine at the base of the glacier around 12,000'. Early on, the sun made its presence felt, instantly heating everyone to a rolling boil. As we climbed higher though, we made it into a nice breeze that kept things pleasant. After many hours of laboring under our loads, we arrived at Camp 1 and stashed all of our stuff. With the bulk of the work done, we turned back downhill. Mt. Elbrus wasn't done with us yet though. Half an hour into our descent, the first piece of hail fell in the rocks somewhere, probably not that near us. But then the skies opened up and it was like being brutally outmatched in a paintball game. We threw our hard shells on and beat foot downhill, running at times to escape the pelting. The hail finally let up, yielding a rainbow a few hundred yards in front of us, but no matter how hard we looked, we couldn't find the pot of gold.
Back in camp, folks ducked into tents, eager to snack and recover, but then one of the Russian cooks of our outfitter came looking for Josh, wanting someone to play volleyball with. Mike and Pete couldn't resist, and joined the match too, and soon we had a decent game going. Now dinner is done, and we're back in tents eager for the deep sleep that follows a hard day of work. We'll do it again tomorrow, moving our camp to Camp 1 and continuing forward progress. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Jake Beren & Team checking in. We moved to 14.000' Camp on Denali yesterday. Today we are busy building walls and fortifying our camp and getting settled in. We will spend tomorrow training and are enjoying the thinner air.
All is well!
Over the past few days our team has been very busy down here on the equator. On Saturday, we departed the comforts of civilization and made our way to the Cayambe Hut at a little over 15,000'. The road to this mountain lodge is riddled with boulders, pot holes, mud pits, and the occasional farm animal, making it mandatory to use a 4x4 vehicle.
Once we were settled in and spent a night in the thin air we moved further uphill to do some basic training on the toe of the glacier. The team remembered mostly everything from their previous experience and were ready for a summit attempt. So we packed our gear, ate some dinner, and went to bed for a few hours.
At about 11 pm we awoke to clear skies and were able to start uphill by midnight. With perfect climbing conditions and a strong team we found ourselves on top of Cayambe for a 6:30 am sunrise over the equator. After descending the upper steep slopes we cruised back to the hut and packed up. A quick 4x4 ride brought us to our hacienda were we will start to recover from the climb.
Everyone is doing well and excited with the success we had!
RMI Guide Ben Liken
Last night at 6:30 in the evening, Team Shishapangma was still on the move, descending a barely visible trail etched into the ancient glacial moraine by only a few dozen boots going up and down with hopes of establishing camps on the higher slopes of this snowy mass. Clearly this footpath changes each year after the passing of the monsoon rains so we were again proven how generous and selfless our Sherpa team is when Furba and Pemba Sherpa met us more than two miles from camp with warm drinks and happy smiles. We had been away from base camp for more than three days and they were eager to greet us. The remaining walk was in the dark guessing where the trail led which our Sherpas, with most things mountain related, were better at than us. We devoured dinner and shortly after sleep devoured us.
This morning, Sunday the 18th of September greeted us like most others have. The sun hits us at 7:30, the sounds of Aital and Purna our righteous cooks firing up the kitchen, echoing off the rocky hillside behind us, our neighbor's camp coming to life. But these common place things are now accompanied by a new set of sounds. A chorus of coughs, hacks, and other phlegm related guttural noises are reminding us constantly how the unforgiving altitude we are living at is tightening its grip. Life at base camp is the best we have but at 18,500 feet it is still a challenge. So we were all grateful that today the most difficult thing we needed to do was drink coffee, clean some clothes, and listen to the Mark Wilkins school of business.
Rest days are quickly becoming a hard earned and well deserved reward. The rotations coming up are only going to get higher, colder and longer so we will enjoy base camp as much as we can. Everyone is dreaming of home and wishing all following along lots of love.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
I look forward to these updates every night. It puts a lot of things into perspective. Stella, Thor and I are with you in spirit and wishing you well. XO, Trish
Posted by: Trish on 9/23/2016 at 5:09 pm
Talking to you last night (your morning) and hearing your raspy breath (and challenged breathing) made the elevation you are operating at very real and vivid. Hopefully the day of rest will allow some natural healing to take place in all of your struggling respiratory systems.
Your adventure makes my solo 3,904 mile drive to/from Bonneville seems pretty lame. BTW, I thought of you yesterday when I looked at a partly collapsed bottle of oil that I’d opened and resealed on the 4,200 ft. elevation of the flats. Can’t imagine 18,000+.
Posted by: Rick Deerwester on 9/19/2016 at 6:28 am
RMI Guides Brent Okita & Geoff Schellens led their Four Day Summit Climb teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams were able to spend about an hour enjoying the views on the summit. They began their descent from the crater rim just before 8 am. They will return to Camp Muir to rest and repack before continuing down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's teams!
May 21, 2015 - 10:03 pm PT
Here we are at 9,800' for a second night. This morning the winds continued to whip at the surrounding ridges and moving camp up the Kahiltna Dome was not prudent. However we were able to go for a venture towards Kahiltna Pass to see what there was to see. Good times trying to get over the bergschrund which was a trap door of deep faceted snow. Towards the top of the ridge we met firm icy conditions that forced us back down. Good times nevertheless! If the weather improves tomorrow we will make an attempt on the Dome.
Good night!
RMI Guide Leon Davis
May 30, 2014 - 7:43 pm PT
Hello from Talkeetna, Alaska! The Upper West Rib team arrived in Anchorage yesterday afternoon and shuttled north to Talkeetna, our launch site for the mountain. Right now, this sleepy little town is bursting at the seams with climbers waiting to fly onto the glacier. The skies are overcast and the planes have been grounded since early in the week. Everywhere you look, there are softshell clad people trying to pass the time.
Our team was distracted from the constant refreshing of weather websites by plenty of prep work today. After meeting with the National Park Service for a general orientation, we rolled our sleeves up and got right to work. Eight hours later, our bags are packed and we will head to dinner to discuss the only thing on waiting climber's minds... "when will the clouds break?"
For now all we can do is relax and know that we are prepared whenever that eventuality comes about.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
There you are!
Hi to all of you.
Im glad to see you guys getting ready to move on.
Thanks for the postings. That’ll be one of the greatest accomplishments. I look forward more updates of your progress. Good luck.
Love you,
Jesse :)
Posted by: L. Rosales on 5/31/2014 at 2:26 pm
Thanks for the visual of your location! Glad that you are safe in Talkeetna. Loved the moose! Thinking of you all constantly! I love you John!!!!!
Posted by: Patricia Stenderup on 5/31/2014 at 7:30 am
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I was part of the two person team that climbed along side you guys. Congrats to everyone on the team. Also wanna say thanks for keeping others in mind you guys had a fantastic professional team and it was great hanging out.
Posted by: Donnie Stephens on 7/4/2019 at 3:47 am
That’s awesome!
Posted by: Jenni Campbell-Watt on 6/21/2019 at 8:33 am
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