Friday, May 29th 12:52pm PDT
Today the UWR (Upper West Rib) McKinley team is scurrying around getting all of our gear dialed for the glacier. Planes are landing and taking off every few minutes, which keeps us motivated to stay on our tasks. Line by line we are crossing off our check lists, and the piles of food and gear are growing to epic proportions.
The weather is stable right now, and it looks promising that we will fly on tomorrow.
Thanks for following along. We'll update everyone from the glacier!
RMI Guides Eric Frank and Geoff Schellens and team
Go Kim! I’m holding down the fort in Cincy so no worries! :)
Posted by: Maria on 6/1/2015 at 6:18 am
Hi, Kimmy. My back hurts just looking at all that stuff you have to carry!! Have a great time! I’ll try and not screw up too much while you’re gone! - Helen
Rest day at the beautiful Chilcabamba Eco Lodge! Our team enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in and relax, and prepare for Cotopaxi, our next objective for this trip.
After a delightful breakfast, we were able to catch a few glimpses of the mountain in the distance and talked about the route. Based on the team's performance on Cayambe, we'll have no problem with this next climb!
We spent the day reading books and sharing stories, and wrapped the evening up with a technical skills session. We learned a variety of knots, talked about climbing anchors, and finished with a full-blown crevasse rescue scenario in the lawn.
Spirits are high and we are ready to go! Tomorrow we move on to the Tambopaxi Lodge in preparation for our summit bid on Cotopaxi.
Until then,
RMI Guide Nick Hunt and the Ecuador team
Sorry folks this is gonna be short. Our Aconcagua team is great and we are settling into high camp at 19,600 feet. There's a lot of work for the guides so we gotta run. Tomorrow is looking good for a summit attempt so wish us luck!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
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
All is well here on Kilimanjaro!
Once again we woke to beautifully clear skies with even better views of Kilimanjaro and clouds obscuring the valleys below. Our morning ritual has been waking around 6:30 and getting everything in our tents packed up before heading into our very spacious dinning tent for quite the feast. It was a bit chilly this morning, but soon enough the sun had us hiking in just our light layers.
We hit the trail once again around 8am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 15min break, then back on the trail for another hour. All total today we hiked for just over 6hrs before reaching camp which is set up and ready for us. Eventually the clouds rolled in an obscured the mountain for the final few hours.
Along the way we passed around the famous and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000' setting new altitude records for some of the team. Everyone enjoyed the day and there was plenty of good conversations among the crew.
All in all it was a really nice day!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Tuesday, January 15, 2019 -
After a full night's sleep and delicious breakfast at Hacienda Guachalá, our re-energized team loaded up the bags and went from a centuries-old hacienda to a modern Ecuadorian shopping mall. After a bit of food shopping and lunch, we made the drive up to the refugio at the base of Cotopaxi. On our drive up, a sudden break in the clouds offered a stunning view of this iconic mountain. After a great dinner in the hut the team is settled in, feeling acclimatized, and ready to learn more mountain skills tomorrow!
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Good morning, afternoon or evening! The team went on an acclimatization hike today. We hiked up the drainage then gained a ridge to get a better view of the surrounding peaks. Saipal peak is more and more impressive the closer you get. There is a peak to the right of Saipal that we are considering pursuing. It too looks beautiful. The team will discuss this evening and tomorrow on what we should do. Everyone's duffles should arrive tomorrow, which the team is psyched for. Basecamp is cozy with dining tents, bathroom tent, and even a shower tent. We are living a pretty good life up here.
Talk to you all tomorrow,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith
Namaste
The team woke to beautifully clear skies and views of Mt. Everest right out our dining room window. We’ve settled into our daily routine of getting up and packing our duffel bags before meeting in the dining room for breakfast and Starbucks coffee thanks to RMI sending it with us. After breakfast we step outside to get a better sense of the temperature before adjusting our layers for the hike. Once on the trail we do our best to maintain a steady pace, with stops every hour or so to stay hydrated and take in the views. There’s plenty of other hikers and yak trains headed in both directions to negotiate as well.
Today we hiked for about 5-6 hrs including breaks and a light lunch to get to our next tea house in Pheriche, which sits at about 14’000ft.
Everyone did great and enjoyed the stunning views of Ama Dablam, one of the iconic peaks along the route to Everest Base Camp.RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Jambo! Mark Tucker checking in from Uhuru Peak, the top of Africa. Under perfect conditions, we have a group of intrepid mountaineers on the summit. A great climb. I couldn't keep up with these guys. Everybody on top. We are doing great, having a gas, looking forward to getting down to the low camp. All is well, everybody sends their best. I don't know how many pictures we can take, but we're doing it, so we'll check in later.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guide Mark Tucker calls from Uhuru Peak, the Roof of Africa.
The Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide Brent Okita and the Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 6:45 am. Brent reported good weather with 25 mph winds. The teams spent about an hour on the summit before beginning their descent at 7:45 am.
Go Kim! I’m holding down the fort in Cincy so no worries! :)
Posted by: Maria on 6/1/2015 at 6:18 am
Hi, Kimmy. My back hurts just looking at all that stuff you have to carry!! Have a great time! I’ll try and not screw up too much while you’re gone! - Helen
Posted by: Helen on 5/31/2015 at 12:07 pm
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