I don't mean to brag, and I don't mean to boast. I do like Russian peanut butter and jam on my breakfast toast! But what else I do like is 100%! Every single climber on the summit of Europe's highest mountain, Mount Elbrus. Hey everyone, this is JJ Justman. We are doing the final little stretch here to get to the tippy top of Mount Elbrus. Team, what do you say? [Team hollers!] These guys are doing great, strong as can be. We just had a beautiful day coming up to the summit. We just have a few more steps to go but it's a done deal. We are going to hang out on top and take some photos. We will touch base with you when we get back down. Am I excited? Heck yeah I'm excited! These guys are really strong and they did a great job today. We'll touch base when we get down. This is JJ and the entire summit team on the summit of Mount Elbrus! Bye bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls from the Mount Elbrus summit
June 20, 2015 10:01 pm PT
It started snowing when we went to bed last night and it did not stop until we woke up this morning. We have made such good time so far, so we decided to take a weather/rest day today. It turned out to be a great decision since it turned into a whiteout and began snowing again by midday. We made a half day out of making breakfast quesadillas and hanging out in the cook tent. I am not really sure where the rest of the day went! We are sitting in the sun as of dinner, so I expect we will be able execute our cache plan tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
We love the blog updates! Happy Father’s Day to Matt Krull. We miss you buddy and we’re sure your family does as well. Keep up the great work and we look forward to seeing pictures of you on top of the highest mountain peak in North America!
Posted by: Scott & Scott on 6/22/2015 at 9:28 am
Sounds like it’s been smooth sailing so far! I’m giving updates all the time, thanks for the blog. No snow in the Midwest—hot first day of summer, and the corn is as tall as I am! Tell Brian I planted more, weeded the garden, and gave the critters all some love. You’ve got fans in Iowa, Texas, Hawaii, Japan—you are all in our thoughts. Judi
RMI Guide Casey Grom called from the Mount Rainier summit at 7:15 a.m. His team was on top in warm temperatures at no winds. They began their descent just after the radio call.
Congratulations to the summit climb team!
May 27, 2015 - 10:38 pm PT
We woke early this morning, ate, took down our tents and packed our backpacks. We even had our harnesses on. The weather was perfect. But after checking multiple weather resources, our decision was clear. Weather models were in agreement, forecasting gale force winds in excess of 65mph tomorrow at high camp. It would not have been prudent to risk going up high today and deal with potential tent-crushing winds tomorrow. So we unpacked and set up our tents anew.
Throughout the emotional swings of this morning, our team has remained resolute. Safety is our number one priority up here in the mountains, and we will try for our summit push after tomorrow's winds abate. In fact, the forecast looks quite good for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We're optimistic that we'll have good shot to move up to high camp on Friday.
In the mean time today, we're enjoying the best weather day of our whole trip. It's sunny, calm, and warm here at 14,200'.
Pete Van Deventer's expedition is up high on the ridge today, caching supplies for their stint at high camp (which will likely coincide with ours). Adam Knoff's expedition rolled into camp today also, and they're busy setting up their camp. It's good to see a lot of friendly RMI climber faces here at camp.
We'll keep you posted any news from our end.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Rest day at Camp 2:
Our coldest morning of the climb here at Camp 2 on Aconcagua. Our water source is a large snowfield, that lately has been a raging torrent due to warm temperatures and almost zero snowfall this season. The amount of water and ice that has melted at Camp 2 has begun to erode tent sites that have been staple spots at an already cramped camp.
We are going for a walk to 19,000' this morning to stretch our legs and lungs. 18,000 ft is the highest our group has slept and the guides are pleased with how everyone is acclimating. We are still anticipating high winds tomorrow and remain flexible in our ability to move up if we see a significant difference in the forecast.
RMI Guides Mike King, Steve Gately & Team
I’ve got a detailed map of Aconcagua, and it’s extremely cool to see your photos and locate them on the topo map. I can’t wait to take a shot at Aconcagua! It may still be a year or two away, but I’m working my way up to it.
Hey Everyone,
Today Team 4 did a carry to Camp Two at 18000 feet. However, we didn't stop there. We were all feeling so good that after we dropped our gear at camp we ventured higher to 19000 feet. The team did great and we are now back at Camp One where 16200 feet is beginning to feel like sea level. Tomorrow we will have a rest day to fully recover and assist in acclimatizing even better.
Thanks for following along!
RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team
David and Jenny
Hope everything is going well. I see the pictures on the blog. Keep warm and safe. Vaishu, Jai and Janita send their love
Vishnu
Posted by: vishnu on 1/14/2015 at 7:37 pm
Rob, Jo, and Sue,
Great work! I hope the weather has been cooperative, and that all of you are feeling well up there in the thin air. Heck, you’re up at jet altitudes, now! I’m sure there’s plenty of tea, powdered cow (good memory, Russ!), and maybe even fresh popcorn to keep your spirits up.
Billy and Jake here checking in on the team's first night in Argentina together. Most of the crew is a little travel weary but full of enthusiasm about the upcoming adventure. After a general team meeting and a round of introductions we spent most of the afternoon with a thorough gear check. Later this evening the team dined at a new parilla in town, enjoying delicious salads, Argentine beef, and vino tinto. The weather here in Mendoza is beautiful: clear, sunny, and warm during the day and cool at night. Perfect for growing grapes, or just living! I am pretty sure none of us are missing the North American winter. Anyways, we're resting up from those several days of traveling and gearing up for a super busy day tomorrow. Lots of loose ends to tie together before we split town for the mountains and Los Penitentes!
Have a good night, and we'll check back in tomorrow!
Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 10:11 PM PT
Hey from 14K. We got an excellent day for moving up. When the 6 AM alarm went off down at 11,000', we peered out to see clear skies and no signs of wind. We pounced on the opportunity, hitting the trail at 9 AM. Hannah Smith led the charge today, bringing the team expeditiously up Motorcycle Hill, The Squirrel Hills and then the Polo Field. Just like when we carried, it began to cloud up as we approached Windy Corner and to snow as we went around. We moved right on past our cache site, which appears to be resisting the ravages of the ravens (we buried it deep in the snow). Hannah got us into camp at 14,000' in a very respectable 5 hours and 45 minutes. The tents went up fast and easy and about the time we’d completed setup, the snow quit. As we ate dinner, the clouds melted away and when we emerged from our deluxe dining shelter, we were treated to new and spectacular views in every direction. Foraker and Hunter, the other two giants of the Alaska Range were visible -for the first time- in all their glory. But it was the view of Denali, rising straight up in front of us for a vertical mile and more that took our breath away. Our world is now bound on the left by the West Buttress and on the right by the West Rib... which covers a lot of fascinating and historic... and slightly intimidating terrain. Just before bedtime, we listened to the weather outlook, broadcast via radio from Basecamp and more importantly to the trivia question for the night. Did you know that there are 21 bears for every human in Alaska?
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
‘Enjoying the updates, wishing you continued safe travel and good weather! ‘Looking forward to hearing about your adventures in person when you return to WI!
Posted by: Terri Ellis on 6/29/2018 at 4:24 am
Your Swiss genes are showing in this hike and Fritz would be so proud! Stay safe and enjoy!
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
Hola from 15,000 feet on the southern flanks of Cayambe.
I would first like to apologize to anyone who was expecting a blog post yesterday. We had technical difficulties which we discovered too late in the evening, so today's post will include yesterday and today.
I will begin at breakfast yesterday. Casa Sol, our beautiful hacienda high on the the hill overlooking the busy market town of Otavalo, treated all of us very well getting us energized to hit streets for our big shopping extravaganza.
After packing the bus we rolled into town ready to negotiate and spend. The textiles and indigenous goods made for great photos as well as gifts. A few of the guys couldn't pass up the sexy alpaca sweaters for themselves so I'm anticipating a strong fashion outing when we get back to Quito.
After shopping we drove back south to the actual town of Cayambe where we transferred bags from the bus to the trucks and started up toward the Refugio.
If roads got as bad as these in the states, they would be considered more mountain bike tracks than 4x4 roads.
Nevertheless, our trucks got us all the way to the front door. The temps up here are cool and the mountain weather sporadic at best but we still managed a good hour hike up hill to scope the route and stretch the legs. We topped out at 15,700' giving a number of climbers a personal high point which likely won't last long.
After getting settled we had a nice dinner from the full service kitchen then learned the classic Midwest game of Uker from one of the three Iowans in the group. The sun down here rises at six and sets at six so by 8:30 the entire team was ready for bed.
Upon waking the next morning we knew something was different. Even with no beer on the mountain, everyone felt a bit hungover. A product of our first night's sleep at a new altitude. We warded off the headaches with some active breathing, scrambled eggs and good old fashioned Excedrin.
After breakfast we retraced our steps going a bit higher to the toe of the Hermoso Glacier, starting at 16,000 feet. From here we reviewed the skills needed to climb the mountain safely. The weather continued its moodiness, first snowing, then scorching, then blowing, then back to snowing. It couldn't make up its mind so by 12:00 we decided to head it down. Now, after a great lunch, some more hot cocoa and a quick debrief, it's time for a nap. Dinner is at five and our wake up call is at 11 pm. We are all psyched to try our hand at Ecuador's third highest peak starting tonight.
Stay tuned for a summit post tomorrow.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff saying buenas Noches for now
Hey JJ and Team-
Great job gang! Have a safe descent.
Posted by: Larry Seaton on 7/18/2015 at 7:41 am
What a beautiful view. Congrats JJ and the team. Have a safe trip back down. Way to go Stephanie!
Posted by: Ivan on 7/18/2015 at 6:22 am
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