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Well, what a day. We went to bed last night to cold temps and high winds and by the time we woke this morning at 2 am the winds had calmed and the temps were on the rise. The climbing was tough right out of camp today, mixed snow and rock conditions up the
Knees Route made for some challenging conditions. However, once we crested the "Knees" the roller coaster ridge line of Ixta made for some great climbing. Conditons for the rest of the climb were ideal and we enjoyed a great summit and descent. We really snuck the climb in today because on the way down from High Camp conditions began to deteriorate. We are all currently on a bus to Puebla, where we will be resting and sightseeing tomorrow before gearing up for our climb of Pico de Orizaba.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Billy Haas
On The Map
June 11, 2015 10:02pm
With unsettled weather upon us we slept in this morning had a nice brunch and spent the afternoon reviewing some technical skills. We discussed some of the techniques we will use and practiced removing and stowing various types of gear as we climb. The team is anxious to get climbing but there is nothing we can do until the weather improves. For now we are enjoying long meals, funny stories, and some good naps. That's all for now. Thanks for following along and keep your fingers crossed for some good weather up here on
Denali.
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Geoff Schellens & Team
Seth here, checking in on our first day of safari. We left the Dik Dik this morning in a total downpour and we were all a bit nervous that our luck with good weather had run out. By the time we reached
Lake Manyara, however, the rain had stopped. The moisture has actually kept the dust down so riding with the top of the vehicle open has been no problem. The game viewing has been pretty solid for our 'warm up' day. I would say the hippos were the most impressive animals we saw but we got the closest to some zebras. Tonight we will stay at the Plantation Lodge and tomorrow we'll visit Ngorongoro Crater.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
The Mt. Baker Expedition Skills Seminar spent the week on the mountian training. The team had tough weather on the mountian. Yesterday they spent the day in the sunshine on Mt Erie to solidify rope skills and dove deeper into a variety of alpin skills. The team was unable to summit due to the weather but took advantage of the time and were eager to learn and develop new skills.
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Leaving Camp at 8:15 the going gets steep right off the bat. But, as we say on Kili, pole, pole - slowly,slowly. It's a refrain we hear all the time, and is one of the secrets to summitting this 19,340' mountain. We are thankful we started out dressed lightly as this trail makes you work for every step. Luckily, the clouds overhead keep the temp pleasantly cool. The clouds also offer some protection from the high altitude sun. Approaching 12,000' we note that the giant heathers are getting smaller. The wildflowers are getting more common, with the beautiful and hearty Everlasting flowers. It's beautiful! Fun rock steps provide interesting hand and footwork. Then, magically, Shira Camp appears. Once settled lunch is announced. We're treated to potato, leek soup, French fries and sautéed herb chicken. Amazing!
Time for a siesta.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
We did another alpine start and another climb up the side of a volcano. But this time we got up to a fine pre-dawn breakfast in a comfy dining room with a roaring fire and rode up the side of a collapsed volcano in Toyota Landcruisers. That was all under heavy cloud and a little rain. By the time we’d ridden around the crater rim and dropped down in, we were out of the clouds and into a world of wildlife and wonders. Before very long we were looking at a pride of nine lions up close and personal (before the day was out, we’d seen around 26 different lions). We saw herd after herd after herd of wildebeest, zebra and Cape buffalo. Gazelles bounded and abounded. There were just a few solitary elephants here and there. In the morning we spied a rhinoceros off in the distance. In the afternoon we went on a wild rhino rumor race... chasing across the crater along with half the other Toyotas in Tanzania to see a supposed rhino who apparently dropped down and went to sleep out of sight. As consolation, we had high times with hippos in a number of places. Many of the team said their favorite part of the day was encountering two lionesses simply walking past the cars on their way to who-knows-where. We had an excellent and very relaxing picnic lunch while watching hippos, birds, buffalo and zebras. At about 4 PM, Ibrahim and Edson steered the Landcruisers up a crazily switchbacking exit road and we left the
conservation zone and got back to our garden of a hotel to take things a little easy before dinner.
Tarangire is tomorrow.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Sunday, July 1, 2018 - 11:14 PM PT
This was the day we were looking for. Even so, it looked a little gusty up high at first, so we dragged our feet a little and lingered over breakfast. The sun hit at 9:30 and we got walking at 10:30. Our goal, of course, was to carry food and supplies up onto the
West Buttress and to establish a cache that will help us when we commit to moving up to 17,000 ft. But our goal was also to get familiar with the steep part of this climb -the fixed ropes- and to build on our acclimatization by getting a good workout in at altitude. We did all of that today. Things were slightly on the crowded side, but that didn’t give us much trouble in the end. It is close to the end of the Denali climbing season, now that we are in July, but the last 100 or so climbers all flew on at once due to the five day storm that preceded our arrival. And we’ve mostly been on the same travel schedules since those 100 folks are all in various guided parties. But we know and like many of the people so it hasn’t -to this point- seemed so crowded. But all those folks needing to get on the same ropes to reach the crest of the West Buttress means that some patience will be required. We turned out to be patient today, waiting our turn, but it wasn’t so hard to be that way in sunny, pleasant weather and with fantastic scenery all around. The upside for us was that the teams ahead of us kicked a perfect staircase in the snow up the steep headwall. We topped out at 16,200 in surprisingly fine conditions -the exposed ridge crest can often be cold and windy. As it was 3 PM we declared victory and established a cache -burying it all to keep our supplies from the ravens. Our descent was smooth and easy since we now had the whole place to ourselves. We were back down to camp by 5 PM and relaxing over dinner a couple of hours later. Rest day tomorrow and then up for good.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
We were up early for this big day of the Safari, leaving our comfy hotel at 7 AM to get over to
Ngorongoro Crater. Our Landcruisers clawed their way up the rough dirt road to the crater rim and then we bounced our way around the circle until another dirt track took us down into the collapsed caldera. Right off, we began seeing wildlife in great numbers and in close proximity. Before long we were quite used to ostriches and great herds of wildebeest and Cape Buffalo. We saw a pack of perhaps 20 hyena, barking eerily and crunching the bones of some freshly departed big animal. We got way closer than we ever imagined was possible to a couple of lionesses and a big male who decided the road would do just fine for napping. We saw (and got a whiff of) several dozen hippos, wallowing in various ponds. There were secretary birds and kori bustards, fish eagles and vultures. Gazelles and zebra were everywhere. We didn't manage to spot rhinos, but we did see a few great bull elephants. The day was fairly hot and sunny until a system of thunderstorms rolled by, cooling things for our afternoon tour. Then Edson and Juma skillfully brought the cruisers back down the rough roads to our hotel for a relaxing evening at the Plantation Lodge. Suffice to say that we were blown away by our day inside a volcano.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Summit! With bluebird skies and lights winds, the summit climb teams reached the top of
Mt. Rainier. The teams, led by
Eric Frank and
Paul Rachele, began their descent from the Crater Rim just after 7AM.
We look forward to congratulating them here at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.
June 23, 2017 10:00 pm PST
It didn't seem terribly cold this morning at 5:30, Around 17 F or so, which made it a little easier to get up and rally for "the carry". We got out on the trail by a quarter to eight. Finally we were wearing crampons and holding ice axes like mountain climbers (to this point it has been snowshoes and ski poles). The track was in great condition -well packed snow- due to the large number of teams that have passed through since the last storm. We cruised up the steep Motorcycle Hill, and navigated the squirrely Squirrel Hill and found ourselves in the Polo Field below the end of the
West Buttress before the sun caught us. Another hour brought us to a decidedly calm Windy Corner. We slipped around the corner, getting great views of Foraker, Hunter and finally Denali, in the process. We cached food and fuel at 13,500 ft -our target for the day- and had an easy walk back down to camp at 11K with relatively empty packs. It was exhilarating to be out of the deep valley at last and to be crossing ridges and turning corners with all the big views. But it was also nice to get back to our camp and to have a calm afternoon to rest after our labors. We ate dinner and made preparations for our big move up to 14K tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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Hi Kim & Co.!!! I am no Al Roker but surely things must be getting better in your neck of the woods!!! Fingers crossed that the snow is done for the time being!!! Btw Sophia is auditioning for the role of Flounder on Monday (Ariel’s sidekick)...
Hugs &kisses;
Ron the Potato, Jerome, Adam Richman, Mark Klein & me
Posted by: Lora on 6/12/2015 at 7:30 pm
Hi Kim, I hope there is a dramatic improvement in the weather so that you & the team can move upward! Hopefully, tomorrow (Saturday) will be the “big’ day where the snow will stop,the sun will shine & the winds will be calm!!! I am sending positive weather vibes your way! Travel safe & stay well! Love, Dad
Posted by: SHEL on 6/12/2015 at 4:58 pm
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