Most Popular Entries
September 7, 2016
This morning we woke up in Lhasa, the spiritual and political capital of Tibet. This city sits over 12,000 feet so it is fair to say there were a couple restless nights and throbbing heads as we adjusted to our new altitude and instant coffee downgrade. After breakfast we took an incredible tour of the Potala Palace. This is without question the most famous landmark in all of Tibet. Built in 1645 as a winter home for the Dali Lama, the sheer size, engineering and magnificence of this palace inspires anyone lucky enough just to lay eyes on it. So we felt privileged to have a three hour tour arranged for us beginning right after breakfast.
Once on the streets of Lhasa, this preconceived idea of a beautiful, traditional Buddhist city got zapped straight out of our brains with blaring horns, massive buildings and what one person called the Times Square of Tibet directly in front of the palace's gate. Neon lights, swanky fashion shops, fancy cars, Lhasa has it all.
After our brief culture shock we found ourselves deep in the heart of the Potala Palace, sanctuary to over a dozen Dali Lamas in the past 375 years. It is difficult to describe how spectacular this place is. From Dali Lama tombs to prayer rooms to sculptures cast in gold. This place is truly remarkable.
After the Palace tour our next excursion began. The 180 mile drive from Lhasa to Shigatse. With both cities holding populations greater than a half million, we simply could not believe the infrastructure projects connecting these two metropolises. Paved highways, massive tunnels through giant mountains, apartment buildings ready to house thousands more Chinese coming to this high mountain desert.
Beyond all of the cultural collisions, we made it to Shigatse in just over 7 hours. If you do the math that is an average speed of 26 miles per hour. We drove so slow at times the team thought we would get rear ended by a cow pulling a cart. Ounce finally settled we had a fantastic dinner and can hardly contain our excitement for tomorrow's repeat of snail crawling our way closer to
Shishapangma. We are all in great spirits and will touch base tomorrow.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
July 2, 2016 - 1:23 am PT
We were very lucky to fly off the glacier yesterday since the weather closed in on
Denali and may have prevented us from flying for days. We spent a celebratory evening in rainy Talkeetna thankful for not being stuck in snowy Basecamp!
After the long process of sorting, cleaning, and drying all of the gear it takes to get to the top of such a huge mountain, we paused to thank each other over a meal that did not require mixing with hot water or adding copious amounts of cheese to maximize calories. It really was an amazing team that assembled two weeks ago in Anchorage and made a smooth ascent of the
highest mountain in North America. The team was very strong and had a great attitude that allowed them to experience an amazing, windless summit and a seamless two-day descent back to base camp and ski planes that almost beat us to the glacier landing strip.
Thank you for the great expedition El Siete!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
May 19, 2016 - 2:44 p.m. PDT
One plane is flying up in ten minutes, and with luck, the rest of the team will follow shortly thereafter. Here we go!
The pilot gives us a 30% chance of actually getting to the mountain. I think otherwise. More like a 30% of having to return to
Talkeetna, but good to have a sober expectation of our chances.
RMI Guide
Brent Okita
Hi all,
Billy here checking in from
Aconcagua Camp 1 after a smooth move on up from basecamp. We enjoyed sunny skies and a bit of light breeze, all in all a perfect day to head up the hill. After arriving mid afternoon we took our time settling in. We had to move our cache over to our actual campsite, setup tents and get moved in. Sometime after we had set up camp the notorious Camp 1 creek began to flow. This made for a little engineering project redirecting the flow of water around our tents and with just a little bit of effort we've managed to stay dry... So far anyway. Camp is a bit crowded with several teams so good tent spots are at a premium. We just scarfed a toretellini dinner and are crawling in for the night, all of us a bit tired but no worse for the wear.
Nighty night.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Team Orlando arrived at
Shira Camp 12,570 feet. Today hiked the trail which became steeper and rockier as the vegetation thinned away. The gnarled trunks of heather disappeared and we entered the moorland, the grasses and rocky terrain unique to Eastern Africa,
After we ascended the wide ridge we gained the Shira Plateau. We descended a few hundred feet along the edge and into our camp that is tucked among sparse vegetation and volcanic rock bands. We have beautiful views of Kilimanjaro's upper slopes as well as Mt Meru.
RMI Guide
JJ Justman
RMI Guide Leon Davis radioed BaseCamp at 7:02 am to let us know both Four Day Summit Climb teams were about to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier. Leon reported a nice day on the mountain with light winds out of the West. The teams spent over an hour enjoying the view from the summit. They began their descent from the crater rim at 8:20 en route to Camp Muir. After a brief stop they will continue to Paradise and complete their program later today.
Congratulations to today's
Summit Climb teams!
We stood on top of Cotopaxi this morning! Our windy adventures in Ecuador continued yesterday and into this morning. Hiking to the climbing hut we battled 30 mph winds, which continued through the evening. When I woke up to check the weather at 11 pm it was windy but clear. I woke the team up at midnight and we had an alpine start breakfast and prepared to climb. By the time we left, clouds were intermittently blowing in and out. During the first hour of our climb a very humid cloud moved in that dampened our outer layers, which then turned to ice. The wind persisted, so did we. Climbing higher, our clothes began to wear a layer of rime ice as we fought with the wind to maintain good posture and climb efficiently. Clouds would come and go (mostly come) throughout our climb, but the wind would not relent. It made the ascent very difficult and also very cold. Our breaks were shorter due to the weather, but the team climbed strong and toughed it out. We reached the summit around 6:45 am, five hours and fifteen minutes after we set out (which, by the way, is a fast pace for Cotopaxi). The summit views were obscured by clouds so we didn't spend much time up top. Did I mention it was windy?
The descent was smooth and now we're all resting at the historic
Hosteria La Cienega in Lasso, Ecuador, near the south entrance to Cotopaxi National Park. We'll enjoy a well earned dinner here tonight, and a good night's sleep with a leisurely wake up call before heading back to Quito tomorrow.
The summit of Cotopaxi was a heck of a way to end our two week volcano tour on the Ecuador Seminar. We'll check in again tomorrow from Quito.
Saludos,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Thursday June 25th 10:16 pm PT
Hola from a sunny day up here at 14k. We enjoyed a lazy morning with a good coffee session in the posh before getting down to the business of retrieving our cache down near
Windy Corner. A couple of hours was all it took and we were back in camp up in the Genet Basin in time to greet
Mike Haugen's crew on their descent from high camp after their successful summit bid yesterday. Tomorrow's plans call for our first complete rest day of the trip that will hopefully set us up for a strong performance as we venture onto the upper mountain in the coming days. The weather may get a bit funky but hopefully it'll be nothing that will slow us down. More on our story as it develops...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Wednesday June 17th 10:00 pm PT
We feel like we are finally on the
mountain. We woke up early and left camp around 4:30 to cache some gear at 14,000' Camp. Our attempt to beat the heat worked since we pulled into camp right when the direct sun hit. The rest of the day was spent resting and preparing for the move back up to 14 Camp tomorrow. The boys of el Siete feasted on quesaritos this evening, and are going to sleep with full bellies and full hearts thinking about you all.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
The team has arrived safe to our third camp. We are in the beautiful
Barranco Valley. Today we set high points for everyone on the trip. We spent the morning climbing up to the 'Lava Tower' at 15,000' and then descended the trail to camp. We spent just under seven hours hiking today so the group is all a little tired. We should all sleep well tonight!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
.jpg)
Wonderfully written commentary. Keep them coming along with photos.
Posted by: Betty (Art's sister) on 9/8/2016 at 2:23 pm
View All Comments