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Today we rest! Today we did some camp improvements, reinforcing the snow walls and buffing out the kitchen tent. Other than that, we were working on our relaxation techniques. These cannot be underestimated on a climb of this length.
On The Map
Jambo everyone back home -
The team woke feeling well rested after about 10 hours in our tent last night. We had a pretty good day on Kilimanjaro today, I only say pretty good because we hiked in light sprinkles to full on rain all day. Thankfully everyone’s gore-tex jackets kept us dry.
We started the day waking at 6:30 to start packing up before moving into our dinning tent for a nice breakfast with porridge, fried eggs, toast, avocado and even some fresh fruit, and most importantly plenty of hot coffee.
We hit the trail shortly after 8 am and slowly made our way up the rocky trail that leads out of camp. The trail climbs up a ridge and eventually out of the trees and normally allows for some truly spectacular views of the valley below, but today it was a bit limited. The team hiked for about 4.5 hours before reaching our next camp that sits on the Shira plateau, which is an ancient lava flow just above tree-line. Once at camp we were treated to a wonderful warm meal and then hopped into our tents to relax.
The evening was full of great stories and another amazing meal prepared by our gracious staff.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew
On The Map
Posted by: Robby Young, Alan Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 15,200'
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 - 6:00PM PT
Greetings!
Our climb of 18,898’ Pisco Oeste has officially begun! We woke up in Huaraz this morning refreshed and ready to ‘tackle our day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.’ A beautiful 3-hour drive later, we were in the heart of the stunningly beautiful Quebrada Llanganuco, and made the short 2-hour hike to 15,200’ Pisco Base Camp. It didn’t take long to get camp built, and we even had time to check out the Refugio above camp on the hill. Naps and then a dinner of spiced chicken, rice, potatoes, and fresh pineapple hit the spot. We’re ready to keep this train rolling tomorrow with an anticipated move to 16,200’ moraine Camp. We’re hoping for good weather and continued good health! And as always, we’ll keep you up to date!
RMI Guide Robby, RMI Guide Alan, William and Team
Hey, this is Christina calling in with another wonderful summit from the Mexico's Volcanoes team. We have gotten yet again a hundred percent of our team to the summit. Everyone's feeling really well and super happy to be here, up on the top. We have a gorgeous blue sky day with very light winds, absolutely gorgeous new blanket of snow covering this mountain making it wonderful climbing. We are looking forward to heading back down to hot showers congratulations to the RMI Team.
RMI Guide Christina Dale
RMI Guide Christina Dale checks in from the summit of Pico de Orizaba.
On The Map
Posted by: Brent Okita
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
The team all got to breakfast early this morning allowing us to get a head start on the day. This was nice as we were able to get to the Machame Gate and start our day before a lot of other teams. The National Park Service keeps Kilimanjaro national Park in great shape and it's been inspiring to see them take a strong stand promoting Leave No Trace policies. Our immaculately maintained trail led us easily thru the rain forests of the lower flanks and to the beginning of the giant heather,which can grow to thirty feet high. All are doing fantastic, especially after fantastic three course dinner our cool Toshi prepared for us.Sleep is tugging at our sleeves pretty hard, so we retired to our tents where this old cowboy is also ready to crash.
Talk with you tomorrow.
RMI Guide Brent Okita & Team
Posted by: Brent Okita, Christina Dale, JT Schmitt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 16,600'/17,200'
June 2, 2017
As cold as it is at 6:30am here at 14,200', we knew that an early start to our day would be for the best. The crew was up and at 'em even before hots were quite ready. We all knew this was a big day, and it was.
The sun hadn't hit our part of the mountain yet, so we were bundled up. This is my usual plan, and surprisingly, we were the first group out of camp. This always bodes well in terms of being one of the first on the fixed lines - that part of the mountain which is quite steep where passage up it is protected by fixed ropes that we can secure ourselves to while climbing slopes up to 50 degrees in steepness.
The team really crushed it, then climbed well again on the West Buttress itself. This really is the most spectacular and challenging part of the route. A few of us cached our loads at our standard location at 16,600'. But two of our rope teams climbed all the way to high camp at 17,200' and cached there! Great work by everyone.
Later, upon return to camp, we heard that a group that left an hour after us had to wait for two hours due to the congestion in the fixed roped. We were all pretty psyched that we didn't have that issue. Instead, we had one of the most perfect days climbing the Butttress I've seen. Windless and warm.
The weather forecast is, of course, on everybody's minds, with this window of nice weather perhaps coming to an end in a couple of days. Some guides are even accelerating their timelines to head up to 17,200' a day or so earlier. I've toyed with this idea too, to forego our rest day tomorrow and try to get a summit in while we can. But, my gut tells me to practice the patience I always preach, so we'll enjoy our rest day tomorrow and take it one day at a time. I know we'll all be the stronger for it, and after our big day we're all a little tired right now.
So, good night from 14,200'.
RMI Guides Brent, Christina an JT
On The Map
Good luck JT, have fun and be safe!
Posted by: Tad on 6/4/2017 at 5:28 am
Good work. Ardel, I’m thrilled your team is “movin on up.”
Have fun.
David
Posted by: David Zeps on 6/3/2017 at 10:44 am
Posted by: Tyler Jones, JM Gorum, Bryan Mazaika
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
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June 1, 2017
The team continues to do well and make further progress up the mountain! This morning we woke up early to chilly temperatures at 11 Camp before we began to warm up on Motorcycle Hill. We were then greeted by the morning sun on Squirrel Hill and it warmed up quickly! When we arrived at 14 camp around 1pm the heat was blistering! We were quick to dig out cache and drop our gear. Despite the heat we couldn't have asked for better weather today, blue skies and a not so "Windy Corner." We got back to camp mid afternoon, a perfect time to escape the sun to rest in our tents. The weather forecast looks good for us to move everything else to 14 Camp and make our new home up there tomorrow!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
Matt,
Sounds like you guys are doing well! I read earlier that you guys ate salmon… just know that if you eat it on the mountain you can eat it off the mountain, lol. Daisy is pushing 20lbs already at 10 weeks. Starting puppy school on Monday, so hopefully I can regain some sanity and get some sleep.
Stay cool. Good luck up there!
Posted by: Colleen on 6/2/2017 at 8:13 pm
Hello Tym and Team,
Great progress. Hard to imagine that heat is an issue. Bring on the sunscreen. Good luck with your push today for Camp 14!! Zeppelin, Zoolander, and Saxby wish everyone well, with a woof and meows.
The Golden State Warriors won the first play off game last night, 113-91. Satoshi says: $2425.00
Love Mom
Posted by: Kristi Kennelly (AKA Tym's mom) on 6/2/2017 at 9:07 am
Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Lucas Haaland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
May 14, 2017
Happy Mother's Day!
We celebrated Mother's Day by taking a rest/acclimatization day at 14k. The weather was beautiful and we were able to get some much needed rest and dry out all of our gear. We took a leisurely stroll out to the Edge of the World to take on the magnificent views of the Kahiltna Glacier nearly 7000' below us.
We also took time for continued training with fixed rope travel and running belays, which we will likely employ tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we plan to carry a load of supplies up high on the West Buttress so we will be ready to move to high camp soon. We'll keep you posted.
Again, happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there. Especially: Jeanne, Liz, Mimi, Kelly, Cynthia, Diane, Jarah, Victoria, Lea, Judy, Gale, Roberta, Pam, Joanne, Martina, Meme, Ann, Nancy, Debbie, & Renee.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
The last two days have flown by quickly, mostly involving automobiles, planes, airports, lots of bags, and a little walking. We had to wake early yesterday after our summit push to start the walk to Mt. Elbrus' Base Camp, and the forecast called for rain, and our drivers were worried about getting the vans back across the river before the water levels rose. So we awoke at 5 to the sound of rain and quickly packed our bags, but pleasantly the rain subsided, and we had a nice, but very heavy walk back to the pastures where our adventure started. As we descended, the loose scree of the moraine have way to wide alluvial plains again, then the moss covered rocky hills and chasms of the lower mountain. We had only been at camp 1 for about a week, but the verdant green plant life, flowers, and birds of the lower elevations were still welcome sensory stimulation!
As we arrived at Base Camp, so did the vans, so we repacked hurriedly and climbed into another offroad sprinter van for the bouncy and at times thrilling drive back to Kislovodsk. Some took the afternoon to explore town, others supported and dried gear, and then we meet for our final Caucasian dinner, which we deemed Meat Fest. Three and a half 1 kilogram platters of delicious bbq lamb, beef, chicken, and pork had everyone holding their stomachs, gasping for air, but still trying to finish every morsel. Our national pride was on the line as Dave pointed out.
Today we once again did the great shuffle, catching an early shuttle to the airport, and then a flight to Moscow and on to St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg is very cosmopolitan, and has the feel of old Europe, with cafes, bars, and restaurants at every turn. We found the Craft Brew Cafe and knew it would suit our needs. We just returned from another delicious meal, where different types of dried meats, chantrelles (which are in season!) and a delicious take on Bourchte were all featured heavily. Tomorrow we've got a busy day touring this beautiful city, and everybody is excited.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, JM Gorum, and team
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Ben Liken, Bridget Belliveau, Hannah Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,200'
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Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - 9:37 p.m. PDT
As we suspected might be the case, today's weather wasn't quite right for climbing. Ultimately there was good sun warming us at the 17,200 ft camp, but we could see wind and cloud whipping over the terrain we wanted to be on a thousand feet higher. So we rested, which -after yesterday's big workout to get up here- seemed about right. Nice to catch up on hydration and sleep and to give the boots a chance to dry out. Not many other people around us now, the mountain is rapidly clearing out as the end of the season approaches. But it isn't over until we say it is... We'll hope to climb Denali tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
CONGRATULATIONS! You guys are all amazing! Now you just have to get back down safely!
Posted by: Ray DiZazzo on 7/8/2016 at 7:39 am
Go team, go!
Posted by: Kelly on 7/7/2016 at 10:49 pm
Brent - I am always so proud of you. It is always amazing to see how much you enjoy this chosen profession AND how professionally skilled you are. You are also quite an inspiration to your siblings. AND Dr. Carey sends his regards. You certainly impressed him not only with your expertise but for your being such an intelligent caring person. Love you - take care - be safe. mom
Posted by: Marjorie Okita-Johnson on 7/21/2017 at 10:50 am
Brent - I can’t believe you’re on Kilimanjaro! My buddy Billy and I hiked with you a few years ago and Rainier and we’re going to miss you by one week!! We leave this weekend for Arusha. Perhaps we’ll cross paths!
Hope your adventure is going well!
Dennis Welsh
Posted by: Dennis Welsh on 7/20/2017 at 5:39 pm
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