Thursday, June 6, 2019 11:56 PM PT
We woke up this morning and looked uphill at the summit again. We watched as winds increased up high. We watched a few teams leave camp and turn around before Denali pass. We looked at our dwindling food. We looked at our rapidly filling poop cans. When we added it all up, we decided that it was time to leave high camp. Four nights at 17,000 feet can seem like an icy eternity, but the team actually managed it quite well. There was nothing in the forecast that made us want to stay any longer, so we left. We’re back at 14 camp now, which seems like a beach resort in comparison. Some folks have decided they have had their fill, and some want to sit it out for a few more days, potentially trying again. Tomorrow we will flesh out our options and make a plan. For now, we are excited for the best nights sleep we’ve had in a while. We’re excited to eat something other than freeze dried food. We’re excited to be able to wear fewer than three jackets to bed.
RMI Guide JM Gorum & Team
Wise choice given the conditions you described. For those who want to try again, I hope you make it. Stay warm, and step safe. What a beautiful photo!
Posted by: Susan Moore on 6/7/2019 at 9:24 pm
Whatever choice you make, you’ve accomplished so much Brittni (and everyone else!). Diligently checking the blog daily; sunny Colorado is rooting for you!
Today the team left the lively Zona Rosa district of Mexico City bright and early to make our way to the mountains. A beautiful drive through the Mexican countryside took us up through a cloud layer that blanketed the City to sunny skies above.
Once we arrived at our home for the night, La Malinche, the team began our first big step towards getting our bodies acclimated for the peaks to come by hiking up to 13,700 feet. Here, we got our first views of the surrounding volcanoes including our next objectives Ixta and Orizaba.
Tonight we will enjoy a much deserved authentic Mexican dinner, sleep at 10,000 feet and try to catch a glimpse of the Lunar Eclipse.
RMI Guide Grayson Swingle
Hope you guys see/saw the lunar eclipse. The moon was bright and shiny here in Atlanta and I hope it lights your way to the top! Best wishes and stay strong!
Posted by: Stephanie Renner on 1/21/2019 at 5:32 am
Hello everyone
We spent yesterday touring Tarangire National Park which is home to many elephants, in fact, it has more per square kilometer than any place on earth and it didn’t disappoint.
There were plenty of other animals as usual, and we got close to a few big giraffe, which was amazing plus a leopard sighting too.
We ended our day at a remote and off grid camp within the National Park and surrounded by wildlife. The camp has screened in rooms that allow the night sounds of Africa in and also last night's big thunderstorm.
It's been a memorable experience for everyone and great friendships forged. But finally it's time to return home to our families.
Jambo from RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew!
This was a day for naps and meals and diversions. The wind was on again and off again throughout the day. The sun never did break through and snow kept falling on Union Glacier. There was never any question of airplanes coming to visit. One of the ALE snowcat drivers plowed up a fifty foot long, eight foot high snow berm as a shield around our sleeping tents, which is certainly a comfort. As usual, the staff kept serving up excellent meals (for about 130 staff and guests) and presenting great lectures to fill the time. For evening entertainment, we watched “the Perfect Storm” in the library tent.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Namaste from Kathmandu!
Everyone arrived safely and timely to Kathmandu late last night. We had an easy day today just resting after the long hours of international flying, enjoying our welcome meal in the Thamel area, and wandering a bit in the busy streets of that area of town before the jet lag started to set in. We called it a day on the early side to allow the body to start adjusting with ease to the time change and in preparation for a busier day tomorrow. The upcoming day will be a a formal visit of the main historical monuments of Nepal's capital and packing for our flight into the mountains the following day. Stay tuned for the real start of our Gokyo adventure soon!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
Hello, this is Eric Frank. Just giving you a call from Mount Shuksan. Wanted to let everyone who is following along that we are safe and sound back in camp. We had a good day of climbing up on the glacier and the summit pyramid. Unfortunately we were not able to reach the summit. The rain from yesterday kind of lingered late into the evening. There was a big, wet cloud that hung over the glacier that didn't let us get out of camp until mid morning today. But we did climb up the glacier, got to the base of the pyramid, and got to go through a little bit of that terrain, and experience what that climbing is like. We then made the safe call to come back down before things got too late in the day, and we had to come down in the dark. We enjoyed ourselves. We're all happy and doing quite well. Hope everyone out there is doing well, take care.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Though we haven’t been in Moscow for long, we did our best to see everything we could today. We matched the fast pace of our tour guide (she looked at us and said “you are supposed to be sportsmen”), and checked out sites that seem hard to believe for anyone who was alive during the Cold War. We wandered through Red Square, silently filed through Lenin’s Tomb, where Russia spends $200,000 a year to keep his body in perfect condition, and crossed through the front gate of the Kremlin to get a tour inside and see several of the cathedrals that exist within. Each had a dedicated purpose and patron, the Cathedral of the Assumption being used for Coronations and things involving the Russian Czars, while Archangel Michael’s Cathedral was used as a burial place for Czars and Czarinnas, including the family of Ivan the Terrible.
Unfortunately, St. Basil’s Cathedral was closed today due to a national holiday commemorating paratroopers in WWII, but we strolled through the GUM, the former Soviet State Department Store, and now a high end shopping mall, stopping to ease the heat with ice cream, before a delicious lunch at a Ukrainian Restaurant around the corner. We had the afternoon free to explore or take naps, before we headed to a nice rooftop restaurant overlooking the Moscow River for dinner. Tomorrow starts early, 5.30 am, as we head back to the airport to fly to the Caucasus and refocus on our climbing objective. Tomorrow will be a travel day, but before we know it, we’ll be at base camp, staring up at the twin summits of Mt. Elbrus and beginning our climb. We’ll check in soon.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Hi Kelly and Josh, hope you’re having a great time! Each day we pray for the safety of you and your team members! Take care and enjoy yourselves!
Darcy and Jon
Posted by: Darcy and Jon Schwanke on 8/6/2017 at 12:01 pm
Wish the team good luck. We pray for good weather and safe return of all team members!
January 7, 2017
Hello friends and family!
This is Nick Hunt, reporting in from the high-altitude huts on Cayambe. I'm the co-leader of this trip, along with Adam Knoff, and I'm excited to be leading another trip down here in Ecuador with another great team!
We spent last night in the city of Otavalo, at a beautiful hacienda named La Casa Sol. This trip has been feeling a little more like a leisurely vacation so far, rather than a climbing expedition, and La Casa Sol didn't disappoint. Hot coffee and fresh eggs in the morning, beautiful rooms and a breathtaking view of the mountainous region around us. As nice as it was, though, the team has been getting antsy and everyone was more than ready for our move to the mountains today.
After a relaxing morning at the hacienda, we packed our bags and made one last stop in town: the Otavalo street market. This market is the largest of its kind in Ecuador and stretches on for miles with all sorts of crafts, textiles, spices, and souvenirs. It can be a bit of sensory overload at first, but we spent a few hours shopping for friends and families at home, then waved goodbye to the city and headed for the hills.
The road to Cayambe is a legit 4x4 road and after driving a few hours, the bus could go no further. We exited the bus, loaded our backpacks and finished the approach on foot. A little more than an hour of walking lead us up in to the clouds and to our home for the next few days at 15,000 feet above sea level. The clouds parted just enough for us to sneak a quick peak of our first serious objective before dinner.
Our plans for tonight are simple. We are going to spend the rest of the evening taking care of ourselves, getting a good meal in us, and preparing our packs for a full day of training on the glaciers tomorrow.
The level of excitement is growing as our first objective looms overhead. We'll check in tomorrow afternoon as we prep for our first big summit attempt of the trip. Stay tuned for updates!
Until tomorrow,
RMI Guides Nick Hunt and Adam Knoff, and the rest of the ESS-Ecuador team
Jimmy, How’s the air? Clean and thin I’ll bet! We know just how you feel, had about an inch of snow yesterday and temp dropped to mid 20’s. It shut everything down but back to normal now high 30’s lots of rain. How’s the knee holding up? Praying for safety and great climbs for you and your team. I guess you don’t use the term “break a leg” for mountain climbing so I’ll just say “ganbatte”! ( In Japanese it means, “do your best”) Love Craig and Jane
Posted by: Craig Lucas on 1/8/2017 at 6:18 pm
Hey Jimmy…..looks like an amazing adventure…continued prayer for safety and good weather…savor every moment…
Pree-vēt!
Things are good here at Garabashi Hut and the team is excited for tonight! We did a little prep for tomorrow by reviewing a few climb techniques and then rested the remainder of the day. Our cook, Dasha, has done a great job of filling our bellies with plenty of good ol' home cooked Russian food.
Everything is set and if the weather continues to hold we'll be up at 2:00 a.m. After a quick breakfast, we'll hop on the snowcat to give us a bump a little further up the mountain. It will shorten our climb a little and increase our chance of reaching the highest point in Europe.
That's all for now. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Original Post | July 20, 2016 - 11:38 a.m. PDT
Hello! This is Elias and the Alpamayo team we are on top! A great crew - some excitement out there. We got to the top here in four hours and a half. We keep beating the time every year! So, the RMI Alpamayo Climb is getting better and better every year! Peter, I, and the guys here are pretty psyched. We're going to enjoy the views a little longer and then start our descent. We'll give you a shout later on tonight from camp. We will head for base camp tomorrow. That's it for now!
Update | July 20, 2016 - 3:16 p.m. PDT
And we did it! Everybody reached the summit of Alpamayo today. We were on the fence about climbing and almost didn't leave camp. Starting around 11:00 p.m., we experienced unusually strong winds which lasted pretty much all night and all morning. We dragged our feet, and decided to give it a go after a delayed breakfast. With no one on the wall, we could have the luxury of climbing this surreal face without headlamps.
With better conditions than usual, the plethora of of nevé provided pure joy on our steep upward progression. By 19,000', crystal ice demanded more focus and conscious delivery of every swing with our ice tools. With the incredible training and preparation by the team, we reached the airy summit a mere four and a half hour after departure. We celebrated on the summit and started our descent. Eight 60 meter rappels brought us to the overhanging bergschrund and deposited us back on the glacier, a stones throw to our tents.
Now we're enjoying dinner at our high camp. Our two porters, Leoncio and Miguel, greeted with a huge smile and bows of soup. We climb hard, and we climb in style. We'll be checking in from Base Camp tomorrow!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
Elias de Andres Martos & Team on Summit of Alpamayo July 20, 2016
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Wise choice given the conditions you described. For those who want to try again, I hope you make it. Stay warm, and step safe. What a beautiful photo!
Posted by: Susan Moore on 6/7/2019 at 9:24 pm
Whatever choice you make, you’ve accomplished so much Brittni (and everyone else!). Diligently checking the blog daily; sunny Colorado is rooting for you!
Posted by: Kate Holmes on 6/7/2019 at 7:13 pm
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