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Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Posted by: Brent Okita, Dustin Wittmier, Kiira Antenucci, Mira Schoeberlein, Lacie Smith, Evan Sather
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Kiira Antenucci reached Ingraham Flats at 11,200' on their summit attempt before poor weather forced them to turn and retreat to shelter of Camp Muir. The team is going to enjoy the morning on the mountain before descending.
Congratulations to today's team!
Posted by: Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Torres del Paine
The Team was thankful to be in the Refugio last night as the wind & rain approached “white squall” intensity. Ships would have been listing in Lago Dickson. The building shook and poorly trimmed windows whistled. We enjoyed a dry but chilly morning hiking up hill to enter the Perros river valley. Most of the day was spent in the heavily canopied forest with occasional views of the surrounding alpine peaks and glaciers. We crisscrossed beautiful streams as we wound up valley to the terminal moraine of the Perros glacier. The wind had only gotten worse so we snapped some photos and headed into camp. Our camp lies in a forest that breaks most of the wind, allows a little sunlight through and sets us up to start tomorrow early for our hike through John Gardner pass. The feet are a little less sore and pack adjustments have been successful.
Thanks for following along,
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
Elevation: 21,300'
Dave Hahn calls in from Advanced Base Camp.
On The Map
keep up the great work!Today my dad changed a light bulb which is the highest he will climb this year. I LOVE YOU and MISS YOU! Love, Sophie
Posted by: Sophie on 4/17/2011 at 7:51 am
SAYY!! i miss you so much, ive emailed you alot but you cant get your emails…. anyways, i dont want to leave a super long message but you rock so much and we are all thinking about you!! i LOVE YOU AND YOU ARE SUCH AN INSPIRATION and hurry home!!!!!!! (im gonna text you later)
Posted by: lilly on 4/16/2011 at 8:29 pm
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Dustin Wittmier, Devin Guffey
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 19,500'
Tuesday, June 29, 2021 - 10:13 pm PT
And that's that,
Today we gave it all we could. The forecast was for less than 15mph winds and party sunny...well that wasn't exactly what we got. Camp was windy from the start. The sun was out but so was the wind. But today was our last shot so we left camp. It was a slow start behind a bunch of teams on the Autobahn but we made it to Denali Pass. The first stretch of the day is a real butt kicker. Clouds began to roam above Denali but conditions were still good. As the day progressed so did the clouds. By late afternoon we were in a cloud and the winds had picked up. We pushed as far as we could until it didn't make sense to keep going. 19,500' was our high point. Pushing past there with the conditions we had would be a risk. As the saying goes the mountains will be there for another try. They are much more robust than we are. The team made good, safe work making it back to camp. It would have been nice to arrive to a quiet camp but it is rather windy here. It will be a rowdy night in the winds but tomorrow we will skiddattle out of here to the land of more oxygen.
We gave it our all,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
Gutted for you but great effort and staying power to stick it out as long as you have. Devin & Dustin it was great to see you when we were on our way down (I was with Mike King’s group). Here’s to a safe descent and lots of beers!!
Posted by: Huw Rothwell on 7/1/2021 at 4:07 pm
Really an impressive achievement and I’m so happy and so proud of you all for going after this exciting adventure!
I admire your patience & tenacity Byron! We all love living your adventures!
Mom & Dad
Posted by: Judy & Dale on 6/30/2021 at 1:29 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Machu Picchu
Elevation: 14,300'
We awoke hours before the sun was up to begin our journey to the start of the Salkantay trek. Hours of winding Peruvian roads and a beautiful sunrise later, we arrived!
Our local guides and cooks made us a fantastic breakfast to start our trek off right. The first part of the trek began with a gradual uphill that gave us phenomenal views of the valley below. We followed an impressive trail alongside an aqueduct for several miles until we got to the town of Soraypampa. Here, we enjoyed the last porcelain throne that we would see for several days. Leaving town, we headed up a valley with soaring views of both, Tucarhuay and Salkantay peaks! The gradual ascent up the valley was difficult but rewarding as the beauty around us only increased as we got higher. Camp was graciously already set up for us by our guides and their assistants. We enjoyed a great dinner, drank cocoa, tea, and did our best to adjust to our new altitude of 14,300 feet. It was the highest most of us had ever slept, and it looked to be a cold night. Thankfully the cooks made us all wawa's (bladders of hot water) for bedtime!
Goodnight from the Andes!
Posted by: Eric Frank, James Bealer, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
Wednesday, May 26, 2021 - 12:01 am PT
What do motorcycles and squirrels have in common? They’re both steep hills we climbed on our way to cache our gear at 13,420 feet! From our cache we gained our first views of the fixed lines up to 17,000' Camp and the Messner Coulior. We descended with light packs enjoying the sunshine with beautiful views of the lower Kahiltna flowing south and green tundra stretching as far west into the distance as the eye can see.
E-L-L-I-O-T
DAMN, hope your were able to fit your snowboard in your pack; STUNNER!
Definitely rarified air.
Let the journey be the focus.
Belgian Ales @ Hopleaf await.
I just can’t grasp why you haven’t been texting me lots of pictures - ha!
Love ya, my Brother
ET
Posted by: Shawn Dalgleish on 5/26/2021 at 5:05 pm
WOW Heidi! We think we spotted you in this most recent photo! I shared your whole expedition thus far during homeroom with the third grade. They loved it.
I hope you packed enough chapstick. That wind looks fierce. Keep on doing awesome! Kirby says you are a BEAST!
Posted by: Allison santana on 5/26/2021 at 10:41 am
Hannah and I are thrilled to announce to bloglandia that every RMI team member, all 13 of us, summited Cotopaxi this morning around 6:15 am. I gotta say, this team is batting the perfect game. Every climber has successfully reached the top of all four mountains without as much as a few blisters. Granted I taped those blisters up this morning at 12:03 am and I was happy they weren’t mine, but it goes to show that stamina and toughness go a long way up here.
Potentially assisting in the team’s great success is the unbelievable weather. I was awe struck at how beautiful Cayambe was but surprised even more at the perfection of today’s weather and route conditions. Whoever cashed in their karma chips certainly deserves a Pilsner Grande for their investment. We simply could not be blessed with better luck. Adding to the beauty this evening was a near full moon which lit up the glacier so brightly we were able to climb without headlamps. Usually one element, wind, rain, snow, fog or cold is waiting for you at the top. Today all we had was an intense rotten egg smell from the still active lava tube belching sulfurous gas but other than that nada mucho.
After a spectacular climb and full blown photo shoot extravaganza, we descended quickly to the hut for homemade pancakes. Again, this is how mountain climbing should be? (When do we get cooks again at camp Muir?)
A brief packing session and 600 vertical foot hike down to the bus landed our exhausted carcasses into our assigned seats and off to the Hacienda for a needed shower and big dinner. I think the average calorie burn on peoples watches indicated between 7 and 9 thousand calories for the day so some papas fritas and lots of meat shouldn’t tighten the belt too much.
We hope this trend continues tomorrow as we head further south to attempt the grand finale of Chimborazo. This mountain is notorious for its difficulty so stay tuned.
2022 is being wonderful! Keep it going! Congrats!
Posted by: Jane on 2/17/2022 at 7:02 pm
This is So Cool Adam , Hannah and Team!!! Enjoy dinner and live in this Awesome time you are all having!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/17/2022 at 3:21 pm
Now, we're back at camp ready for some rest. We are playing the waiting game now, holding out and hoping the mountain will give us the weather window we need. But the forecast looks pretty good, and we're patient, stubborn, and well prepared. 14K Camp is a great place to get strong, and with a rest day tomorrow we definitely won't be getting out of sleeping bags until the sun hits us.
Bringing back an old feature to the blog: the stoke meter is all the way up at a 9.5 right now!
RMI Guide Maile Wade and the southside dwellers of 14K!
On The Map
You are in good hands. Keep listening to Mike, make good choices and be safe.
Posted by: Diana on 5/23/2012 at 5:50 pm
Kyle, you are an amazing and wonderful boyfriend. Thank you so very much for the beautiful flowers and the sweet note. It definitely made me cry! We are all rooting for you and are so proud of you. Juliana asks me everyday where you are. Even my friend Dan says how inspired he is. On to the top! Hurry home! Love you! Stephenie
Posted by: Stephenie on 5/23/2012 at 7:28 am
James please make sure you are on the lookout for saquatch stealing your food. Its happened once it could happen again. Stay safe my friend.
Posted by: Raymond Brown on 4/29/2013 at 8:36 am
Great going, Dave. Hope the weather holds. Can’t wait to hear about the brawl at 26,000 ft that was in the news today.
Stay safe,
Chuck
Posted by: Chuck Roberts on 4/29/2013 at 8:26 am
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