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We've arrived at High Camp! Summit push tonight.
It was a short and uneventful move from Karanga Camp up to Barafu Camp, which is our launching point for the summit. The team did great and we arrived in just over three hours with sprinkles of snow falling most of the way.
We've had our summit talk where we discussed our plan and the teams strategy for tomorrow. Final packing is taking place as I write this and we'll have dinner shortly, then it's off to bed for a little sleep before the climb. Weather permitting, we'll be up at 11 pm, have breakfast, and hopefully hit the trail around midnight. As per usual, I'm expecting the ascent to take around eight hours with breaks to the "Roof of Africa".
Keep your fingers crossed for us, and there's a chance, if time allows, some of you back home might receive a satellite phone call from the summit. So keep your phones handy. My best guess is we'll be on the summit around 8 in the morning, Tanzania time.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
On The Map
We left Machame Camp 9,890' in cloudy skies but only for a short stretch. The gnarled trunks of the giant heather disappeared and we entered yet another zone, the moorland. After ascending a wide ridge we gained the broad and sloping Shira Plateau at about 12,570' and nearly three miles later we gained beautiful views of Kilimanjaro's upper slopes and Mt. Meru, our near by neighbor, standing at about 15,000'. A fine hot lunch and beautiful camp site greeted us upon arrival at Shira Camp.
The team continues doing well and we are having a good time.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Posted by: Zeb Blais, Chase Nelson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,600'
Today was the most fun I've ever had acclimatizing. The team was feeling good and moving well as we made our way up to the crystal clear waters of Laguna Churup.
The lake sits at 14,600' and is a perfect day hike to get some altitude in before we move to our base camp in the Ishinca Valley. When we arrived we couldn't resist the glacial-fed emerald pool. Within a few minutes most of the team was fully submerged and paddling as hard as they could to get back on shore. The water temperature was... Refreshing.
Pictured here from left to right are Chase, John, Sarah and Steve.
This inspired group of adventurers is back in Huaraz, packed up and ready to head into base camp tomorrow. Can't wait to get climbing!
Until then,
RMI Guide Zeb Blais and team
What a beautiful color the water is! Nothing better than taking a cold plunge to get more oxygen. Sending blessings to all as you get started on this adventure. Looking forward to the updates as this story is created.
Posted by: Debbie Z. on 8/9/2016 at 7:18 am
Well done all! Looks like great conditions. Enjoy the cold water and the big adventure.
Posted by: Dan Foster on 8/9/2016 at 4:11 am
Posted by: Jake Beren, JM Gorum, Katrina Bloemsma
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
June 4, 2016 - 4:47 pm PT
What a big 24 hours it has been! As yesterday dragged on in the hangar with an ominous dark cloud over the Range, the team seemed pretty resigned to spend another night in Talkeetna. Suddenly the feeling around the airstrip changed as rumors of a slight clearing at basecamp filtered to town. "15% chance, but never hurts to load up the plane," a pilot friend said.
That 15% chance kept improving to the point where our air service, K2, felt confident enough to send a scouting plane toward Base Camp. We launched our two Otters on the heels of the scout and navigated storm cells and clouds into the mighty Alaska Range. It was completely amazing. Both planes landed and we hustled out to make room for teams waiting to get off the mountain. The weather had let us in, but the pilots didn't want to push their luck. It was some real impressive flying that put us finally on the mountain after so much preparation. Way to be K2!
Having landed on the glacier, we finalized our rigging and set off to begin the climb. Our late in the day flight put us in an excellent position for lighting out. It was a beautiful evening with some swirling clouds and pleasant walking.
Our journey took us up to the base of Ski Hill, where we built camp after a long day. It just began to snow as we put the finishing touches on camp and we slept the sleep of the just. The adventure continues and it feels great to be in the mountains!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
On The Map
Great news!!!!! Exciting to have begun the journey!!! Can’t wait to hear more about it!
What’s happening at home? Paul & Jason ran their first mountain race! Jason, 1:02 and Paul, 1:14. Daddy’s best race was 1:05! Jason can’t wait to rub it in! Isabelle came in 4th in her new age range. Coulda been 2nd or 3rd but belle didn’t know how long a 6K was so she took it slow.
Have fun and be safe! Love you, Honey! Mamma
Posted by: Isty on 6/4/2016 at 11:15 pm
Posted by: Brent Okita, Christina Dale, Chris Ebeling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'/ 348'
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May 19, 2016 - Thursday Evening Post
After much deliberation on the part of the pilots, management Basecamp personnel of our flight service the teams launched for Basecamp. Weather was uncertain but K2, our air service, wanted to at least try to get us in the mountain.
The first plane landed, but with a ground fog rolling in the second of our planes had to turn back.
So, here we are, enjoying life on the mountain finally. Although our partners in Talkeetna are sleeping in beds and enjoying burgers and beer, this is what we've all come here for.
The drama of the spectacular mountains around us has been sometimes muted by clouds moving in, but the team is excited to be here and eager to learn. Before setting up camp we practiced numerous skills, hoping our partners would get lucky and be able to fly on. But such was not the case tonight.
Unfortunate though that might be, I'm delighted to be with folks so psyched to be here and learn and help out. What a great trip this will be.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
May 20, 2016 - 4:30 pm PT
A snowy morning greeted us as we finally crawled out of our sleeping bags after our first night on the mountain. Unfortunately, the visibility was poor too, so our intentions of bringing a cache of supplies further up the mountain were thwarted. Instead, breakfast flowed into lunch as we enjoyed the comfort provided by our cook/dining tent. Stories were shared over a breakfast of biscuits and gravy, followed by more hot drinks and culminating in a hot pot of Ramen for lunch as we make the most of this weather day holding slim chance of having our other half of the team fly in to join us.
A quick satellite phone call to Christina and the team in Talkeetna let us know they have been making the most of their time by training and practicing skills that we'll need later in the trip.
The Kahiltna crew has not been slacking either, regardless of how the previous narrative sounds. Knots, tent set up, anchors, rescue systems and stove operations have been reviewed and practiced. The team is firing on all cylinders.
Wish us better luck with the weather tomorrow.
RMI Guide Brent Okita and the Kahiltna crew
Posted by: Leon Davis, Mike King, Megan Budge
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 7,300'
May 17, 2016 - 9:52 p.m. PDT
While we had hoped for sunny warm skies, we were delivered a snowy cloudy morning. After a nice pancake breakfast we set out to do some training in the area. Avalanche education and crack rescue took up our entire day and folks picked up the skills pretty quickly. The clouds lifted long enough for us to drop a few folks into the hole and let their teammates pull them out. That certainly was a comical and educational experience for the team. Just before dinner the temps dropped off significantly and it started to snow again. Seems to be a bit manic weather here at 7000' but everyone is rolling with it in style. Tomorrow we hope to move up glacier for some exploring.
Stay tuned,
RMI Guide Leon Davis & Team
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We are at Karanga Valley. That's one camp below high camp. We had another great weather day and the crew is strong. I'm going to hand off the rest of the dispatch to some of the folks on the trip.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Barranco Camp was one of the most gorgeous places on earth. Today's climb was fantastic. We prefer our rocks scrambled, so we took the opportunity to have fun on the Barranco Wall (tell your friends). Looking forward to moving on to high camp tomorrow and then making the summit push starting tomorrow at midnight. #chillimanjaro
Following your climb, Molly. Love reading the blog. Good luck to everyone. Love you..
Posted by: Ann regan on 8/9/2015 at 6:02 pm
Keep on climbing….sounds wonderful! Hi Lance, we are following your back home. I think you will come home a changed man after this.
Posted by: Rene Bybee on 8/9/2015 at 2:06 pm
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Mike Uchal, Pepper Dee
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
Friday June 12th 11:25 pm PT
Upon our late arrival at Base Camp the weather started turning nasty, so we set up tents and burrowed into our sleeping bags. Lo and behold, upon awakening the skies had cleared and the mountain beckoned! We broke camp and descended the Southeast Fork Kahiltna to the Main Fork, turned up-glacier and headed toward Camp 1. The glacier route is in prime condition and we reached our camp in several hours taking in the spectacular mountain views around us. Everyone in the team is doing great and looking forward to our next objective, Camp ll. More later!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
The Mt. Rainier Five Day Summit Climb stood on the summit earlier this morning. The teams, led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Adam Knoff, experienced a bluebird day with what seems to be endless views from the highest point in Washington.
Both teams began their descent around 8:20 am PT. We look forward to congratulating them back at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.
Congrats to all on a successful summit! Each trip report I read deepens my desire to attempt the summit myself. Someday.
Posted by: Greg on 5/11/2019 at 9:14 pm
Never get tired of seeing Hahn and Knoff celebrating a summit. Way to go!!
Posted by: Jane Knoff on 5/10/2019 at 9:47 am
Today started the same as most days do. Breakfast from the hotel, coffee to wash it down sparking us awake and getting us close to the chocolate-filled croissants we have all learned to take with us on the mountain providing a superior snack to any energy bar. This morning was different however because we checked out of the hotel, loaded the Magic bus and powered north through traffic thicker than sea level air to a mountain two hours north of Quito called Fuya Fuya. Don’t get this confused with the famous mount Kung Fuya Fuya located next to Mt. Fuji in Japan, it is a lesser objective but important in our acclimating nonetheless.
After all the traffic, winding cobblestone roads and slow going, we reached Laguan Mojando, a beautiful high caldera lake very similar to Crater Lake in Oregon. Situated at 12,000 feet, we had in-and-out views of the surrounding peaks, including our objective, Mt. Fuya Fuya. With a summit sitting right at 14,000 feet, it was not as high as our mountain yesterday but offered steep hiking and challenging footwork. I always start this day off with a quickened pace just to get the blood flowing. As the team assembled after seven minutes of power walking up a hill over 12,500ft, Dirk looked at me and said, “Man, altitude is no joke, but it’s still kind of funny”. Which said it all considering we were all hunched over like we had just run the hundred yard dash but smiling at the pain we were all in.
A steep hour later the entire team stood on the summit with warm temps, periodic views of the deep blue lake far below and a growing respect for the Ecuadorian experience. It was another good day for the team.
Once we returned to the bus our flip flops greeted us and we headed back down the hill to eat lunch and relax at Casa Sol, a beautiful hacienda located high above the town of Otavalo. It is in this town we will all attempt to spend as much money as possible buying gifts for all the blog followers and maybe some loved ones at the giant craft market located in the center of town.
Until then we will relax with a beer, tie some knots, repack our bags and prepare for tomorrow.
Wishing you all well in the states,
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
What an experience for you, Chris..so happy you are able to do it..am enjoying the daily blogs!!
Posted by: Bobbi Jarvis on 1/12/2019 at 8:21 pm
So exited for Chris and to see all this beautiful scenery.
Posted by: janice myhrum on 1/12/2019 at 2:51 pm
Joe - you got this! Can’t wait to hear the details!
Posted by: Dana Klein on 9/23/2016 at 9:42 pm
Keep on keepin’ on
Posted by: Tyler Klein on 9/22/2016 at 5:27 pm
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