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Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 8,300'
Congrats…. well done.
Posted by: Richard Murphy on 7/8/2017 at 10:08 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Hannah McGowan, Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,000'
Good luck Jim and all of Team Hanh!
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Posted by: Fredman Family on 7/2/2017 at 12:28 pm
Matt,
Good luck on the climb! we are all excited as you get closer and closer to the summit.
-Blake Schlesner
Posted by: Blake Schlesner on 7/2/2017 at 11:10 am
Posted by: Leon Davis, Mike King, Jessie Poquerusse
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 7,300'
On The Map
Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Lucas Haaland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
...don’t sleep in too long DWH! love you and am so proud of you! - mom sends her love as well! Prayers for a safe summit AKS
Posted by: Ann Kathryn Hines-Scott on 5/10/2017 at 3:37 am
Beautiful sky! Hope the rest of you got out of your tents to see that glorious sight!
Posted by: Nancy Hines on 5/9/2017 at 6:29 pm
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Torres del Paine
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The two photos on blog make me so jealous. Know the scene is extraordinary. We all miss you here and wish we were there. Lots of love and stay healthy. Kathryn
Posted by: Kathryn LeBey on 1/26/2017 at 4:09 am
Lucy - we miss you. Hope the hiking is great. Cloey is doing well, amazingly she ran from our house past the Matthews house last night on our walk. All great on the home front. Pollo made a chicken dish? Surprising. I am sure it was great after a full day on the trail. Love you!
Posted by: Carter & Chris on 1/25/2017 at 6:43 pm
Posted by: Brent Okita, Christina Dale, Chris Ebeling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
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On The Map
Hello Brent , Christine & Dawn! What an Awesome Experience you are having! Love these emails! Sending calm wind thoughts! Climb On and Climb Strong!!!!
Posted by: Dave on 5/29/2016 at 3:26 am
We are enjoying our Memorial Day weekend here in Florida where it is 87 degrees and sunny. Sending warm hugs and sunny wishes for your Denali adventure. Keep tough and never act your age! Love you.
Posted by: Carol Probstfeld on 5/28/2016 at 12:10 pm
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000'
I had a reprieve from the blog yesterday as I was focused on my wife’s birthday…and I forgot to write it . Happy birthday again Tory, I love you and miss you and never want to be this far away from you, we all send birthday wishes from South America!
Today we moved to Camp 2 at 18,000' feet, Camp Guanaco, and we could not be more pleased. I think Dom’s description yesterday of the wind at Camp 1 can be expanded upon and I would contrast it to each sorry climber having their own miniature tornado that follows you and continually gut punches you while yelling the the lyrics of Achy Breaky Heart over and over for which you cannot escape. Trying to relieve yourself of #1 merely winds up on your boots regardless of the direction you are facing, leaving you with a frozen reminder of your wonderful experience at Camp 1.
Anyway, today I woke up to less wind and clear skies. I unzipped my sleeping bag fully taking in the aromas that I had deposited there over the last several days, too afraid to search my foot box for a dead Guanaco. After wiping the tears from my eyes and checking my pulse, I exited my tent to experience these clear skies. No headache and feeling cocky, I walked 30 feet up a ridge line to celebrate my fitness, only to experience my heart rate jumping from 70 to 130, altitude humbling me again. We had Argentinian bagels with bacon and cream cheese, a familiar flavor I thought I may have experienced before (yesterday). We packed up and headed out, feeling stronger than the previous day. Porters passed us without effort, carrying so much gear they looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Our carry was leisurely, a lot of photos and selfies, and pats on the back. Major daily decisions were beginning to materialize: should I brush my teeth today, weather windows to relieve ourselves, drinking, eating, should I use my wet wipes or help my team out by signaling my presence so they don’t lose track of me- my daughter and I share similar views on these important questions in the wilderness.
We arrived at Camp Guanaco early afternoon. We were welcomed by the German team (not really) broadcasting their Rave music across camp with a beat totally out of sync with our slow deliberate movements sparking visions of some remote college parties gone terribly wrong that I will go into no further detail. Privacy and individual space were no more, tents packed together, no one using their inside voices, and now sharing common areas/domes with other climbers- but no one yearned for the miniature tornadoes again.
There is an international feel to Camp 2, and with that comes an international difference in manners and hospitalities. I felt a need to share my thoughts on proper etiquette by covering up when sneezing or coughing, yelling in close proximity contributes to mountain sickness, and if a person is standing in front of you you can’t just walk through them. My attempt at conforming behavior inside the dome was brushed off, so after I took the non-conformists out at the knees and made them kiss the hand, I quietly exited the dome a champion celebrated by my team, like something out of a Marvel movie. We ate our dinner, breaking down the flavors and spices of our culinary experience, shared our desired and current superpowers, if you could drink only 5 drinks the rest of your life out of your fingers what would they be, then resigned to our tents for reading, audio books, and movies on our phones.
I don’t know if any of the above events actually occurred as the altitude is clearly impacting my thought processes and disinhibiting my frontal lobe. But I will share with you that my chosen Marvel name is Land Shark, and my alias is Jack Handy. My team are Thanos killers, but will settle for summiting Aconcagua if she smiles on us and deems us worthy. In the end, I don’t even know who plays Land Shark and puts on that androgynous hood, but I love that Saturday Night Live lore and I am bringing it back, much to the dismay of my coworkers and family. Goodnight everyone.
RMI Climber Brian Goltry
New Post Alerts:
Aconcagua Expedition January 8, 2025
Hey Brian et al - looks like you are having a great time. What an experience! Brian, I am sure all the fitness challenges you are experiencing and are able to overcome, are partially due to all the fitness challenges I set up for you in the backyard at mom’s house
Posted by: Lettie Kirk on 1/20/2025 at 4:31 am
That's a wrap on another great trip to two of Ecuador's highest volcanoes. Unfortunately, we did not get the chance to summit Cotopaxi this time. The risk of lightning was too high for us to continue past 16800'. It was unfortunate to run into those conditions as we had a strong team who had all proven themselves on Cayambe. I felt confident we were all headed for the top of Cotopaxi as well. But it was a good moment to look inside ourselves. Sometimes more important than a summit is what we have learned about ourselves along the way and the confidence we have gained through diligent preparation. For this group, there will be many more mountains and they will be prepared when the opportunity for a summit exists.
With some spare time and due to our early finish, we did some light birding at Limpiopungo, a lake in the national park with a well-maintained trail around it. The time was spent identifying species of birds and reflecting on our experience on the mountain. This was a good reset for our minds and a nice way to round out an overall lovely trip to the Ecuadorian highlands.
Thanks for following along with us!
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier & Team
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador's Volcanoes November 5, 2024
Hey Dustin!
Good Call on turning back. All of you guides say “Its about the experience , the summit is a bonus, getting back down is mandatory!”
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 11/16/2024 at 4:27 am
Well done…! Very proud of everyone ! Thanks to all who helped. See ya soon.
Posted by: don miller on 7/29/2019 at 9:58 pm
It was good to hear you all were the best looking team on the hill; since, it is the first rule of mountain climbing, or so I’ve been told. Glad the team is feeling strong. Thanks so much for the updates, the best part of my days! Keep the father/son team in check, they can be a handful. Praying for safety, good health, and great weather.
Posted by: Christy Cunningham on 8/6/2017 at 2:41 pm
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