June 16, 2016 - 8:27 pm PT
Hey this is Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately and the Upper West Rib Team we are standing on the summit of Denali, right now! We just had an excellent climb of the Upper West Rib. It's about 7 pm and we are going to tag the top and turn around and head home. Beautiful day here, just a few puffy clouds way off in the distance but other than that, clear as can be. Thanks for following along. We will check in again when we are back at camp.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens calls from the summit of Denali with the Upper West Rib Team.
Captain Jim, Ry, Julia and I had dinner last night. We’re all so proud and happy about your big big accomplishment. Can’t wait to hear your story and see some more pictures.
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
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.
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
Tuesday, May 28, 2019 - 6:29 PM PT
We took advantage of calmer weather to carry a load up to 13,600 today. We got to the top of Squirrel Hill, and the clouds looked like they might spoil our day. As we approached Windy Corner the weather completely cleared up and left us with light winds and sunny skies. So that was nice. Everyone did really well today, and we’re hoping to move up to 14K tomorrow, weather permitting. We’re currently hanging out in our sun-warmed tents drying out our gear. We’ll do an early dinner, and head to bed soon. Gotta get that beauty rest.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
With every step we get closer and closer to the tippy top of this mountain and a warm bed and shower. We said goodbye to Camp 1 today and moved up to Camp 2. The air was noticeably chillier as we made our way to 18,000'. Once again we unloaded our packs and began the nesting process of moving into the tents. After some afternoon naps, we gathered for dinner. Among other topics we discussed the phenomenon of HAF, high altitude flatulence...the higher you go the gasier one gets. With full bellies and a crispness to the air our sleeping bags our calling our names. Tomorrow we will carry to Camp 3, our High Camp.
Adios muchachos,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team
We are all in Mendoza...the last 2 bags arrived late this evening and the Team is turned in and getting their last night of artificial air conditioning before heading out tomorrow. We will head to Los Penitentes to pack for the mules and sleep around 8,000'. Everyone is excited to begin the trek and escape the 100 degree weather here in town. Will be sending updates on our trip each day. Leave comments for your friends and loved ones in the blog comments, the moral support from back home goes a long way.
RMI Guides Mike King, Jess Matthews and Nick Scott
Virg, So I forgot - Joe’s truck went to the crusher today - it broke down. He bought another one - perfect for traveling Loveland pass and snowboarding - It is a van! He can carry snowboards and snowboarders up the pass - perfect. Also I am ordering mom and dad a cell phone tonight. Their home phone is all staticy - something is going on with the land line. Love ya - be safe! Nora
Posted by: Nora Hall on 1/6/2018 at 5:34 pm
Hello Virg,
I thought I would share this weeks menu with you:
Miso-butter Salmon & Lo Mein Noodles - with cucumber & Cherry Tomatoes - seared salmon and noodle salad with umami-packed sauce with sweet white miso and mirin - springy fresh lo mein noodles with crisp cucumber, scallions and cherry tomatoes.
Sheet Pan Roasted Pork with fall vegetables and maple mustard sauce - hearty meal with rubbed pork blend sweet and smoky spices with medley of Brussels sprouts, carrots and Yukon gold potatoes and a drizzle of maple-sweetened creamy mustard sauce. Yum!!!
Love your sis - yum yum
RMI Guides Casey Grom and JM Gorum led their teams to the Mt. Rainier summit this morning. It was clear on top with some smoky air, due to the British Columbia wildfires, on the lower flanks of the mountain. The team is making great progress on their descent back to Camp Muir.
June 10, 2017 12:07 am PST
It was a day of decisions. The team sadly broke apart today, with the main group heading down, and two strong and driven individuals opting to stay on the mountain to give 'er another try. Caught in the middle I was torn between sticking with the two and going for the summit, or sticking with the main part of the team. After anguishing over the decision, I chose to finish off the expedition with the team, rather than lead our two erstwhile members to the top.
A sketchy forecast helped me in my decision, and I think my two climbers will have a better chance of summiting with the groups I left them with. They'll be joining Tyler and Jake's teams, who have a bit more time than I to wait for good weather.
So here we are, in our tents at 11,200' camp waiting for the night to referee the glacier so we can travel over its frozen surface to minimize the risk of crevasse falls that have been occurring much more than normal lately.
It's sad separating from our two teammates, and leaving the mountain without a summit under our belts. For me it's been twenty five trips since I've not summited. But folks are in good spirits.
I think we all really appreciate the time we've spent here, the friendships developed, the hard times as well as the fun times.
In two hours we awaken for one last day on the glacier. That is, as long as the air service can pick us up in the morning.
With any luck, next time I chat with you I'll have had a shower, eaten a big ol' steak and perhaps consumed an adult beverage or two.
Good night from 11,200'.
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Christina Dale and JT Schmitt
Team - Sorry that you did not summit but congratulations on such strong climbing and a great adventure. Many people have been rooting for you and continue to do so. Descend safely and enjoy your return to civilization. Ken
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
It's all coming together now. We made our final preparations today here in the town of Usa River Tanzania, located at the base of the tallest mountain on this continent. Myself and eight hearty souls are taking on the challenge of climbing Kilimanjaro starting tomorrow. It will be tough to leave the luxury of our lodge but the team is fired up for the adventure ahead. A very nice group of folk have started to bond here in the lowlands and and a tight nit team is just a few days and thousands of feet uphill.
Early tomorrow morning we will leave for the trail head and start our climb to the "Roof of Africa".
Stay tuned,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Captain Jim, Ry, Julia and I had dinner last night. We’re all so proud and happy about your big big accomplishment. Can’t wait to hear your story and see some more pictures.
Posted by: Mac Hawley on 6/17/2016 at 4:59 pm
CONGRATS! So awesome!
Can’t wait to see the pics.
Chris
Posted by: Underwood on 6/17/2016 at 4:07 pm
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