On our drive from Mexico City we were treated to views of La Malinche, Ixta and Pico de Orizaba. Today’s clarity was one for the books and we made the most of it on our first acclimatization hike. One of the advantages of this style of trip is that you can pretty quickly get in position to be at altitude AND get a good night’s rest indoors. After a beautiful hike through the “arboles ponderosicas” we made it to some lounging at our cabana before dinner.
Hope everyone up North is doing great!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guides Tyler Jones and Jake Beren led their Four Day Summit Climb July 17 - 20 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Tyler reported windy and cold temperatures but good climbing conditions. The teams were starting their descent from the crater rim just before 9 am.
Congratulations to today' Summit Climb team!
Our mood was a reflection of how the snow fell today. Slow and relaxed. After a really hard day yesterday, the team enjoyed recovering in our tents. Reading, writing, and watching movies. And how could we forget the amazing pizza meal for lunch?! Not able to see past our campsite, it's really nice to be living in a world of snow.
We woke to a starry sky and calm winds last night, perfect conditions for our summit attempt on Chimborazo. We had altered our plans because the volcano Tungurahua, to the east of Chimborazo, was spitting out ash two mornings ago. So, instead of establishing a high camp in tents, we attempted our climb from the lower climbers' hut. We had our work cut out for us, with about 5,000 vertical feet of climbing, and a circuitous route to avoid the current rock fall hazard on the normal route up Chimborazo. Fortunately the weather cooperated all day for us, and we had a very strong and experienced team, and we were able to summit Chimborazo! We had a very, very long day of hard climbing. We started climbing in the dark, and got back to the climbers' hut a few hours after dark. We encountered steep and firm climbing conditions on Chimborazo, which made climbing and descending particularly slow as we had to concentrate on good cramponing and climbing techniques for hours on end. Our team proved up to the challenge, and we climbed safely the whole day. In the end, it was one heck of an adventure.
We're headed back to Quito now, and we should be at our hotel just slightly after noon. We'll have plenty of time to enjoy leisurely walking around the city (after a much anticipated hot shower!) before we have a celebratory dinner tonight. Then it's back to the old US of A on our respective flights tonight and tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
WOW!! Nice job team! Way to go! Wishing the whole time that I was there with you!
Congrats to all of you!
Sounds like a heck of a climb!! Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Posted by: Anthony Tarantino on 7/16/2013 at 11:48 am
Hey Jeff, congrats on Chimbo! Sounds like you had another tough one, can never take the easy way, huh?!
Nicely done.
Your Argentinean tent mate.
This is Dave Hahn calling from Antarctica our Vinson season ended today. About midday, around 11 AM, we flew from Vinson Basecamp back to Union Glacier. Today was a beautiful day out there, big blue sky all around, the clouds were gone and we had good flying conditions back to Union Glacier. The Illyusion came in this evening and my climbers should be getting to Punta Arenas right about now. I'm still in Antarctica; I am going to stay on for one more project down here to the South Pole. T.A, Mindy and Vlado should be enjoying Punta Arenas tonight. A successful trip all around.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
This is Dave Hahn with the RMI Vinson Expedition, V1, we are starting the Vinson season. Myself, Seth Waterfall, Billy Nugent along with our climbers have had a run of good luck now. We flew from Punta Arenas last night. At quarter to midnight we left the ground after a day of stop and go, hoping for a flight and being stopped short earlier in the day. And then finally, late last night we departed Punta Arenas and arrived in Union Glacier around 5 am. Things were great there, it was nice and calm and our good luck continued. During the day the staff at ALE managed to get us all out to Vinson Basecamp and that is where we are sitting right now, on the Branscomb Glacier below Mt. Vinson. We are at about 7,000', it's partly cloudy and again calm.
We are excited, after a few days in Torres del Paine, which was not that bad of a delay being in a National Park in Southern Chile, to come on the very next day and already be on the mountain. Everything is looking good now.
More when we can,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from Vinson Basecamp.
The Four-Day climbing teams led by RMI guides Steve Gately and Christina Dale reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They reported some light route traffic and a great climbing route.
They will return back to Camp Muir for a quick rest break before descending back to Rainier Basecamp in Ashford this evening to celebrate their success!
RMI Guides Peter Whittaker and Dave Hahn led their teams to the Mt. Rainier summit this morning. Both teams had left the summit by 8:30 a.m. and reported light winds and a very pleasant day on the mountain.
Jake Beren is currently leading the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz on their summit bid. He checked in at 8:15 a.m. from the Wapowety Cleaver on the Kautz Route and will radio us when he reaches the summit.
It was great to climb with all of you, even the silly bit..
Way to go Marshall and VJ. Awesome job Brad, Andy and Matt. Really fun to climb with you Franz and Anna…makes me want to bring my own daughter seeing you guys have such fun together.
Great guides makes great trip.
Thanks RMI.
Erik
Posted by: Erik Meyers on 8/13/2012 at 4:05 pm
Congrats Andy and Brad! Mary has been sharing your travel adventures with me. What an amazing accomplishment!
The team of American Lung Association (ALA) climbers on the Four Day Climb June 19 - 22 led by RMI Guide Abby Westling reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The climbers enjoyed blue skies and sunshine on their ascent and were able to spend some time in the crater. Abby and the team started their descent from the crater rim around 8:30 am en route to Camp Muir. Once back at camp, they will get a short rest before continuing down to Paradise. The program ends this evening with a celebration for the team members for their hardwork and contributions to the American Lung Association.
Congratulations to the whole team!
Excellent job on your climbing accomplishments! You all did a fantastic job raising money for the “ Clean Breathe “ cause. To my daughter Lori 25 years ago you worried me to death! I had no idea what I was going to do if something happened and I had to raise your children NOW 25 years later I couldn’t sleep with worry , if something happened to you who would take care of me ? LOL! We are so proud of you and all your accomplishments! Love Mom and Dad Hooper
Posted by: “Dad and Mom” Hooper on 6/22/2023 at 9:33 am
Today I was surprisingly asked a question that, as far as I can tell, is as old as human curiosity, parental affection and plain ol’ sibling rivalry. This may seem strange because I only have one child, and my somewhat unhinged three wingnut dogs can’t speak and honestly don’t care about the answer as long as they are fed and played with. As you may have guessed, the question so abruptly put on me this morning was: “daddy, who’s your favorite?” Harder to guess was, who asked it?
Things started normally enough; I made breakfast for my kiddo before packing him up and carting him off to preschool. I fed my dogs and chickens, cleaned the kitchen, and prepared for a day of light recreating before my afternoon duties began. It was when I entered the garage, home to my all important man cave and location of all my beloved fly fishing and climbing gear that things took a bizarre turn. Standing in front of me (I kid you not!) side by side, with puppy dog eyes looking up, stood my 12’6” Echo spey rod and my carbon fiber, oh so beautiful, Cobra ice tools. These sorts of things don’t just happen so I double checked my reality button. Dreaming? No I don’t think so. I have been up for three hours, had my coffee, and still felt the throb in my left big toe where I slammed it into the chest at the side of my bed. Ok, I’m awake. Drugged? No, I quit taking hallucinogens in high school and my wife, I think, genuinely cares about me. Then what? My two favorite activities in life, swinging flies for big trout with my spey rod and ice climbing, which is now doable in Bozeman, Montana, have come to a head. With a few free hours, my fishing rod and ice tools came alive and wanted me to pick favorites. Sheeesh! What’s a guy to do?
As time stood still, I began to reflect on the week long steelhead fishing trip I took just two weeks prior to the Grand Rhond, Clearwater, and Snake rivers. Ohhh, the joy of that trip made me quiver. It made me want to reach out, grab my spey rod child and declare my love for him. 28 inch ocean run rainbows on the swing, the thrill of the next hook up, not wearing a heavy pack; the reasons almost overwhelmed me. Yes, yes, you will always be my favorite!!! Then I saw my ice tools. Hyalite Canyon is in! I can’t wait for the thrill of running it out on newly formed thin ice over a stubby ice screw, waking up before the sun, and realizing this day was bound to hold everything but the predictable. Ohh, ice tools, you are my favorite, “let’s go climb something!” I think you understand my dilemma.
Parenting has taught me much in the five years that I’ve been at it. Love, patience and compassion are always at the forefront of dealing with children. Frustrations always arise. Liam spills my wine on the new rug, my spey rod whips bullets at the back of my head leaving welts the size of cheese curds on my scalp, ice tools rip out unexpectedly and send waves of sudden panic through me that make me want to puke. All part of the landscape I guess. So how did I answer the question, “who is your favorite”? Here I leaned on the invaluable lessons gleaned from seven years of blissful marriage. I compromised.
That day I took the ice tools out for their first climb of the season. I packed them up with the rest of my climbing gear all the while psyched I had just promised my fishing rod we would get out tomorrow. It’s a difficult web we weave, balancing work and play. I honestly felt troubled that I had to recreate two days in a row, climbing then fishing, but then again parenting is also about sacrifice.
As readers of the RMI Blog, most of you are probably cracking a smile but are also curious how this story is relevant to the mission of mountain climbing, training, and/or preparing for an upcoming goal. Here is how I connect the dots: Fishing for me is the yin to my climbing yang. It is a glorious mental escape which allows me to shelve my daily stresses and exist purely in the moment. Everyone needs this periodic meditation to reset and clear the mind. For many, exercise accomplishes the same release but regular exercise does not necessarily constitute “training”. The expectations I put on myself when climbing on my own are very high and the specific training schedule I follow can at times be demanding, painful, and sometimes unpleasant. Here is where we tie in sacrifice. Everyone’s life is managed by time. Somewhere on that big round clock is time you can utilize for yourself. If you have a goal of climbing a mountain, running a marathon, or bench pressing a Ford truck, you need to prioritize and then commit! Finding enjoyment and purpose in life comes when these commitments are made. Being a husband and father keep me grounded. Being a passionate climber and guide keep me psyched and motivated, and the hunt for big fish calms me down. In the big picture I think I have found some balance. Remember it takes the black and the white, the yin and the yang, to complete the circle. The web you weave and balance you seek are your own, but seek it with conviction and purpose and you will be just fine.
__________
Adam Knoff is a senior guide at RMI, husband, father, and fish wrangler. A versatile and talented rock, ice, and big mountain climber, Adam has climbed and guided throughout the world, in Alaska, the Himalaya, and in his backyard of Bozeman, MT. Adam is guiding an upcoming Mexico's Volcanoes trip, Expedition Skills Seminar - Ecuador, and will be leading a team on the West Buttress of McKinley next June.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
WOW!! Nice job team! Way to go! Wishing the whole time that I was there with you!
Congrats to all of you!
Sounds like a heck of a climb!! Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Posted by: Anthony Tarantino on 7/16/2013 at 11:48 am
Hey Jeff, congrats on Chimbo! Sounds like you had another tough one, can never take the easy way, huh?!
Nicely done.
Your Argentinean tent mate.
Posted by: Greg Barber on 7/16/2013 at 8:54 am
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