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Definitely the nicest day of the trip so far. We spent it resting at
Low Camp. Rest was welcome after the big effort yesterday, but the day would have been a bit more relaxing had we not received the news that the wind would come back tomorrow. Things worked out well for the other teams on the mountain. While we all climbed the fixed lines to High Camp yesterday, ours was the only group electing to carry and return to Vinson Low Camp. The others stayed up and went to the top today. Of course we are happy for them, but we’ll be truly happy when we’ve gotten equally lucky with a calm day of our own up high.
We enjoyed the profound quiet today, without people and without weather. We read and rested, cut a few snow blocks for walls and ate a few more meals in our kitchen tent. We’ll enjoy the late sun on the tents tonight and we’ll hope the weatherman and the weather have both had a change of heart by tomorrow.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Thursday, August 2 - 5:36 PM PT
We had a great day of training on the lower slopes of the
Easton Glacier today. Some clouds moved over at times, shading us from the sun, which was a blessing. We used our type travel segment to move up the glacier and get a view of the whole route. Things look great and we are set for our summit push tonight!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Monday, May 28, 2018 - 11:49 PM PT
Hello all, and happy Memorial Day! Everyone is doing quite well adjusting to life on the
Kahiltna Glacier. There is a bit of basketball withdrawal going on, but besides that everyone seems happy. This morning we enjoyed a leisurely bagel and cream cheese breakfast, and packed up a bunch of our things to cache up higher on the mountain. The weather was perfect for us today. If anything it was a bit warm, but we'll take all the warmth we can get at this point. Skies were mostly clear, and the views looking back down the Kahiltna went on for miles. The team made quick work of the carry, and we made it back to camp at 7,200 well before dinner time. With a lot of our gear stashed above us, we are in great shape to move camp higher tomorrow. We'll let you know how it goes. Everyone sends their best!
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
On The Map
We are kicking off RMI’s 2018
Denali climbing season. Our team met in Anchorage on Monday afternoon and traveled north to the small town of Talkeetna. Yesterday was a busy day of packing gear and preparing for our expedition, including a trip to the National Park Service to register our group and have a pre-trip orientation.
With our bags packed and weighed for loading onto the glacier planes, we’re all set for our adventure. Currently there is some stormy weather that is not allowing airplanes to access the Alaska Range, so we’re in a holding pattern until we get a clearing. We will keep you up to speed with the team’s status.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
We woke this morning to a snowy camp, after having a wintery mix start around dinner last night. Salkantay was out all day as we hiked through the snow covered trail to Incachiriaska Pass 16,300'. The Team did well despite the altitude and muddy terrain.
We descended down a wide grassy valley and paused often to take in the scenery and soak in the sun after a cold and cloudy day yesterday.
The Team is resting in
Pampachuana camp located at 12,800' among a high rural farming community. Through the valley is an Incan canal that was constructed to straighten out the glacial stream that provides water to the farmers. Tomorrow we join the 'Inca Trail' and our horses will leave us as porters join the team for the remainder of the trip.
RMI Guide Mike King
Jambo!
Just tracked down the last missing bag so the whole team and gear are here.
We are packed and ready to go to
Kilimanjaro tomorrow.
Everyone minus one arrived late last night and after a few hours of sleep, we met up for our first meeting and then a session on packing our gear for the next week on the mountain.
We spent the afternoon finalizing the preparation. Tomorrow we will get up at 6am and depart for the mountain around 8am. We have a five-hour climb to get to camp so a busy day ahead. With not a lot of clouds tonight, we watched the lunar eclipse. The weather looks good for now.
All is well with the team.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Karanga Camp was kind to us. After a calm, full moon night there, we had an easy and pleasant morning above the clouds. Those that got up in the night even glimpsed the lights of Moshi and other cities shining up from far below. We left just before 9 AM and made our way up broad and open terrain with the great cliffs and glaciers of Kibo towering overhead. With little or no vegetation in this alpine zone it was possible to see hundreds of porters, climbers, guides and assorted staff stretching out forever ahead of and behind us.
We made good time on the relatively easy path and pulled into our 15,200 ft high camp at noon with everybody feeling strong and cheerful.
Barafu Camp is on a rock ridge with grand views of the climb to come and of just about everything else in the universe. Clouds built up in the afternoon, which we welcomed for giving a little relief from the strong high altitude sunshine. We ate, and ate, and ate as Tosha Minja, our remarkable chef served up a feast to remember. We'll rest a bit now, eat an early supper and turn in early as well. We've got big work to do in the night, a climb to the
Roof of Africa... Luckily, we've got 11 strong and eager climbers and seven capable and enthusiastic guides to help get the job done.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Good morning from Moscow! The whole team trickled in over the course of yesterday, showing up a bit bleary eyed and time-confused by last night. We didn’t stray far from the hotel to find dinner, catch up a bit with old friends who are part of the team, and meet new ones. Everyone made a pretty quick exit once our plates were cleaned to crawl into bed and start the process of re- calibrating our clocks. This morning, everyone is already looking refreshed and renewed, ready for our tour of the sites of Moscow: St. Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square, Lenin’s Tomb, and the Kremlin are all ahead of us. We’ll enjoy the day of sights before we turn our attention to
the mountain and the real reason that we’ve come! We’ve got a great team, and everyone is excited to get to climbing so stay tuned as our expedition gets underway!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
How was your 4th of July? We had a great light show last night. Lots and lots of lightning, raining hard all night but no issues. We stayed warm and dry in the wonderful lodge.
Our day started off with another four-course breakfast. The best news of the day was the lost bag from Poland has arrived. With all our bags accounted for, a quick transfer to a different set of lift systems put us at the base of
Elbrus. Three gondola lift sections had us here at our basecamp nestled at 12,500ft in some rustic but comfortable huts. A very nice local cook is taking great care of us and life is good. We did a couple hours of training and climbing after lunch, then more food, more resting, and our team meeting on mountain life and information about plans for tomorrow. Clouds in and out showed the Elbrus summit every so often; its a great life up here on the big hill.
The team is doing great and we are having a blast.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
The June 16 - 19 Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Paul Rachele was forced to turn around at 12,500' due to route conditions. Several days of poor weather and snow accumulation provided difficult climbing conditions for today's team. They have returned safely to Camp Muir and will continue their descent to Paradise this afternoon.
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Awesome!! Romary crew is sending positive mojo your way. It’s a privilege to be on the Kahiltna…was there 20 years ago this month. Keep grinding and enjoy every step. When things get tough, just “embrace the suck.”
Posted by: Tom Romary on 5/30/2018 at 6:31 am
Straub clan has their eyes on you…safe climbing & sunshine, amigos!
Posted by: Straub(s) on 5/29/2018 at 10:17 pm
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