The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Leon Davis Reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Leon reported weather coming in from the southwest this morning forming a cap on the summit, so their stay on top was brief. The team has started their descent and are en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team!
It's been a mixed day of weather here on the flanks of Ixta. The group awoke to clear skies and pleasant temps this morning, but an ominous forecast threatened that the good weather would probably not last.
We loaded our packs after breakfast and began climbing toward our high camp at 15,000ft. Slowly the wind began to pick up as we gained altitude until it was blowing 25-30mph when we arrived at camp. It was an easy decision to leave our tents packed and we opted instead to move into the nearby Refugio De Los Cien.
We are currently spread inside the Refugio listening to the wind blow in strong gusts. Every so often someone builds up the courage to venture outside to go to the bathroom but is quickly forced back inside.
We have our fingers crossed for improving weather, but the conditions right now don't give us much hope for a summit bid tomorrow.
RMI Guides Geoff Schellens and Eric Frank
Hey it's Billy checking in. We are all back safe and sound at our camp on Chimborazo. We're about to actually hike on down to the bus. We had a safe and successful climb to the summit today. Just about perfect weather most of the day. That's all I have to report. Long, long day- everyone is super tired but definitely big smiles on our faces. As we were just talking about this, it totally rethinks our whole trip down here. That's all I have for now. Signing off and we'll check in again tomorrow evening at the end of the trip.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in post Chimborazo summit.
June 23, 2015 6:31 am PST
We enjoyed a relaxing evening at the Papallacta hot springs last night. After a leisurely breakfast this morning, we are packing up and heading off to the Illiniza climbers' hut. To get there we have a 3 hour hike ahead of us, carrying our sleeping bags and climbing gear to get to an altitude of about 15,400'. It will be hard work, and a stark contrast to leisurely soaking in the hot springs. But our team is up for the task, and it will be worth it; the hut sits at the saddle between the south (17,267') and north (16,818') Iliniza peaks, the 6th and 8th highest peaks in Ecuador, respectively. If weather and conditions allow us, we are prepared to climb both peaks over the next two days. We'll keep you posted on our progress.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The Four Day Summit Climb August 27 - 30 were unable to reach the summit today due to high winds and deteriorating weather. RMI Guides Mike King and Gloria Roe led their teams to the top of Disappointment Cleaver before making the decision to turn back as the winds were high and the cloud cap that had formed around the summit began to creep lower on the mountain. The teams returned to Camp Muir and will descend to Paradise this morning.
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
Friday, June 22, 2018 - 8:57 pm PT
The snow just kept on coming down last night. It didn’t pile up all that deeply, but it was persistent and wet. We kept checking through the early morning hours, and then through the mid morning hours after a team breakfast, but it went right on until the early afternoon. By then we’d determined to take a hint and declare a rest day. Things actually cleared up nicely by mid-afternoon and Denali came out in all her glory. By then it was unbearably hot in the tents and would have been about ten times hotter walking uphill with big packs and sleds. We rested. It was burrito night in the main dining tent and after a great feed and some storytelling, we returned to the tents under once again cloudy skies. We’ll hope for a better morning tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
We are so enjoying following your journey and the pictures are magnificent. Continuing to pray for good weather, safety, and health of all of you! Godspeed!
Posted by: Shari Ramsey on 6/24/2018 at 9:28 am
Jon & Margaret - Stay healthy and in good spirits. I check this blog every day.
It took us an extra try, but ultimately our patience prevailed and the very talented pilots of K2 Aviation were able to thread us through some funky clouds and get us in to Kahiltna Base Camp. We made our first run at 12:30 PM and made it almost all the way before a bank of fog turned us back. We landed back in Talkeetna to heavy rain, took off our boots, and settled back in to our waiting game. Then at 5 PM there seemed to be a break and we got the green light. The flight in was spectacular as always, flying right through the rugged peaks and walls of the Alaska Range. Since we weren't in until evening, we decided to put up camp, make dinner, and spend the night here. Tomorrow we will hopefully have the conditions to move our camp and all of our gear to our Camp 1 at the base of Ski Hill.
We are happily tucked into sleeping bags for our first night on the mountain, glad to finally be here!
RMI Guides Pete, Jess, Taylor, and team
There's not much to report today. The team enjoyed a calm and warm rest day at base camp. Without much to sort or pack everyone occupied their time relaxing, reading, and hanging out in one of the large dome tents. Some laundry was washed and showers were enjoyed but really we are all eager to head up to Camp 1 and get the climb started.
RMI Guide Mike King
The team is currently resting in the sweat lodges that are their tents. This camp is known for its windy conditions and without steep ridges and peaks to block the sun, escaping the wind means roasting like a Kenny Roger's chicken.
As we continue the trek to Base Camp the size of this valley only grows as the Vacas River gets closer to it's source.
After seeing Aconcagua for the first time today, everyone is looking forward to the cold temperatures at Base Camp. Tomorrow we finish the trek, here's to calm winds and strong backs for the team.
RMI Guide Mike King
have good weather and great climb, thanks mike for the up dates
Posted by: mark and helen walsh on 1/2/2017 at 11:01 am
Love reading the updates! Just want my brother to know I’m thinking of him and enjoying the climb vicariously!! Best of fun to the team…enjoy each day!!! XXOA
Congratulations team….........we have a four day climb scheduled for August 27-30, 2016. Cant wait!!
Posted by: Jon on 8/9/2016 at 9:08 am
Congratulations Jane and Crew! Great photos can’t wait to hear all about it. Love, Mic
Posted by: Michelle McNally on 8/8/2016 at 1:15 pm
View All Comments