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Posted by: Mike King, Jenny Konway
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
The Team packed up at the Altzomoni Hut this morning after a big breakfast and casual start to the day. We hiked up to High Camp, located at 15,500' over three hours and benefited from cloudy skies and a cool breeze. As we were leaving the Third Portillo, the clouds began climbing past us and soon snow was falling. The group did great today, carrying heavy packs in rocky terrain at high altitude. We'll spend the day resting and keeping our fingers crossed for clear weather. Tomorrow will be our one shot at Ixta and she can be cruel when conditions are stormy. The climbing itself is straight forward and we'll hope to be calling in from the top shortly after sunrise. Thanks for following along, we all continue to eat amazing food and are enjoying the beautiful scenery.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jess Matthews, Jenny Konway
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
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May 20, 2017
The 11,000' Camp Diner opened for business late this morning, though still before the sun warmed its patrons' bones. The menu had one question: with or without. Bagels and cream cheese with or without bacon. It turned into a beautiful day, and we got some National Geographic worthy photos of Mt. Foraker and the Kahiltna stretching out below us. Lots of naps, reading, movies, and some time catching up with our good friends and RMI Guides Robby and Lucas from Mike W's team rounded out the day. Tomorrow, back to the grindstone, as we move up to 14,000' and dig in. Everyone is looking forward to the good living of 14 Camp.
Until tomorrow,
RMI Guides Pete, Jess, Jenny and team
On The Map
Posted by: Mike King, Christina Dale
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
This is Mike, we had a long descent from the Ixta summit and high camp. Everyone is well and getting cleaned up in Puebla. Tomorrow is a day off to rest, eat tacos and hangout at the beautiful square in historic Puebla. Your loved ones have Internet and cell coverage, hit them up for details on the trip thus far. Friday we are off to Piedra Grande to prep for our Orizaba attempt!
RMI Guide Mike King
Time for huevos rancheros and cerveza, the breakfast of champions.
Congratulations.
Posted by: Art Muir on 2/24/2017 at 1:26 pm
It looks like some awesome scenery! Best of luck! Enjoy the experience!
Posted by: Debbi Ersch on 2/23/2017 at 5:28 pm
Today the group woke up having spent the night at 15,300ft. Now I don't usually let team members drink while we are on the mountain, and last night was no exception, but that did not keep the team from waking up with a solid hangover.
In the game of high altitude mountaineering, no one ever looks forward to the first night at a new height. Headaches, upset stomach and simply feeling like bad is very common the first morning after moving up. So in short, a hangover.
This unpleasant start to the day was quickly cured with caffeine, breakfast and preparing for our walk to the glacier. By 8am the group had sprung to life and we made our way from the Cayambe hut to the toe of the glacier at 16,000 feet. Another new altitude record for all but one climber. Once on the glacier Nick, Cosme (our local guide), and myself reviewed the core skills to safely get us up and down this giant volcano.
For the first two hours we enjoyed sunny skies with swirling clouds but by noon the clouds had swallowed up the good views and the temperature dropped.
Back at the hut we took a shot nap, worked on some more training skills and ate dinner by 5:00. It is 6:30 now and we are all tucked in trying to get some sleep before our 11pm wake up call. We will call tomorrow with details about the climb. Wish us luck.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Posted by: Mike King, JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
The team is back at Aconcagua Camp 1 after a successful carry day. Mike is currently fueling up for a nap with some Pringles and Tang. Most of the crew are a step ahead of him. We take our siestas quite seriously in the Southern Hemisphere.
We enjoyed perfect weather today on our carry, with just enough of a breeze to keep us cool, but not enough to even call it wind. On top of the weather's cooperation, we also found excellent route conditions. Firm snow made for quick travel, and gave us an opportunity to use some of the heavy, sharp objects that we've been lugging around.
On the way to Camp 2, climbers crest several ridges, each time gaining a slightly more complete picture of the Andes. I could pile on as many adjectives as I could think of, but I would still be unable to communicate the scale of the terrain. It is big out there.
Given the weather, we spent about an hour up at Camp 2. Taking in the views, securing our cache, and, you bet, napping. The trip down was quick, with sun softened snow and motivated climbers. Before they all went to sleep, the team sent their best to friends, family, and anyone else following along.
RMI Guides JM Gorum and Mike King
Happy to hear everything is going in your favour keep it up and be safe
Posted by: Mark and Helen walsh on 1/8/2017 at 3:20 pm
Rob, what brings you so high pilgrim ? Watch your top knot. Craig
Posted by: Craig Andersen on 1/8/2017 at 1:07 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Although our bodies were still a little tired and sore from climbing, we were up early and breakfasting today with excitement and anticipation for our safari start. The first part was actually through the urban jungle of Arusha at rush hour. Our drivers skillfully took the two tricked-out Toyota Land Cruisers through a crazy mix of highway construction, cattle and "normal" road congestion to get us out onto the open road, west of town. We watched several hours of towns, villages and Masai herdsmen drift by before we entered Lake Manyara National Park. Then the tops were rolled back and we all tried our best to spot the next exotic animal. We couldn't beat the guide/drivers, Erik and Joseph... or even our cook, Zach. Time after time, they'd find the zebra, Cape buffalo, elephant, mongoose, giraffe or baboon first. We had a wonderful afternoon in the park. No big cats, but we saw their tracks and knew they were out there -watching us. With the last of daylight, we rolled up at the Plantation Lodge and were all surprised to find such luxurious and welcoming accommodations in the "outback". Tomorrow we'll head for Ngorongoro Crater.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
After meeting up for a phenomenal opening dinner of sushi and ceviche in Lima last night, the Artesonraju-Frank team was back up early this morning. We caught a 5:30 a.m. cab to the Lima airport, and had anticipated being in Huaraz for breakfast- a quick one hour flight away. Instead, our carrier LC Peru, had oversold our flight and despite having confirmed reservations we were told there were not any seats available for us. A terse hour of back and forth conversation with the ticket agent about finding additional seats for us, and the exact definition of of the phrase "confirmed reservation" yielded nothing. Eventually we gave in and did the only thing we could in such a situation - took a series deep breaths, bought a couple cups of burnt airport coffee and started looking for other options to cover the 300 miles to Huaraz.
Three cab rides, four bus stops and ten hours later, were finally here in Huaraz only slightly worse for the wear. In many ways, developing world travel is a lot like the mountains. Things are always changing and if you wanna succeed, you have to stay on your toes! Thanks for following along. We be out of the city, and into the mountains in a couple days, headed for a ultimate objective- Artesonraju!
RMI Guide Eric Frank and the Arteson Crew
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climbs, led by JJ Justman and Mike King, reported a nice day with light wind, clear skies, and warm weather from the crater this morning. Both teams had a leisurely break after topping out at Columbia Crest. They left the crater to begin their decent just before 7:30am.
Thank you JotaJota for your great organization and energy. And stories (true or not).
Thank you Gloria for your friendliness and ability to calm nerves.
Thank you Casey for pulling me up the hill.
Posted by: Sandra McIntire on 6/5/2016 at 3:32 pm
Happy Birthday Ben. We wish you a great day on top of the world! Love, Mom & Dad
Posted by: Beate Pucci on 6/4/2016 at 5:36 pm
Hey There,
It's Billy calling from high Camp on Chimborazo at around 17,500 feet. I'm up here with all the team everyone is doing extremely well, and we're even enjoying the semi-decent weather. We are in the clouds but the wind is calm and it's not raining, so compared to what we've been dealing with so far this trip we will take it! The team is just resting after our hike up here and pretty soon we'll be eating some tasty Mountain House freeze dried dinners and getting to bed early so we are in a good position to get up in the middle of the night tonight and take a crack at the summit. Hopefully I'll be giving you a call next from the top of the mountain, but if not we'll check in or if you know how it went.
That's all for now, bye!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent calling in from High Camp on Chimborazo
Go SPS!!! Go Daddy!!! We love you!! Have fun!! Roh?, lalalalalal
Posted by: Team Chapman on 2/13/2016 at 5:56 am
Have a great summit day, guys!
Posted by: Craig Falkenhagen on 2/12/2016 at 6:17 pm
Post Antisana. Hmmmm? It is hard to put into words how a body feels after running full speed ahead for 36 hours without sleep. I take that back, we did close our eyes from 7 to 10 pm last night but if you asked anyone to tell you about their dreams they will half heatedly recount how their tent partner and the thought of eating instant oatmeal at 10:30 pm was more of a nightmare. So sleep was hard to come by.
Once "awake", we forced down what calories we could and loaded our climbing kits into the jeeps. From base camp it was a 20-minute 4x4 trail to the starting point. Like all the other mountains down here the first hour starts with a dirt trail before gaining the toe of the glacier. We all did so about 1am and despite this being our second big climb in a row, everyone showed good spirit and stamina.
For the next three hours we crossed spectacular crevasse bridges, cramponed up steep pitches and weaved through giant ice features.
At 18,000 feet, we took a break to search out the final piece of the route finding puzzle which ended at the summit ridge. Once the ridge is gained it is a straight forward climb to the top. Unfortunately there was nothing straight forward about the terrain from our position to the ridge. With a mandatory 55-degree slope exposed to a crevasse below and having very tricky snow conditions, the risk of taking our team into that terrain was just too high. So it was here I decided to turn the climb around. The good news was, up to that point everybody climbed really well and said unanimously that Antisana was one of the coolest mountains they have ever been on.
After a safe descent we rested at camp for a couple hours then took the magic bus to a hacienda for some much needed food, beer and rest.
Tomorrow we are off to our final and most challenging mountain, Chimborazo.
Stay tuned for the next chapter.
Adam and team wishing all of our loved ones back home big hugs. We can't wait to come home and see you.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Antisana sounds like a heart pumping adventure! It really is a day to day puzzle, isn’t it! I can’t wait to hear Justin describe this trip from a medical point of view.
Sending the team the best of wishes for another exhilarating and safe climb. Thanks for sharing!!!
Sharon and Tim Halls
Posted by: Sharon Halls on 1/15/2016 at 8:54 am
Keep up the hard work Jordan! Pinnacle is excited for your journey, big climb ahead, we know you can do it! Should’ve taken the dogs ;)
Posted by: Chris Streno on 5/22/2017 at 6:13 am
Great to have a rest day- hope you able to keep warm and get some reserve sleep in the tank. How thoughtful of the climbers to rise early and deliver breaky in bed to the guides - tales from the dreamtime ! Hope the weather holds for the hard slog ahead -safe climbing to you all - with kind thoughts P and V.
Posted by: Philip and Vonne Calvert on 5/21/2017 at 10:02 pm
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