The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons July 28 - 2 August, 2017 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 7 am. RMI Guide Andy Bond and the team headed to the White River Camp Ground on Sunday after two days of training at Rainier BaseCamp. They started on the route on Sunday and ascended to Camp Schurman yesterday. They made an alpine start this morning and were pleased to report great weather and route conditions and that 100% of their team reached the summit today. The team will return to camp today for their final night on the mountain. Following some additional training the team will descend to the trail head and return to Rainier BaseCamp tomorrow.
Congratulations to the Emmons Seminar Team!
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons team, led by Pete Van Deventer, is currently on the Mt. Rainier summit! After a 5-1/2 hour ascent from Camp Schurman to the top, the team is basking in the sun and enjoying their time taking in the views. They will begin their descent back to Camp Schurman shortly. We look forward to congratulating them tomorrow when the team will descend off the mountain and make their way back to Rainier Basecamp.
Josh hope your staying warm and enjoying your summit climb . Love you and thinking of you. Hope you didn’t get any altitude issues! Dad Mom and Caleb and Bailey.
Posted by: Sandy Calcanis on 7/12/2017 at 5:18 pm
Happy to hear the weather permitted the team to summit safely! Thinking about and missing my husband Kyle who is climbing with his buddy Pete. So proud of you guys and thankful for the awareness it drives to Summit4Angelman. Can’t wait to reunite the family on Thursday in Phoenix! Love, Shawna, Madden, Declan & Conrad
Our 14,000 feet home here in the Ishinca Valley was draped in sunshine for most of today as we did some technical training right outside our tents. A thorough knots review and a gear prep session has prepared us for our first day on the ice tomorrow. We even had the time to sneak in an acclimatization hike this afternoon up the moraine to the overlook into Laguna Tocllacoccha. The views from there proved spectacular, as always. From our 15,200' perch, we were able to see where glacier meets lake, deep within the surrounding moraines carved out by the most recent glaciation, below the 6000m summit of Tocllaraju. For some of us, this was an exciting new high altitude record. Light rain is audible on our tent flies as we're bedding down for the night. An early wake up is in store tomorrow as we plan to spend the day reviewing glacier travel and ice climbing at the toe of the Ishinca Glacier. Stay tuned, friends.
Buenos Noches,
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank, Edwin, and the Peru Seminar Crew
P.S. Spanish climbing term of the day is "Ballestrinque", which means Clove Hitch.
Hello! Today our team had a great day acclimatizing on Peak Cheget. We had gorgeous views of Mt. Elbrus the whole way up and we are excited to head on up to the mountain tomorrow. Here is a video of our day. Enjoy!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Today we had a slow morning around camp which was very nice for everyone. At noon we roped up and walked a few hundred feet downhill to pick up the rest of our gear and food. It feels great to have all of our stuff here at camp. We’re well positioned for the rest of our climb. We have 11 days of food and fuel left. All we will need once we establish a cache at 17,000’is a good weather window.
We left Camp 2 for our final camp, Camp 3 also known as Colera Camp. It was a tough day moving after resting for two days, but with some good ole pressure breathing and some tunes, the team arrived. Tomorrow is the big day, the day we have all been waiting for...summit day. The weather looks to be in our favor, so there is nothing stopping us now. All we have to do now is rest up and get mentally prepared for a long day tomorrow. Hopefully the next time you hear from us is on the summit.
Wish us luck,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
The skies cleared overnight and we were treated to the first truly blue bird morning of the trip. Cotopaxi was out in full glory. A leisurely morning lead to another fantastic breakfast served up by our Master Chef Josè. After breakfast we took a short stroll around the area to stretch the legs. It is climber Aaron D.'s birthday today and upon our return from our walk we surprised him with a cake equipped with candles and all! Happy Birthday Aaron! After enjoying our Ecuadorian pastel we hopped onto the bus and took the short drive to Tambopaxi where we will stage for our summit climb. With the weather looking good the team is excited to tackle our last objective! Off to bed here shortly in preparation of an early wake up. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
So there we were, moving into the "Blanca". A few hours of hiking brought us to the mouth of Quebarada Ishinca. With "burros" hauling the big part of our load, we arrived in style to Ishinca Base Camp, home for the next 7 days.
Unsettled weather only allowed brief glimpses of the ice-cloaked, jagged "rajus" above.
If our senses weren't already overstimulated enough, we sat down to a dinner of fresh trout at 14,300'. Stormy skies passed leaving us with a magnificent sea of stars highlighted by the Southern Cross. Until tomorrow, "buenas noches".
-Spanish climbing word of the day; la cumbre (the summit)
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
June 2, 2016 - 3:45 p.m. PDT
Pete Van Deventer called the office to check in this afternoon. The team is at the 14K Camp and plans to continue down to 11K or 7k today. It is currently snowing, and wind-free at 14,000 feet. They met up with Brent Okita's team and wished them luck as they prepare for their upcoming Denali summit bid.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Hooray for you Robert Hohn!!! I am so happy for you and the Team to make the Summit!
A hard worked for dream achieved, congratulations! Woohoo!
Praying for you all to have a safe decent and trip back home.
Love always,
Odett and Gretchen
May 23, 2016 - 9:39 p.m. PDT
The fickle nature of the weather on the mountain lately was again evident as the wet snowfall of yesterday had passed leaving us with cooler temps and a bit better visibility. Today we even got some nice views of this wonderful part of the Alaska range. Our big challenge this morning was Ski Hill, our steepest hill yet. Leaving a cache of food and fuel buried at our camp here at 7,800', our loads were a little more reasonable today, but Ski Hill still proved to be a bear. Hips and shoulders certainly got worked today, but I'm excited that everyone was up to the task and we arrived at our next camp with plenty enough spare energy to build a good camp.
I'm continually impressed with the crew. Their tenacity during the tough stretches and enthusiasm upon reaching camp bodes well for our having a great trip.
Life is good at 9,600' Camp!
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Christina Dale, and Chris Ebeling and the team
Hey Dawn! Tell Brent to post more pictures! :) I am pulling for you and the team from back here in Illinois!!!
Dave
Posted by: Dave on 5/25/2016 at 3:23 am
Paul,
Hopefully all the evenings you spent wandering around Chicago with Izzy’s 50 lb dog food bag prepped you for this! Mike, hope you are having a blast as well. Love you and miss you!
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Josh hope your staying warm and enjoying your summit climb . Love you and thinking of you. Hope you didn’t get any altitude issues! Dad Mom and Caleb and Bailey.
Posted by: Sandy Calcanis on 7/12/2017 at 5:18 pm
Happy to hear the weather permitted the team to summit safely! Thinking about and missing my husband Kyle who is climbing with his buddy Pete. So proud of you guys and thankful for the awareness it drives to Summit4Angelman. Can’t wait to reunite the family on Thursday in Phoenix! Love, Shawna, Madden, Declan & Conrad
Posted by: Shawna Rooney on 7/12/2017 at 2:39 am
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