Tim and I arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile and by some miracle -our duffel bags did too. These were the first big and essential steps on our path to the highest point in Antarctica. We went through a gear check and discussed plans for flying onto the Ice. But after so much travel, it was important to simply lay the groundwork today. We kept it light, strolled to the plaza and along the shore of Magellan’s Straight and then had an easy dinner in the hotel. We’ll get a bit more focused on climbing Vinson after some sleep.
The Four Day Summit Climb September 6 - 9 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. RMI Guide Steve Gately and team were 100% to the summit. Steve reported clouds and winds to the top of Disappointment Cleaver with winds 10-20 mph. The climbers left the crater rim just before 8 AM en route to Camp Muir. Once back at camp they will repack and continue down to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Congratulations to all of you. What an accomplishment!
Posted by: Jan Charter on 9/9/2018 at 1:22 pm
WAY TO GO….Tara & group !! I can’t imagine how hard it was but also how majestic. I’m SO PROUD of you Tara & what you accomplished. Mt Ranier has been conquered !!! Can’t wait to hear ALL about it !! Love Mom
Wednesday, May 30, 2018 - 1:50 pm PT
Our team is taking another planned rest day today, the first multiple rest day stint of our trip. The weather at 14,200' right now is chilly with very light snow. This unsettled weather is forecasted to last into tomorrow before clearer weather moves in through the weekend. We are hopeful the weather will allow us to move to high camp tomorrow so that we can take advantage of a potentially good weather window (Fri/Sat/Sun) for a summit attempt.
We're all doing well, and optimistic that our chance to tag the top is right around the corner. Until then, we'll be resting and getting stronger.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Dave and Shane….. you guys are so close now. Great progress and great weather is seems.
May the Sun shine for you each day and the winds blow gentle.
Love,
Dad
Posted by: George Head on 5/31/2018 at 11:59 am
Dave and Shane…wow…almost there. I can’t believe you are almost at the summit. We can’t wait to hear ALL about this adventure. We hope you are all feeling well. Miss you to pieces. Have a great day!! Love, Mom and Ken
The weather cleared up just long enough for K2 Aviation to fly our team to Base Camp in two de Haviland Otter airplanes. The window didn't last long and soon it socked in and began to lightly snow. We set up camp and lounged around for the rest of the afternoon. Tomorrow the plan is to pack up and move camp to the base of Ski Hill.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team
That is one Helluva “Ski Hill” . My wife JoAnn and I overnighted in Talkeetna with K2 Aviation and took a flight up to Denali over the dramatically crevassed glaciers in 1993. JoAnn then went back as a Cruise ship excursion in 2000 with her three sisters. Looking up is as close to climbing in Ice and snow as I want to be, although I summitted Mt Whitney in 1986 on Father’s Day ant took a photo with a banner I had made saying “Happy Fathers Day” to give to my father. I piloted a Cessna 172 from Torrence, CA with two other “Climbers” for that “Attempt”. We had tried in May, a month before, but were chased off the mountain after one night in a tent by a major snowstorm. Hopefully you get good weather so you can have views up there. We all look forward to more from you.
Posted by: Paul Claeyssens on 5/20/2018 at 6:02 am
Go for it and be safe.
Posted by: Garland Dobson (PAPPY) on 5/19/2018 at 3:44 pm
Good evening,
The team spent the day hiking up with big loads on our backs to our high camp on Ixta, with the goal of going to the summit tomorrow morning. The team looked as strong as they have the whole trip and the weather forecast is looking quite nice for us.
We arrived at around 2 pm to camp here at 15,400 feet and have been relaxing and breathing the thin air. It's been generally cloudy all day but this evening the clouds have settled down below us and opened a gorgeous view of Popo, the other volcano in our vicinity.
We'll be getting up before the sun for our summit bid, wish us luck!
RMI Guide Chase Nelson
A well deserved rest day at Chilcabamba Lodge at the base of Cotopaxi has been enjoyed with its views, food and short walks around the property. During breakfast, Cotopaxi revealed itself from behind the clouds and was covered with a dusting of fresh snow. With a pair of binoculars from the lodge, we were able to make out the beginning of the climbing route. The rest of the day was filled with drying out our gear from Cayambe, repacking, reading and naps. The food here has been our favorite so far. The steaks for dinner were thick and cooked to perfection, some pressure breathing was required to clean our plates! Tomorrow morning will be another relaxing start to the day before we transfer up the road to Tombopaxi Hut.
RMI Guide Bryan Mazaika
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling from Barafu Camp. We got back here to Barafu at 10:45 this morning. We were on the summit on Uhuru the highest point in Africa. The highest point on Kilimanjaro at 7:35 this morning. It was a little too busy up there this morning to give a call, but now we are catching up. We are back down at high camp. We're going to finish the day down at Mweka. I will send you a full dispatch then, but everybody is happy and healthy and we got 10 out of 11 to the summit this morning! So it was a good day with lots of great help from our local staff here.
Thanks. I'll catch you up later.
Sunday, September 24, 2017 10:12am PST
As promised, a dispatch from Mweka Camp -near 10,000 ft- at the end of our summit day. We set out for the top at 12:35 AM under clear and starry skies. It was a windless night, which is always a plus when climbing in the cold. Initially we encountered a few other teams starting out of camp, but within an hour or so, we'd put a fair bit of distance between the teams and so had the route pretty much to ourselves. As we gained altitude and got closer to dawn, things got plenty cold -as expected. We kept our rest breaks short and business like and tried to move steadily. Most reached the point of having all of their cold weather clothing on at once. It was just getting light enough to see as we reached Stella Point on the crater rim. The sunrise was eagerly anticipated and hit us as we made the walk along the rim to Uhuru -Kilimanjaro's highest point. By the time we hit the summit at 7:35, things had warmed up nicely. We spent a half hour on top, checking out the glaciers and the immensity of the crater. We didn't have big views as an upper level layer of cloud had formed just below the mountain top. Descent to Barafu Camp took us just under 3 hours. A great mid morning meal in the mess tent helped fortify the team for the continued three hour descent to Mweka Camp, which we reached at 3:45 PM.
All in all, it was a pretty exciting day. We discovered just what it takes to climb above 19,000 feet and to the highest point in Africa. We were pleased to be both capable and lucky...and to have the friendship and help of six amazing Kilimanjaro guides; Patric, Freddy, Naiman, John, Fillbrit, and Happyson made our climb memorable and successful in a hundred positive ways.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn calling to Report a Successful Summit of Kilimanjaro.
Wow! It has been a whirlwind. This is the first chance I have had to catch my breath. We have explored St. Petersburg and it's beautiful museums and churches. We took an evening canal tour and ended the evening with a bit of Karaoke (not on the itinerary). Most of us, me included, should keep our day jobs. A few of our team mates will remain to some additional site seeing but the majority of us have left St. Petersburg and are making our way home. Our bags are filled with local treasures for friends and family members and heads our spinning from our recent experiences and plans for upcoming adventures. It has been a wonderful trip and it's been my pleasure to spend time abroad with this great team.
Until next time,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Yet another nice weather day here on Kilimanjaro. We are looking down at a sea of clouds below us but it's all clear up here at 15,000' Barafu Camp, our high camp. After a nice breakfast the team took yet another big bite out of the mountain. After just a few hours of walking we are situated less than one vertical mile from the top of the "Roof of Africa". We have been eating, lounging and trying to not get too excited about the adventure ahead tonight. We spent some time this afternoon readying for our climb, putting fresh batteries in the head lamp,a gallon sized lunch bag, boots dried to perfection, special saved pair of summit socks pulled out and put in position. We are planning for an 11:30 pm wake up call. A lot of preparation and sacrifice has gone into getting us all here. Thank you all back home for the support on this great adventure. We will have an early dinner then it's into the tent for a few more hours of rest before we begin our summit attempt. The mountain has been very friendly so far and a we have a high level of confidence for it to continue for another 48 hours. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Hello. This is the Peru Seminar calling in from our high Camp on Copa. We are going to bed. It's 6:30 pm local time and we are hoping to give you guys a call tomorrow from the summit. It's been a little bit of a taxing climb this year. Much drier year than others, but we managed to get up to camp. We hope to have a good climb tomorrow. Stay tuned.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos calls in from Copa High Camp.
Congratulations to all of you. What an accomplishment!
Posted by: Jan Charter on 9/9/2018 at 1:22 pm
WAY TO GO….Tara & group !! I can’t imagine how hard it was but also how majestic. I’m SO PROUD of you Tara & what you accomplished. Mt Ranier has been conquered !!! Can’t wait to hear ALL about it !! Love Mom
Posted by: Cathy Frantz on 9/9/2018 at 9:55 am
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