Hey, this is RMI Guide Seth Waterfall checking in from Camp One on Mt. Everest at the bottom of the Western Cwm. All is well with the team. Dave is sitting next to me in the tent; he is checking in with Mark Tucker our Base Camp Coordinator. The team is snuggled into their tents next door. We had a good day today. We took a little walk up the Cwm toward Camp Two for a couple of hours. We inspected the route, crossed a few ladders and all in all had a good day. We came back to camp for a little afternoon relaxation. The weather has been fantastic, which means alternating between very hot and very cold, but the average temperature is pretty comfortable.
Tomorrow we will try and head up and tag Camp Two. That is right on schedule for our acclimatization and with any luck we will hit Camp Two in the morning and head on back to Camp One for our last night of this acclimatization rotation. That is it for us. Everybody is doing well. Hello to everybody at home. We will talk to you soon. Bye.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall checks in from Camp One on Mt. Everest.
Things are winding down for the night here at the beautiful Hacienda San Luis -
The team had a big day. By 8am we had eaten breakfast and loaded our duffels into the bus transporting us for the day. A two hour bus ride brought us north of Quito to our second acclimatization climb on Cerro Negro, 13,976 feet. Despite being lower then our previous days climb, the team found the terrain quite challenging. The trail led us up some slippery, nearly vertical sections of grass and short bits of rock climbing before the summit cone. On top we were treated with clear skies and stunning views of a nearby lake. We all felt that we had put in a hard days work by the time we returned to the bus 3.5 hours later.
After stopping for some roadside refreshments, we arrived at Hacienda San Luis, a working Ecuadorian ranch that also boasts modern amenities. We spent the afternoon relaxing, getting gear in order and catching up with the outside world.
We hope all is well and appreciate everyone who is following along on our adventure.
RMI Guide Eric Frank and the Ecuador Team.
Tyler called from the summit of Denali at 5:35 pm PST. He said it was a perfect and beautiful day for their summit climb. It was chilly at the top so they spent a little bit of time taking pictures and will be heading back down soon. Everyone on the trip is doing great and he will send a full dispatch when he gets back to 17,000' camp.
Congratulations Team!
Happy Father’s day Tim Halls, or more properly known as dad to me. As well as all the other fathers in the group! Hope you have a great day doing something that you obviously love.
Hello,
Mark Tucker here, calling from Everest Base Camp. Fourscore and 23 years ago, I stood on top of Mt. Everest with the International Peace climb led by Jim Whittaker. And what a day it was and what a day here today - May 10th. We now have a group of Sherpa on top of Mount Everest, so the floodgates are now open. The (Sherpa) team did a great job. Sounds like conditions were very favorable for an ascent as of now. People are starting to rally, lots of teams are looking at the weather of course, as well as us. Making some plans to the start the movement uphill. The Lhotse and Nuptse Teams have gotten very far along in the progress of fixing the ropes. We are not quite sure on the status of those, but it won't be long now for those mountains to see some summitters. It's a crazy place here right now and we are enjoying some good weather. It looks like there is some wind up high with the jet stream around. Hopefully some people will get started taking advantage of the opportunity to make their summit attempt and get on top this season. Our Sherpa team is resting well. And they are ready to give us the support that we're going to need in the near future and Dave Hahn, he's the best in the business, so we will have a great attack coming up here pretty soon. So, we will keep you posted when we can.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guide and Everest Base Camp Manager Mark Tucker checks in with an update on route.
Here is the first dispatch from the third RMI Denali team! We are all packed up and ready to fly in the morning. Our team was efficient and prepared today as we organized all the necessary items for a Denali expedition. The weather is beautiful in Talkeetna and we are excited for the climb ahead.
Success!
The gang went to bed with another deceptively improving weather trend only to wake up (for the third time this trip) in the middle of the night to more stormy weather. We decided that since this was our last chance we'd give a hail Mary attempt. After a quick breakfast and some tinkering with gear and backpacks the time came for us to push out. Surprisingly, the winds had started calming down, which heartened the guides at least a little bit. As it turned out, that abatement was indeed only temporary...
We climbed to the edge of the glacier and roped/cramponed up, and after only an hour or two in the elements we were starting to ice up. Somehow everybody kept it together and we continued upwards into worsening winds, winding our way through a jumble of a glacier and then skirting around the massive rock face of Yanasacha. Weather was bad most of the day but after reaching the upper slopes of the mountain we were fully exposed. When we reached the summit (half of us crawling) we were elated but couldn't stay long because of the blastingly continuous 50 mph wind and the fact that were covered with over and inch (yes an inch!) of ice from being in a freezing lenticular cloud all day. The guys were a little beat but pulled it together to descend like champs all the way back down to the refugio. All in all we were out in the storm for a little over 10 hours, managing to bag the summit and safely descend.
We were greeted back at the refugio by Victor, our driver, who had hiked up from the parking lot to hang out. Knowing our ride was waiting down the hill, we celebrated with a quick beer and crammed all of our crap into our packs. A short walk down a scree field brought us to the van which brought us back to civilization in Quito!
The team showered up and hit the town for a fabulous multi-course meal complete with wine and pisco to celebrate properly. Hopefully folks weren't too ragged making their early a.m. flights.
I'd like to thank a great group of guys for making this such a fun and memorable trip (pako's ipa, triple cheeseburgers, two left crampons, pansies, sock boiling, knee taking, etc.) and thank Jaime and Diego for being awesome guides and a pleasure to work with. Thanks again everybody!
Signing off, for now...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Today was a big day for our climbing team... everyone was keyed up for an early-morning start and nervous about just what surprises the Khumbu Ice fall might hold for us. I'm sure I was responsible for a good deal of the nervousness, having tried mightily in this last week of training to pass on my own respect, fear and awe for the great tumbling and turbulent glacier we needed to sneak through. I'd portrayed this morning's mission as something of a final exam and a dress rehearsal, all rolled into one. Get up at the normal obscene hour we choose for taking on the Ice fall (we like the thing to be cold and frozen solid underfoot... Less chance for breaking crevasse bridges) then stick to a business-like schedule and pace in climbing safely up to the midpoint of the Ice fall... then come back down, just as safely, just as business-like.
Simple... But not really so simple. Necessary though, in my book, to see that we are strong enough, skilled enough, and acclimated enough to responsibly make the move to Camp One before we actually make the move to Camp One. Even experienced mountain climbers have very little in the way of similar passages in the course of their previous climbs. The track up through the Khumbu Ice fall is unique (thank God). We can't afford to have an exhausted climber in the upper reaches of the Ice fall, teetering and tottering across ladders and ice fins... and we absolutely don't want a climber to pull into the extreme height of Camp One at nearly 20,000 ft without adequate strength reserves, inviting possibly fatal altitude illness. So we needed a test... halfway up and down in good time and in good style.
Bill and Sara, Linden and myself certainly didn't catch any slack from Mother Nature in our attempts to relax during the night before our test. To begin with, there was a spectacular full moon rise over Everest's West Shoulder... The kind of thing that required a bunch of trips out into the night to observe so that one could be sure one wasn't missing anything. Once we'd given up on the moon, there were a series of thunderous ice avalanches off Pumori that required an occasional head stuck out the tent zipper in order to see the immense powder clouds billowing in the aforementioned moonlight. Around one or two AM there came a bizarre and violent lightning storm with endless peels of real thunder (as opposed to the avalanche facsimile) and this was followed by a concentrated downpour of snowflakes pelting the tents. I, for one, was thankful when my alarm finally rang at 4 AM, allowing me to give up on the sleep concept.
After such an eventful night, it was stunning to emerge from the tent to find a peaceful, clear and brilliantly lit up pre-dawn sky. We could already count a number of headlight beams swinging back and forth in the Ice fall. Our climbing team convened in the dining tent for a hurried attempt at jamming down calories and coffee (don't worry, 16 year-old Sara hasn't taken up the coffee habit... yet) and then we pulled on climbing harnesses and helmets. Mark Tucker got up to see us off and to follow our progress on his radio...At 5 o'clock we shouldered packs and shook Tuck's hand as we circled the Puja alter, breathing in a little juniper smoke -an offering to the Gods- on the way. Then we were clomping out of camp in our big expedition boots. A few minutes later we were at the base of the first Ice hummock and it was time for crampons. Then came the hard work, an hour or more of careful trudging toward the first ladders... nobody was "warmed up" and nobody was feeling spry, nobody was able to envision feeling better with the passage of a few hours filled with strenuous and dangerous uphill labor. But we smiled at each other and patted each other on the shoulders and we concentrated on good foot placements and steady breathing. When the angle steepened and the fixed rope began, we put the last week's practice and training to good use. A quick break at the first ladders gave a chance for a few more calories and a couple of minutes off our feet. By now we were mingling with a number of Sherpa teams as well as Westerners out doing variations on our own training program (Lam Babu and our own Sherpa team were taking a well-deserved rest today after having carried round-trip to ABC (at 21,300 ft) yesterday) After the rest we got into more challenging terrain in the "momo" section of the glacier... where the ice towers and jumbles strongly resemble a giant tilted plate of steamed momos... naturally. Safely through that and it was into the "popcorn" section with some steep and breathtaking climbing over glacial rubble that resembles... well, you know. Then came a section I dubbed the "football field" not because you could play a ball game there but because every ten yards brought a new crevasse line to be hopped. Some of the crevasses required a few careful steps on ladder rungs with fists full of fixed rope to get steady and balanced in the process. But then... after about 2.5 hours we were reaching our goal for the day... "The Dum", which I am told was the name that early climbing Sherpas applied to the gear dump they made in the area back when it was too complicated to get through the entire Icefall in a day... "dump" being far too long a word to utter in such an oxygen-starved place and "dum" being preferable. Whatever... the Dum is a safe place to sit and it is the halfway point of the Ice fall. Mission half-accomplished, we were happy and relieved... all were feeling good and strong having worked through the nerves, the jitters, and the plain old inevitable discomfort of getting to 18,900 ft. Another quick break in the cool morning breeze and then all we had to do was get back down safe. The test continued... no room for tired steps or fumbled carabiners jumping down through the footballs, the ladders, the popcorn and the momos. And we did it, marching back into camp by 10 AM in strong sunshine (a few hours ahead of the daily snowstorm) and with new found confidence in our ability to get through the rest of the Khumbu Icefall and up into the Western Cwm. A day of rest seems sensible first though.
Best,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Ok my heart sinks as I read these dispatches, only to recover when I get to the end and here all is well.we love and miss you’ll and can’t wait to talk to you when we return to the states next week. Xxxooo
Posted by: Lisa on 4/19/2011 at 4:33 am
Great piece, Dave. You may have a literary future. Stay strong, stay safe.
The team of American Lung Association (ALA) climbers on the Four Day Climb June 19 - 22 led by RMI Guide Abby Westling reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The climbers enjoyed blue skies and sunshine on their ascent and were able to spend some time in the crater. Abby and the team started their descent from the crater rim around 8:30 am en route to Camp Muir. Once back at camp, they will get a short rest before continuing down to Paradise. The program ends this evening with a celebration for the team members for their hardwork and contributions to the American Lung Association.
Congratulations to the whole team!
Excellent job on your climbing accomplishments! You all did a fantastic job raising money for the “ Clean Breathe “ cause. To my daughter Lori 25 years ago you worried me to death! I had no idea what I was going to do if something happened and I had to raise your children NOW 25 years later I couldn’t sleep with worry , if something happened to you who would take care of me ? LOL! We are so proud of you and all your accomplishments! Love Mom and Dad Hooper
Posted by: “Dad and Mom” Hooper on 6/22/2023 at 9:33 am
Today was our third full rest day of the trip and it was glorious! We began by sleeping in and trying very hard to harmonize the incredible snoring coming from our tents.
When the sun drenched our tents and we finally came out for the day, three of us surprised the rest of the team with neon wigs that I brought from the costume closet back in Baltimore. I wore the Orange ‘bob’, Matt rocked the highlighter yellow shoulder length look, and Mr. Hyde Carby stole the show with the flowing pink curls. The wigs brought lots of laughter and Andy was sure to sport the pink curls as the last RMI expedition of the season rolled into 14,000' Camp early this afternoon.
We continue taking each day as a learning opportunity and today we learned that the synch cords at the bottom of your jacket are incredibly handy when trying to use a clean mountain can in 0 degree weather.
We had a delicious rest day feast of more bagels and cream cheese, smoked salmon, and breakfast burritos. We learned our lesson from the last rest day and only ate 2 bagels and one breakfast burrito per person.
To stretch our legs and work out some anxiety about the high mountain above us, we took a stroll across 14,000' Camp to the ‘Edge of the World’, a 6,000’ sheer cliff that drops from 14,000' to the valley below. Grayson belayed us one by one to the edge and we got epic photos courtesy of our personal photographer and guide Ben.
Back at camp, Andy convened a team meeting. After checking in to see how everyone was feeling, and double checking to make sure we were honestly feeling good, he gave us the good news. The weather on the high mountain for Tuesday and Wednesday is looking terrific and we are going to begin our summit push tomorrow!
We spent much of the afternoon preparing what we will carry up, and what we will cache here at 14 Camp. I’m also personally excited to be reunited with the hula hoop tomorrow when we pick up our cache at the top of the fixed lines. In case you are wondering, I do look like a turtle when the hoop is attached to my pack and I am very slowly moving up the mountain.
Now our job is to rest and prepare for the next 72 hours of intensity and focus as a team - we are feeling strong and are excited to support each other to accomplish our shared goal of summiting The Great One with 100% of our team!
It is the middle of May and the wait for fine weather on Mount Everest continues. Many climbers have started up the mountain so as to be in position should a break come in the next few days. A combination team of Sherpas from several expeditions is bound for the South Col now, hoping to be able to fix the ropes to the top when the wind dies. Our team is obviously hoping that the fixing effort succeeds and that those lining up for a first shot at the top get their shot. We aren't eager to be in that first run though. The weather window is forecasted to be short and the climbers are many, so we will instead take our chances on whatever more substantial break comes afterward. But the waiting is difficult. We are all healthy and feeling strong and we've now been down and resting for some time. We want to climb soon and it is difficult to hold back when others are going for it, but our judgment is that a little more patience is called for to fully accomplish our goals. We are each feeling the frustrations of being in a dead-end valley where the only real outlet is a journey through the Khumbu Icefall. It doesn't make much sense to go through that jumble simply for exercise and so we repeatedly backtrack down the trail toward Gorak Shep, taking on more sensible and vastly safer hiking goals like Kalapathar and Pumori Camp One. Our hope in doing these hikes is that our legs and lungs will be ready for the real thing and that daily hikes will keep our brains from fretting over the wait. It is sometimes a little difficult for us to remember that these 19,000 feet "hikes" in the midst of spectacular peaks and glaciers would be lifetime goals for many and that we are extremely lucky to be living in this place... But of course we are preoccupied with the top vertical mile or so of Mt. Everest right now.
Winds are still raking the upper peaks and ridges and temperatures still seem a bit lower than normal for mid-May. Our walks and scrambles on the glacier adjacent to Basecamp reveal slightly less runoff than we'd consider normal. We choose to view this positively in that the Khumbu Icefall won't get up to its full speed while things remain remain cool.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
dave- i had the pleasure of you serving as my guide in sept 98 on an ascent of Rainier. I wish you good weather, health and most importantly- safety. Suerte amigo!
Posted by: david.mendel on 5/17/2012 at 11:58 am
Have you met my friend Moshi Wilfred from Tanzania yet? He’s probably the tallest guy on the mountain.
Best of health and well-being during your climb.
Happy Father’s day Tim Halls, or more properly known as dad to me. As well as all the other fathers in the group! Hope you have a great day doing something that you obviously love.
Jacob Halls
Posted by: Jacob Halls on 6/19/2011 at 1:31 am
Sweet summit! Safe decent team. xo mom
Posted by: Sharon Pyle on 6/18/2011 at 9:19 am
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