RMI Guides Seth Burns, Josh Geiser and Michael Murray reached the summit of Mt. Baker today with 100% of their team. Seth reported a nice sunrise climb this morning via the Easton Glacier. The team will return to camp for their final night on the mountain. Tomorrow they will walk out to the trailhead and conclude their program.
June 16, 2017 11:35 pm PST
Well everyone, we hung on as long as we could at 17 Camp. We woke to high winds and blowing snow and waited patiently for them to dissipate. They did not. After dragging our feet in vain, still hoping for some workable weather, we finally began our descent back to 14 Camp. Arriving around dinner time, the team wolfed down what could (hopefully!) be our last Mac and Cheese meal for a while and racked out for what will be a few short hours before we head downhill for this season.
While we did not stand on top of Denali this year, we are lucky to have tried and happy to be heading home none the worse for wear. It has been a real treat to all climb together and we will be checking in from further down this beautiful mountain. Wish us good luck and fair winds on the last legs of our adventure, it ain't over yet...
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Waiting to hear you all arrived safely at base camp and are flying back to hot showers and a good meal! Praying for you Steve!
Mike and Pat
Posted by: Mike and Pat Lurakis on 6/19/2017 at 9:48 pm
Steve. A disappointment for sure. What do they say about mountains - getting to the top is optional but getting down is mandatory. Denali denied you the top so be safe getting back down. Safe travels .
The Four Day Summit Climbs led by RMI Guides Paul Maier and Geoff Schellens were forced to turn around this morning due to deteriorating weather conditions.
The teams reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver at 12,500' before making the decision to turn back.
We look forward to seeing them back at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Alex Halliday reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Alex reported windy conditions on top. The teams will descend and return to Ashford later today.
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.
A week ago, under the soft grey winter skies of Seattle, Jeff Martin and I hauled our 8 duffel bags from the loading curb at Sea Tac to the Korean Air check-in counter. Two window and one aisle seat, three oxygen masks safety demonstrations, about 5500 air miles, and one questionable airline fish meal later, we piled the duffels onto a rickety luggage cart and rolled them through the doors of Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan Airport into the turmoil of Kathmandu.
Since arrival our days are filled with preparations for RMI’s upcoming Everest Expedition. The array of moving parts that come together for a safe and successful Himalayan Expedition are at times overwhelming. It takes months of hard work by numerous people, both here in Kathmandu by our fantastic Nepali partners, High Altitude Dreams, to RMI’s preparations back in the States. While most of the minute to minute tasks are more of the mundane variety – from taking inventory of our lithium batteries supply (535) to the tetris challenge of packing the variety of medication and vitamin bottles into the tackle box of the Base Camp Medical Kit - the effect is invigorating. It is here in Kathmandu that the Everest Expedition morphs from the multiple separate components of focus that consumed our attention over the winter months to the cumulative creation of everyone’s efforts. It is here that the excitement builds and the climb begins to take shape. The Expedition becomes tangible and real: the tents and ropes are sorted and counted, the loads are packed and on their way by yak and porter to Base Camp, and the permit sits in front of us awaiting Dave Hahn’s signature as the Expedition Leader.
The preparations in Kathmandu also plunge us into the city’s daily chaos: dodging traffic rickshaws and speeding taxes in an almost desperate game of frogger to cross the street, navigating the narrow alley ways in order to track down a crucial item, finding relief in the living rooms of friends’ homes while sharing a cup of tea and catching up since the last visit.
On Saturday this teeming city of 1.4 million celebrated the Hindu Holi Festival, known as the Festival Of Colors – a holiday linked to several mythical tales in Hinduism and manifested in a messy, wild, and boisterous all day street party. Walking through the streets of Indra Chwok, a particularly narrow and busy neighborhood in Kathmandu’s heart, on Saturday, bands of people sang and danced in the streets, covering each other in red, yellow, black, and blue chalky powder as others dumped buckets of water from rooftops or lobbed water balloons from doorways. Amidst the frenzy of celebration, Jeff and I were greeted with shy hesitation at first –foreigners yet uncolored with powder amidst the festivities. Yet once a few brave souls rubbed our cheeks with powder we were marked: color came from every direction, buckets of water and water balloons launched our way. The hotel staff had more than a few chuckles when we walked in the door, grinning and covered in multiple colors.
This week our Island Peak and Base Camp Trek team heads into the Khumbu, followed days later by our Everest Team, and we are again immersed in the world of the mountains. The time spent with crampons on our feet is often the focus of our climbing pursuits but this time in Kathmandu is a reminder that this too is a part of the adventure - even when wearing flip flops. The months of hard work leading up to the mountain, the places we travel to, the sites we see, the people, the stories, and laughs we encounter along the way are all part of our mountaineering adventures.
- Linden Mallory
All the best to Jeff and Linden and climbers. Great to read the blogs…about as close as I’ll be getting to Everest for a while! Having been on an expedition with Jeff and Linden, this group is in good hands and will have a great adventure. Steve di Costanzo, Redding, CT
Posted by: Steve di Costanzo on 4/21/2011 at 3:00 am
You must be headed up the mountain by now, could not find anything online this morning. Will try later. Take care! Love, MA
Posted by: Mary Ann & Howard Latimer on 3/26/2011 at 9:11 am
Hey RMI, this is Casey calling in from Camp 1 on Cho Oyu.
We woke today to some pretty blustery skies and some snow whirling around so we decided to drag our feet a little to see if the weather would change a bit in our favor. Unfortunately, it did not. It seems like the jet stream is still a bit close to us here. It has made for some pretty miserable climbing conditions. Pretty high winds and snow blowing off of the surface which would make it challenging to see while climbing.
The team has been hunkered down here at Camp 1, or as we like to call it, "Camp Fun." We have been stuck in our tents for basically the last 24 hours and trying not to go stir crazy.
Everybody's in good spirits and we have our fingers crossed hoping that tomorrow proves to be a little nicer and allows us to sneak up to Camp 2. Everything else is going great and we'll try to touch base again tomorrow.
It was a wee bit chilly overnight as the clear skies allowed all the heat to escape into outer space. So, we did what any responsible mountaineer would and we waited until the sun was directly upon us before leaving our tents. After a tasty breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, and salmon lox, we ourselves got locked and loaded, ready for glacier travel! After 6ish hours of a slightly less heinous trail breaking through deep snow we arrived at our new campsite.
Our camp is in the middle of two mountain saddles, perfectly situated to catch maximum early morning and late evening sunshine. The rest of the day was consumed by building camp and consuming burritos. We got to bed under overcast skies and were excited to see what tomorrow will bring!
RMI Guide Alan Davis checked in via inReach. The team arrived at the western end of the Ishinca Glacier at 14,400' yesterday. They will spend a couple of days building on the skills in preparation for our first summit bid, Ishinca at 18,143'.
Hello, this is Dave Hahn calling from Everest Base Camp. We're resting and hiking and we're watching the progress of the weather conditions. It has been snowing a little bit every day and it seems, from what we have been told, that conditions have gotten a little bit better on the upper mountain. There was significant progress yesterday. A team of climbers, sherpas made it to the South Col. The route is fixed all the way to 8,000 meters now. Our sherpa team is going up tomorrow morning up to Camp 2 to check out conditions and see whether it makes sense for them to get on the wall to establish our Camp 3 and Camp 4. There is supposed to be, the next few days, supposed to be calm with continued light snow each day and we are seeing that is a good thing. Then the winds are supposed to come back, the jet stream is supposed to move into the mountains, but briefly, and then we are hoping for a break in conditions after the middle of the month. So it is going to be a little bit of a down time for the climbing team and we are keeping ourselves busy, like I say, with hiking and eating and resting and games. So far so good. Things seemed to have calmed down on Mt. Everest. Bye for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello Dave and Melissa: I just got on your blog a week or so ago and have enjoyed your posts! Wishing the best in climbing for you and certainly hope the conditions start to improve so you can get to your goal: a summitt attempt! Things are good in Seattle and I hope to get on Mt. Rainier a couple times this summer. Then the best part: the Mountain Festival! Hope you’ll both be in attendance again since it’s so good to visit and hear your climbing experiences. My radio station is supposed to be getting in touch with RMI to set things up for another weekend of coverage. Sending good climbing vibes your way, so good luck! Mike Brown
Posted by: Mike Brown on 5/9/2012 at 11:00 pm
Good climbing, David .
hoped to meet your father and Lisa in Boston at the end of this month but Memorial w/e is not propitious for Ron to drive. I read about your intrepid hike with Ron in Yosemite. Remarkable, and so well written.
Regards and Berg Heil from Your distant relative
Waiting to hear you all arrived safely at base camp and are flying back to hot showers and a good meal! Praying for you Steve!
Mike and Pat
Posted by: Mike and Pat Lurakis on 6/19/2017 at 9:48 pm
Steve. A disappointment for sure. What do they say about mountains - getting to the top is optional but getting down is mandatory. Denali denied you the top so be safe getting back down. Safe travels .
Posted by: Keith h on 6/19/2017 at 9:15 am
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