Entries from Peru Seminar
July 17, 2016
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 16,240'
Good afternoon from Camp 1, aka Moraine Camp. Rain this morning gave way to high clouds, and patches of sun encouraged us to not delay our move up. Even with heavier loads, we beat our time from our carry two days ago, and now we're finding ourselves relaxing in our tents, with the vestibules pointing to the most astonishing views one can hope; Artesonraju, Paron, Paria, Alpamayo, Quitaraju,,, are only a few of the jagged peaks we have in near horizons. We're excited and ready for our move to High Camp tomorrow.
Best regards,
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team.
July 17, 2016
Posted by: Eric Frank, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,400'
Hello again from the Ishinca Valley. The Peru Seminar team is in the midst of an afternoon siesta as we recover from our exertion on Ishinca yesterday, and prepare for a climb on Urus tomorrow. Despite sleeping in and having a lazy breakfast this morning, we managed to spend a few hours training on crevasse rescue and snow anchor construction.
All in all the team is doing quite well. We have battled sporadic GI challenges and a bit of discomfort from altitude, but the team is taking care of themselves and their perseverance is making all the difference. Group dinners are funny and full of lively conversation. As guides it is incredible to watch a team come together and be a strong functional unit. Now that we are a week into the program, it seems like we are firing on all cylinders and ready to take on any challenges that present themselves on the next two peaks.
All for now,
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Robby Young and the Peru Seminar team
July 16, 2016
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,270'
Good evening once again from Alpamayo Base Camp. All is well here. After a rest day, we're all eager to start moving uphill for good. We spent the day with a short hike to Arhuaycoccha, a beautiful turquoise lake hanging 15 minutes above BC, and underneath the Pucajirca Group, just at 4,420m. We followed with a review of anchor transitions, and lunch and a nap took care of the afternoon... Being well rested is key for the demanding pitches ahead. We just had dinner, and the funny note was the competition trying to cheat the pulse ox meter (not much room to do so when all these four individuals are as fit as one can be).
That's all for now, tomorrow we'll be checking in from Moraine Camp on our move upwards.
Regards, RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and tea
July 16, 2016
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 18,143'
Greetings! Buenos dias from the summit of Nevado Ishinca, 18,143 feet. The RMI Peru Seminar team is on top right now. We have a beautiful day, beautiful weather. Not a better day of climbing in the Cordillera Blanca Range of Peru. The team wants to say hi. [Cheers from the background.] The team is on their descent and will check in later.
RMI Guide Robby Young
RMI Guide Robby Young calls from the Ishinca summit!
July 16, 2016
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,400'
After falling asleep to a gentle rain last night, our team woke up to to star filled skies. The clouds had dropped a few inches of snow up high and the glaciers suspended above camp glistened in the light of the moon. After a hasty 5:30am breakfast we shouldered our packs and climbed uphill three hours to the base of the Ishinca Glacier. The new snow made the hard glacial ice a bit more forgiving, and we used the terrain to train on basic mountaineering techniques such as rope travel, crampon technique and ice axe arrest. After taking a break for lunch and admiring our beautiful surroundings, we got into more advanced techniques like ice screw placement and V-thread anchors.
Tonight was the current group favorite dinner- Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian mix with beef, french fries, rice and tomatoes. Delicious!
RMI Guides Robby Young and Eric Frank
July 15, 2016
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,270'
Good evening from Alpamayo Base Camp. We had a productive day today, carrying a load to Camp 1 at 4900meters. We set a tent up and deposited half our kit. After that, we remained up there for a while, breathing the thin air and letting the body and lungs get a taste of what's coming up. Some clouds and a drop in temps let us know it was time to head back down to base camp, and a light drizzle materialized around dinner time. Tomorrow we're going to take a rest day here at base, as we are getting excited to get moving up higher soon.
That's all for now,
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team
Hope everyone is acclimating and enjoying great views while you prep for the higher camps and the summit push!
Posted by: Laura on 7/16/2016 at 4:39 pm
We love you! Enjoy your trip daddy. We miss you but are doing well.
Love, Kate and Momo
Posted by: Kate Stainton on 7/16/2016 at 8:49 am
July 15, 2016
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,000'
After falling asleep to a gentle rain last night, our team woke up to to star-filled skies. The clouds had dropped a few inches of snow up high and the glaciers suspended above camp glistened in the light of the moon. After a hasty 5:30am breakfast we shouldered our packs and climbed uphill three hours to the base of the Ishinca Glacier. The new snow made the hard glacial ice a bit more forgiving, and we used the terrain to train on basic mountaineering techniques such as rope travel, crampon technique and ice axe arrest. After taking a break for lunch and admiring our beautiful surroundings, we got into more advanced techniques like ice screw placement and V-thread anchors.
Tonight was the current group favorite dinner- Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian mix with beef, french fries, rice and tomatoes. Delicious!
RMI Guide Robby Young
Good Afternoon Team Peru!
I love these photos and action information! Please say hello to Neil Yoder and tell him that we will expect him to perfectly replicate the Lomo Saltado for “Family Time.” Happy climbing to all!
Karen
Posted by: Karen Epstein on 7/16/2016 at 9:14 am
July 14, 2016
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,270'
Greetings from Alpamayo Base Camp! Pretty uneventful day... aside from an incredible hike through beautiful country, fueled by outstanding food from our cook and blessed by perfect weather. Yes it was an uneventful day on the mountains today.
Quite a few teams are populating BC, some going, some going down. We're planning on doing a carry up to C1 in the morning, and take it from there. Time to go to bed now,
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team
July 14, 2016
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,000'
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.
July 13, 2016
Posted by: Robby Young, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,400'
Hello from our beautiful camp in the Ishinca Valley. This morning the team packed up our gear, and bussed two valleys to the north of Huaraz to the Pashpa trailhead. There we loaded the equipment onto our trusty little mountain burros and hiked along a turquoise blue stream to the very top of the valley at 14,200ft.
After multiple hours of hiking at altitude to get to camp, the team was ready for a solid dinner and our cocinero (camp cook) didn't disappoint. We were treated to a hearty meal of beef, potatoes and rice, plus desert!
Currently we are tucked into our sleeping bags being lulled to sleep by a nearby glacial river and anticipating a full day of training tomorrow. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Robby Young, Eric Frank and the Peru Seminar Team
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Anxious to hear about the climbs..my daughter, Ilene Carpenter, is in the group. Hope all is well and safe.
Posted by: joan locker on 7/17/2016 at 9:50 am
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