Hello, this is the Alpamayo climbing team. We are calling from Base Camp. We had a really nice day. We went up to Camp 1, also known as Moraine Camp, to do a carry. We climbed about 600 meters of elevation, some 2,000 feet. We dropped off the gear, set up camp, and we came down. We’re now relaxing here. It’s about 1:30 local time. And we’re going to have another awesome meal prepared by our own cook, Emilio. The plan for the remainder of the day is to rest, and we will do that tomorrow, as well – a rest day before we start moving up. That’s pretty much it for now. Kensie, Parker, Tony, and Pete are doing great, and we are psyched! That’s all for now. ElÃas speaking here. We’ll keep you posted on our next moves tomorrow. Hope everyone’s doing well back home.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Elias de Andres Martos called in from Moraine Camp.
Wishing you a great climb with views that define breath taking and air that feels good to breathe deeply. Hope you all continue to feeling good as ur elevation increases. And that your weather behaves nicely through out your ascent. Happy for each step that brings you closer to the summit. And then again back down. Stay safe!
Hello this is the Alpamayo climbing team calling from base camp. It's been an awesome two days from the trails to get here. We have settled into a really nice camp at the base of the mountain. We have already had lunch and enjoying some rest. The team is doing really well. Everybody's moving pretty nicely along these elevations. Right now we are at 4,400 meters. We are going to relax for the remainder of the day, most likely do a carry tomorrow to Moraine Camp before taking a rest day the following day and continue to move up on the mountain. That's it for now and we will keep you posted. Bye.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos calls in from basecamp.
July 15, 2014 - 4:21 pm PT
Hello again from Huaraz!
Relaxing day we had after all the travelling today... A two hour walk after breakfast took the team the overlook above town from where we devised the closest peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. It served also to get the blood pumping, on this the first day above 3,000 m, elevation we reached yesterday by car, so all benefits. We had a great meal afterwards (pizza from the stove oven restaurant of "El Horno", a classic in Huaraz) and an easy afternoon of pre-packing the duffles prior to tomorrow's departure to the trailhead.
We´re getting ready for dinner and an early bed time; Cashapampa trailhead and eventually Llamacorral Camp await tomorrow. Next post will be from the trails.
Best regards,
Elias de Andres Martos
Cool. Keep the updates coming. We’re watching closely and I’m posting everything to Facebook. These updates are my only link to what you guys are doing and where you are. I’m sending everything to Kenzie’s family and friends so they can follow too. Good luck fellas! Enjoy the mountains and stay away from getting caught doing the Alpine Starfish :)
Posted by: Rhea Campbell & Alex Lickerman on 7/16/2014 at 9:36 am
Good morning from Huaraz!
The team is on its day one of the expedition. After meeting in Lima, we took the mandatory 8 hour ride to Huaraz and checked into the hotel. We met with Peter, our outfitter and best asset in Peru, and headed for a much needed dinner. Early bed time to overcome the many hours of international (and domestic) travel and we´re now ready for breakfast. The plan for today? A 2 to 3 hour walk in the vicinity of town, a thorough gear check and pack for tomorrow's departure to Cashapampa, the trail head for Alpamayo.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Elias deAndres Martos & Team
Greetings all,
After spending the last 10 days above 14,000', our eyes and lungs relished in the sights, smells, and the oxygen-rich, moist ocean air we encountered on the drive back from Huaraz to Lima. A stop in Playa Barranca for ceviche, tacu-tato, and other local seafood dishes truly brought our expedition full circle as we enjoyed an ocean view from our lunch table. Upon arrival in Lima, the inevitable disbanding of the team began as some caught midnight flights back to friends and family, while a few have one more day in Lima to relax, catch the World Cup Final, and relive the wonderful experiences we've had over the past couple weeks in the Cordillera Blanca. Best wishes from sea level and thanks for following along!
RMI Guides Robby Young, Elias de Andres Martos, and the Peru Seminar Team
The team is back at the trailhead in the village of Pashpa. The bus is waiting to shuttle us back to Huaraz as soon as the donkeys make it down from the Ishinca Valley Base Camp. Tomorrow I will send a final dispatch and some photos.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Hello this is the Peru climbing team. Elias speaking, Robby next to me, and the climbers are taking a break at 5,000 meters. We were supposed to have called from the summit, but heavy winds and trying to get down delayed the phone call. But we have finished our last rappel. It was a pretty interesting one- a free-hanging rappel over bergschrund. We are taking a break just to anticipate the remaining ground, which is a pretty easy travel to Camp 1, from where we will be picking up our gear and heading out to base camp. We are pretty excited about that, but we still have a couple hours to go on the glacier. We just wanted to let you know everything went well with the last of our climbs, the most challenging one, Tocllaraju, 6,023 meters. We rocked it; we are pretty tired but psyched. The route has been as challenging as any of the two guys that are here who have climbed it, have ever seen it. We are happy with the work done. We will let you know more when we can post tomorrow when we arrive in Huaraz, where we can post some pictures. Thank you for all of the support to all of you who have been following our blog. The next post will be from Huaraz tomorrow. That's it for now, 2 pm on Thursday. Tocllaraju! The Peru Seminar will be over soon.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos calling in after Tocllaraju summit.
Good morning, this is RMI Guide Eric Frank checking in from the summit of Alpamayo. It's just before noon here in Peru. We had a pretty amazing climb today. Woke up to gorgeous weather, clear skies. Everyone made it to the top. We are just about to start rappelling down. We will leave a message and let you know we got down safely. Thanks for following along. Bye.
Update: July 10, 2014 2:21 PM PT
The team is back at high camp safe and sound. They are packing up to head down to base camp and are looking forward to an amazing meal prepared by their base camp cook.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank calls in from the Alpamayo summit!
Good afternoon, this is the climbing team in Peru. Elias calling here. We have made it to high camp on Tocllaraju and we are perched at 5,100m right on the edge of the glacier. A sense of accomplishment that everybody has right now. It's indescribable as we are in one of the most beautiful places that we have seen so far on this trip. We are surrounded by a huge cirque of 5,000 and 6,000-meter peaks. Tonight we are going to get ready to climb Tocllaraju, the last and most challenging objective of our seminar. Everybody is doing really well and we are having right now really good weather. Everything is on schedule and we will keep you posted tomorrow hopefully from the summit, sometime in the early morning. Right now it's 4 o'clock in the afternoon local time in Peru. We are brewing some water and cooking some dinner. That's pretty much it for now. We will hope to, like I said, call tomorrow from the summit and wrap up this amazing expedition. That's all for now. Good evening.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Elias de Andres Martos calling from Tocllaraju's High Camp.
Hello everyone! Well, we are still at high camp on Alpamayo. The weather during the evening last night was a variable mix of snow and wind with periods of calm in-between. Sometime shortly after 2am, we decided to take advantage of one of the calm times and see how the route would treat us. After several hours of difficult, waist deep, trail breaking the team managed to access the main couloir on the southwest face. Unfortunately it was a six-inch deep torrent of falling spindrift and finding ice to stick our tools into was impossible. We retreated and made it back to camp shortly after 6am.
We have decided to wait one more day and hope to see an improvement in the weather. Keep your fingers crossed that tomorrow morning we will find good climbing conditions.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Wishing you a great climb with views that define breath taking and air that feels good to breathe deeply. Hope you all continue to feeling good as ur elevation increases. And that your weather behaves nicely through out your ascent. Happy for each step that brings you closer to the summit. And then again back down. Stay safe!
Posted by: Trudi Skinder on 7/18/2014 at 11:57 pm
View All Comments