Chillin' at Casa del Sol...
Well, we enjoyed another great day down here in Ecuador with a nice hike, good weather and good company. After meeting our local alpine guide David and an early departure from Quito we made our way to the north towards our acclimatization objective Cerro Fuya Fuya, but also Otavalo, and most notably Cayambe. While the clouds prevented us from peeping Cayambe while on Fuya Fuya, we were still able to enjoy views from the summit of the surrounding volcanic caldera and the large lake below. The whole team moved well and enjoyed the day out and about. We're now posted up at a beautiful guesthouse up above the city of Otavalo called Casa del Sol, enjoying a beer and waiting for dinner. Tomorrow, however, the real adventure begins as we make our way up towards Cayambe...
More to come!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Hey! It's Billy here checking in from the Sulphide Glacier on Mt. Shuksan where the most recent storm cycle actually left us with a nice coating of new snow. Things are exceptionally beautiful here right now but the fog's kind of moving in and out. And our team has built camp and settled on in and we just enjoyed some dinner. And we're gonna rack out and hit the hay pretty soon here to get us ready for a big day training tomorrow.
Weird stuff definitely today on the lower glacier. We actually saw multiple frogs on the glacier so the team hasn't decided whether or not that's a good omen or bad omen but we're hoping that it's a good one. And we're hoping to get an awesome week of learning and climbing. So, that's all for now. We'll check in again tomorrow, and let you know how the day went.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent and Team
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in from the Sulphide Glacier on Mt. Shuksan.
RMI Guides Casey Grom and Chase Nelson and team reached the summit of Mt. Baker via the North Ridge. Casey checked-in from the summit reporting a great route, strong team, and beautiful weather with a steady breeze.
Congratulations!
In the North Cascades, RMI Guides Leon Davis and Chase Nelson led their team to the summit of Mt. Baker via the North Ridge today. Leon reported a great day of "full on climbing" with beautiful weather.
This marks RMI's first Mt. Baker summit of the season. Congratulations climbers!
This morning we woke up at 1 am to enjoy our last morning on the glacier. As we left 11,000' camp the sky was a mixture of pink, purple and blues. After our final push we arrived at base camp this morning at 7:30 am. A few hours later after enjoying another spectacular flight, we found ourselves hot in Talkeetna, suddenly aware of how badly we smelled.
Everyone spent the afternoon transitioning back into the real world, getting in touch with family and enjoying a shower. Tonight we are looking forward to a celebratory dinner and getting a view of the mountain that we stood atop just a few days ago. Congratulations to the entire team and to Geoff and Eric's team on a successful trip!
RMI Guide Lindsay Mann
June 16, 2015 6:05 pm PT
We arose to wind and a bit of ominous clouds at 17,000'. The team efficiently packed our camp to start the long decent back to our families and friends. After 6,000' of decent with a stop to gather our kit stashed at 14,000' and a wonderful quesadilla snack from Jake's team we have landed for some chill time.
This is the life! We're at the beach of 11,000' camp soaking our battered feet in the sun soften snow. While puffing our sleeping bags over our tent flies which is conveniently shading us in our cabanas as we get some well deserved rest for the final push to Base Camp early tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed we will fly off to civilization tomorrow! Not that there are no other people to socialize with up here on Denali. Our team has done one heck of an awesome job and we have all created some great friendships!
If all keeps going our way our next post will be the last from little Talkeetna, AK with a great evening of celebration!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Congratulations DG!
You certainly taxed the Weather Gods’ patience.
Great work- 3rd times the charm
Posted by: bruce freedman on 6/17/2015 at 5:58 am
Glad to hear the day went so well!!!
David and Mark, I know you were both in great shape but everyone must be exhausted by now….blessings for health and safety to all as you continue to descend. Won’t be long now till you trade your hiking boots for dancing shoes at Chris and Kelsey’s wedding. Can’t wait to see pictures and hear the stories of this great adventure.
Love and prayers, Mom & Dad Dreher
Posted by: Mom & Dad Dreher on 6/17/2015 at 12:12 am
June 15, 2015 11:27 pm PT
Some great timing, a bit of luck, and our mountain skills payed off! The team woke early to a blustery morning, had a breakfast of oatmeal and coffee and prepared our warm weather clothing and climbing equipment. We then delayed about an hour to see if the wind would lighten up and the Sun's solar rays would help the cool nip of the early morning air!
We set out on our summit attempt at 9 am and headed off to the shady slopes of the Autobahn which are the slopes that lead to Denali pass at 18,200 ft. The wind was still gusty, but relatively warm temps (about 10 degrees) allowed us to keep the digits warm and continue traveling upward. Then beyond the pass we enjoyed full on sunshine as the wind slowly diminished to a light breeze. Smooth traveling on the upper slopes accompanied by a perfect day put us on the summit around 4:00pm. Stellar views of the lower slopes of Denali and the rest of the Alaska Range were enjoyed by all. After plenty of photos and high-fives we spun around and made the return trip to camp. After a quick dinner and hot drinks everyone is is tucked away in their tents enjoying some rest after a hard days work.
Great work today team!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Way to go Daddy! That’s awesome—I guess the third time is a charm. Mommy’s car said that it was 107 here today. It is so freaking hot. Hope you make it home before I go to New York in a week. We sang for the Raleigh City Council today. I think it was on TV.
Posted by: Oz on 6/16/2015 at 8:12 pm
Congrats DG! The highest point in the continent. Say, I just had an absolutely brilliant idea…billable feet! ;)
June 15, 2015 4:42 pm PT
Hi everybody it’s Tyler and the team. We are on the summit of Mt. McKinley currently.
We hope that everyone is doing well at home. We have a lot of hours of work left but we did a really good job getting up here. We can see hundreds of miles. There is a light wind up here and everybody is doing great. We have had a spectacular trip and we are half way now.
We will give you a report when we get back to 17 Camp and hope that everyone is well. We will be in touch.
Cheers –
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
RMI Guide Tyler Jones calls from the summit of Mt. McKinley.
A huge congrats to you and the team, Ken. You are a man of your word—you said you were going to do Denali and you did—all the way to the top—20,320 feet—WOW! A colossal achievement. Cheers to you and the team from hapless Hollis.
Budd
Posted by: Budd Burnett on 6/21/2015 at 1:34 pm
Congratulations to all on reaching the summit, be safe travels down. Ken, we are anxiously waiting your return to hear all your wonderful stories, be safe!!
Sunday, June 14, 2015 - 6:37 pm PT
At last, our patience has paid off. After eight nights at 14 Camp, we finally got the weather today to move our camp up the West Buttress to our high camp at 17,200 feet. The team did great work, traveling up the fixed lines, along the Buttress proper, past Washburn's Thumb, and into camp.
Upon our arrival the team was greeted by blustery winds so we immediately put all of our wall building practice to good use and hammered out a camp in short time. Now we're tucked out of the weather and cooking an early dinner to get ready for a big day tomorrow. If the weather looks good in the morning, we plan on making our summit push!
The team is looking strong and everyone is excited to see the last 18 days of hard work pay off. Time for an early evening, and hopefully the next time you hear from us will be from the top of North America!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones and Team
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Team Chapman is hoping Jason is having a great time! Enjoy! We love you!
Posted by: Team Chapman on 2/7/2016 at 7:20 am
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