Hello, this is Eric. I'm checking-in from the comforts of Hotel Colonial in Puebla. Today the team is resting after our major effort to get to the summit of Ixtaccihuatl yesterday. It is a very abrupt change to go from the challenge of a grueling descent straight to the luxuries of a major city. After a lazy morning, we met to explore a local market, eat gelato and soak in the stunning architecture of the city.
Tonight the team will have a group dinner and then get in bed to rest before we launch early tomorrow for our next major objective, Orizaba.
Here are a few shots from our climb of Ixta.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Good morning everyone, this is Eric Frank and the Mexico's Volcanoes Expedition checking in from the summit of Ixta. It's 7:30 a.m., local time here. We had a wonderful climb this morning after a little bit of rain a little bit of snow and some passing thunder storms last night, we actually woke up to starry skies and beautiful blue sky above us at this point with just a few cloud lingering down below. So we're going to hang out here and enjoy the sunshine and spend some time on top. Then we will get headed back down and move to Puebla for our rest day tomorrow, that is very well deserved. Thanks for following along. Talk to you soon.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank checks in from the summit of Ixtaccihuatl.
Hello, this is RMI Guide Eric Frank calling in from high camp on Ixta. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to send out dispatches the last few days. We've had some technical difficulties with our satellite modem, so for at least the next few days, will be checking in with voice dispatches like this. All-in-all, the team is doing really well. We had a great day climbing up to our high camp here at 15,100' on Ixta. The weather is partly cloudy but this morning we had blue skies and am anticipating the same tomorrow for our climb. We're all settled into our tents and going to nap for the afternoon. We will have an early dinner and then get tucked into bed so we can get up in the middle of the night and climb tomorrow. Wish us luck. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank calls in from Ixtaccihuatl High Camp.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
After trickling in from various airports around the US, our team gathered in Mexico City to kick off the trip. We enjoyed our first Mexican meal together and talked about the upcoming climbs. This morning, after a delicious breakfast at Hotel Geneve, the team departed from Mexico City and arrived at La Malinche, an extinct volcano towering over the historical Mexican Olympic training facility. We arrived around noon, and headed out on an acclimatization hike shortly after. Everyone felt great and we were able to climb uphill for over three hours. This was enough to get us above treeline where we could enjoy the beautiful views of the plains below. Once we were back down in camp, we settled into cabins, then enjoyed a dinner of grilled meats and veggies along with fresh guacamole and home tortilla chips! Now we are tucked in bed trying to get a good night's rest and prepare for our upcoming move to Ixta Base Camp.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Eric Frank and Jenny Konway and the Mexico's Volcanoes crew
Fantastic! It looks stunning- what an adventure and what a view.
Posted by: Debi Edy on 3/8/2017 at 10:40 am
Things seem to be going great. Hope everyone is well rested for the climb to the summit. The google map indicates that the view should be very special. Kudos to the guides.
Posted by: Grandma & Grandpa Coats on 3/7/2017 at 12:42 pm
Hello to everyone following the Mt. Shuksan Seminar. Tonight we are checking in from the North Cascades logging town of Sedro-Woolley, at the foot of Mt. Shuksan. Today was meant to be our summit attempt, but instead we awoke to pelting rain on our tents, similar to the weather we have been struggling with for the last four days. After having a group meeting and considering the options, we decided as a group to forego our summit bid in favor of descending to focus on training tomorrow. The weather forecast called for improving skies, but that has been the case each day and yet it continued to rain. We opted to find a dry place down here to ensure that we we able to finish all the training, rather then take the gamble on climbing and sit in a tent for another day. A hard decision to make, but one that we feel was right.
Thanks for following along this week.
Best,
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Solveig Waterfall, Jenny Konway and the RMI Shuksan Seminar crew
Hello, this is RMI Guide Jenny Konway calling in from the low camp on Mount Shuksan here with the Shuksan Seminar. We had a great morning of training today out in the fog. It cleared up a little bit, and we saw some blue sky. This afternoon we attempted to go out and have some additional training, but got some heavy rain so we all retreated to our tents and had a good dinner. We are tucked in for the evening, hoping that the clouds we'll part in the morning and have a shot at the summit. So we're keeping our fingers crossed for nice weather. That's it for now. Thanks for following along. Have a good night.
RMI Guide Jenny Konway
RMI Guide Jenny Konway called in from the Mount Shuksan Seminar.
Hey, This is RMI Guide Eric Frank calling from the south side of Mt. Shuksan on a week long skills seminar. Just wanted to let everyone know that we are in our camp for the night had a great first day. We made it up just to the edge of tree line and it started to rain, so we made camp here. Everyone's doing well. Tomorrow Weather permitting we're hoping to go up to the glacier and do a little training for the day. Wish us luck and thanks for following along!
Eric Frank & Team Checking in from Shuksan Seminar.
Congrats to everyone! We can’t wait to see the pictures. Thank you to the terrific guides for safely leading the group.
Posted by: Anne Coats on 3/8/2017 at 12:47 pm
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