Entries By jenny konway
Posted by: Mike King, Jenny Konway
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
We are all back safely in town after a successful summit of Pico de Orizaba! The entire team stood on top after a long day climbing up the Jamapa Glacier. We had thunder and lightning last night that turned into snow all the way down to the hut. The skies cleared around 12:45 am and we were out the door at 1 on a warm night. The Team is sorting gear for flights home in the morning and looking forward to a good dinner and restful nights sleep. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
We spent a casual day off in historic Puebla yesterday looking at murals, eating tacos and checking out the local pottery made in the area. There were bands and peaceful protests in the Square, surrounded by beautiful and ornate cathedrals.
This morning we woke early to meet our transport and head to Tlachichuca where we outfitted for Orizaba. Senior Reyes runs a climber's hostel that is housed in his family's historic soap factory. The mountain has been covered in clouds and there is some snow flanking the lower slopes. This has been an extremely dry winter for the area and new snow is a welcome sight.
For the remainder of the day we'll take a short walk up hill to see the Labyrinth, a scree and rock maze of ledges and chutes that makes up the first two hours on our summit day.
The Team is excited to be here and out of the 4x4 trucks that crawl their way up the dusty roads through corn fields and beautiful pine forests. Hopefully we will be calling in from the summit tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather and clear skies!
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Posted by: Mike King, Jenny Konway
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Today was not going to be our day, because when it snows on Ixtaccihuatl there is apparently thunder and lightning. We spent a few hours at high camp with electrical storms pulsing through, while we held tight yesterday afternoon. Around 1 am there were clear skies all around and no wind to speak of. After climbing up the ‘knees’ of Ixta we stared out into a developing storm near La Malinche (our day hike from Day 2). watching the storm continue to spread out among the horizon, the guides decided that descending to camp and packing up would be the best call.
Even though we only had 1,500 vertical feet to climb the linear distance was too long to justify staying on the ridge, should the storm pick up steam.
With a slow descent through the ‘knees’ due to frozen scree and snow we arrived back in camp, packed up and headed to the trail head. As with most decisions, there is a moment of regret and asking yourself if you made the right call. Our walk down hill was sunny and bluebird that is until it wasn’t and the billowing dark clouds overtook the summit ridge.
We are headed to Puebla for the evening and tomorrow we will get to explore the historic city center. After a couple nights sleep in nice beds we’ll head out for our Orizaba climb, the third highest peak in North America. While a little disappointed, everyone is glad to not be in an electrical storm and is doing well.
RMI Guides Mike King & Jenny Konway
Posted by: Mike King, Jenny Konway
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
The Team packed up at the Altzomoni Hut this morning after a big breakfast and casual start to the day. We hiked up to High Camp, located at 15,500' over three hours and benefited from cloudy skies and a cool breeze. As we were leaving the Third Portillo, the clouds began climbing past us and soon snow was falling. The group did great today, carrying heavy packs in rocky terrain at high altitude. We'll spend the day resting and keeping our fingers crossed for clear weather. Tomorrow will be our one shot at Ixta and she can be cruel when conditions are stormy. The climbing itself is straight forward and we'll hope to be calling in from the top shortly after sunrise. Thanks for following along, we all continue to eat amazing food and are enjoying the beautiful scenery.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
After enjoying our last showers for a few days, we packed up our things and headed downhill from the La Malintzi center. We enjoyed a delicious hot breakfast just about 30 minutes from the center, then continued on towards the town of Amecameca for a quick grocery shop and to grab any last minute items the team needed. Two more hours of driving got us to the Welcome Center for Ixtaccihuatl. Mike got us all checked in, then we continued uphill on a dusty dirty road to reach the Altzimoni Hut. After unloading our gear, we did a quick sort and packed our necessities for tomorrow's hike into basecamp. Dinner is being cooked up as we write this and the team is excited to dig in. Fresh tortillas, carne asada, rice, beans, guacamole and lots of salsas to choose from! Thanks for following along and we all hope you're eating as well as we are!
RMI Guide Jenny Konway
On The Map
Posted by: Mike King, Jenny Konway
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
March 4, 2018
Everyone arrived yesterday with all luggage in tow and today we set out for a hike on La Malinche. The three hour drive through the countryside is very scenic and due to how dry the weather has been the haze began to thin as we started driving by Ixta (our first climbing objective in a few days). After arriving at a former Olympic training site we hiked up through a dense pine forest, which gave off pleasant scents reminding people of home. We walked to about 13,900' before turning around due to heavy traffic above and rock fall hazard. The goal today was to stretch the legs and lungs a bit and dust off the cobwebs of travel days ad all those tacos we ate in Mexico City. Everyone is enjoying the trip so far. Tonight we will sleep at 10,000' in little cabanas to continue acclimatizing. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Mike King & Jenny Konway
On The Map
Posted by: Mike King, Jenny Konway, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800'
We packed up after a stormy night at 19,600'. The evening was filled thunder, lightening and lots of snow. The early start had our hands and toes cold, but we were rewarded with a stellar sunrise and a quick descent through the snow and scree. There was gear to pick up at the lower camps and finally we got to Plaza Argentina to enjoy a warm afternoon of packing for the mules and some well deserved rest at lower elevation. Tomorrow we'll walk to Lenas, our first camp of the trek for the legendary asado and one last night under the stars. This trip has been filled with lots of laughs, better then normal weather and a great team. This will be our last dispatch of the trip, your loved ones will be in reach once we arrive in Mendoza on the evening of the 8th. Thanks for following along on our expedition to the top of South America.
RMI Guide Mike King
Posted by: Mike King, Jenny Konway, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 19,600'
February 5th, 9:30 am PT
We finished our successful summit day with the descent to high camp. What started out as a beautiful day has turned into a snow storm. The Team is currently resting in their tents and the only remaining task is to pack up and carry everything to base camp tomorrow. We have some porters assisting with that as the group is beat and the weather isn't supposed to be all that nice. There are countless stories from summit day, so I'll let your loved ones tell them to you when they're back in the land of phone/internet or preferably over a nice meal on their return.
RMI Guide Mike King
CONGRATULATIONS, Bob, Grassy, Sandra, and Steve!!! Save downclimbing and hope to hear more about your climb soon.
Jim W.
Posted by: Jim Wilder on 2/6/2018 at 10:57 am
Yeah!! Great job Dawn and the team!!!!! We can’t wait to hear all about it in person!:)
Posted by: Kim on 2/6/2018 at 7:37 am
Posted by: Mike King, Jenny Konway, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 22,841'
Hey, this is Mike with Aconcagua #4. We are standing on top of the tallest mountain outside of the Himalaya. It's a beautiful day, near windless, you could be wearing a bikini on top today and get a sun tan. Everyone that's on top today, is doing great. We'll send a dispatch in once we descend back to our High Camp. Thanks for following along on the blog. We will descend to Plaza Argentina (Base Camp) tomorrow morning. Thanks.
RMI Guide Mike King
RMI Guide Mike King calls from the summit of Aconcagua.
On The Map
SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/5/2018 at 9:49 am
Congratulations
Posted by: Fred Street on 2/5/2018 at 9:01 am
Posted by: Mike King, Jenny Konway, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 19,600'
The Team packed up and moved the bear necessities to Cholera, located at 19,600'. Camp is built and we are enjoying a calm and warm day, which is a plus since this camp is named after the fierce winds that plague this part of the mountain. Tomorrow is our summit day and there is some nervous energy and excitement to be finally nearing the objective of the climb. Everyone sends their best back home. Not much else to do but eat, pack, try to sleep and enjoy the thin air. We'll call in from the summit should Aconcagua bless us with calm winds and a wicked cramponable route.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Praying for good weather and a strong climb to the TOP!! Go team Go! XO Coeli
Posted by: Coeli Scott on 2/5/2018 at 5:02 am
Good Luck to you all! Enjoy the day and the final push to the top!
Posted by: Tania on 2/4/2018 at 6:52 pm
Wow, that was some climb! Glad you all made it up there & are now safe & sound. Thanks for letting us follow along on this great adventure.
Posted by: Hikari on 2/7/2018 at 7:44 pm
Concrats to All of You!!!! So Proud of All of You!!!! Enjoy the thick and warm air and the Asada tonight!!! Love you All!!! Awesome Dawn and Tom , (My climbing Sister and Brother, Bless you both)
Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/7/2018 at 2:48 am
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