Entries By mike walter

Cotopaxi Express: Walter & Team Reach 16,300’ & Enjoy Views of Cotopaxi

June 24, 2018

Posted by: Mike Walter

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador

Elevation: 16,300'

Sunday, June 24, 2018 - 7:34 PM PT We had a great acclimatization climb today, tackling our first peak of the trip. It was a high altitude mark for many of our climbers, reaching the summit of Rucu Pichincha at ~16,300’. The day started off with a gondola ride where we left the city of Quito and traveled to ~13,500’. From there we continued on a well established trail for an hour or so before it gave way to a steeper single track trail. The climb culminated in a fun rock scramble to the top of the peak. The weather was great: in the morning we had clear views of Cotopaxi before clouds rolled in; the temps stayed perfect as we climbed into the clouds, and the wind up high made it feel very alpine but not too cold. Every climbed very well today, despite only being at altitude for about a day; this bodes well for our upcoming summit attempt on Cotopaxi. Tomorrow morning we will pack up and leave Quito, heading south into the countryside en route to our next acclimatization hike. RMI Guide Mike Walter

Cotopaxi Express: Walter & Team Land in Quito

June 24, 2018

Posted by: Mike Walter

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador

Elevation: 9,350'

Saturday, June 23, 2018 - 5:14 AM PT RMI’s 2018 Cotopaxi Express trip has officially started. All of the team members arrived safely to Quito, Ecuador. We started off the day with a trip to a cultural museum located on the equator, where we were able to straddle the line with one foot in each hemisphere. This was followed by a tour through “Old Town” Quito, visiting Independence Square where the Presidential Palace is located, as well as touring a historic church (Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus) and seeing some of the old, historic architecture. We also visited “El Panecillo”, which is a small hill where a statue of the Virgen of Quito over looks the city. After a long day of site seeing we relaxed with dinner at the well-known Magic Bean Restaurant. Tomorrow we’re off to Rucu Pichincha, a volcano outside of Quito, for our first acclimatization hike. RMI Guide Mike Walter

Mt. Rainier: June 15th Teams Reach the Summit!

June 15, 2018

Posted by: Mike Walter, Ben Liken

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier

Elevation: 14,410'

The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guide Mike Walter and Ben Liken reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Mike reported clear skies and calm winds. The team will spend some time on the summit celebrating and enjoying the views before starting their descent. Congratulations to today's Teams!

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Great Work Son

Posted by: Dad on 6/25/2018 at 7:42 am

Congrats to the team!!!!! Amazing job

Posted by: Cheryl Barry on 6/16/2018 at 1:40 pm

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Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Summit!

June 6, 2018

Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Alan Davis

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali

Elevation: 17,200'

Wednesday, June 7, 2018 - 10:59 am PT Nothing is easy about Denali. After two hard days of climbing and finally reaching the summit yesterday, we are currently hunkered down in our tents, avoiding the wind and spindrift that the mountain is throwing at us this morning. It is currently too cold and windy to safely pack up and climb down the exposed West Buttress. So we're on standby, chilling out in our tents waiting for the wind to abate. Hopefully we'll be able to bump camp down to lower altitude and warmer temps soon. RMI Guide Mike Walter Tuesday, June 6, 2018 - 10:50 pm PT Despite a less than ideal weather forecast, we awoke to clear skies and no winds. We fired up the stoves and woke our team. Muscles were weary after climbing for seven hours yesterday, but we couldn't pass up this opportunity. The weather stayed good all day and the route was in great shape. It was a hard day of climbing but we got to stand on the top of North America! We were ten hours round trip (high camp-summit-high camp). And now that we've eaten dinner and crawled in our tents, the temperature has plummeted, winds have increased, and snow is falling. Timing couldn't have been better. We will start our descent tomorrow... RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

So proud of all of you! Please keep yourselves warm. Miss you guys, and can’t wait till you’re in Talkeetna. Shower Beer is everything. You’ll see.

Posted by: David Head on 6/7/2018 at 8:44 pm

Wow!!! How incredible!! Alex and Tom we are all super excited for your summit!! Must be incredible to see from the top!! Enjoy every moment and we miss you. Nicole

Posted by: nicole celona-jacobs on 6/7/2018 at 1:40 pm

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Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Make Summit Attempt, Turn back due to Winds

June 5, 2018

Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Alan Davis

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali

Elevation: 17,000'

Monday, June 4, 2018 - 9:27 PM PT We woke to mostly clear skies, with some visible wind above us. With very cold temps we waited a little to let it warm up and to see if the winds abated. Temps did warm but the winds remain...not atrociously strong, but something to keep an eye on. Leaving camp at 10:00, along with about 100 of our best climbing buddies, we headed up the "Autobahn" towards Denali Pass. The temps were cold and winds made it chillier. By the time we reached Denali Pass and turned the corner, the winds were in our face, colder and stronger than before. We pressed on, in the hopes that the winds would decrease. But as we gained more altitude, the winds kept increasing and getting colder; it was challenging to stay warm--especially our hands, toes, and fingers. So we turned around at the top of Zebra Rocks (~18,800') and headed back to High Camp. We climbed for seven hours and got back to our tents cold and tired. We'll check the weather forecast to see what our next move will be. Hopefully we will get another chance to go for the top. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Champion effort! May you be well rested for another summit run and may she,the Mountain,help make it so. Many Blessings, Hujo and Katie.

Posted by: HUGH DE PENTHENY O KELLY on 6/6/2018 at 9:08 am

You fellas have fun up there. Maybe have Robby eat some more torts and ride him to the top like a rocket ship…. I don’t know, maybe??? Just think about the 8 cases of beer buried at base camp!

Posted by: Todd Hayes on 6/5/2018 at 8:28 pm

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Denali Expedition: Walter and Team Wait out the Weather

June 3, 2018

Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Alan Davis

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali

Elevation: 17,200'

Sunday, June 3, 2018 - 2:00 PM PT We woke this morning and looked up at the upper mountain to see a little bit of wind coming off of Denali Pass; something to keep an eye on, but nothing too concerning. Our stoves were stubborn to heat up at this altitude and with these cold temps, but soon they were firing away, working hard to melt our cook pots full of solid ice (which, just last night, were water).The winds of early morning transformed into a menacing lenticular cloud cap that refused to dissipate. We hung around on "stand by" for a few hours, hoping conditions would improve. That never happened and we decided that we would write this one off as a rest day. We're hoping that tomorrow morning will present us with better climbing weather for a summit bid. Stay tuned. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Hi Tom!
I’ve been following your incredible journey!
I’m hoping the weather cleared for your summit bid!
Can’t wait to hear/see (did you bring a camera? :) all about it once you’re home!
Enjoy the last few days with Mother Nature and your climbing pals!
Shannon

Posted by: SHANNON REILLY on 6/5/2018 at 8:19 pm

Hey Mike, Roby, and Alan,
Please let your team member, Joseph know that his wife and kids wish him a Happy Birthday.
Wishing good luck, Tünde, Angela, és Hanna.

Posted by: Tünde Veis on 6/4/2018 at 4:08 pm

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Denali Expedition: Walter & Team at High Camp, Ready for Summit Bid

June 2, 2018

Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Alan Davis

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali

Elevation: 17,200'

Saturday, June 2, 2018 - 8:30 pm PT We woke to perfect weather so we fired up the stoves, had a hot breakfast and packed up camp. We were climbing before 9am, headed up toward the headwall en route to 17k camp. The weather was perfect and so were the views. We made it to camp in six hours. And then it took us another couple of hours to build camp, and another few on top of that for us to get dinner made (our stoves are rather anemic at this altitude). If all goes well, we'll try for the top tomorrow. We'll see what the weather throws at us in the morning, but the forecast remains good through mid week. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Heidi and I love you and miss you, Dave!

Hope the sun is shining and you are keeping as warm as you can. We know how much you love the snowy mountains.

XOXO,
Me and Heidi

Posted by: Michelle & Heidi on 6/3/2018 at 1:34 pm

Cheering you on from Peru, Tom, and Team Denali! Looking forward to the summit photos. Then, you ride your sleds back to the bottom, right? :) xox Patty

Posted by: Patty on 6/3/2018 at 11:43 am

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Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Getting Ready to Move to High Camp

June 2, 2018

Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Alan Davis

Categories:

Elevation: 14,000'

Friday, June 1, 2018 - 5:01 PM PT A good weather window appears to be forming right now, and lasting through the weekend. Our plan is to take advantage of the good weather and move camp to 17,000' tomorrow and, hopefully, summit the following day. We'll keep you posted with our progress. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Another great update - whew! Everyone is safe and weather is good!

We wish you all a safe summit and descent on Monday with a good climb to the 17,000’ camp tomorrow. Fingers remained crossed for continued clear weather to achieve all this in the next 48 hours!
Cheers from Larkspur, CA!
Susan

Posted by: Susan on 6/2/2018 at 3:45 pm

All rooting for a beautiful summit!
Lots of love from the hood in brooklyn.
Lulu Noto Garrick Elisa
Tommy and Alex big pasta monk dinner waiting in celebration and of course
Our cos wine to wash it down.

Posted by: Lulu and Noto on 6/2/2018 at 1:50 pm

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Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Sit Tight at 14,000’ Camp

May 31, 2018

Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Alan Davis

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali

Elevation: 14,000'

Thursday, May 31, 2018 - 1:11 PM PT We woke early this morning and fired up the stoves, intent on moving to high camp today. But as the morning progressed, lenticular clouds formed over the Alaska Range, clouds increased, and we could see winds coming off of the West Buttress above us . With a good weather forecast into next week, we decided that we'd sit this one out and try again tomorrow. We're sitting in great shape and lined up for the upcoming goo weather window. And spending another night at 14,000' Camp will make our team stronger for our bid up high. Hopefully our next dispatch will come from High Camp tomorrow. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Dave and Shane…So close!!!!!! I know you guys will Summit.!!! I hope everyone is well. We are preying for good weather and an easy climb back down!!! It looks beautiful. Thanks for the updates. Those of us at home love hearing the news. Travel safe. Love ya bunches. Mom and Ken

Posted by: Dean Peterson on 6/2/2018 at 9:57 am

You guys got this! Stay safe! We can’t wait to hear about your summit! We know you’re going to make it! We love you Alex and Tom!

Posted by: Casey & Nick on 6/2/2018 at 7:52 am

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Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Enjoy a Rest Day at 14K Camp

May 30, 2018

Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Alan Davis

Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali

Elevation: 14,200'

Wednesday, May 30, 2018 - 1:50 pm PT Our team is taking another planned rest day today, the first multiple rest day stint of our trip. The weather at 14,200' right now is chilly with very light snow. This unsettled weather is forecasted to last into tomorrow before clearer weather moves in through the weekend. We are hopeful the weather will allow us to move to high camp tomorrow so that we can take advantage of a potentially good weather window (Fri/Sat/Sun) for a summit attempt. We're all doing well, and optimistic that our chance to tag the top is right around the corner. Until then, we'll be resting and getting stronger. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Dave and Shane….. you guys are so close now. Great progress and great weather is seems.

May the Sun shine for you each day and the winds blow gentle.

Love,

Dad

Posted by: George Head on 5/31/2018 at 11:59 am

Dave and Shane…wow…almost there. I can’t believe you are almost at the summit. We can’t wait to hear ALL about this adventure. We hope you are all feeling well. Miss you to pieces. Have a great day!! Love, Mom and Ken

Posted by: Dean and Ken on 5/31/2018 at 7:01 am

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Entries By mike walter

Cotopaxi Express: Walter & Team Reach 16,300’ & Enjoy Views of Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi Express: Walter & Team Land in Quito

Mt. Rainier: June 15th Teams Reach the Summit!

Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Summit!

On The Map

Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Make Summit Attempt, Turn back due to Winds

On The Map

Denali Expedition: Walter and Team Wait out the Weather

On The Map

Denali Expedition: Walter & Team at High Camp, Ready for Summit Bid

On The Map

Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Getting Ready to Move to High Camp

On The Map

Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Sit Tight at 14,000’ Camp

On The Map

Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Enjoy a Rest Day at 14K Camp

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