Entries By mike walter
August 12, 2016
Posted by: Mike Walter, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Summit! The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Mike Walter and Steve Gately, began their descent at 8:00 a.m. With such nice weather, the teams were able to spend over an hour on the summit, crossing the crater and enjoying the views with no clouds in sight. This afternoon we look forward to congratulating the teams this afternoon here in Ashford at Rainier Basecamp!
August 6, 2016
Posted by: Mike Walter, Pepper Dee, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb Teams for August 3 - 6, 2016 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI Guide Pepper Dee reported from the crater that they enjoyed clear skies with a slight breeze and great climbing conditions. The teams began their descent from the crater rim shortly before 8 am. Climbers will continue down to Paradise later this afternoon and return to Rainier BaseCamp in Ashford to celebrate their success.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
July 24, 2016
Posted by: Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Mount Rainier Summit Climb, led by Mike Walter and Solveig Waterfall, successfully summited this morning. The teams were leaving the crater rim at 7:15 a.m., reporting light winds and blue skies.
Congratulations team!
Awesome job guys! Trevor Hayes, we are proud of you!!
Amanda and JT
Posted by: Amanda Hayes on 7/24/2016 at 5:33 pm
Congratulation to Dale Fogg and the team! You all are pretty amazing!! What an accomplishment
Posted by: Georgette and Gabby on 7/24/2016 at 4:06 pm
July 19, 2016
Posted by: Mike Walter, Chris Ebeling, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Mike Walter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier shortly after 7:00 a.m. this morning. Mike reported sunny skies, a cloud deck at 9,000', and 15 mph winds. The team will spend some time on the summit celebrating before beginning their descent. We will see them back in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
Awesome job!! I can’t wait to hear about it :)
Posted by: Amy Collins on 7/19/2016 at 3:42 pm
Congratulations to Team Red Zone, Maine. And all the clbers and the guides.
Posted by: Bill weeks on 7/19/2016 at 9:53 am
Our successful Ecuador Volcanoes trip has sadly come to an end; but the good times didn’t end with mountain climbing, as this adventurous team decided to sample the classic Ecuadorian specialty dish, cuy, on our way back to the Quito yesterday. Cuy, Quichua (pre-Incan language) for guinea pig, is a traditional food reserved for special occasions; our special occasion was celebrating summitting two challenging Ecuadorian volcanoes (and turning around a few hundred feet shy of the summit on a third), enjoying the people and culture of Ecuador, and enjoying the comradery and companionship of our climbing team.
Once back in Quito and checked into our hotel, we had a few hours to roam the streets and explore the shops of the city before meeting back up for a celebratory dinner with our local guides. The past week and a half has been a whirlwind of adventure. Now, as we go our separate ways back home, we’ll always share our Ecuador Volcanoes memories, and hopefully we’ll climb together again someday.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Sometimes the stars just align, and they did for our climbing team on Cayambe this morning. Yesterday we traveled from Otavalo to the town of Cayambe where we transferred from a bus to four-wheel drive vehicles. A beautiful drive up into the Cayambe-Coca National Park soon became a unique cultural experience as the 4x4s were stymied by wildly rutted and muddy roads en route to the climbers’ hut. We got out of the vehicles and began harvesting “paja”, or tall straw-like grass from the roadside to through onto the road for added traction. After about 45 minutes all three of our vehicles made it through the troublesome areas and we continued on to the climbing hut at 4600m. Light rain turned to blue skies and we got some great views of the next day’s objective. We were cautiously optimistic about the changing weather pattern for Cayambe (we had seen Cayambe from various peaks over the previous week, and it always looked windy and stormy).
I woke up this morning (actually last night at 10:30pm) and checked the weather. I was psyched to see a starry night without a single cloud in the sky, and very little wind. We ate a light breakfast, packed up, and left the hut at 12:15am. It took us about an hour to approach the toe of the glacier where we donned crampons and iced axes. We ascended moderate slopes up the Hermosa Glacier, avoiding the heavily crevassed peripheries. After tackling the Bergshrund and ascending a short pitch of steep ice, we found ourselves on the summit eight hours after we set out from the hut. Stunning views of the high peaks of Ecuador greeted us: Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, Antisana, and the Illinizas, all stood tall, unobstructed by clouds. The descent went smoothly and three hours later we were back at the climbers’ hut. The clouds kept threatening to cover up Cayambe on our descent, but they held off until the last 20 minutes before we hit the hut.
After an early wake-up call and a long day in the mountains, we are now settled in to our home for the night, Guachala, the oldest hacienda in Ecuador with history back to the 16th century. Our team will head back to Quito tomorrow for a celebratory dinner and our last night together in Ecuador.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
So much for a lazy rest day yesterday. Instead, we jammed the day full of activities. We spent the morning enjoying the world famous Plaza de Ponchos market in Otavalo, where we had a few hours to roam the streets, haggling with vendors for the best price on many handmade craft goods, from alpaca blankets to paintings to jewelry. After regrouping for lunch we ventured out of the normal tourist confines and explored the local market. Here, locals sell fruits, vegetables, sides of beef, whole-cooked pig, you name it…the sounds, sights, and smells were all exotic and a unique cultural experience.
After returning to our hacienda, we made a quick turn around and went on a short hike to the Cascadas de Peguche, a beautiful waterfall near our hacienda. Ok, we managed to get some rest in also.
This morning we are starting with a leisurely breakfast and then we will head for the Cayambe climbers’ hut. In order to reach the hut we will have to transfer to four-wheel drive vehicles and travel far into the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve. The climbers’ hut will be our home for tonight as we get ready for an early alpine start for our summit attempt on Cayambe. At nearly 19,000’, Cayambe will test our endurance, acclimatization, and climbing techniques. We will let you know how it goes. Hopefully we will return with photos of summit high-fives.
RMI Guide Mike Walter and team
On The Map
July 4, 2016 - 5:11 am PT
Here’s a quick update from the past two days:
Yesterday wet and windy conditions kept us in the climbers’ hut until after lunch, when the weather improved…slightly. We quickly packed our bags and headed up Iliniza Norte, scrambling up a steep rock ridge with fresh rime ice on it. Due to our late start and deteriorating weather, we turned around at Paso de la Muerte (Death Pass, ~5000m), a few hundred feet shy of the summit. Strong winds and very poor visibility accompanied us for the entire descent, but we safely arrived back at the hut with plenty of daylight. It was a fun day of climbing and great acclimatization.
Today we woke early to starry skies and light winds. After a light alpine breakfast we set out for Iliniza Sur. The good weather lasted all day and, after being challenged by steep snow and ice, rock climbing, and high altitude climbing, we arrived at the summit! Seven hours after leaving the hut this morning we strolled back in for a quick lunch and some coffee, before packing our bags and heading back down to the parking lot.
I am writing this dispatch on my phone (without service) as we drive north to our hacienda for the night. I’ll upload pictures tomorrow, when I can track down some more reliable Wi-Fi…be sure to check back, we got some great pics today! Priorities tonight are showers, dinner, and comfy beds!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Congrats to the whole team. Rue!! You’ve officially joined the badass club!!
Have fun on Chimborazo!
Posted by: Rhonda on 7/5/2016 at 6:40 am
Team Ecuador is all settled in at the Illiniza Hut. The weather was clear and sunny, which made for nice hiking to the hut. Once they arrived and settled in, the wind picked up and the team is currently in a cloud layer. Their plan is to climb Illiniza Norte in the morning. The team is doing well and will check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Thank you for those pictures. Really loved them. Good luck to you guys.
climbing Ecuador
Posted by: climbing Ecuador on 8/30/2016 at 10:19 am
Love the pictures. Keep up the good work Team!! Cindee take lots of pictures….love ya!!
Posted by: Sandy B on 7/3/2016 at 5:35 pm
We had a great day today as we ventured out of Quito for our first acclimatization hike up Rucu Pichincha (15,696’). The approach for this hike was a scenic gondola ride well above the city, dropping us off at 13,500’. After a few hours of hiking, we climbed into the clouds and finished with a scramble up Rucu Pichincha’s rocky summit. Although summit views were obscured, the weather was very comfortable all day for our hike.
We had a few hours this afternoon to relax and prep our gear for the next days’ adventures: hiking up to the climbers’ hut at the Ilinizas at 15,100’. We will spend two nights there and attempt summits on both the north and south Iliniza peaks. We will be in touch with updates.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
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Congratulations Vanessa & Charity!
Posted by: Heather Kimling on 8/12/2016 at 5:06 pm
Vanessa and Charity - what amazing ladies! All the hard work pays off and you have memories for life. Congratulations!!!
Posted by: Barbara Libner on 8/12/2016 at 10:15 am
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