Entries By mike walter
June 21, 2013
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 14,000'
We packed up our luggage this morning, checked out of our hotel in Quito, and headed north, towards the town of Otavalo. As much as we enjoyed our time in Quito, I think we all are very excited to leave behind the hustle and bustle of car horns and traffic, get out into the mountains, and enjoy the views of the snow covered peaks of the
Ecuadorian Andes. That is, after all, why we’re here.
We summited our second peak today on our final acclimatization hike. Fuya Fuya was the objective this time. At just over 14,000’, the old volcano is lower than yesterday’s climb of Rucu Pichincha but the climbing was consistently steep, from the trailhead to the summit. The trail gained elevation quickly as it climbed thru high Andean grasses, culminating in a short rocky scramble to the summit. Although the summit was in the clouds once again, the weather was terrific for the climb. We were treated to stunning views of the Laguna Mojanda below us, a large lake formed in an ancient volcanic crater. Our team also caught a brief glimpse of an Andean Condor soaring in and out of the clouds around Fuya Fuya.
Now we’re all settle in at our tranquil hacienda, Casa de Sol. We’ll have a relaxing morning tomorrow, visiting the Otavalo market, before heading up to the climbing hut on Cayambe for a couple of nights. We’ll keep you posted as always...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
June 20, 2013
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,413'
Well rested from our recent international flights, our team went for our first acclimatization climb today, summiting Rucu Pichincha. Rucu is a volcano that is located just outside of the city of Quito, and the gondola-assisted approach allowed us to enjoy some very high altitude today. The summit sits at 15,413', and was a personal altitude record for many members of our climbing team; we should break that record a few more times during our stay here in
Ecuador.
After riding the gondola, the climb consisted of a relatively moderate ascent on good trails to a small Col just shy of the true summit. From the Col, we scrambled for about 15 minutes up 3rd class volcanic rock to the summit. Clouds obscured our views from the top, but added to the ambiance of our team's first Andean summit. Other than some high clouds, the weather was great for our climb today. The temperatures were quite comfortable for climbing, and we had great views of Quito from nearly 6,000' above.
Our team climbed very strong today, without exception, and it is obvious that everyone has been dedicated to their training programs in the past few months. The climbers on this team have a ton of experience in the mountains, from Rainier to Aconcagua, and it definitely shows.
Tomorrow our crew will pack up in the morning and leave Quito, traveling north to our next acclimatization hike of Fuya Fuya, en route to our first major climbing objective, Cayambe.
At the risk of sounding redundant, these climbers are strong and well-prepared for this trip. Sure, we all feel the affects of altitude at this point, but that is expected. The team's collective dedication to climbing and training is allowing us to fully enjoy our experience here in Ecuador.
Thanks for checking in, and we'll provide an update after our next climb. But for now, the well-oiled climbing machine is on track.
Hasta la proxima cumbre,
RMI Guide Mike Walter & team
June 19, 2013
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 9,350'
The Ecuador Volcanoes climbing (and all of our luggage) has arrived in
Ecuador! Everyone arrived in the country by early this morning and hit the ground running. We spent the bulk of the day on an interesting and educational tour of colonial Quito, visiting the Presidential Palace, the Basilica, and various other points of interest in southern Quito, also known as Old Town Quito. Our local city guide, Jorge, is extremely knowledgeable and happy to share the wealth of information he has about the history, culture, politics, and religion of
Ecuador. As always, it's a pleasure to work with Jorge.
After a typical Ecuadorian lunch of empanadas, locro de queso (potato soup with cheese & avocado), and fritada (fried pork with corn and plantains), we headed to the Equator. We visited an ethnographic museum and stood straddling the Equator, with a foot in each hemisphere (see photo).
We're all still a little weary from a long travel day to get here, and I'm sure everyone will sleep well tonight. Tomorrow we had head out on our first acclimatization hike. We'll be in touch tomorrow to let you know how it goes.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
May 26, 2013
Posted by: Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Mike Walter & crew rolled into 11,200' Camp tonight at dinner time looking surprisingly good for just having summited and descending from 17,200' today. They're planning on getting an alpine start tonight in order to descend the lower
Kahiltna Glacier while it's frozen.
They'll be drinking beers and eating steak soon.
Our hats are off to the entire team. Congratulations all!
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Saturday, May 25, 2013:
Hi All!
Our team is safely back at high camp after a successful summit bid today! Our entire team made it to the top and we enjoyed near perfect weather and route conditions! We left camp at 9:30 this morning and were standing
on the roof of North America at 4:45 pm. After taking photos, exchanging high fives and hugs, and enjoying amazing views we descended towards camp in the evening glow of Alaska sunshine and with the anticipation of hot tea and a warm dinner.
We are all excited to begin our decent tomorrow and look forward to talking to all our friends and family in a few days!
Cheers!
RMI Guides Solveig, Mike, Ben, and the McKinley Team
On The Map
We woke early this morning, hours before the sun came up and warmed up our camp. After packing up camp in the shade, we made our way up to the head wall towards high camp. The sun finally warmed us up as we started ascending the fixed ropes up to the the top of the
West Buttress. Then we ascended the beautiful and exposed snow covered granite ridge into high camp. The weather was amazing, as were the views: 3000' feet down to our last camp in Genet Basin to our south and the same relief down to the Peters Glacier to our north.
We arrived at high camp (17,200') shortly after 3pm. We're all well rested and we're hoping for good weather tomorrow for a shot at the summit. We'll let you know how it shakes out.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Our team slept in this morning and got some much needed rest for our upcoming summit bid. Tomorrow we plan to wake early, pack up camp, and move to our
high camp at 17,200'. The weather is perfect, and so is the forecast. We hope the meteorologists in Fairbanks are correct, as they are predicting good weather for the next few days. But, as always, we're focusing on one day at a time. And if the weather is good tomorrow, that focus will be climbing efficiently from our current camp at 14,200' up to high camp at 17,200', and establishing ourselves up high for a summit bid. Stay tuned and wish us luck...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Hi Everyone!
We are back at
14 Camp after a great day carrying a load of food and fuel to the top of the fixed lines at 16,200'. Our team climbed strong and we were all excited to get a feel for the upper mountain and steeper snow and ice.
We arrived back in camp with enough sunshine left in the day to sit outside the tents and relax and rehydrate while our boots dried (and more importantly AIRED!) out.
The weather is looking good and we hope to move up to high camp soon and make our summit bid!
RMI Guide
Solveig Waterfall & Team
The weather was beautiful today, sunny and warm, and barely a breath of wind. We took a quick trip back to Windy Corner (13,600') to retrieve the cache we left there well over a week ago. The hike back to the cache took us 15 minutes, and about an hour to ascend back to the
14,200' camp that we established yesterday. The rest of the day was spent buffing out camp and practicing fixed rope travel techniques in preparation for tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan on carry supplies up above 16,000' to get ready for our summit bid. The weather looks good for the next few days; hopefully the forecast pans out. Tomorrow will be two weeks into our expedition, and we're all excited to get up high soon.
We'll let you know how our carry goes. Stay tuned...
RMI Guide
Mike Walter & Team
On The Map
Hello All!
We awoke this morning to calm winds and relatively warm temperatures; a welcome change from the last week of stormy living at 11,000'. We had a quick breakfast and broke down tents just as the sun began to thaw out camp. Eager to make our move, we started our ascent at 10 am and arrived at our camp in the
Genet Basin at 14,200' at 3:30pm. Everyone did great and we enjoyed the warm sunshine and lack of chilly breeze getting around Windy Corner.
We spent the rest of the day working hard building walls and getting our camp in order.
Looking forward to getting a good nights rest and getting our cache tomorrow!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
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Ola Amigos! Greetings from 1100.00000 elevation in the Allegheny Mountain Range of NW Pennsylvania, USA. Awesome photos—you guys rock! Go Larry! How much do they pay you for that awesome mug shot that now tops their web site? Endorsements forever!
Posted by: Patti and Joe on 6/21/2013 at 9:31 am
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