Well, today was our first full day as a team. We met up for breakfast at 9 a.m. and then launched into a good meet-and-greet and a big download of info about our climb. It seems like everyone will be getting along famously and that's always a good sign.
After our team meeting we reviewed the gear needed for the climb and how to pack it all up. Then it was lunch time. The staff here at the Dik Dik has been treating very well and the food is amazing. Lunch today was three courses, dinner was five! We're all carbo-loading for the trek and everyone is psyched to hit the trail tomorrow!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Greetings from the Dik Dik Hotel. Everyone has made it to Tanzania safe and sound. All of our baggage has arrived as well! We've just finished a light supper and tomorrow we kick off our trip with our first full team meeting at breakfast. So far so good.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
The Four Day Summit Climb July 9 - 12 led by Seth Waterfall and the Expedition Skills Seminar – Paradise July 7 - 12 led by Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6:30 a.m. PT. The teams reported 10-15 mph winds, temperatures in the mid-teens, light snow and visibility of about 200 yards.
Both teams started their descent from the crater rim shortly before 8 a.m. They will return to Camp Muir for short break to rest and re-pack before continuing down to Paradise this afternoon.
We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulation to today's climbing teams!
The Four Day Summit Climbs led by RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Jason Thompson reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning shortly after 5:30 a.m. They reported clear skies and warm temperatures with winds around 20 mph.
As of 7:00 am the teams were descending from High Break (13,300'). They will continue to Camp Muir and make a short break there before continuing to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Today’s Four Day Summit Climbs led by Jake Beren and Eric Frank reached the Mt. Rainier summit this morning. The teams are currently descending to Camp Muir and will be in Ashford later this afternoon. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz led by Seth Waterfall is descending to Paradise after their successful summit yesterday. His team took a photo before they left their camp this morning (below).
Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
The Five Day Summit Climbs June 21 - 25 led by Seth Waterfall and Win Whittaker were unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams climbed to 10,500’ before deciding to turn around due to snow conditions and high winds.
The Five Day Kautz Climb led by Adam Knoff moved up to their High Camp at the western edge of the Turtle snowfield between 9,400' - 10,500' yesterday. They will spend today training at the Castle.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by Billy Nugent arrived at Inter Glacier yesterday afternoon. They will be moving to Camp Schurman today.
Expedition team…..missed having a blog from you today! (6/26) Hope things are going well and you’re having a great climb despite the weather. Looking forward to seeing you soon. Love you…..
RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Zeb Blais reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today with their Four Day Summit Climb Teams. The team had clear skies, light winds and climbed above the clouds that lingered around 8,000'. The spent some time enjoying the views on top and making their way back to Camp Muir.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons team led by JJ Justman also reached the summit via the Emmons Route this morning. The team will make their way back to Camp Schurmann and finish out their the week training in various mountaineering techniques with hopes of reaching the summits of many more mountains.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Our Sherpa climbing team went up through the Khumbu Icefall a final time early this morning. The rest of us sat out in the warm sunshine and continued the packing process as we watched the glacier and listened to our radios. It was great to relax, and to be safe, but of course that relaxation wasn't complete until Lam Babu brought the entire team down from Camp One with the final loads. Then the day passed slowly and easily, listening to avalanches and rocks falling off the surrounding peaks. Helicopters buzzed the camp incessantly, either capturing the last film footage of "Basecamp 2013" or looking for riders with VISA cards. Summer is coming to the Himalaya and the forecasts tell us the monsoon is only a few days off. There are still climbing teams on the mountain, but the vast majority have finished and gone home. Tents and puja flags were coming down in every direction today and strings of yaks and porters were taking everything down-valley. Trekkers quit coming around about a week ago as weather down low shifted to cloudy mode. We'll leave base tomorrow and the remaining team will collapse the camp in our wake. It seems hard to believe that we've lived in this place for seven weeks now... That will have to be enough for this year. We'll just hope to hang on to the spectacular imagery and the sense of camaraderie we've built up through the experience. Thank you for following the expedition.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Way to go Seth. I’m proud for you and the entire team - Jon.
Posted by: Jon Keith on 6/17/2013 at 7:05 pm
AWESOME AND WONDERFUL JOB…YOU ALL DO AMAZING WORK…I LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING AND SOMEDAY BEING ON THE TEAM…THANKS FOR BEING EPIC DAVE…SUPERMAN ON THE MOUNTAIN…GODS BEST AND ENJOY ...AIRYSWE
Dave and I are safely back at Everest Basecamp. The Sherpa team has one more load to carry down from Camp 1 in the morning and then the expedition will officially be done with the Everest climb.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
[Audio posted from Dave Hahn after returning to Basecamp]
Dave Hahn calls in after returning to Everest Basecamp.
Great job Dave and Seth! You guys really put the peddle to the metal at the end there. Can’t wait to talk to you about it at the Mountain Festival in Septmber! Mike
Update 7:21 p.m. PST:
Mark Tucker sent a message that the team is descending from Camp 1 to Basecamp. All is well!
Voicemail update 7:20 a.m. PST:
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling from Advanced Base Camp once again. We finished our whirlwind tour of the upper mountain. You remember we went from here, 21,300, to nearly 26,000 feet the South Col and went to the summit this morning. And then all the way back down here to Advanced Base Camp. So a long day of climbing and an exciting day of climbing for myself, Seth, Kaji and Tshering. With Gyaljen playing lifeguard back at the South Col looking out for us and having some hot drinks ready when we got back there - which was pretty nice. And we loaded everything up, up there at the Col and came down with the pretty heavy packs down the Lhotse Face. It feels very good to be a little bit lower on the mountain but what a big day! Certainly intended to give a voice dispatch from the summit, had the sat phone up there but there was a little bit of a cold wind blowing from the north, made it hard to do things like work with your fingers with your gloves off and make phone calls and things like that. But we were able to talk to Mark Tucker down a base camp on the radio and Dan as well who was standing down there with Lam Babu and our whole Base Camp staff. So, that was nice to be able to connect with those guys, while we were up there. (broken transmission).
Conditions weren't all that bad, ended up a pretty good weather summit day but a little cold. Wind kind of goes with what we consider a good day. Anyway this was a good day. And now it's clearly the season is changed. And it's time to get off the mountain, it's heating up. The anchors we're melting out on our way down the Lhotse Face and we had to be pretty careful of that. So we're taking that as a sign that it is time to be heading down. Alright, bye for now. Thank you.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from ABC after their summit climb.
Go get ‘em Don and Kathy! So jealous, God speed, and may you have a perfect summit!
Posted by: Daniel on 7/26/2013 at 9:43 pm
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