Entries By walter hailes
Hola from our well deserved rest day in the historic city, and UNESCO world heritage site, of
Puebla. While most folks would spend the day meandering the streets and enjoying the local pleasures, this diligent group was practicing their mountain efficiency skills until the very last minute... effectively pressure breathing and rest stepping their way, single file, the way into our local evening dinner venue (photo attached). What a team.
RMI Guide Jessie Poquerusse & the team
January 25, 2018
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jessie Poquerusse
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 17,340'
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Todos han cumbreado (everybody summited)! The group was a bit apprehensive last night as the clouds were dancing in and around camp, but we woke up at 1am to mostly clear skies and made our bid for the top of
Ixtaccihuatl in 6mph, -4C weather - doesn’t get much better than that. The sun rose right as we began our final ascent stretch, shedding dramatic light on the Martian like landscape with Popocateptl puffing volcanic smoke in the background. We all celebrated on top under the sun and above a thick undercast. Upon return to high camp we swiftly packed up and made our way back down in a graupel storm before reaching our van, celebrating (again) over beers and sandwiches, and making the drive to our hot showers and warm food in Puebla.
Tired and happy,
RMI Guides Jessie, Walter & the team
On The Map
January 23, 2018
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jessie Poquerusse
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 15,000'
Hola, we are checking in from above the marine layer here at about 15,000ft, just below the Refugio de los Cien on the Southern flank of Ixta. We woke up early this morning and after a breakfast of champions slowly but steadily logged the vertical feet from our
Altzomoni hut up to here. The day started hot, sunny, and steep, but everyone just kept their nose to the grindstone. Light clouds rolled in around noon though and cooled the air and our efforts, until we reached our final steep ascent to the base of the very aptly named Arista del Sol ridge. We set up camp which now looks like our little village above the clouds, chatted summit day over a spicy alpine dinner, and are back in our sleeping bags ready for our early start tomorrow. Folks are feeling good and excited to get up high!
RMI Guides Walter Hailes, Jessie Poquerusse and the team
On The Map
January 22, 2018
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jessie Poquerusse
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 12,000'
Checking in here from about 12,000ft at the
Altzimoni hut. Today we traveled from La Malinche via the windy Paso de Cortez up to our new hut, stopping on the way for a big egg-based brunch with an interesting mix of exotic local ingredients and our home staples. We met our local Mexican guide and porters in Paso de Cortez and are happy to have their local knowledge and support. Tonight we’ll start reviewing camp set up procedures and check gear on the sunny terrace of our hut, then enjoy a large dinner before we head to our high camp tomorrow. The sun has been shining all day, with only sparse clouds starting to form a crown on Popocapetl and Ixta. Our high camp is barely visible among the clouds forming at the start of the Arista del Sol ridge. Everyone is doing very well with the altitude, looking strong, and in very good spirits!
RMI Guide Jessie Poquerusse
On The Map
January 22, 2018
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jessie Poquerusse
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 10,000'
Sunday, January 21, 2018 - 7:03 pm PT
Hello from day two on the slopes of our first volcano,
La Malinche! Today we made our way to the Malintzi resort at a little over 10,000ft. We wasted no time and immediately headed uphill and hiked up to the ridge heading to the top, at about 13,700ft - not bad for our first day. We were rewarded with a panoramic view of our upcoming objectives, Ixta and Pico de Orizaba, poking up through a layer of clouds. We all returned dusty and ready to shower and eat.
RMI Guides Jessie Poquerusse, Walter Hailes & the team
On The Map
January 21, 2018
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jessie Poquerusse
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 7,300'
Saturday, January 20, 2018 - 8:45 pm PT
Checking in here from day one of our
Mexican adventure! The mood was very well set as the group met and shared introductions interluded by frequent laughter under the majestic arches of our hotel in the vibrant Zona Rosa of Mexico City. What an interesting group with lots in common in addition to our passion for mountains. After our fun round of intros and a quick overview of our itinerary, we had our first sample of the country’s cuisine over mostly traditional dinner dishes before hitting the hay early. We hope to be rested in order to be ready for our day of travel and first acclimatization hike tomorrow up on the slopes of the much colder and higher La Malinche.
Buenas noches,
RMI Guides
Jessie Poquerusse,
Walter Hailes & the Mexico crew
August 20, 2017
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Hannah McGowan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The
Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Hannah McGowan reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team reported clear skies all the way to the top!
Congratulations to today's teams!
August 12, 2017
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Andy Bond
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,500'
The
Four Day Summit Climb teams August 9-12, were unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning due to route conditions. The teams will return to Camp Muir and repack before continuing down to Paradise later today.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes and the
Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz July 30 - 4 August, 2017 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. After several days of training in Ashford and on the mountain the team left their High Camp this morning en route to the summit of Mt. Rainier. The team arrived at Columbia Crest around 5 am and enjoyed the views from the summit before starting their descent. Today is the last day of their program and they will return to the trail head and back to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to the Kautz Seminar team!
July 27, 2017
Posted by: Walter Hailes
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
After a few days of training on the upper slopes of Mt. Rainier, the
Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons team led by RMI Guide Walter Hailes reached the summit via the Emmons Glacier, the largest glacier in the contiguous U.S. The team has started their descent and will spend one more night on the mountain before returning to Rainier Basecamp tomorrow.
Congratulations to today's team!
Love reading these updates! This adventure sounds amazing! Keep up the hard work!
Posted by: Mende Potkay on 1/24/2018 at 1:44 pm
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