Entries By andy bond
August 6, 2024
Posted by: Andy Bond, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Bolivia
Elevation: 13,000'
Monday, August 5, 2024 - 5:25 pm PT
It was an early start but not an early exit as we left La Paz this morning. A gasoline shortage in Bolivia left us scrambling to find a spot to fill up our van as we headed to Isla del Sol. After several hours of navigating La Paz and El Alto traffic we finally made it to the highlands with views of the Condoriri mountains and Huayna Potosi. A quick ferry and a failed short cut down a dirt road eventually led us back to the standard route through the town of Copacabana which sits right on Lake Titicaca. Yet another curve ball was thrown our way as a fiesta in the town for the Bolivian independence day shut down our route to the boat that was awaiting us to bring us to the island. After several detours and side roads we finally made it to our private boat that would bring us to the Island of the Sun.
Isle del Sol is a special island for the Andean people as it is the center of creation for them. On our walk from the boat to the Eco Lodge we passed by a pre-Incan Temple, and terraces built in the 1300's for farming. The island itself does not have cars and provides spectacular views of 6,000m peaks that we'll be heading to shortly. It is also a perfect place for us to acclimatize at 13,000' and enjoy the laid back island life compared to the hustle and bustle of La Paz. After an excellent dinner of fresh caught trout from the lake and local beef we are settling in for bed. As I write this we are being treated to views of a massive lightning storm over the mountains, feeling thankful to be here in our comfortable casitas and headed towards the high peaks in a few days when the weather is forecasted to improve.
RMI Guide Andy Bond
PC: Andy Bond
Sign Up For Bolivia Expedition, August 3, 2024 Emails
August 4, 2024
Posted by: Andy Bond, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Bolivia
Elevation: 11,942'
For most of us, its been quite a journey to make it to Bolivia, as many of us had to deal with cancelled and delayed flights. Most of us arrived early this morning into El Alto at 13,500' with the airport sitting on the plateau above the city of La Paz. Due to the high elevation, (La Paz is the highest capital city in the world!) planes need to land at night with colder air temperatures in order to be able to take off.
After a little bit of sleep and some breakfast at our hotel Mitru Sur, our group went for a ride on the teleferico (cable car) system that travels all over the city of La Paz and El Alto. This allowed us to see some sights without having to put in too much effort as we start to acclimatize to the high altitude we start at here in Bolivia.
We're beginning to pack as we head out tomorrow on Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca (2nd highest freshwater lake in the world) where we will continue to acclimatize at the famous La Estancia Ecolodge before heading into the mountains.
RMI Guides Andy Bond & Henry Coppolillo
PC: Andy Bond
Sign Up For Bolivia Expedition, August 3, 2024 Emails
June 17, 2024
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jess Wedel, Charlie Harrison, Will Ambler, Layne Peters, Rosie Hust
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Five Day Climb reached Camp Muir after what we deemed “the spiciest snowfield ascent ever”. We worked together in high winds and low visibility to stay warm and keep climbing. After a night of higher winds, colder temperatures and more snow, we opted to do some training at Camp Muir. We started the morning with some avalanche basics culminating in digging pits to assess snow instability. The results weren’t promising so as a team we made the safe, but hard, choice not to ascend any higher. The sun came out and we spent the day learning snow anchors, crevasse rescue and taking in the beautiful views from Camp Muir.
We’ll begin our descent to Paradise this morning and conclude our program this afternoon. All in all, this team unified in tough conditions to have an incredible climbing experience.
RMI Guides Andy Bond and Jess Wedel
PC: Jess Wedel
Amazing Experience! Jess, Andy and all the Guides were phenomenal as they kept us safe and maintained High Spirits and PMA throughout a “Ghost Pepper Spicy” day.. Can’t wait to share pics and stay connected! Couldn’t have picked a better group of people for a truly Epic Adventure! Thank you RMI !
Posted by: Doug Thompson on 6/18/2024 at 11:24 am
“The summit is what drives us, but the climb itself is what matters.”
Couldn’t have asked for a better team to be with on a trip, summit or no summit. Hootah!!!
Posted by: Raleigh Hobson on 6/17/2024 at 8:21 pm
June 11, 2024
Posted by: Andy Bond, Raymond Holt, Layne Peters, Ben Luedtke, Calvin Jiricko, Arianna Drechsler
Categories:
Elevation: 11,200'
The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Ben Luedtke reached 11,200' today and watched the sunrise from Ingraham Flats. High winds with higher gusts kept the teams from ascending any higher. The climbers returned safely to Camp Muir and began their descent to Paradise around 9 am. They will conclude their program this afternoon.
PC: Arianna Drechsler
Congrats on your adventure. Can’t wait to hear the stories.
Posted by: Patrick VDH on 6/11/2024 at 2:53 pm
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The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz team trained all week to hone the mountaineering skills needed to qualify for a Denali, Aconcagua, and other big mountain expeditions. The team learned crevasse rescue, fixed line travel, route finding, and avalanche forecasting. Poor weather and high avalanche danger prevented the team from making a summit attempt via the Katuz Glacier, but the time spend training and learning the advanced mountain skills will benefit all team members on their next mountain adventure.
Congratulations Team!
May 16, 2024
Posted by: Andy Bond, Mike Bennett, Drew O’Brien, Charlie Harrison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,200'
The Five Day Climb led by Andy Bond reached 13,200' on Mt. Rainier. The team turned around due to route conditions. They are back at Camp Muir and will be descending to Paradase later today.
Congratulations Team!
May 2, 2024
Posted by: Andy Bond, Seth Burns, Jackson Breen, Joey Manship, Robert Whyte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir team led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Seth Burns has concluded their week of training and returned to Paradise. Although the weather threw a few curves at them, the team was able to get in lots of training including cramponing, glacier travel, ice climbing, rappelling, and crevasse rescue. We can probably consider it winter camping as well. They endured some cold temperatures but also enjoyed some beautiful sunrises and sunshine.
Nice work team!
August 20, 2023
Posted by: Andy Bond, Leif Bergstrom, Charlie Harrison, Joey Manship, Evan Redman, Will Nash
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guide Andy Bond and Leif Bergstrom climbed to Ingraham Flats today. The teams were above the smoke and enjoyed a wonderful sunrise. While at the Flats the team learned crevasse rescue and did some ice climbing. The team will finish up their training soon and return to Paradise later this afternoon.
Someone add 10 extra pounds to Sara’s pack and DON’T TELL HER!! Good luck to everyone.
Posted by: Dwight on 8/21/2023 at 1:33 pm
Best of luck to all the group especially my son, Heath Scheibmeir. Enjoy the wonders of your trip and above all STAY SAFE! GOD BLESS YOU ALL!
Posted by: Joni Y Thummel on 8/20/2023 at 8:49 am
August 14, 2023
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jess Wedel, Charlie Harrison, Nick Sinapius, Tom Skoog, Will Ambler
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb August 11 - 14 led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Jess Wedel reached the summit of Mt. Rainier just before 5 am today. Andy reported a beautiful morning climbing in base layers with no winds and meteors filling the sky as they climbed toward the summit.
Congratulations to the team!
Your prep and hard work are blessed with such a spectacular view! Awesome!
Posted by: Ron on 8/19/2023 at 2:58 pm
Congratulations to the team on your Summit climb today!!
What a awesome accomplishment for each of you!
Posted by: Evans on 8/14/2023 at 7:32 pm
August 10, 2023
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jess Wedel, Abby Westling, Josh Geiser, Bailey Servais, Calvin Jiricko
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Climb August 7 - 10 led by RMI Guides Andy Bond & Jess Wedel did not reach the summit today due to gusty winds. The teams left Camp Muir on their alpine start but turned around at Ingraham Flats due to wind. The teams returned to Camp Muir and climbed Muir peak to enjoy the sunrise. Photos above are from RMI Guide Calvin Jiricko.
The teams plan to descend from Camp Muir after 9 am today. We expect them to return to Rainier BaseCamp in the early afternoon.
Thank you, Jessee! Early squirrely is your jam now, (is it too soon?)thanks for covering for me! I am very grateful to be able to breakaway to do those things I think about everyday. I miss the crew but I will be back soon. Keep us at the #1 spot while I’m gone. Send It!!!!
Posted by: Katherine on 8/6/2024 at 3:37 am
We miss you Katherine, I see the planes can only land at night/early morning. But I know bright and squirrely is your MO. Give that mountain hell and come back safely!! Enjoy the trek and some much deserved time off!
Posted by: Jessee Wyld on 8/5/2024 at 12:25 pm
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