Entries By walter hailes
June 19, 2023
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Taylor Bickford, Lacie Smith, Leif Bergstrom, Nick Sinapius, Tom Skoog
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Our Five Day Climb June 16 - 20 led by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Taylor Bickford reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team delayed their departure from Camp Muir due to a few inches of new snow and cold temperatures overnight. Once they reached Ingraham Flats, 11,200', on their ascent they were enjoying sunshine and no winds. The cloud deck was below them as they continued their ascent. The teams reached the summit and will return to Camp Muir for their second and final night on the mountain. Tomorrow, they will descend to Paradise and return to Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
June 13, 2023
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Joe Hoch, Ellison Boord, Charlie Harrison, Raymond Holt, Tom Skoog
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb June 10 - 14 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams were lead by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Joe Hoch who reported a gorgeous day of climbing. The teams reached the crater rim a little before 9 am and were able to spend time crossing the crater to the Columbia Crest. As this is a Five Day Climb, the teams will return to Camp Muir to rest and relax. They will spend their second night on the mountain tonight. Tomorrow the teams will descending the remaining 4,500' to Paradise and return to Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Congratulations!!!!! So proud of Marc, Skyler and Savannah!!!! You guys are amazing!!!
Can’t wait to see you back at camp!!!!
Love, mom, Athena and Mitch!
Posted by: Annette Gibbens on 6/14/2023 at 1:20 pm
Congratulations Savannah, Skyler and Mark!
You did it!!
What a great accomplishment and experience.
Posted by: Wanda Stallings on 6/14/2023 at 9:58 am
January 25, 2022
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 22,841'
Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - 9:15 am PT
This is the Hailes Aconcagua team. We have made it to the summit! The whole team is happy and healthy. It's been a long day but we are happy to be here. We'll turn around and head down here in about 20 minutes after we take some pictures. We will check back in after we are back to camp. Wish us luck. We will talk to you soon.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes calls from the summit!
Woohoo!!!! So excited for you all. Congratulations!!!
Posted by: Tracie on 1/26/2022 at 3:03 pm
Way to go Boys! Another summit! Get home safe!!
Posted by: Craig Straub on 1/26/2022 at 9:36 am
We are on the final part of our climbing adventure, the summit push. We moved camp a couple hours uphill today to Aconcagua's High Camp and are settling in for a short night. If the weather holds we will wake early to climb and the next time you will hear from us will be a message from the summit!
Well done guys! Huge accomplishment. I hope to hear some great stories. have a good down climb.
Posted by: Saxby on 1/26/2022 at 9:57 pm
Congratulations Jack and team! Looking forward to all the details soon!
Posted by: Linda Delaney on 1/26/2022 at 9:31 am
Silence. Beautiful silence. For the first time all trip we had a windless night. Needless to say everyone slept deeply and blissfully after the previous nights adventure. We woke up with the late morning sun and enjoyed a relaxing day of snacking, restocking on water and double checking our gear for summit day. Tomorrow we move to High Camp and the team is in high spirits to be that much closer to our goal!
Good luck sounds like if you conquered those winds you can conquer anything. Go gettem!
Posted by: Lolly on 1/24/2022 at 10:01 am
What else is possible and how does it get any better than this!? YOU’RE ALL UNSTOPPABLE!
Posted by: Barbara on 1/24/2022 at 8:15 am
January 21, 2022
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,000'
Today we broke down camp, said goodbye to the lovely Basecamp staff and began our climb to Camp 1 for the final time. The climb was easy as the trail was familiar and the weather was sunshine and light winds. Once we arrived we made quick work of setting up camp and fortifying our tent anchors with rocks due to the strong nightly winds we knew would be coming. After a delicious meal of mountain Pad Thai everyone went back to their tents to try to get some sleep at 16,000 feet. Tomorrow we move to Camp 2!
Pyfer family looking forward to more updates!
Updates from home:
Max crushed it against MC playing defense - Tam team overall got schooled in last quarter.
SI won the Bruce Mahoney trophy after coming back from a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter to win in OT
Dawg City looking pretty scrappy - in the semi-finals today at Kings Showcase.
49’ers WON!
Miss you. You got this.
Posted by: Susan Lindstrom on 1/23/2022 at 9:28 am
Get it!!!!! Excited for you, praying for you, go WIN!!!!!
Posted by: Location 66 Cheerleaders on 1/22/2022 at 6:27 am
We have enjoyed our time at Aconcagua Base Camp these last few days. The cooks, porters and all the staff are constantly working to make our stay comfortable and doing it with the biggest smiles imaginable. We are ready to climb higher but will miss being so well taken care of.
We did get a dusting of snow today that made the mountain beautiful. Thankfully the weather forecast is to improve as we climb higher over the next few days.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
Wow! Gorgeous! Be safe!
Posted by: Tracie L Bush on 1/21/2022 at 1:09 pm
Way to go guys. What an adventure. Please be safe and have lots of fun. Can’t wait to hear about it upon your return.
Posted by: Kathy Pyfer on 1/20/2022 at 5:48 pm
January 19, 2022
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 14,500'
Today the weather continued to improve as we awoke to sunny skies and the lightest winds of the trip thus far. We headed uphill for our final carry to Camp 1 to set the stage for our time on the upper mountain. The wind wasn’t done with us yet though as we experienced several “drop you to your knees” gusts on our way up. After making it to Camp 1 and successfully caching our gear we headed back to base camp where we relaxed in the group shelter, swapped stories and enjoyed the beautiful evening alpine glow on the mountains.
RMI Guides Walter Hailes & Jack Delaney
Well done guys. Such a great adventure. I’m living Vicariously. “I can make it two more steps” Wishing you the best.
Posted by: Saxby on 1/20/2022 at 2:27 pm
After three nights of strong wind gust, fitful sleeping and high altitude we were all ready for a full mountain rest day today. Rest days are simple and look similar to your cat’s daily routine: eat, then nap, then casual stroll, then eat, then nap. Today, our highlights were hot quesadillas for snacks and we walked across the valley from camp to an abandoned hotel to enjoy even more spectacular views.
All around a great rest day and everyone is ready for more climbing tomorrow.
Let’s go Boys! Congrats on your progress, see you at the TOP!
Posted by: Craig Straub on 1/19/2022 at 1:59 pm
Great job fellas! You will make it!
“The wonderful things in life are the things you do, not the things you have.” Reinhold Messner
Posted by: Dirk Gilliard on 1/19/2022 at 1:37 pm
Monday, January 17, 2022
After a windy night with little sleep we awoke to a beautiful and sunny day. After a delicious breakfast we packed light packs to head up hill for an acclimatization hike. The wind lingered as we hiked and we remained bundled up even with the sun shining upon us. The air felt thin as we reached Aconcagua's Camp 1 at 5000m (16,000ft). After a quick lunch break the team was feeling good so we continued uphill for another hour to take full advantage of our day. Once we reached our high point we turned around and scooted downhill to a hearty meal of carne asado grilled by the porters. Tonight we hope to sleep like rocks.
We are so glad the winds calmed so that you and the team were able to hike yesterday! We are so proud of you and we love following the blog and updating everyone on your progress! Go Team Aconcagua!
Posted by: Rahim's Cintas Family on 1/18/2022 at 6:29 am
We are living your adventure vicariously except we are not having the pleasure of your company, the weather, great meals etc. Pace yourselves, which I am sure you are doing and stay safe. All well at our end.
Hugs to you all
Posted by: Norman and Phyllis on 1/18/2022 at 4:31 am
thanks for the update!!! Glad to hear you made it and were wise to wait for a few extra degrees on the thermometer:) Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
His,
Eileen & Dave Conklin
Posted by: eileen conklin on 6/19/2023 at 5:54 pm
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