Entries from Alaska

Tuesday, June 24, 2025 - 10:24 pm PT

As soon as we poked our heads out of tents this morning at 6 AM we knew we were going to be able to make the big jump to 14,000'.  Still, it took until a little after nine to get on the trail… or, more correctly, onto where the trail should have been. The new snow was boot deep and there wasn’t a single track left on Motorcycle Hill so we had some good hard work to drag sleds up it.  Things got a little better on Squirrel Hill as there was less snow and a team coming down the mountain left tracks that we were able to make occasional use of.  There was only a 3 mph breeze at windy corner, so we were able to get around without too much trouble.   Then we pushed on up into sun drenched Genet Basin to find a wonderful and welcome surprise.

Dom Cifelli’s RMI team was in the process of flattening out an excellent camp sight for us.  They built us a deluxe latrine and even gave us water to get our kitchen started.  Before long we were set up and good to go.  They saved us a ton of work.  We had a nice dinner and crawled in to the tents while the sun was still high in the sky.  It is going behind the West Buttress now -at 9 PM- and we expect some of our first cold temps of the trip.  Just as it should be way up here in our new home. 

- RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Tuesday, June 24, 2025 - 9:03 pm PT

Top Ten Things Happening at 14,000' Camp right now:
10. Snow on the inside of the tent and blue skies outside the tent
9. Running out of snacks and entertainment (but we’re good on toilet paper)
8. Secret Aardvark
7. Buzz Lightyear sightings around camp
6. Walking laps and laps on the 14k Main Street
5. Walking out to the Edge of the World, which overlooks the Valley of Death, to take precarious photos*
4. Texas dice and Wizard
3. Welcoming the next RMI team coming up from 11,000' camp
2. New flavors of bowlines—on a bight, snap, etc.
1. SPAM

RMI Climber Nate Brunner
*While roped in

It was a snowy night at 11,000' Camp, followed by a snowy morning and snowy day. We stayed put.  The team ate a slow and leisurely breakfast in the dining tent, followed by a protracted debate and story telling session, followed by naps books, tv and podcasts.

By afternoon and evening we were getting a little sun and blue sky but it was still snowing lightly.   It was a storm day… which worked pretty well as a rest day too.  We hope to be back in action tomorrow.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Monday, June 23, 2025 - 10:21 pm PT

I have this idea for an experiment. All type- A individuals are eligible for sign up. I’ll entice  them with the allure of a once in a lifetime challenge that will test their physical and mental aptitude. Maybe a tall mountain or something. Now, we’ll observe as we keep these folks in one spot, with 2 rooms, and one hall as we wait….and wait…. and wait. While they once filled their time with stair steppers, tire pulls, and long hikes. We’ll fill their time with overfilling meals, books they wish had more words, card games, and time. Lots of it.

Climbing books, movies, stories always glaze over the reality. The waiting. What most think is filled with lung searing, adrenaline pumping climbing is often times just half the tale. The part that everyone skips is the patience of it all. Expedition climbing forces you to slow down and take it one step at a time. While the climbing has you honing in on the next step, the next breath,  the next stretch. The waiting has you broadening your appreciation for the little things. A meal with good conversation, quality time with friends loved ones, a good snuggle with a pet, or… a flushing toilet and a good shower. All of it’s important in its own way and it’s why this style of climbing is like no other. We don’t do this to just have the experience of climbing a peak, but also to show us all what we have at home and appreciate those reading this blog more and more.

Last night it snowed half a foot on us and we awoke to a winter wonderland. Our first real storm day. Boots full of snow, belly’s full of salmon and bagels, and competitive tendencies satiated with games. We will continue to wait. Just like the days before. But that’s ok. I fricken love both sides of this coin. And there’s no game like the game of strategy that expedition climbing provides. When to move, when to wait, when to launch. Best game in the whole world.

So thank you to those who let us step away, to train for hours and climb for weeks. Your patience with our masochistic hobby does not go unnoticed.  Now it’s time to have our 14 Camp trivia night courtesy of my lovely wife Emily. Thanks to all the questions!!

RMI Senior Guide,

Dominic Cifelli

Sunday, June 22, 2025 - 9:30 pm PT

Forecasts weren’t great for today, but when we looked out in the morning, the actual weather wasn’t bad. We packed up and got our spikes on by 8:20AM to begin working up Motorcycle Hill. It was great to be climbing in crampons and using an ice axe again. We took our first rest break in the middle of Squirrel Hill and our second in the Polo Field just under the end of the West Buttress. It was a little breezy, but since temps weren’t very cold it wasn’t at all uncomfortable.

Most of our day was spent in brilliant sunshine with blue sky, while clouds filled in below us. Windy Corner wasn’t particularly windy, and the travel conditions were good, so we made it to our cache target of 13,500 feet in four hours. We did a bit of hard digging to keep our things safe from ravens.  After one last look at the great South Peak of Mt. McKinley (our destination) we dropped back around the corner and had an easy climb down to Camp at 11k. The final 30 minutes was in a mild whiteout as we descended into the clouds. 

The round trip was a pretty respectable 6 hours and got us back in plenty of time for a restful afternoon while it snowed lightly on our tents. Fingers crossed for moving weather tomorrow as we would like to get to 14k camp.  

- RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Sunday, June 23, 2025 - 8:15 pm PT

Another rest day. Right now we are in waiting mode, as the winds have picked up at the summit and we await a break in the weather for our summit push. Luckily, there are few waiting rooms more majestic than 14 camp.  

Breakfast is a leisurely affair of breakfast burritos - democratically voted as the best breakfast yet. Then, it’s time for a Hot Girl Walk up and down 14’s Main Street. The fashion is a bit different though - in lieu of Alo yoga matched sets are brightly colored sun hoodies, face shields, and triple boots - but never just down booties. We have standards. 

Post fashion walk, it’s time for stretching, hydrating, and a carnival classic: knocking over the cook pot with a snowball. It becomes readily apparent we won’t be forming a McKinley softball league anytime soon. 

Next up on the agenda is home improvement. Tents must be moved and foundations leveled with caddy-like precision. Hot tip for the golfers out there - get yourself a McKinley climber - we are happy to carry heavy bags over hilly terrain, can read the slope on any surface, and are likely broke from funding this hobby. 

Since the NPS won’t share the wi-fi password, the rest of the day is a mix of hydrating, reading, card playing, napping, snacking, and reapplying sunscreen. At 7pm the NPS weather report and daily trivia will crackle over the radio - unintelligibly, despite our direct line of sight to their tents. 

Post dinner, it’s time for another stroll up and down Main Street, though it’s giving more Fart Walk than Hot Girl Walk at this point. I’ve heard Fart Walks are the new summer wellness fad, so at least we’re trending. 

To everyone at home reading this blog, leaving comments, sending messages to our Garmins - you have no idea how much your love and support means everything to us. Thank you. 

- Sophia Bishop

Saturday, June 21, 2025 - 10:26 pm PT

We woke to clouds and a little wind today, but still got in plenty of solstice sun.  The poor weather in the morning actually worked to our advantage. We needed to drop back down to 10,000 feet on the Kahiltna to get our cached supplies and then return up the big hill below 11,000.  That hill is in a glacial bowl that can become quite hot with straight out sunshine.  We found it to be just right with breezes and cloud cover this morning. We were back up before noon.

We are done with snowshoes and on to crampons for the steeper terrain to come. In the afternoon we alternated between rest and review of climbing techniques for the path ahead. If weather allows we will try to put a cache just beyond Windy Corner at 13,500 ft. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Saturday, June 21, 2025 - 8:30 pm PT

Hello!
And welcome back for another installment of Doing Really Hard Things for Fun-Denali Edition.
I'm Aspen, and today I will be your host.
Previously, the team has gone up, up and down, up, down and up, up and down, up, down and up, and finally up and down again on their quest to climb The Tall One, the highest peak in North America, Denali.
After the most technical day yet, climbing up and down the fixed lines to cache gear and food for their summit attempt, the eclectic team looks forward to a day of rest.
Today, on the longest day of the year, we sleep in, tired not only from a physically taxing day at altitude, but also from staying up late watching. movies, like Deadpool, in our tents or playing the most riveting game of Texas Dice yet. Shout out to Etienne for stealing the win from not one, but two other players with his final roll of nearly 3,000 points. 
The day started out with delicious blueberry pancakes, made by Dom, after which the group split to relax in various ways. Some of us went on a walk or two to warm our toes, while others snuggled back into sleeping bags where good books and knitting await. We chat, we nap, we do some self care. The cook tent serves as a gathering place. People come in and out throughout the day. Sometimes to share snacks; other times to play games or read in the company of others. Without any defined tasks for the day, we are forced to slow down and take in the views. The mountains around us look different today, like they seem to every day. I am filled with a sense of adventure and awe. This is what I love about climbing. The amazing views, the good company, and the incredible sense of pride I get from doing really hard things.
After having such perfect weather thus far, the winds have blown in clouds. They pass over and through camp throughout the day leading to constantly changing temperatures and visibility. Snow falls and taps on the tent walls, and so the waiting game begins.
Do we have enough toilet paper? Does anyone die of boredom? Do I get so sick of my hair that I shave it off? Tune in next time to find out.
A special thank you to Jake and Nomad for all their love and support of this Happy Cappy.
Until next time, 

RMI Climber Aspen Hansen out.

Wednesday, June 18, 2025 - 8:49 pm PT

Cripes alfrighty we did it! We finally made it to Camp 3 at 14,200 feet. Pardon me and my french, we are just a little excited. And don't let those tabloids play tom foolery on you, we're 14,200 feet, not 14,000 feet; those silly newsfolk, they'll really get ya. Anywho, we got to tinkering with our stuff last night for the move and got up real early. You know what they say, early bird gets the cheese. So there we were at 11,000 feet, we scootered up Motorcycle Hill, squirreled our way around the next, galloped through the polo fields and then roasted our tushies off like when grandma leaves the pop tarts in the toaster for too long. See what I did there? I'm just joshing yous. Anyways, so now here we sit at 14,200 feet and you might be thinking to urself, what's so darn important about that? Well we'll tell ya. Gosh the views are something else, but ya, so, now that we're at camp 3, we're sitting pretty good to, ya know, get acclimated and stuff before we launch like a potato from a spud gun and get our bums to the summit of this thing! So ya, we're pretty excited and all that. Thanks so much for tuning in. Tomorrow we gotta walk back down and get our goodie bags we left just below camp, but gosh, it'll be a lot easier than today was. Okay, thanks for listening, tell your folks we says hi and watch out for deer. Ok, bye now.

RMI Guide Ben Luedtke and Team 

Wednesday, June 18, 2025 - 10:16 pm PT

Well, this one is a couple days late. Like most members of the team, I have also been through quite a time warp. As I sit here tonight and am thinking about the trip, it occurs to me that just four nights ago we were still making our way back down to 17,000' Camp from the summit. Time flies when life is just a series of naps in between hard walking, unpacking, repacking and digging up caches. Truly the final 72 hours of a Mt. McKinley expedition is one of the hardest pushes most of us will make in the mountains. In that amount of time we: move from 14 Camp to 17 Camp, sleep, have our summit day, sleep, descend from 17 Camp to 11 Camp, sleep just a couple of hours and then descend from 11 Camp to Base Camp. All of that is assuming good weather.

This time around we had the fortune of great weather for a summit day and for our exit. Upon our arrival to Base Camp we waited only a short amount of time for the planes carrying Dave Hahn's team onto the glacier to arrive and take us off. It's quite a funny position to be in, tired and haggard from 17 days on the glacier and looking at another team with fresh clothes on, perfectly packed and with a bunch of empty CMCs (poop cans) just arriving. It feels like there is so much to tell them, but they will all learn their own lessons in due time.

Anyhow, the next moment you find yourself in a small plane, diving through a hole in the clouds and speeding along at the edge of a cloud ceiling about 1,000 feet above the Tokositna Glacier, which your pilot is using as a handrail as you take a long exit from the range. Your cell phone finds service and depending who you are and where you work, you have some incredible amount of unread messages and emails and normal life comes roaring back in an instant. There is still unpacking to do in Talkeetna, checking out with the National Park Service, returning the full CMCs and a celebration dinner in a town full of tourists, at which I could barely keep my eyes open, the past few days catching up to me.

The next day we all headed for the airport in a van driven by the only guy keeping it low key at the Fairview the evening before. I think Bill is mostly there to sing karaoke and may have just been having a cranberry juice, straight. Having booked a flight just a day prior, both Will and I sat in middle seats for the flight back to Seattle, the people to my right and left having to deal with the sunbaked guy next to them sleeping open-mouthed.

Finally, most of us had our first day back at home or first day of an extended vacation in Alaska today. I'm sure we all tried to find our way back in to some routine, just to be reminded by the burnt lips, tongue and nostrils that we just had one of the wildest and most memorable experiences of our lives. I know that for myself, those nights walking down the lower Kahiltna Glacier to basecamp are forever etched in my mind as some of the most rugged beauty I have ever witnessed.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier