Entries By alan davis
May 19, 2018
Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Alan Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
The weather cleared up just long enough for K2 Aviation to fly our team to
Base Camp in two de Haviland Otter airplanes. The window didn't last long and soon it socked in and began to lightly snow. We set up camp and lounged around for the rest of the afternoon. Tomorrow the plan is to pack up and move camp to the base of Ski Hill.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team
The weather in Alaska is still unsettled, and our team remains on standby for clearing skies and a chance to fly into the
Alaska Range. The weather improved for a bit this morning and we packed up the planes, two de Havilland Otters, donned our climbing clothes and boots, and loaded up the planes. But before we even got going, we received word that the weather shut down and snow had returned to Base Camp.
So now we are back to the Talkeetna hang as we wait for conditions to improve. We are all eager to start this expedition, but we realize that patience is imperative, as the weather is out of our control. This patience with the weather will be important to maintain throughout this entire trip; I'll bet we see more of it over the next few weeks.
I'll keep you posted if we get to fly this afternoon and, if not, then we'll play the game again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
We are kicking off RMI’s 2018
Denali climbing season. Our team met in Anchorage on Monday afternoon and traveled north to the small town of Talkeetna. Yesterday was a busy day of packing gear and preparing for our expedition, including a trip to the National Park Service to register our group and have a pre-trip orientation.
With our bags packed and weighed for loading onto the glacier planes, we’re all set for our adventure. Currently there is some stormy weather that is not allowing airplanes to access the Alaska Range, so we’re in a holding pattern until we get a clearing. We will keep you up to speed with the team’s status.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
The
Four Day Summit Climb August 10 - 13 was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Poor weather delayed the team from leaving Camp Muir this morning. Unable to make their alpine start, the team did opt to ascend to Ingraham Flats which will be their high point today.
RMI Guide Robby Young reported that the weather had improved and they were above the clouds as the reached 12,000'. The team will return to Camp Muir and descend to Paradise today.
That is one Helluva “Ski Hill” . My wife JoAnn and I overnighted in Talkeetna with K2 Aviation and took a flight up to Denali over the dramatically crevassed glaciers in 1993. JoAnn then went back as a Cruise ship excursion in 2000 with her three sisters. Looking up is as close to climbing in Ice and snow as I want to be, although I summitted Mt Whitney in 1986 on Father’s Day ant took a photo with a banner I had made saying “Happy Fathers Day” to give to my father. I piloted a Cessna 172 from Torrence, CA with two other “Climbers” for that “Attempt”. We had tried in May, a month before, but were chased off the mountain after one night in a tent by a major snowstorm. Hopefully you get good weather so you can have views up there. We all look forward to more from you.
Posted by: Paul Claeyssens on 5/20/2018 at 6:02 am
Go for it and be safe.
Posted by: Garland Dobson (PAPPY) on 5/19/2018 at 3:44 pm
View All Comments