Entries By avery parrinello
Sunday, June 16, 2019 - 11:36 AM PT
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads reading this. We got a little snow and slight breeze last night. The weather from the SE continues to bring clouds and precipitation towards the mountain. We have opted to stay put today and see what Monday brings. There is a period of improving weather Wednesday to Friday. Since we have our cache in at 16,200’ we just need 36-48 hours to launch up for a summit attempt. Moral is still high in the Team. A snow couch and lounge area was built yesterday with a large snow “TV” carved out for viewing the clouds roll over Mt Foraker. Obviously we would have preferred to have been up and down by now but that’s not what Denali had planned for us. We will improve camp today, eat a big lunch and continue the 14,000' Camp hangout. Everyone is healthy and happy, fingers crossed for improving weather.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Saturday, June 15, 2019 - 2:21 PM PT
We got up with a few more clouds in the glacial valleys below us and figured we would hope for the best. After breakfast we packed up camp and headed towards the fixed lines. As we climbed the lower slopes out of 14 Camp the clouds moved in with a light wind and snow. After an hour we caught our last view of the
upper mountain and saw snow blowing 500+ feet into the atmosphere. Since there hadn’t been any snow accumulation up there for a while we decided the winds on the Buttress were to high for the exposed terrain we needed to travel through before reaching 17 Camp. The Team is back in camp at 14,200’ and settled in for our continued hangout. We will be watching the forecast closely and looking at the “nowcast” and hope for a 36-48 hour window to sneak up there and have a summit bid. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Friday, June 14, 2019 - 5:26 PM PT
The Team had another calm night here at
14,200ft. Our four nights here have been great for sleeping and acclimating and the fifth should be no different. We ate another big brunch, just without the mimosas. The weather has been splitter and the outlying forecast seems to be delayed. We also are not seeing the tell tale signs of deteriorating weather, lenticular clouds over Mt. Hunter and Mt. Foraker. With light snow and calm winds for tomorrow and Sunday our plan is to move up to 17,200’ and hopefully summit on Father’s Day the 16th.
We walked out to the “Edge of the World”, an outcropping of rock where Genet Basin looks down into the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. The glacier valley is how climbers can begin the West Rib and Cassin Ridge climbing routes. The clouds came up quickly and the views were obscured. Regardless we got out of the tents and stretched the legs and lungs a bit. Fingers crossed this streak of weather continues and if it doesn’t, we will continue to sit here at 14 and wait for a better window.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Thursday, June 13, 2019 - 5:18 PM PT
Today we got a casual but cold start to begin our carry to 16,200’ at the top of the fixed lines. The route heads out of camp and ascends moderate glaciated slope that terminates at the bergshrund. From there we clip our ascenders on a fixed rope to climb the 35-40 degree slope and gain the
West Buttress of Denali. There was a lot of traffic on the Buttress from teams descending and ascending. We opted to cache our food and fuel at the top of the lines rather then play a game of red light/green light above 16,000'. The Team did well, we will make a few refinements for our second lap on the lines for our move day to 17,200’ Camp. We are all back safely at 14,000' Camp and looking forward to a rest day tomorrow. From there we will have to see what the weather does. Everyone is acclimating well and appetites have remained strong. Currently there are lots of laughs and conversations happening in our kitchen tent. We high fived Robby Young’s RMI Team on the fixed lines after their successful summit yesterday. Thanks for following along, the amazing views and beauty of the Alaska Range continue to astound.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Wednesday, June 12, 2019 - 4:45 PM PT
After 7 days of work the Team wanted 10 hours of sleep/tent time and the guides were happy to wait until the sun hit our tents before we had a casual breakfast of hash browns, scrambled eggs and bacon. There’s not much going on today since it’s our first full rest day. People have been reading, writing in journals and walking around camp. We are just back from some fixed line rehearsal on the little hill outside of camp. This practice got everyone tuned up for a potential carry of gear on the
West Buttress tomorrow morning. To gain the Buttress we ascend a moderate slope and then get on the fixed lines with our ascenders. There is some snow currently falling through a thin cloud that is making the tents an optimal temperature for napping so with that we’ll check in after our cache tomorrow. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
Tuesday, June 11, 2019 - 5:56 PM PT
We woke up and it was cold! Our bodies aren’t accustomed to the colder temps of 14,200’ but that will change as we take a few rest days. The views of Mt Hunter and Foraker have been exceptional. Several teams moved up to
17,200’ this morning and a few are scheduled to head up tomorrow. The weather has continued to hold and looks to be improving over the weekend. We enjoyed a late breakfast of cream cheese and bacon bagels. Everyone is having some lunch in their tents and hopefully a nap to best utilize this active rest day. This evening we will build some snow walls to reinforce our camp should the weather take a turn for the worse. Not much happening at 14 Camp and that’s just fine with us.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Monday, June 10, 2019 - 6:58 PM PT
The good weather train continues to roll on
Denali. If your looking at the forecast, it’s been inaccurate aside from the calm wind speeds. The Team got a good workout today as we packed up camp and moved to 14,200’ and while we did well, the higher altitude, calm air and insane heat reflecting off the glaciers gave us a good challenge. We have been moving gear, food and fuel uphill for 6 straight days and tomorrow will be no different. We will sleep in, eat a big breakfast and then need to descend 800’ and retrieve our cache. Now that we are at “Denali City” there are lots of climbers, great views of the West Buttress and the greater Alaska Range. We’ve been eating good, burritos, buffalo chicken wraps, salmon cream cheese bagels, etc. Everyone is feeling some minor aches and pains from the hard work but they are smiling and happy to be at 14 Camp to begin the climbing above here once our bodies acclimate and the weather and mountain give us the thumbs up to headed to High Camp. Thanks for following along, more from Genet Basin and the 14 Camp hang to follow.
RMI Guide Mike King
Sunday, June 9, 2019 - 3:47 PM PT
The calm and mostly clear weather continues to give our Team great windows to get our gear, food and fuel moved up Denali. This morning we got a good start with cold temperatures to avoid being out in the heat. The temps dropped slightly as we climbed motorcycle hill then squirrel hill and onto the lower polo fields (actual names of these landmarks, not hypoxia kicking in). Despite the steep aspects and heavy packs the Team crushed the difficult carry and was rewarded with a sunny and warm not so “Windy Corner” of
Denali’s West Buttress. We could see teams moving up towards the fixed lines out of 14 Camp and got a chance to talk with RMI guide Robby Young as his team was headed up the fixed lines. The grand scale of the Alaska Range has kept people mesmerized along with the constantly changing scenery as we climb higher. We will rest for the remainder of the day and there’s bound to be more laughter once people get a nap in. It’s been a great group and trip so far. Tomorrow our plans are to pack up camp and move to 14,200’ and get our base camp hang dialed in so we can take advantage of the next favorable forecast window.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Saturday, June 8, 2019 - 3:42 PM PT
We had our first active rest day today. The weather forecast called for a calm night with increasing clouds and possible precipitation through the day. The air was still when I woke at 5 am to check the weather. After a salmon and cream cheese bagel breakfast we set off down hill with our sleds strapped to our backpacks. The goal was to carry all of our cache from 9300’ to 11,200’. The Team did exceptionally well and we managed to beat the heat of the morning for all but the last hour. The afternoon clouds are coming into camp and creating a greenhouse effect where the UV comes through the clouds and reflects off the snow then gets bounced back by the clouds making for a hot day in camp. People have their sleeping bags clipped on the outside of the tent for a more ideal napping environment. So long as the weather continues this pattern we will wake early and carry food and fuel around Windy Corner in preparation for our camp move to 14,200’ in
Genet Basin. Even though we have been moving lots of weight up the glacier for four days, the Team is happy and enjoying the beautiful scenery here on Denali. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Friday, June 7, 2019 - 7:17 PM PT
We woke up to a calm and clear morning. The air was significantly warmer at the 4:30 am wake up call. A perfect day to get camp packed up and moved to 11,200’. The Team has seen all but the last three hours during our cache day. Leaving the snowshoes on our sleds we climbed up the Kahiltna glacier in crampons and made excellent time. Our goal was to beat any afternoon thunderstorms that had been rolling over
Kahiltna Pass the last few afternoons. We pulled into camp shortly after 1 pm feeling the altitude and heavy pack/sled combo. I can hear some snoring from some as they nap in the heat of their tents. Others are reading and organizing their gear. Everyone in this group is doing well with the heavy loads and rapid swings in weather. Tomorrow we will get an early start so we can retrieve our cache at 9,300’ and then the remainder of the day will be our first “active rest” day. Light clouds are moving into camp but we still have great views of Kahiltna Dome and the West Buttress of Denali, the namesake of our climbing route.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
.jpg)
.jpg)
Summiting!!
Not flippin submitting, stoopid autocorrect ;)
Posted by: Dan Naylor on 6/17/2019 at 1:26 pm
Rogers & Gaz, keep it up lads sounds an amazing expedition.
Good luck with the weather for submitting :)
-Naylor
Posted by: Dan Naylor on 6/17/2019 at 1:25 pm
View All Comments