Entries By eric frank
The clouds parted long enough for our team to fly onto the Kahiltna Glacier today. We have been packed and ready for this day and now we are ready to climb!
Once we are settled in at
Kahiltna Base, we'll check in again.
RMI Guides
Eric Frank and
Geoff Schellens
June 1, 2014
Posted by: Eric Frank, Geoff Schellens
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 348'
May 31, 2014 - 11:02 pm PT
Not a plane was buzzing this morning when we awoke to dark skies and a slight breeze here in Talkeetna. Today was our fly day, but we are waiting out a hefty storm that has hundreds of climbers waiting on both sides of the
Alaska Range. We met at the
K2 hangar to wrap up some last-minute packing with high hopes for hopping on a plane; alas, we stayed stuck on the green-side, in Talkeetna along with swarms of anxious climbers. We are all psyched for tomorrow's potential - crouched and ready to jump on a plane at a moments notice. For now, we will continue to exercise our patience, a vital skill that we will need on the mountain.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
May 30, 2014
Posted by: Eric Frank, Geoff Schellens
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 348'
May 30, 2014 - 7:43 pm PT
Hello from Talkeetna, Alaska! The
Upper West Rib team arrived in Anchorage yesterday afternoon and shuttled north to Talkeetna, our launch site for the mountain. Right now, this sleepy little town is bursting at the seams with climbers waiting to fly onto the glacier. The skies are overcast and the planes have been grounded since early in the week. Everywhere you look, there are softshell clad people trying to pass the time.
Our team was distracted from the constant refreshing of weather websites by plenty of prep work today. After meeting with the National Park Service for a general orientation, we rolled our sleeves up and got right to work. Eight hours later, our bags are packed and we will head to dinner to discuss the only thing on waiting climber's minds... "when will the clouds break?"
For now all we can do is relax and know that we are prepared whenever that eventuality comes about.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
May 26, 2014
Posted by: Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,300'
The
Four Day Summit Climb May 23 - 26, 2014 was forced to turn around at the top of Disappointment Cleaver today due to poor weather.
RMI Guides Eric Frank and Pablo Puruncajas made the call to start the descent. The team will return to Camp Muir and then start their descent to Paradise later this morning. We look forward to seeing everyone at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Greetings from Talkeetna!
So we made it off the glacier just in time! This morning we woke at 3:30 am to start the 5.5-mile walk back to basecamp. The forecasted storm was slowly creeping in from the southwest and as we walked down glacier in the twilight, clouds came spilling over Mt. Foraker, threatening to shut down visibility. At 11:30 we could hear the mosquito hum of K2's Otter as Randy flew in just below the cloud ceiling and set the plane down on the runway. Forty-five minutes later we were in sandals and t-shirts in downtown Talkeetna enjoying the warm air and flowering fauna. It has been an excellent experience for our folks. As we dry our gear on the lawn, everyone is quietly reflecting on the last six days spent in the
Alaska range.
RMI Guide Leon Davis
May 13, 2014
Posted by: Leon Davis, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 8,700'
Hi everyone!
Well today we went for Kahiltna Dome and we got higher than any other
RMI seminar in recent history. Soft snow and punchy crevasse bridges put a halt on our upward progress close to 11,000 feet. Despite the early start, temperatures never allowed the snow to freeze solid enough to prevent us from dropping into the many cracks that guard the ridge. The guides put the question to our
seminar participants about whether it was safe to continue and the entire team made some very rational common sense arguments on the decision to turn back. We do believe these folks are starting to understand their limits while making good decisions, as we hoped this seminar would help impart!
We are safe and happy back at 8700' camp hoping to fly off tomorrow if the forecasted snow does not interfere.
Good night and see you all soon!
RMI Guides
Leon Davis and
Eric Frank
May 11, 2014
Posted by: Leon Davis, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 8,800'
Good evening friends & family,
The team is here at 8,800' camp on the Kahiltna, 5.5 miles from base camp. Today we walked with a few days of food and fuel up glacier under clear skies and later a blazing sun. It seems to be unseasonably warm here for early May, but we can hardly complain about great weather!
Early tomorrow morning we will leave camp and make an attempt on
Kahiltna Dome and we are all excited to see what the mighty Kahiltna looks like from 12,200'!
Until tomorrow, good night from us all.
RMI Guides
Leon Davis and
Eric Frank
May 10, 2014
Posted by: Leon Davis, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
We can't complain about the two days of bad weather that prevented us from flying on when it is this beautiful at base camp. The weather here is stellar and watching the sun track across the greater Alaska range has the team in awe. Distant Avalanches off Mt. Hunter and Foraker provide awesome viewing in between skills training. Today we traveled up the SE fork of the Kahiltna for an attempt on
Horiskey's Hump (Radio Tower) but poor slope conditions turned us back. Not as much snow sticking to the slopes here this year and firm conditions on steep terrain forced us to make a conservative decision. The team is very thankful for the chance and they learned a great deal about themselves.
Tomorrow we train and prepare for an attempt on Kahiltna Dome!
RMI Guide
Leon Davis and Team
May 9, 2014
Posted by: Leon Davis, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
May 8, 2014 10:20 p.m. PST
The team took advantage of bluebird weather today by training on various mountaineering techniques near
Kahiltna Base. We did this in anticipation of an attempt on the Radio Control Tower tomorrow. Now that the group has all of the necessary skills under their belt, we can safely travel up the glacier and, hopefully, climb to our first summit!
RMI Guide Leon Davis
May 8, 2014
Posted by: Leon Davis, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
May 8, 2014 1:54 a.m. PST
The team woke this morning to the sounds of birds chirping in the trees, which meant that yesterday's rain had passed. The sky was still overcast, but as we assembled for breakfast at the Talkeetna Roadhouse spirits were high and conversation about our chances of flying onto the glacier carried a positive tone.
By late afternoon, it looked like another night might find us sleeping in Talkeetna and dreaming of
glaciers, but luck fell our way. We were instructed to "suit up" and get loaded on the plane. Our flight service,
K2 Aviation, was going to put us in the air and see if they could punch through.
Six hours later, we were nestled into our camp on the southeast flow of the Kahiltna Glacier. We established a camp and had a phenomenal dinner. Everyone is in awe of the surroundings and the group's cameras are getting quite the workout.
RMI Guides
Eric Frank,
Leon Davis and the Alaska Mountaineering Seminar crew
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Hope you guys made it to the landing alright… looking forward to hearing the next update! Keep it real Lt!
Posted by: Luke Gowdy on 6/2/2014 at 8:58 pm
Cheers to a safe landing on the glacier! So begins your great adventure. Happy climbing, guys!
Posted by: Kelly Gunderson on 6/2/2014 at 5:10 am
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