Entries By jack delaney
June 4, 2022
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
Friday June 3, 2022 - 8:54pm PT
We are on the move! The team woke up at 2AM to break camp, rig sleds, and get walking early in order to finish this first push before the midday heat set in.
The heavy loads couldn’t suppress the bubbling smiles on the faces of the climbers, as the Denali came into view with a glimmering sun behind it.
At the base of ski hill, we made camp and enjoyed a power nap before eating a spicy jambalaya dinner.
The team is feeling strong and stoked to continue upwards!
RMI Guide Liam Weed and Team
June 3, 2022
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
Thursday, June 2, 2022 - 9:45 pm PT
We did it! We’re here! The Alaska Range! After a stressful day and half of packing we’ve finally arrived. We took off first thing in the morning to avoid a hot mushy landing strip. The flight was beautiful, cloudless and most importantly smooth. The views were spectacular and plane ride mostly silent as we looked on with awe at the majestic mountains wearing glaciers as hats. Once we landed at base camp we set to unloading our nearly 1,500lbs of gear. Then began the real fun, setting up camp. We dug caches, a kitchen, a dining room and 4 tent platforms. Then we erected our tents and got moved in. After that we did what smart mountaineers do best, lounged in our tents to avoid the heat and intense sun. Eventually it cooled down and we did a delightful burrito dinner. Now we’re laying down for an early (and short) night as we’ll be walking in the wee hours of the day in order to have firm snow and reasonable temps.
Spirits are high! Our elevation is low! And the team is excited to move up the mountain.
RMI Guides Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed and team
Happy Birthday Rebecca! Love that you’re starting off the year in the most epic way! Amazed and impressed and always cheering for you. XOXOXOXOXOXO Kyla
Posted by: Kyla on 6/4/2022 at 8:27 am
Happy Birthday, Becs! Hope you get someone to take a special picture of you “celebrating” on the mountain. Love you! ❤️M&D
Posted by: Peggy and Ed Baack on 6/4/2022 at 8:20 am
June 1, 2022
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
According to the TV Show Lost - all good looking people sit on the right side of an airplane. Well, that's clearly what our team did because we have a great looking crew! After meeting up at the Anchorage airport we hopped in the shuttle and headed towards Talkeetna! There was no awkward silence as everyone quickly started chatting and getting to know one another. A quick grocery stop and 2 hours later we were in Talkeetna with amazing views of the Alaska Range! Our travel weary team rallied the last of their energy for a group dinner and then we wandered back to the bunkhouse for some well-deserved rest.
RMI Guides Avery, Jack, Liam and Team
Love you Michael!!! So proud of you… keep pushing, we are all rooting for you. Best of luck and love to you and everyone with you!
Posted by: Desiree on 6/5/2022 at 8:12 pm
The amazing Capt Coffey ( also known as the “Everest Gaston”),
Go get that summit! Wishing you and your team amazing weather and safe climbing. Look forward to celebrating 2022 successes, with margs, soon! See ya when I’m lookin’ at ya!
Be sure to put sunscreen up your nose,
Meghan
Posted by: Meghan Buchanan on 6/3/2022 at 11:53 pm
May 27, 2022
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Kiira Antenucci, Jess Wedel, Evan Sather
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
Hello world, it’s us the Camp Muir Seminar!
Yesterday, we awoke early, donned our technical gear and launched towards the Ingraham flats to train before the next storm system hit in the mid afternoon. Sadly the storm had other plans and hit Camp Muir around 9am. We retreated in a white out with winds averaging 58mph during our time on the Cowlitz glacier. The storm has been impressive in its power and consistency. It is not snowing so much as it is launching ice pellets at us with high velocity. Moral stayed high as we continued to practice various technical skills in the bunkhouse. The team took brief forays into the violent snow globe that was the outside world to shovel out the bathroom. We were highly motivated to maintain our access to the facilities.
We are excited to find a lull in the weather to head down hill, dry out and enjoy some pizza and beer at the Basecamp Bar and Grill.
All is well - The Muir Seminar Team
May 25, 2022
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Jess Wedel, Kiira Antenucci, Evan Sather
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
There we were, finished up with our day of training, enjoying the amenities of the Gombu Hut. A screeching howl ripped across Camp Muir - the wind was here. We spent the rest of the evening discussing altitude illness and taking bets on the high score for strongest gust. Ends up we were all wrong, so so wrong. The darkness fell and our winds averaged 70mph with gusts in the 90mph. Things were knocking, shelters were rocking, and we hunkered down. This morning we awoke to thick solid ice rime covering the surface of our world. We affixed Everest style hand lines to the bathroom. Full battle gear mandatory. Today we will practice the most important mountain skill, entertaining ourselves while the storm rages.
RMI Guide Jack Delaney and the Muir Seminar signing off, till tomorrow...
May 16, 2022
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 4,500'
Sunday, May 15, 2022 - 10:19 pm PT
We waited for the sun to rise this morning before packing up camp and heading back to our cache. We cooked burgers for lunch while repacking our sleds for the long haul back out of the Ruth Gorge. After some difficult hours of travel we arrived at the Mountain House airstrip. We made a quick camp and enjoyed our last evening in the gorge. All is looking well to fly out tomorrow morning.
May 15, 2022
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Saturday, May 14, 2022 - 10:21 pm PT
Today was full of highs and lows, ups and downs, success and failures, proud moments and embarrassing ones. It started with warm sunshine hitting our camp by 7am, and we soon after headed up towards 747 Pass. After some glacial navigation and steep climbs we crested the saddle. We quickly gained the west ridge of Mt. Dickey and began ascending upwards. After a couple hundred feet it became apparent that the snow pack had changed dramatically. After seeing some red flags and investigating further, it was concluded that we shouldn’t continue. Considering the terrain and remoteness of the climb meant we had little margin for error and the unstable conditions pushed us past our safety margin. The entire team was disappointed but only momentarily as we all decided the summit was not worth it and the view from up high was down right spectacular. We had a safe and enjoyable descent back to camp where we ate snacks, told stories and laughed a great deal. Tomorrow we shall start migrating back to the airstrip for our departure on Monday.
May 13, 2022
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Alaska Seminar
We awoke to a chilly morning and more clear skies. After enjoying blueberry pancakes we geared up in camp for a dry run through of crevasse rescue. After nailing the flat ground rescue we roped up and headed towards the saddle between Mt. Dickey and Barrill. We headed into the maze of lateral crevasses looking for one that would be ideal for practicing our new skills and trying out some ice climbing. We ended up finding a bottomless abyss surrounded by a beautiful cathedral of ice formations. We finished up climbing just as clouds rolled in a snow began to drift down.
A hearty meal of andouille sausages was had, some stories were swapped and then it was off to bed.
Tomorrow we plan to move camp to 747 pass to begin our summit cycle up Mt. Dickey!
Thank you for this blog. I look forward to peeking in on the training. Michelle—Mikayla’s Mom
Posted by: Michelle DeMers on 5/13/2022 at 6:12 pm
May 12, 2022
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Wednesday, May 11, 2022 - 9:56 pm PT
We awoke to another blue bird day in the amazing Ruth Gorge. The morning was spent enjoying a leisurely breakfast while waiting for the sun to hit camp. Once the sun had warmed us up from the evenings cold, we geared up and set out to do some exploring and training. We headed off across the glacier until we reached the eastern edge of the Ruth Glacier. After picking our way through the jumbled labyrinth of the broken edge of the glacier, we ascended a moraine and refreshed our mountaineering skills and learned a few new ones. Lunch was had with beautiful views of the 5,000 foot granite east face of Mt. Dickey. Then we meandered back to camp, practiced anchors, devoured some bacon cheese burgers and relaxed for the evening. Tomorrow we will combine all our technical skills acquired so far and learn crevasse rescue using a real live crevasse!
May 11, 2022
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 4,500'
Tuesday, May 10, 2022 - 9:00 pm PT
Greetings from the Ruth Gorge!
This morning we woke to beautiful weather and knew our time had come to fly into the Alaska range. After we landed on the glacier at the Sheldon mountain house we packed, roped up and headed down into the Ruth gorge. We walked down the valley glacier towards camp with endless granite walls on either side. We set our base camp for the trip and enjoyed splendid views with dinner. Getting some well earned rest tonight!
Heia Joachim! Håper du har det bra og koser deg på tur. Gøy å følge med på oppdateringene herfra. Stå på - du er helt rå!!
Hope you’re all enjoying the mountain! Looks like a great team. Greetings from Norway!
Posted by: Madeleine on 6/5/2022 at 2:35 am
Nothing like a little spice to start things off- Go team go! Big shoutout to Michael Alexander, you a rockstar! Love you like crazy. Sending positive energy to all! Alicia
Posted by: Alicia Becker on 6/5/2022 at 1:11 am
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