Entries By jackson breen
May 15, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - 7:47 pm PT
We had a stellar day of rest and recovery today at 11,000' Camp. The skies were blue as could be and camp was calm and warm. We waited to leave tents until the sun hit, and lingered over blueberry pancakes and coffee. The midday was time for naps, movies, wet wipe baths, fresh clothes, etc. Then we did a quick hour long practice session of cramponing, arrest, and rope travel practice, before a couple more hours of lounging. We're now properly setup for a carry around Windy Corner tomorrow. Ever higher we go!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
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May 14, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
With today's move to 11,000' complete, we are done pulling sleds uphill, and are retiring the snowshoes until we come down! There was much celebrating. It was sunny in camp this morning and we let that dry tents and sleeping bags for a bit, then pulled it all down, packed it all up, and started walking back up Ski Hill. It was an incredibly pleasant day and we trundled along to 11,000' in good time. The team is clicking at getting stuff done, and tents were up in no time. Good thing to, as a big black wall approached from the west and enveloped us in fat snow flakes. It's incredibly calm, but we are building an inch or so of snow an hour, falling quietly, straight down. At another time of year it would evoke holidays, wood stoves, and cozy winter vibes, but right now it's making summer feel quite far away. Our intention is to take a rest day tomorrow at 11, refresh some climbing skills for the terrain above, and get ready to cache higher the next day.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
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May 13, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
After a couple of big days, today was a good one to rest. The sun decided to show too, and we could finally see the awesomeness of the peaks of the Alaska Range around us. Until now we've moved around in relative murk with the peaks above obscured. The scene around us is stunning and humbling, and for much of the day we could see clear to the summit of Denali. The sun also warmed the tents and us, giving us a nice dose of heat after a couple days of pretty chilly weather, even for Alaska. Some yoga, napping, and reading was most if the day's activity. Tomorrow we plan to move to Camp 1, rested and ready to climb this stretch one more time.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
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Sounds like everyone is doing great!! Keep up the good work!
Thank you for keeping all of us at home up to date on our friends progress!
Posted by: Jackie Millen on 5/13/2024 at 4:31 pm
May 12, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 9,400'
Saturday, May 11, 2024
We got most of our food and fuel pushed all the way to 11 today. We went into the day with a plan to carry as high as we could and made sense. It's been quite snowy on the Kahiltna below Kahiltna Pass. We were in the sun in the morning but it looked socked in above, so we dragged our feet a bit. We didn't see much evidence of wind, and a could of teams headed up, so with some trail breaking ahead of us, we decided to go. As expected, the light turned flat pretty quickly. But we were moving along well. We caught the last team in front of us around 9,700', and trail breaking became our job. We had a chilly breeze coming from behind, and we thought we might just lose it and get some better visability around the corner towards 11,000'. That worked, and then we were only 20 minutes from camp, so why not go the distance! It was a proud effort from the team. We dropped our loads, stowed sleds on packs, and with minimal weight on us for the first time on the trip, stretched our legs out on the descent. It had snowed yet more below, so we broke trail back downhill again, but made easy work of that. It was pretty pleasant and surreal, with snowflakes filtering silently down around us, and the snow on the ground absorbing every sound, we moved through a silent, empty landscape, the sound of our own passage swallowed up. It was a long day capped with a restorative bowl of ramen and then off to sleep.
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May 11, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 9,400'
Friday May 10, 2024 9:02 pm PDT
Everything that we could not see last night was visible and resplendent this morning. Skies were crystal blue, and Hunter, Foraker, and Denali were all standing proud. It was the perfect morning to start moving. Some breakfast and quite a bit of organizing, caching, measuring out ropes and sleds, etc., and then we were ready to start walking. First down Heartbreak Hill to the lowest point of the trip, then steadily up the gentle inclines of the lower Kahiltna. It should be the only day of the trip where we move with everything at once, so our loads were HEAVY! But the team did great churning the legs and we sidled into camp at the base of Ski Hill around 5.
Throughout the day the weather deteriorated, and we went from staring at these Alaskan beauties to being able to see 20 feet in really flat light. We went from stripping to sun hoodies, to putting on puffies, and set up camp in similar conditions with light snow. The sun is poking out now as the stoves roll towards dinner. Soon we'll be crawling into sleeping bags.
We'll check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide Pete VanDeventer & Team
Sign Up For Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024 Emails
Pete and crew…Wishes for a great expedition. Will follow along from the cornfields and basketball courts of Indiana. Waltero [Spanish name I heard I needed 12 years ago at Aconcagua, Argentina L O L] Be Safe.
“Stand up straight.”
.
Posted by: Walter Glover on 5/12/2024 at 11:36 am
May 10, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7800'
Thursday, May 9, 2024 - 10:48 pm PDT
The pilots in the Alaska Range are some of the best mountain pilots in the world, so when we chatted with K2 today and they said they didn't think the weather was going to let us make it to base camp today, we took it to heart. They are the pros at flying and if they don't want to go, we don't want to be on the plane. So, we cooled our feet, had a nice breakfast and a nice coffee, and made a plan to refresh some crevasse rescue skills in the hanger. No sooner had we built an anchor than we got the call that things were changing for the better. They watched it for a bit, loaded the planes, looked at it some more, and decided it was worth trying. Sure enough, there was a clear path up the Kahiltna, and suddenly we were in the Alaska Range listening to the retreating whine of the turbo otter as it headed back Talkeetna, leaving us on the glacier to contemplate the size and scale if peaks around us and our undertaking.
We opted to stay at base camp tonight and get things sorted, so we set tents and had our first meal on the mountain. It's a different vibe now from the nervous waiting and preparing. We are here and it's up to us to start moving our things uphill. So, we'll take our fate in our hands and set out for the base of Ski Hill tomorrow to take our first steps on our journey up Denali.
We'll check in tomorrow.
RMI Guides Pete VanDeventer, Jackson Breen & Team
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Wednesday, May 8, 2024
The team got into Anchorage yesterday and drove our way to Talkeetna making a stop for last minute grocery’s and marveling at the glimpses of Denali and the rest of the Alaska range as they poked through the clouds. Once in Talkeetna, we checked into the hotel and ate burgers, calling it an early night before our big day of packing and preparing!
Today we spent the morning going through gear. We sorted our stoves, tents, kitchen, warm layers, and most importantly FOOD! After that, we had a nice orientation with the climbing rangers where we talked about the mountain, keeping it clean, staying safe, and received our clean mountain cans (CMC’s). The final bit of the day was spent packing our backpacks and duffels and weighing in to prepare for a flight to follow. We spent the evening enjoying pizza and beer as some rain came in. With any luck we will fly tomorrow and be walking on the mountain soon!
RMI Guide Jackson Breen
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May 2, 2024
Posted by: Andy Bond, Seth Burns, Jackson Breen, Joey Manship, Robert Whyte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir team led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Seth Burns has concluded their week of training and returned to Paradise. Although the weather threw a few curves at them, the team was able to get in lots of training including cramponing, glacier travel, ice climbing, rappelling, and crevasse rescue. We can probably consider it winter camping as well. They endured some cold temperatures but also enjoyed some beautiful sunrises and sunshine.
Nice work team!
September 1, 2023
Posted by: Joe Hoch, Nicole De Petris, Jackson Breen, Charlie Harrison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 9,700'
RMI Guide, Joe Hoch, reported the following from Mt. Baker this afternoon:
The team is back at Sandy Camp after their summit attempt. We made it up to the crater rim, at around 9,700'.
The team will enjoy their dinner at camp, a good night's rest before they pack up camp and head back to the trailhead tomorrow. Nice work team!
Congratulations to the entire team! And a special shout out to intrepid Chris Rowley!
Posted by: Regina Leeds on 9/2/2023 at 10:52 am
August 27, 2023
Posted by: Jack Delaney, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,871'
RMI guides, Jack Delaney and Jackson Breen, had good news to report from Sandy Camp this afternoon. Their team navigated late season conditions on Mt. Baker and made it successfully to the summit!
Nice work team!
Hi Jackson! This is your grandma Breen. Just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you and how amazed I am of all your adventures and accomplishments! I love you and be safe!
Posted by: Carol Breen on 5/14/2024 at 11:49 am
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