Entries By jt schmitt
June 16, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
Saturday, June 16, 2018 - 2:22 PM PT
We had a foot of snow with enough wind to drift upwards of 3 feet in most places. We spent the morning relocating our posh due to being buried and partially collapsed. The team is putting the finishing touches on a toilet cave so they can see a man about a horse without getting a spin drift bidet in the process. Other then maintaining camp we'll eat, nap, shovel and repeat until the storm passes. Moral is still good and we are hopeful that a clearing will arrive early next week. The wind loaded slopes will pose an avalanche hazard so we'll need a few days minimum to settle the slopes leading to the fixed lines. That's all from
14 Camp.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
June 15, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
Friday, June 15, 2018 - 5:50 PM PT
Today was a prime lesson in the Three Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. We got some comments and stares yesterday while building 7 foot walls around our
Camp with such blue skies and warm temps. This morning we got even more remarks from people as we continued to build. By 4 pm the winds had picked up to 30+ mph gusts and the Pigs who had built their homes from straw were in full scramble mode while our Pigs rested in their tents surrounded by snow bricks. We practiced some skills for climbing the fixed lines, they gets us higher on the West Buttress and will hang out while Denali does what Denali wants to. Currently it's demanding that we, "respect it's authority".
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
June 14, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Thursday, June 14, 2018 - 7:42 PM PT
After yesterday's grueling day the team slept in until the sun hit our tents, 9ish. We had a slow start with salmon and cream cheese bagels and coffee. The goal for today was to build walls around our tents and get our kitchen/dining tent dug out and reinforced. The walls are built by digging through the loose snow into the firm layers below. Then we take snow saws and begin to quarry large blocks to be the foundational row. Each successive layer gets smaller so the wall isn't top heavy. The walls help keep wind from destroying our tents. The team rallied through their wall building then helped the guides finish reinforcing the kitchen tent or Posh as we call it. The Posh is a five sided tent without a floor. We dig a hole in the snow and have benches for people to sit and cooking counters for the guides. Out of the wind and sun we enjoy our meals, today's dinner is hand rolled chicken burritos. With the menacing forecast on the horizon we will put the finishing touches on camp and hunker down for the remnants of a tropical cyclone that is headed for Alaska. People are happy for the sunshine and tired from the 'light exercise' of camp craft. This helps us acclimate in preparation for heading to
17,000' Camp, High Camp, for our cache day and ultimately our summit day when the weather and mountain tell us it's time to go up. Until then we will be at 14,000' continuing to get comfortable being uncomfortable and focusing on the tasks that our in our control and leaving the conditions that our out of our control to Denali.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
June 14, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - 10:53 PM PT
With a forecast that hasn't been stellar, the guides woke at 2:30 AM only to see strong winds above. We continued to check for high winds until 6 am, needing to make a decision on whether to move camp or burn another weather day, we opted to pack up. Hoping for the sun to calm the wind we started out at 9 am through boot high snow, calf high snow, knee high snow and you guessed it thigh high snow. We made good time without any congestion on the route, but it was not an easy day. Once we picked up our cache at 12,500' we slogged up towards Windy Corner. Packs were heavy, sleds didn't help and the loose drifted in snow made for a tired team. We got chased around
Windy Corner by a storm then promptly walked into a basin where the wind had stopped and we were quickly to hot. Today's lesson was, "learn to be comfortable, being uncomfortable". Freeze or fry is all you can expect up here, ideal doesn't exist. We will take a well deserved rest day tomorrow and maybe for the next week if the projected Pineapple Express weather front dumps 9 feet of snow.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
June 12, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - 5:32 PM PT
We'd already sent in the dispatch yesterday and then skies cleared up and we enjoyed a sunny evening. Today however, we woke to grey skies up above and clouds pouring over
Kahiltna Pass. The teams in camp all got a slow roll to see who would break trail up Motorcycle Hill. This led to a bottleneck and a slow pace. After an hour the clouds had descended and snow was blowing. Our goal today was a cache around Windy Corner, but due to the volume of climbers, new snow and low visibility we opted for a 12,500' cache. We are back at Camp at 11,000' hoping to get a chance to move up to 14,000' Camp in the next few days.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
June 11, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Monday, June 11, 2018 - 5:35 PM PT
Not much to report from
11,000' Camp. Today we woke to snow, after breakfast we were shoveling snow and about every two hours since there has been more snow to shovel. The one caveat is that the wind is light. The Team has been working on "out chilling the storm" as a long time RMI guide once put it. We are hopeful that the weather begins clearing tomorrow so we can put a cache in striking distance of 14 Camp. Everyone is healthy and warm.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
June 10, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
Sunday, June 10, 2018 - 3:08 pm PT
Clouds and snow moved in last night just prior to dinner. We had the chance to see our 2 RMI Teams who had been on the summit Friday and get some route info. The snow continued through out the night with minimal accumulation. When we woke, there were faint views of the surrounding peaks and ridges. After breakfast we roped up and walked down to our cache at 9700' and dug up our food and supplies. There has been a low pressure system moving in from the North and being near the demarcation line was quite stunning. As we turned the corner onto the
Kahiltna Glacier, we could see clouds rolling over Kahiltna Pass and Kahiltna Dome while the view South was blue skies and calm weather. Soon we were engulfed in the clouds and light snow for the walk back to 11,000' Camp. Now we are back in our tents listening to snow fall and enjoying the warmth of the sun trying to cook through the clouds. The Team is doing well, we are hopeful that the winds stay calm so we can carry around Windy Corner or even into Fourteen Camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
June 8, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 9,700'
Friday, June 8, 2018 - 3:15 PM PT
The clouds cleared after dinner last night with expansive views of the lower Kahiltna Glacier. We were able to see the descending RMI Group after their successful summit and glean some route info. With the surrounding peaks providing the backdrop, we set off at 5:30 AM for 9700' on the glacier. The route ascends
Ski Hill, think fun blue run at a resort. Our goal was to cache food and fuel to make the move to Camp 2 lighter. We took a lot of breaks to take pictures and not over do it after yesterday's heavy day.
We are all back in camp at 7800' drying our boots and enjoying the heat on the tents. The plan is to eat, sleep then move to 11,200' tomorrow. We'll take advantage of the cooler temps and leave before 5 AM. The route is in incredible shape with lots of snow and a well traveled route. The climb doesn't get easier but these first 5 days of getting in position to climb above 11,200' are tough on the hips, feet and shoulders. Still keeping our fingers crossed while we listen to bush planes fly overhead.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
June 7, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
We all turned in early last night with an anticipated 2 AM wake up call. The guides woke at 2 only to see snow, wet tents and zero visibility. Ear plugs back in and snooze until 4:30 AM. The clouds had thinned out, snow was drier and still falling but the saving grace was we could see the lower skies of Mt Francis and the airstrip markers.
The Team got ready to go after a quick breakfast and hot drink. The walk down heartbreak hill with big sleds and breaking trail through new snow went surprisingly well. No one broke down and asked to return to Talkeetna so we walked into the thick clouds, think if you were trapped inside of a ping pong ball. There was a faint trail from the teams who arrived late in the night and all of a sudden there was nothing. We plodded through the snow and up the main fork of the Kahiltna Glacier navigating by GPS and the occasional bamboo pole that is placed for just these conditions.
Wet snow was falling but not a trace of wind. Sweaty with sore hips we rolled into camp as the cloud bank lifted just enough to see camp at the base of
Ski Hill. We are all tucked in our tents and resting up for our carry day to 9600' tomorrow. Our hope is to travel early when the temperatures are cooler and place our cache of food and fuel. Everyone is dry, warm and re-hydrating after a tough day. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
June 5, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories:
Elevation: 348'
Tuesday, June 5, 2018 - 7:21 PM PT
This is Mike checking in from Talkeetna, Alaska. The Team arrived with all bags in tow and in high spirits. We spent the day packing and sorting our gear and food that we’ll depend on for the next three weeks. The weather is beautiful here in town and with an estimated 100 climbers heading towards the summit of Denali today. We hope the pattern holds so we can fly in tomorrow morning.
There are some itchy feet and anxious minds amongst our group, which is to be expected. They have been training and dreaming of this expedition for a long time now. There is nothing like getting into the Alaska Range on a ski plane and letting all of life’s little pressure points disappear.
The trade off is that when we drop out of society, we loose the convenience of that part of our lives. We will be hauling 22 days of food, fuel and equipment (100+ pounds per person) up the
Kahiltna Glacier causing very real pressure points. We will be checking in each day and keeping our fingers crossed for sunshine and light winds.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Mike King, JT Schmitt and Ben Ammon
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Hi dad! Happy fathers day!! I hope your day is amazing. we miss you. Please bring me back a moose! Love you!
Posted by: Adleigh Faulkenburg on 6/17/2018 at 2:02 pm
Hi dad!!! Happy father’s day! Please don’t get eaten by a bear.
Posted by: Teagan Faulkenburg on 6/17/2018 at 1:58 pm
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