Entries By katrina bloemsma
May 26, 2014 - 5:18 pm PT
Hello everyone!
Saying hello from Talkeetna, Alaska! We made it off this afternoon despite the evil forecast. This morning we left 9,700' and walked down glacier into deep clouds that retreated as we made our way to
Kahiltna Base Camp. All day we heard and saw fleets of airplanes coming in and by mid afternoon we were on one of them. So the team is safe and sound taking showers and indulging in vices.
It's been a fantastic trip with a great group. Thanks for tuning in!
RMI Guide Leon Davis
Hello all!
The team is here at camp 9700' poised to go for the summit of
Kahiltna Dome if the weather cooperates. Everyone did well getting here and fortifying camp was a great team effort. As we finished our dinner clouds started in from the southwest, obscuring views of Mt. Hunter, Denali and the Kahiltna Dome itself. But we are ready and excited for whatever happens. In the pre-dawn we hope to be walking toward Kahiltna Dome's East Ridge.
Good night everyone!
RMI Guides Leon Davis, Mike King & Katrina Bloemsma
On The Map
May 23, 2014 - 7:18 pm PT
Our first night away from the airstrip here at 7,800' and it's under beautiful clear blue skies. The winds above 14,000' are moving hard but here it is calm. We walked 3.5 hrs north on the
Kahiltna Glacier to the base of Ski Hill and occupied some vacant sites. All told a pretty relaxing afternoon after adjusting to our pack & sled loads. Tomorrow we will gain 2,000' to our next camp at 9,800' which puts us near the base of Kahiltna Dome's east ridge.
Good night friends and family!
RMI Guide Leon Davis & Team
May 22, 2014 - 9:32 pm PT
Another pleasant day today, albeit cold and cloudy. This morning we went for a walk out of base camp toward the east ridge of
Francis. We passed the large granite face of Francis, and through old icefall debris, up into a small cirque. Great views of Hunter and Base Camp from this small snowy cove. Once back at camp we rigged sleds and packed gear for our departure tomorrow up to Camp 1. The team is excited to venture out and experience another part of the Alaska range.
Until tomorrow...
RMI Guide
Leon Davis & Team
May 21, 2014 - 11:16 pm
Today we spent a full day rotating through stations of
crevasse rescue and beacon searches. The team did well grasping the concept of producing mechanical advantage and they ran through the drills multiple times. By the end of the day, I think most ended up with an understanding of how the systems work. Clouds are moving in slowly and may linger for a few days here but that won't stop us from venturing out onto the surrounding glaciers. We have one more day here in base camp to prepare for our move north.
Goodnight to all.
RMI Guide Leon Davis
May 20, 2014 - 11:57pm PT
Today was a glorious day full of sun and cooler temperatures. We left camp early this morning and headed west, down to the main flow of the
Kahiltna glacier. The team got first hand experience of how we move across such massive fields of ice and the views both up and down glacier were amazing. Felt like we were in the middle of the middle of nowhere. Our objective was a small formation called the pizza wedge and as we got closer the crevasses got bigger. So big that our desired approach was cut off by a 200' wide crack over a mile long. Despite being rewarded with great weather and cooler temps, this years snow isn't making things easy. So we trekked back to camp and resumed training for a full day tomorrow of crevasse rescue and beacon searches.
All is well and beautiful here!
RMI Guide
Leon Davis & Team
May 19, 2014 - 11:14 pm PT
Hi Everyone,
We had a pretty busy day here on
Kahiltna's SE fork. Consistent and gusty winds from the north had us building a fortress of sorts around our tents and kitchen. There was some time in the morning for basic skills training in groups but by early afternoon the whole team went into wall building mode. It was pretty amazing to see how well everyone cooperated and their work ethic was close to exhausting. So much so that a small news team noticed the action from below and came up to video everyone working and interview a few folks. So tune in to KTVA Alaska 11 News on their website and you might see a friend or loved one on TV!
Tomorrow we are going for a day mission across the Kahiltna toward Mt. Foraker.
Stay tuned for more good news tomorrow!
RMI Guide
Leon Davis & Team
May 19, 2014, 1:05 am PT
Hello all -
Our team is just crawling into their sleeping bags here at
Kahiltna Base Camp. Our pilots at K2 Aviation found a way in between a few windy spells and at 5:45 pm we touched down in sunny cool weather. By 9:30 pm we were having dinner and very happy about making it onto the Kahiltna glacier. Many of the team could barely hide their enthusiasm from the moment they boarded the plane until we crawled into our sleeping bags for bed time.
All is great!
Goodnight friends and family -
RMI Guides Leon Davis, Mike King and Katrina Bloemsma
On The Map
May 18, 3:27 pm PT
Greetings friends and family!
The second
Alaska Mountaineering Seminar - Expedition team is here in Alaska and almost ready to fly! Most of our gear is packed and weighed and now we are waiting for departure time. We have a few hours to go so we are setting up tents and prepping for our first night onto the glacier. Fingers crossed for an on time flight!
RMI Guide
Leon Davis and Team
February 19, 2014
Posted by: JJ Justman, Katrina Bloemsma
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800'
We have arrived! Ahhh, it feels so good to be back at Base Camp! Let me tell ya, this team has faced some enormous adversity. Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to scare friends and family because this Wisconsin boy has faced worse weather watching the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in December. The weather on this expedition has flip flopped from beautiful to not so beautiful. And wouldn't you know it, the weather followed us down to base camp. However, it doesn't matter now. We've enjoyed pizzas, fresh fruit and coca colas. And we all deserve it! Everyone says hello and we are looking forward to our trek out.
This is our last dispatch for this season's
Aconcagua expeditions. Thank you so much for following along and thanks for all the comments!
RMI Guides JJ Justman, Katrina Bloemsma and Team
Freuen uns über die täglichen Berichte. Wünschen dem Team und insbesondere Katharina weiterhin schöne Tage und viel Erfolg. Beste Grüße aus dem wolkigen Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Papa, Karin & Lexi
Posted by: Joachim Schmitt on 5/24/2014 at 11:39 pm
Grandma (Dorothy) wants to say good luck to you Bob and Nikki, and also to the rest your expedition, and god bless. I also wanted to say climb high, and don’t die, and happy anniversary to you two! It’s a great way for you to celebrate it.
Posted by: Michael Lowry and Grandma on 5/24/2014 at 8:01 am
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