Entries By mike king
Wednesday, June 12, 2019 - 4:45 PM PT
After 7 days of work the Team wanted 10 hours of sleep/tent time and the guides were happy to wait until the sun hit our tents before we had a casual breakfast of hash browns, scrambled eggs and bacon. There’s not much going on today since it’s our first full rest day. People have been reading, writing in journals and walking around camp. We are just back from some fixed line rehearsal on the little hill outside of camp. This practice got everyone tuned up for a potential carry of gear on the
West Buttress tomorrow morning. To gain the Buttress we ascend a moderate slope and then get on the fixed lines with our ascenders. There is some snow currently falling through a thin cloud that is making the tents an optimal temperature for napping so with that we’ll check in after our cache tomorrow. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
Tuesday, June 11, 2019 - 5:56 PM PT
We woke up and it was cold! Our bodies aren’t accustomed to the colder temps of 14,200’ but that will change as we take a few rest days. The views of Mt Hunter and Foraker have been exceptional. Several teams moved up to
17,200’ this morning and a few are scheduled to head up tomorrow. The weather has continued to hold and looks to be improving over the weekend. We enjoyed a late breakfast of cream cheese and bacon bagels. Everyone is having some lunch in their tents and hopefully a nap to best utilize this active rest day. This evening we will build some snow walls to reinforce our camp should the weather take a turn for the worse. Not much happening at 14 Camp and that’s just fine with us.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Monday, June 10, 2019 - 6:58 PM PT
The good weather train continues to roll on
Denali. If your looking at the forecast, it’s been inaccurate aside from the calm wind speeds. The Team got a good workout today as we packed up camp and moved to 14,200’ and while we did well, the higher altitude, calm air and insane heat reflecting off the glaciers gave us a good challenge. We have been moving gear, food and fuel uphill for 6 straight days and tomorrow will be no different. We will sleep in, eat a big breakfast and then need to descend 800’ and retrieve our cache. Now that we are at “Denali City” there are lots of climbers, great views of the West Buttress and the greater Alaska Range. We’ve been eating good, burritos, buffalo chicken wraps, salmon cream cheese bagels, etc. Everyone is feeling some minor aches and pains from the hard work but they are smiling and happy to be at 14 Camp to begin the climbing above here once our bodies acclimate and the weather and mountain give us the thumbs up to headed to High Camp. Thanks for following along, more from Genet Basin and the 14 Camp hang to follow.
RMI Guide Mike King
Sunday, June 9, 2019 - 3:47 PM PT
The calm and mostly clear weather continues to give our Team great windows to get our gear, food and fuel moved up Denali. This morning we got a good start with cold temperatures to avoid being out in the heat. The temps dropped slightly as we climbed motorcycle hill then squirrel hill and onto the lower polo fields (actual names of these landmarks, not hypoxia kicking in). Despite the steep aspects and heavy packs the Team crushed the difficult carry and was rewarded with a sunny and warm not so “Windy Corner” of
Denali’s West Buttress. We could see teams moving up towards the fixed lines out of 14 Camp and got a chance to talk with RMI guide Robby Young as his team was headed up the fixed lines. The grand scale of the Alaska Range has kept people mesmerized along with the constantly changing scenery as we climb higher. We will rest for the remainder of the day and there’s bound to be more laughter once people get a nap in. It’s been a great group and trip so far. Tomorrow our plans are to pack up camp and move to 14,200’ and get our base camp hang dialed in so we can take advantage of the next favorable forecast window.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Saturday, June 8, 2019 - 3:42 PM PT
We had our first active rest day today. The weather forecast called for a calm night with increasing clouds and possible precipitation through the day. The air was still when I woke at 5 am to check the weather. After a salmon and cream cheese bagel breakfast we set off down hill with our sleds strapped to our backpacks. The goal was to carry all of our cache from 9300’ to 11,200’. The Team did exceptionally well and we managed to beat the heat of the morning for all but the last hour. The afternoon clouds are coming into camp and creating a greenhouse effect where the UV comes through the clouds and reflects off the snow then gets bounced back by the clouds making for a hot day in camp. People have their sleeping bags clipped on the outside of the tent for a more ideal napping environment. So long as the weather continues this pattern we will wake early and carry food and fuel around Windy Corner in preparation for our camp move to 14,200’ in
Genet Basin. Even though we have been moving lots of weight up the glacier for four days, the Team is happy and enjoying the beautiful scenery here on Denali. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Friday, June 7, 2019 - 7:17 PM PT
We woke up to a calm and clear morning. The air was significantly warmer at the 4:30 am wake up call. A perfect day to get camp packed up and moved to 11,200’. The Team has seen all but the last three hours during our cache day. Leaving the snowshoes on our sleds we climbed up the Kahiltna glacier in crampons and made excellent time. Our goal was to beat any afternoon thunderstorms that had been rolling over
Kahiltna Pass the last few afternoons. We pulled into camp shortly after 1 pm feeling the altitude and heavy pack/sled combo. I can hear some snoring from some as they nap in the heat of their tents. Others are reading and organizing their gear. Everyone in this group is doing well with the heavy loads and rapid swings in weather. Tomorrow we will get an early start so we can retrieve our cache at 9,300’ and then the remainder of the day will be our first “active rest” day. Light clouds are moving into camp but we still have great views of Kahiltna Dome and the West Buttress of Denali, the namesake of our climbing route.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Thursday, June 6, 2019 - 5:04 PM PT
There was a light breeze that rattled the tents last night. The first few nights away from a comfortable bed can be an adjustment. The Team woke to a cold and mostly clear morning. We pumped the brakes a bit to let the air warm up and see what the clouds were doing North of us in the interior. After breakfast the clouds lifted and we launched to take advantage of the clear skies before forecasted thunderstorms and snow arrived. Our route to the cache at 9,300’ takes us up Ski Hill (it’s got the grade of a ski hill) and along the flanks of
Kahiltna Dome. The pack loads are heavy but the Team handled it with mostly smiles while taking the time to enjoy the scenic down glacier vistas. We have to cache our food and fuel in the snow so ravens do not dig it up, this typically requires a 1 meter deep hole. We are back in a white out at 7800’ Camp hanging in tents enjoying the solar and having some lunch. Tomorrow we hope to get clear skies and a cold/early start to beat the weather into 11,200’ Camp. Thanks for following along. Everyone is healthy and happy.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 - 10:39 PM PT
Wow! We got a little bit of every weather pattern today on our move to
Camp 1 located at 7,800’. It was overcast, hot, cold, windy, calm, thunder and we got two different rounds of snow. Back to the beginning of the day, our flight into the Alaska Range was spectacular. After a quick breakfast, K2 Aviation told us to suit up and put boots on, we were going flying. The Team did well with the heavy packs and sleds. We got into camp after seven hours and while the tents are bombproof, the rest is like that pig who made his house out of straw. Tomorrow we hope to carry half our camp up to 10,000’ but we might get weathered in. Regardless we’ll check in and look forward to another day on Denali.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - 6:41 PM PT
The Team arrived in Anchorage yesterday and we had a nice drive to the little hamlet of Talkeetna. Today we woke up and got a good breakfast on board before diving into an extensive gear check and packing session. The Team members got to know one another as they sifted through Oreos, nuts, candy and all sorts of other gear we will need to climb this mountain over the next three weeks. Once we were packed and weighed in for our flight there was some down time before dinner. Getting out of Talkeetna is always a bit of a scramble but the process of packing for a big expedition is essential to being organized and prepared for the weather and terrain that lie ahead. Everyone is excited and a little nervous to get started and rightfully so, this really is an experience of a lifetime! 3 weeks in the Alaska Range, traveling among giants to attempt the 20,320’ summit of Denali.
We will be checking in daily, thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
May 30, 2019
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The
Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir May 26 - 31 team members gathered at Rainier BaseCamp on Sunday, May 26th for their first day of the program. After some technical training and a thorough equipment check the team started for Camp Muir on Monday morning. The last few days have been spent near Camp Muir while
RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Mike King led the team through glacier travel training and crevasse rescue. This morning the team left Camp Muir en route to the summit. Dave reported calms winds and mostly clear skies as the team reached the crater rim of Mt. Rainier around 6:30 AM. The team enjoyed over an hour on the summit before starting their descent.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
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We’re enjoying reading the daily blogs on your progress Gareth. Well done to you and all the team. Keep safe. Lots of Love from Mum and Les xxxxx
Posted by: Christine Jones on 6/13/2019 at 1:22 pm
Glad you all are doing well! Tell Gareth I’m getting his messages keep up the good work!! And me and the kids miss you!
Posted by: Meagan jones on 6/13/2019 at 11:27 am
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