Entries By mike walter
May 23, 2012
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
We spent today resting at the 14,000' camp on
Mt. McKinley, getting stronger for our impending move to high camp (17,000'). The weather today was pretty mild for this time of year, with light snow showers throughout the day. The weather forecast looks pretty good, with similar weather on tap for the rest of the week. Everyone is doing well, and we'll likely take one more rest day here at 14,000' before moving up to high camp.
We'll keep you posted.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
May 22, 2012
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Today was a crucial day for us to get in position for a summit bid. We carried a couple of days of food plus some personal gear to the bottom of
Washburn's Thumb at 16,800'. This cache is an integral part of the strategy of climbing this mountain. Once in place, we can wait for a weather window to move up to camp at 17,000' and then summit. It now becomes a waiting game for us as we need a good forecast for a string of a few days.
It was also a great day for us to practice our climbing skills because the real climbing on
Denali starts above 14,000'. We got to practice using the fixed lines up to 16,200' to attain the West Buttress. From there, we were greeted with beautiful views and climbing on a thin, rocky ridge. The buttress is the namesake of the route, the reason people come up this way. It requires great attention, but affords amazing climbing and vistas. Everyone did a great job with these 2 new challenges. We even had some members of the group attain new personal high marks!
Now, we're back at camp ready for some rest. We are playing the waiting game now, holding out and hoping the mountain will give us the weather window we need. But the forecast looks pretty good, and we're patient, stubborn, and well prepared. 14K Camp is a great place to get strong, and with a rest day tomorrow we definitely won't be getting out of sleeping bags until the sun hits us.
Bringing back an old feature to the blog: the stoke meter is all the way up at a 9.5 right now!
RMI Guide Maile Wade and the southside dwellers of 14K!
On The Map
May 21, 2012
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Hello everyone from the 14,000' camp on Denali. We're taking a
rest day today, in order to acclimate and get strong for our forays up higher on the mountain.
After a breakfast involving lots of coffee and the universal favorite--bacon, we spent some time finishing off our snow walls at camp. The rest of the day was spent preparing gear for caching up high on the mountain tomorrow, as well as lounging around, reading, and eating.
We're planning to carry supplies up high on the West Buttress tomorrow, in preparation for our move to high camp and subsequent summit bid. We'll be in touch again soon.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
May 19, 2012
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
We had a great, mellow day today at the 14k foot camp. After going back to our cache at
Windy Corner, we spent the rest of the day building snow walls around our camp to protect us from any wind. We also spent time making our cook tent more comfortable, as well as creating a luxurious bathroom (the little things make a big difference up here!). Now we're getting ready to feast on some tasty chicken quesadillas, with fresh veggies (to be honest, the fresh veggies froze on day one of the trip...but they are thawed out now, and they will be delicious).
We're planning to take a full rest day tomorrow, in order to acclimate and get strong for carrying supplies up high on the
West Buttress. The weather has been nice and sunny with virtually no wind, and we hope that it persists as we prepare for moving up to high camp and on to the summit.
Thanks for all the blog comments. We'll touch base again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
May 19, 2012
Posted by: Mike Walter, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Hey all! Greetings from 14,000 ft. Yesterday was a busy day as several teams including ourselves, packed up camp at 11k and headed for our advanced basecamp at 14k. Temperatures were cool and the sky was bluebird, making ideal conditions for climbing.
Windy Corner gave us a little taste with a chilly breeze blowing as we approached. As soon as we rounded it, however, the breeze died and the sun turned on the microwave.
Move days are hard work. Not only do you have a long day with heavy packs, but at the end of it you have to spend several hours reestablishing camp. The team did great and we moved into a quite comfortable camp; important because this is where we will stage from and wait for our weather window to head for the summit. Today we will head down to retrieve our cache at 13k, and spend the rest of the day fortifying camp with large snow walls so that we are prepared for a storm.
We want to wish
Maile a super happy birthday, and we're glad she's up here celebrating it with us!
Hasta luego,
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and team
On The Map
May 15, 2012
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
We had a great day yesterday, and moved our camp up to 11,200'. The weather was perfect for climbing, and we made swift progress up the Kahiltna Glacier towards
Kahiltna Pass. We arrived in camp and spent a few hours establishing our camp, as we will be staying here for a few nights. With all of our gear moved in to the 11,200' camp, we are in a great position, and we will spend the day resting and acclimating. We are planning to carry a cache of supplies up to Windy Corner (13,600') tomorrow, so we're looking forward to a lazy day today. The weather looks great the next few days, and our team is feeling strong. We're right on schedule as we start staging on to the upper mountain.
We'll be in touch again soon.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
May 13, 2012
Posted by: Mike Walter, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 9,600'
This morning we awoke to our first views of the
Alaska Range. After sitting out the storm in Talkeetna and flying on with clouds still in the area, we were pleasantly surprised with a beautiful sunny day. Our first big hill of the trip greeted us right out of camp, but even with this challenge we moved well up to camp at 9,500'. The Kahiltna Glacier is in great shape which made our travels nice and fluid.
Base camp received 3 feet of snow while we sat in Talkeetna, but this just made for great navigating and smooth sailing for us. As we moved into the steeps of Ski Hill, there was a perfect trough to keep our sleds in line and upright. With our first challenges behind us, we rolled into camp around 5:00 and made a yummy birthday dinner for Carl...61 today!! Now, we're resting up for another big push tomorrow to 11,000' camp. Happy Mother's Day to all of our moms! Goodnight.
RMI Guides Mike Walter, Pete Van Deventer & Maile Wade
On The Map
May 13, 2012
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
Hey all! Our previous two day's waiting game turned to hustle and bustle yesterday as the skies opened and allowed the planes to fly. Our flights left right after breakfast, and we landed at basecamp, resplendent with a new layer of snow. It's still early in the season, and basecamp was quiet, with just a handful of climbers waiting to fly off, or start their climb uphill.
After a couple hours spent packing, rigging sleds, and digging our cache, we were on our way, dropping down the SE fork of the Kahiltna Glacier to begin our ascent up the main fork. The skies quickly closed and it began to snow, obscuring the views and dropping the temperature significantly. We made camp in light snow last night, but this AM woke to sun and clear skies! The plan is to make a move to our
next camp at 9,600' today.
Happy birthday to team member Carl Devendorf, and everyone would like to wish their moms a Happy Mother's Day!
We'll be in touch soon.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and the gang
On The Map
May 12, 2012
Posted by: Mike Walter, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 358'
The May 8th Mt. McKinley Expedition led by RMI Guides Mike Walter, Pete Van Deventer and Maile Wade is now en route to Base Camp. The weather in Talkeetna was clear this morning and the team headed for the K2 Aviation hanger.
Good luck on your expedition!
May 11, 2012
Posted by: Mike Walter, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 358'
We spent the day waiting for our weather window to fly on to the glacier, but two feet of snow at
Base Camp last night and continuing snow through today have so far prevented us from making it on. Rather than idly twiddling our thumbs, we decided to make the best of a warm dry hanger and practice our crevasse rescue skills and self rescue systems. Everyone is feeling better about their systems after a lot of practice and playing with knots and tricks. We still have one and a half hours to go before the planes are grounded for the night, increasingly it is looking like tomorrow morning is more likely for flying. Hopefully our next post will come from there glacier!
Best,
RMI Guide Peter Van Deventer
Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us today, and we were unable to fly in to Base Camp once again. While it seems as though the weather is improving, the conditions were not conducive to flying; no planes left Talkeetna today with the intention of trying to land at Base Camp. We took advantage of the down time today and did some dry-land review of crevasse rescue. There were also some pretty competitive games of ping pong going on this afternoon in the Hangar as we waited on standby for the weather to clear. We’re all eager to fly, but we understand that climbing Denali requires patience. Hopefully we get a break tomorrow and can fly in to Base Camp and establish ourselves on the mountain. In the meantime, we’re enjoying Talkeetna.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
sending well wishes and weather your way.
Posted by: Kym on 5/24/2012 at 8:04 am
Miss talking to you Nick! Can’t wait to hear about your adventures.
Pam
Posted by: Pam on 5/23/2012 at 6:57 pm
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