Entries By nikki champion
Tuesday, July 3, 2018 - 9:52 PM PT
We could see forever this morning, and then it got better. The high clouds were gone, the low clouds were gone and the middle clouds were gone. We were up at six and walking by 8:45 in the cool shadow of the South Peak. By noon we’d topped out the fixed ropes and were starting up along the phenomenal crest of the
West Buttress. We never got anything stronger than gentle breezes, despite our exposed position. There were a few big smiles as the gang came up past Washburn’s Thumb and began to flirt with 17,000 feet. We pulled into the 17,200 ft camp in mid afternoon, six hours after leaving our Camp at 14,000'. Building camp was hard in the rarefied air, but we got it done and sat down to a six PM dinner in our newest snow dining room. We talked about how a summit day might work tomorrow and how to prepare tonight. We will need to get a little bit lucky on the weather, and everybody will need a good night’s rest... but then if it all works out, we’ll be ready to take advantage. Light, high clouds have taken over the western sky, but the sun is still powering through at 8:45 PM and we can see rivers, tundra, mountains, glaciers and planet Earth for hundreds of miles.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Monday, July 2, 2018 - 10:17 PM PT
A fine summer’s day in the Alaska Range. The gang slept late today, but when we emerged, the views were amazing. We could see clear down to Mt Spurr and the Tordrillos. Some clouds were still playing around the
South Peak of Denali and it appeared to be a little windy up that way, but as we had a slow and yummy pancake breakfast, nobody had complaints about the weather at 14,000' Camp. This rest day was just as relaxing as we could have hoped for. Even so, we weren’t totally relaxed... everyone is getting keyed up for the summit bid now. We prepared for moving up tomorrow and we hydrated, rested, ate, read and sorted gear (again). We’ll see what kind of morning we get tomorrow.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Sunday, July 1, 2018 - 11:14 PM PT
This was the day we were looking for. Even so, it looked a little gusty up high at first, so we dragged our feet a little and lingered over breakfast. The sun hit at 9:30 and we got walking at 10:30. Our goal, of course, was to carry food and supplies up onto the
West Buttress and to establish a cache that will help us when we commit to moving up to 17,000 ft. But our goal was also to get familiar with the steep part of this climb -the fixed ropes- and to build on our acclimatization by getting a good workout in at altitude. We did all of that today. Things were slightly on the crowded side, but that didn’t give us much trouble in the end. It is close to the end of the Denali climbing season, now that we are in July, but the last 100 or so climbers all flew on at once due to the five day storm that preceded our arrival. And we’ve mostly been on the same travel schedules since those 100 folks are all in various guided parties. But we know and like many of the people so it hasn’t -to this point- seemed so crowded. But all those folks needing to get on the same ropes to reach the crest of the West Buttress means that some patience will be required. We turned out to be patient today, waiting our turn, but it wasn’t so hard to be that way in sunny, pleasant weather and with fantastic scenery all around. The upside for us was that the teams ahead of us kicked a perfect staircase in the snow up the steep headwall. We topped out at 16,200 in surprisingly fine conditions -the exposed ridge crest can often be cold and windy. As it was 3 PM we declared victory and established a cache -burying it all to keep our supplies from the ravens. Our descent was smooth and easy since we now had the whole place to ourselves. We were back down to camp by 5 PM and relaxing over dinner a couple of hours later. Rest day tomorrow and then up for good.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Saturday, June 30th - 10:30 pm PT
The snow quit abruptly last night at around 11 PM after about a foot of new. Forecasts called for more snow today -about a 70 percent chance of it. So we were on our guard. But this day dawned crisp cold and clear above us (with a sea of cloud below). For various reasons we opted not to pull the trigger on our carry today... there were traffic jams and a lot of new snow to wallow through. For exercise and a thrill, we roped up and ventured over to the “edge of the world” a rock outcrop at the edge of
Genet Basin. From that edge, the world drops vertically for four thousand feet to a branch of the NE Kahiltna Glacier. We stepped out to the apex of rock overhanging the drop and mugged for photos while the clouds swirled in and out mysteriously.
The afternoon ended up restful and pleasant... and not so snowy. We’ll be ready to climb tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Friday, June 29, 2018 9:53 PM PST
We weren’t feeling it today. Although we’d prepared to carry up onto the
West Buttress, the morning weather didn’t look all that inviting. We watched and waited and ate breakfast, but then declared a rest day. The forecasts had predicted a snowstorm coming onto the mountain and we figured they were getting it right this time. Luckily though, it came in slowly enough for Mike Haugen and his team to climb down from 17 camp. We were certainly happy to see them pass through 14 in the latter part of the afternoon. The really heavy snow began to fall just as they were leaving to go a little lower. It seemed to be coming down at about three inches an hour while we were eating dinner in our well fortified dining tent. The good news is that it is coming down without any wind... so far. By bedtime we could hear avalanches beginning to pour down regularly on the steep -and thankfully distant- slopes surrounding our flat basin. We’ll each be taking turns digging out the camp tonight.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Thursday, June 28, 2018 - 10:32 PM PT
Our first night at 14,000' Camp was quiet and calm. The tent fabric didn’t stir even once with breeze. We were up at around 8AM even though things are still a little shadowy and cold here then. After breakfast,
Avery Parrinello led the day’s carry, or more accurately the back carry, since we were going back down to 13,500 ft to bring home the cache we walked past yesterday. It only took about 20 minutes to walk down, but perhaps 90 minutes to come back up with heavy packs. As usual, it clouded up and began snowing on us before we’d gone too far, but that wasn’t much of a problem. The snow continued through the afternoon, but by then we were lounging in our tents. Just before dinner we did a little training session to discuss techniques we’ll employ to climb the “fixed ropes” that lead to the crest of the
West Buttress. Throughout the day we touched base with the only other RMI group on the hill, Mike Haugen’s team who were going for the top. It all made our preparations a bit more meaningful to know we’ll be up there knocking on the door soon ourselves.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 10:11 PM PT
Hey from 14K. We got an excellent day for moving up. When the 6 AM alarm went off down at 11,000', we peered out to see clear skies and no signs of wind. We pounced on the opportunity, hitting the trail at 9 AM. Hannah Smith led the charge today, bringing the team expeditiously up Motorcycle Hill, The Squirrel Hills and then the Polo Field. Just like when we carried, it began to cloud up as we approached Windy Corner and to snow as we went around. We moved right on past our cache site, which appears to be resisting the ravages of the ravens (we buried it deep in the snow). Hannah got us into camp at 14,000' in a very respectable 5 hours and 45 minutes. The tents went up fast and easy and about the time we’d completed setup, the snow quit. As we ate dinner, the clouds melted away and when we emerged from our deluxe dining shelter, we were treated to new and spectacular views in every direction. Foraker and Hunter, the other two giants of the Alaska Range were visible -for the first time- in all their glory. But it was the view of Denali, rising straight up in front of us for a vertical mile and more that took our breath away. Our world is now bound on the left by the West Buttress and on the right by the West Rib... which covers a lot of fascinating and historic... and slightly intimidating terrain. Just before bedtime, we listened to the weather outlook, broadcast via radio from Basecamp and more importantly to the trivia question for the night. Did you know that there are 21 bears for every human in Alaska?
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 10:58 PM PT
Ahhhh. We made it to a much deserved rest day. It kept on snowing lightly through the night with some restless breezes playing through in the morning, but we didn’t care much what it did. We slept in and did a long, slow, yummy bagel breakfast in our comfortable dining tent. The day was a mix of napping, reading, and visiting with other climbers. We watched a handful of neighboring teams pick up and move to
14,000' Camp, although it looked as though they’d have to deal with higher winds on the way. Weather got gradually better through the day and by evening it was just calm, sunny and nice. At dinner we went through plans for our own big move up to 14,000' Camp tomorrow.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Monday, June 25, 2018 - 10:52 PM PT
At six AM, things were looking positive... not much sign of wind and the upper portions of
Denali’s West Buttress were in the clear. We got up and got going slowly in order to keep an eye out for changes... and to enjoy a leisurely breakfast of bacon and eggs. We set out from camp at 9:30 in our crampons and carrying ice axes, feeling a little more like climbers. Nice to take a break from snowshoes and from sled hauling. We carried food and fuel for caching, but each of us elected to put it all on our backs and to give the sleds the day off. First up was Motorcycle Hill, a steep but short (40 minute) glacial slope, next we got on squirrel hill, which brought us to the Polo Field -the glacial basin at the foot of the West Buttress. By then we were watching dramatic clouds beginning to form atop the high mountains. Another hour brought us to Windy Corner, which was just starting to get a little breezy when we turned the corner and reached our destination at 13,500 ft. By the time we were digging a raven-proof pit in the snow to bury our supplies, things had whited out and the snow was starting to fall. We’d taken a respectable 4 hours to reach the intended cache, we spent 45 minutes there getting everything squared away and then took just a further 90 minutes to walk back down through the snowstorm to camp at 11,000. There were plenty of other guided parties from different companies on the route today but we all worked well together and there were no traffic jams. Back at camp by 3:45 we snoozed until dinner time. Several of us admitted to being a little tired after this fine day of climbing... but that is not such a bad thing. We’ve planned a rest day for tomorrow and we’ll hope the snow takes a holiday as well.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Sunday, June 24, 2018 - 9:45 PM PT
We busted out of camp at 9,500 ft by 7:10 AM. There was still plenty of cloud out and about, but not so much in the direction we wanted to go. Of course things were a little cooler at the lofty heights we were reaching, but not unpleasantly so. We reached the corner at Kahiltna Pass in just over an hour’s time and left the mighty Kahiltna Glacier. A couple of tough uphill pushes then brought us to 11,000. Conditions were sunny, calm and nice as we built camp -we’re starting to get good at this stuff. The afternoon was spent napping and prepping for tomorrow’s carry to 13,500. In the late afternoon and evening we got a heavy and hot snow shower. We dodged it eating burritos in the dining tent. After dinner, things got fun and busy as RMI Guide Mike King’s victorious climbing team came down to share camp for an evening. They’ll head downhill in the early morning and we’ll be looking upward.
Best Regards
Dave Hahn
On The Map
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I hope by now you have summited and are starting back down. Great job!
Posted by: Roger Coffey on 7/5/2018 at 8:24 am
Wishing you all a happy 4th! Send it Tom!
Posted by: Joe Walker on 7/4/2018 at 9:11 pm
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