Entries By nikki champion
Friday, June 22, 2018 - 8:57 pm PT
The snow just kept on coming down last night. It didn’t pile up all that deeply, but it was persistent and wet. We kept checking through the early morning hours, and then through the mid morning hours after a team breakfast, but it went right on until the early afternoon. By then we’d determined to take a hint and declare a rest day. Things actually cleared up nicely by mid-afternoon and
Denali came out in all her glory. By then it was unbearably hot in the tents and would have been about ten times hotter walking uphill with big packs and sleds. We rested. It was burrito night in the main dining tent and after a great feed and some storytelling, we returned to the tents under once again cloudy skies. We’ll hope for a better morning tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Thursday, June 21, 2018 - 10:39 PM PT
We were up at 2 AM for our much anticipated launch from
Denali Basecamp. It was still cloudy and overcast and seemed to be moving toward being more cloudy and overcast, but we felt we had something of a window for moving. After a hot breakfast, we knocked down tents and rigged up for glacial travel. By 4:38 we were walking down the SE Fork of the Kahiltna with our snowshoes on. A number of other teams had begun climbing in the hours ahead of our departure, so the soft snow trail was packed nicely for us. As expected, glacier conditions were good and it was a relief not to be crossing open crevasses and sagging snow bridges. There wasn’t too much to see with all of the cloud, so we just concentrated on walking steady for an hour at a push. We very nearly saw the sun at one point just after 8 AM but that was it despite this being the Solstice and a traditional big day for sun worshipers. Five and a half hours brought us to 7800 ft, and our intended destination. By that point the clouds were right down on us and it was snowing lightly. We built a quick camp and got inside before it got snowing a little more heavily in the early afternoon. We snoozed and drank water to recover from the morning workout. The wet snow continued right through dinner, but we weren’t so uncomfortable in our cozy dining tent with snow benches and countertops. Now that all are in bed, the snow keeps on coming, but quietly... there is no wind and that is a good thing.
Best,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 - 9:52 PM PT
This is one lucky team of climbers. We woke in Talkeetna under cloudy skies... pretty much the same cloudy skies that had kept anybody else from flying during the past six days. It sprinkled rain on us as we ventured out for breakfast but by the time we’d eaten, our pilots surprised us by announcing that basecamp was in the clear and that it was time to fly.
We geared up, loaded the planes and lifted off by 9:15. The ski equipped DeHaviland Otters got us through to
Kahiltna Base Camp by about 10 AM. Views while flying weren’t stupendous since there was still plenty of cloud hiding the big peaks, but as we got into the center of the range, the lower parts of the big peaks were stupendous enough in their own rite. Basecamp at 10 AM was a very busy and bustling place after a week of no-fly days. Tyler Jones and his RMI team loaded onto the planes we vacated. They’d finished a storm plagued trip and hadn’t been able to move to high camp or summit but they appeared happy and healthy just the same. We built camp and spent the day reviewing glacier travel techniques and sorting gear and supplies. The team seems pretty at home in this world already. We’re hopeful this break in the weather will last... that said, now -at 9 PM- it is snowing lightly. So much recent snow has sure been a good thing for healing up the lower glacier. Word is that open crevasses are few and far between and sketchy bridges are scarce.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
June 20, 2018
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello, Nikki Champion
Categories:
Elevation: 348'
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 - 11:28 PM PT
It was a full and busy day for our gang in Talkeetna. We met for the traditional breakfast at the Roadhouse where formal introductions were made and the plan and possibilities for the next few days were discussed. Then it was over to the Talkeetna Ranger Station where we greeted longtime friends in the National Park Service. Roger Robinson -who has been active on Denali since 1975- gave our safety briefing and orientation slideshow. We then made our way across town to the airstrip and the hangars of K2 Aviation, our flight service. Skies were cloudy, and we hear that it is still blowing and snowing hard all up and down
Denali, but in town today, life wasn’t too bad. It never rained and there were even some spells of blue sky and sunshine in the afternoon. We spent almost the entire afternoon in the hangar though, conducting equipment checks and sorting tents, stoves, ropes, pots, pans, shovels and piles upon piles of food and clothing. By 5 PM it was all in order, weighed and inventoried... ready to be loaded on planes in the morning. The team got together one more time, for a relaxing dinner at the Twister Creek brew pub. After dinner, we strolled over to the river bank to watch the mighty Susitna boiling past town and to look over to where Denali was hiding in the storm.
We broke up for the evening, with everybody intent on taking advantage of a final night -we hope- of Internet, telephone and comfy beds.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 - 12:29 AM PT
Victory!! Eight climbers and four guides made their way -with heaps of luggage- from various far away places in the “lower 48” to
Talkeetna, Alaska. We met this afternoon down in the Anchorage airport and boarded the venerable Denali Overland van for a three hour commute to Talkeetna. Of course we broke things up a bit with a last stop for provisions in Wasilla. Not much in the way of spectacular views today as the Alaska Range was cloaked in cloud, but there was plenty of pretty scenery a little lower down and closer in to the highway. We’ll dial down on lots of details tomorrow as we get oriented, prepped and packed for Denali.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The
Sahale Mountain - Quien Sabe Glacier August 10 - 13 team reached the summit of Sahale this morning.
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall checked in to let us know her team was doing well, they had reached the summit and were descending back to camp. They will spend tonight on the mountain and complete their program tomorrow after reaching the trail head.
Congratulations to the Sahale Climbers!
RMI Guide Christina Dale led the
Five Day Summit Climb June 15-19 on Mt. Rainier. The team ascended to Camp Muir on Saturday and spent the following day training at Camp Muir. This morning they made their summit attempt but due to new snow over the last few days the conditions today did not allow their team to summit. They have safely returned to Camp Muir. They will repack their gear and continue their descent to Paradise later today.
RMI Guide
Geoff Schellens led the
Four Day Summit Climb team to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. While on the summit, Geoff reported cold and windy weather with clear skies. The team began their descent around 7:30 a.m. and will return to Ashford later this afternoon.
Way to climb!
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We are so enjoying following your journey and the pictures are magnificent. Continuing to pray for good weather, safety, and health of all of you! Godspeed!
Posted by: Shari Ramsey on 6/24/2018 at 9:28 am
Jon & Margaret - Stay healthy and in good spirits. I check this blog every day.
Posted by: Joy Reuter on 6/24/2018 at 8:29 am
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