Entries By nikki champion
Sunday, June 16, 2019 - 10:13 AM PT
We let the snow surface freeze up a bit after dinner and left camp at 9pm, headed up the
Kahiltna Glacier with our backpacks and sleds loaded with food and supplies we'll need a we move higher. The traveling was efficient and the views were stunning as out team enjoyed beautiful pink alpenglow on Kahiltna Dome and Foraker, two neighboring giants that are dwarfed by Denali.
In three hours time we made it up to around 10,000' where we cache our gear in a hole dug deep into the snow. By 2 am, five hours after we started, we were back at our camp at the Base of Ski Hill and ready for bed.
This morning we slept in and will enjoy an extended egg and bacon brunch. Then we'll have some more resting in store as we will wait for the glacier to freeze up again in order move our camp to 11,200'.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Saturday, June 15, 2019 - 1:51 PM PT
When we hit the sack after dinner last night the weather was beautiful and we expected much of the same today. But the weather threw us a curve ball and at 3 AM we woke to snow and wind. We felt like we were inside of a Ping Pong ball, and the cloud cover prevented the snow from freezing last night. So, all in all, not an ideal morning. We pumped the brakes a little and decided to postpone this morning's climb for tonight. Instead, we had a great breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, and smoked salmon to pass the morning. We're currently still in the Ping Pong ball and wet snow is still falling. Hopefully tonight's weather will treat us better and we can get a cache of supplies up to around
10,000'. We'll keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Friday, June 14, 2019 - 3:35 PM PT
RMI's June 11th
Denali expedition is officially under way. After an orientation with the National Park Service that focused on safety and environmental stewardship, as well as information about the West Buttress climbing route, we spent the rest of the day packing supplies for this three week expedition.
We flew into Basecamp on the Kahiltna Glacier yesterday and promptly hid from the scorching sun as we crawled into our tents. We waited until the snow surface to freeze before we went anywhere which entailed an alpine start at 3 am. The glacier was in great shape and we traveled smoothly without the need of snowshoes for flotation. Here, at Camp 1, at the Base o Ski Hill (7800') we repeated the process of hiding from the sun. Tomorrow we will again take advantage of colder temps and firmer snow and get an alpine start to shuttle supplies up to somewhere around 10,000'. We'll keep you posted as to how it goes.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
The
Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons May 31 - 5 June checked in from Camp Schurman this morning.
RMI Guide Walt Hailes and team returned to camp after making their summit attempt. The team reached 13,200' before high winds forced their decision to turn around. They plan to do some additional training today and spend their last night on the mountain. Tomorrow they return to the trailhead and then back to Rainier BaseCamp.
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall checked in this morning to let us know the entire
Mt. Baker Summit & Ski team reached the summit around 9 am today. All is well and they will descend to camp. Once back at camp they will pack up and continue down to the trail head.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
RMI Guide Steve Gately radioed in at 7:00 AM PT this morning to report a successful summit climb. The team was spending some time enjoying the crater and views of
Mt. Rainier before gearing up for their descent. Steve reported light winds and good conditions.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
The
Four Day Summit Climb August 2 - 5 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today with 100% of their team!
RMI Guides Robby Young, Nikki Champion and Bryce Foster lead their team to the summit of Mt. Rainier around 6:30 AM PT. The team enjoyed a beautiful morning on the mountain with clear skies and good temps. They began their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 AM.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb team!
July 8, 2018
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello, Nikki Champion
Categories:
Elevation: 348'
Sunday, July 8, 2018 - 3:32 AM PT
The team woke... slowly, at 11,000 this morning. Everybody remarked on the value of low altitude slumber. We ate and determined to get lower in honor of the former “tropical storm” headed our way. By this morning, we were the only team left on Denali. While it wouldn’t be quite “normal” to take on the lower
Kahiltna Glacier in July during the afternoon, we decided that a try was in order. The inbound storm was a definite- and it was clear it would be snowing hard for days on end... incompatible with both climbing and flying. So we pulled down Camp at 11,000' by 11:45 AM and got moving with heavy packs and sleds. Conditions were just plain easy to the base of Ski Hill at 7,800'. And then -although we crossed a few spooky snow bridges, things were phenomenally well put together for July 7. We made fine progress to the base of Heartbreak Hill. And although our last 1.5 hours was uphill, it was free of dicey bridges and nervy crevasses. Base Camp was gone at this late date... we passed on to the traditional late season upper strip 20 minutes farther along, reaching it at 7:30 PM. K2 Aviation already had planes in the air for us as they were anxious to beat the storm for our extraction. As we crossed the range, we saw the weather moving in while our ski otters dodged cloud after cloud. We landed in Talkeetna at 9:15 PM and raced to dinner in our mountain clothing, trying to beat closing times in the conventional world. In town, we caught up with all of the neighboring teams from the past three weeks and shared escape stories. We’re all full of amazement and admiration for the mountain that we didn’t climb, but also great satisfaction for the climb that we did have together.
Thanks for keeping track of us... until the next climb.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Saturday, July 7, 2018 2:37 AM PST
Some days you eat the bear...
We’re down at 11,000 ft. We had lofty ambitions this morning but
Denali played hard to get. There was a mean wind blowing through much of the night and sadly right through the morning. We waited it out as long as we could but called it at mid day. Tough as it was to let go of the summit, it was pretty obvious that it was out of reach under the circumstances. We broke camp at 17 and got moving down -as did every last climber on the mountain. A storm is moving in, according to the forecasters. For that though, today was spectacular once we were on the move. There is a bunch of forest fire smoke creating a haze, but we still got great views down to the Kahiltna Glacier as we carefully walked the ridge crest, dropped down the fixed lines, dug out our sleds at 14k and pushed on around windy corner with heavy loads. We piled on down the squirrel hills and motorcycle, and came into 11,000 at 9:30 PM. Our tents went up fast and dinner wasn’t far behind. The air down here is chock full of oxygen and it isn’t nearly so cold as we’ve gotten used to. We’ll get some low altitude sleep and plot our final escape to the airstrip soon.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Thursday, July 5, 2018 10:25 PM PST
Today was better weather than we expected -after a snowy and blowy night- it was crystal clear and calm at camp when the sun hit, there was a sea of clouds below. But the winds were blowing up on
Denali Pass and the South Peak until early afternoon which discouraged us from giving it a go. We’ve got reason to believe that tomorrow -Friday- will be our day. We chalked up another 17,000' rest day and hope that the extra time up high has made us more ready for success. We’re definitely feeling a little more like our old selves now compared to when we first rolled into 17k.
A short walk from camp to the big drop off and we can look down on the empty camp at 14,000'. The last groups of the season are here now and looking to take their shot tomorrow too.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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Happy (belated) Father’s Day to all the Dads on the climb! Hope everyone is staying warm and having a blast—views sound amazing! Since you’re having all the brunch without the mimosas, we’ll be sure to have some ready for when you return. Wishing everyone a wonderful time! :) - Savannah
Posted by: Savannah on 6/17/2019 at 2:42 pm
Glad to hear the weather cooperated for you last night. Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads up there especially Eric. We love and miss you and are having fun watching your progress. Stay safe and have fun. Love, Jack Jack, Maya, Luke, and Jill
Posted by: Jill on 6/16/2019 at 3:47 pm
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