Entries By solveig waterfall
May 14, 2015, 6:20 pm PT
Checking in here from
11,200 ft: Today we awoke to less than desirable weather for a potential carry. Gusty winds and snow prompted a welcomed rest day. The team slept in and once awake began the process of fixing up camp and repairing the cook tent. A multiple hour breakfast of eggs, meats, and hashbrowns gave way to some socializing around camp, and on and off napping. The team is in good spirits and hoping to begin the eventual process of moving to 14,000 camp as soon as the weather improves.
RMI Guide Billy Haas and the team
May 13, 2015, 10:49 pm
The weather today was a bit squirrelly, but we were able to make it back down to our cached gear at 9,600' and haul it back up to our camp at 11,200'. We're all doing well out here and sitting pretty on the mountain. Our next mission will be to take a cache of food and fuel up around Windy Corner at around 13,600'. We plan on tackling that tomorrow if the weather allows us. Today would have been too windy for a foray to higher altitudes.
We're all excited for the next stages of the climb, where we exchange snowshoes for crampons, and trekking poles for ice axes. We're also psyched at climbing steeper terrain and enjoying the ever ever impressive views.
That's the news from this end. We'll keep you up to date with our progress.
RMI Guide Mike Walter and team.
On The Map
May 12, 2015 11:00 pm PT
Hello everyone!
We tackled our third day of
Mt. McKinley climbing today, which brought us to camp at 11,200'.
The team did exceptionally well and we made great time, rolling into camp before it became uncomfortably hot on the glacier.
Once here we had a big task ahead of us, constructing tent platforms and a kitchen and bathroom. Thankfully we were able to make use of some old walls and platforms that only required minor adjustment to make them workable for our tents, saving us at least an hour of hard labor. The bathroom and kitchen required the most effort, but the team rotated through the shoveling and we now have a luxurious Posh House dining area which we enjoyed over a filling dinner of mac and cheese with bacon and broccoli.
We are all tucked in now, enjoying the last few minutes of sunlight in camp in the comfort of our sleeping bags, looking forward to a nice rest and short day tomorrow. Our plan is to sleep in a bit later than the last few mornings, and then return to our last camp to retrieve our remaining food.
We'll check in again tomorrow!
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall and the team!
On The Map
May 11, 2015 9:10 pm PT
Greetings from the
Kahiltna Glacier! Our team is making steady progress, and we're currently at our camp at 9,600'. The weather has been beautiful since we were able to land on the glacier on Sunday. The climbing is strenuous, as always, as we carry heavy backpacks and pull full sleds. This morning we tackled "Ski Hill", our first real significant incline, followed by rolling glacial terrain until we reached camp. Camp is all set up and we are busy cooking dinner. We'll try to rack out early tonight for some well-earned rest. Tomorrow we plan to make a cache of equipment here, at our current camp, in order to lighten our expedition loads. Then the plan is to then move up to the 11,200' camp; we'll come back for the cached gear the following day. That's the plan at least. Our plans are always at the mercy of the weather in the mountains.
That's it for now. Everyone is healthy and in good spirits. We'll touch base again tomorrow, hopefully from 11k camp.
RMI Guide Mike Walter and the team
On The Map
May 11, 2015 12:51 am PT
Hi everyone!
We finally had a break in the weather and were able to fly on to the glacier this morning. After days of waiting in
Talkeetna, we were all eagerly anticipating our flight this morning. We took off just after 9 am, and once on the glacier we packed and organized our gear quickly in order to make the most of the day.
We are now snug in our tents at the base of Ski Hill (7800') after a long but satisfying day covering the relatively flat lower glacier.
Our group climbed strong, and tomorrow we're looking forward to moving camp farther uphill.
It's nearly midnight and we've all had a big day, so we're going to get some rest and we'll check in again tomorrow!
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall and the team
On The Map
Well the weather gods have not changed their disposition yet, and we're still in
Talkeetna waiting for the weather to improve so that we can fly in to Base Camp on the Kahiltna Glacier.
In the mean time, we took advantage of ample free time to review anchors and crevasse rescue systems in the K2 Aviation hangar.
We'll keep you up to date...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
RMI's 2015
Denali climbing season has started. Our team is assembled in Talkeetna and is preparing for our expedition. Yesterday we started with our National Park Service orientation, and then spent the bulk of the day packing...double and triple checking every last detail of equipment for our trip.
Now that we are packed and ready, we are hoping to fly in to Base Camp on the Kahiltna Glacier today. We are about to head down to K2 Aviation to load out gear onto the single propeller airplanes that will fly us into the Alaska Range. We will keep you updated on our expedition's status.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Hi this is Seth.
Solveig Waterfall and I just wrapped up the first
RMI ski trip of the Spring season here on
Rainier. We had a great five-day trip with a really fun group. We based out of the Paradise area for our days on the mountain and were treated to some of the best ski conditions of the season. this was our 'Intro to Ski Touring' course and as the name implies we spent the majority of the time focusing on the necessary skills to plan and execute several days of backcountry skiing.
We had a clear day to establish our camp followed by two days of precipitation with steadily cooling temperatures. This resulted in fantastic powder-skiing conditions with really good snow stability. The final day was cool but the skies were mostly clear and we were able to get break our camp and some more good skiing. The team was great, the laughs and smiles were non-stop and the days flew by.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
A big thanks to everyone back home! All your wishes for good climbing weather were answered! We woke up at midnight after a deafening storm of rain and hail to perfectly clear skies and calm winds.
The ascent took us just over eight hours and we spent over 45 minutes on the summit enjoying some of the warmest, calmest, conditions I've experienced at
18,600'! After taking photos and celebrating, we descended in just over three hours. We are all now safely back in town enjoying showers, cervesas, and awaiting a delicious dinner at the Reyes Compound.
Tonight we are looking forward to a well deserved rest and then heading home tomorrow!
Thanks for following along,
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall
February 21, 2015
Posted by: Solveig Waterfall, Chase Nelson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 18,701'
Summit!
Solveig called from the top of
El Pico de Orizaba. It was just after 9:00 am Mexico time. The weather was nice with calm winds.
They were going to head back down to Piedra Grande Hut and will check after their descent.
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall
On The Map
I hope the weather improves soon so you can continue your adventure! Chris, had a healthy baby Savannah appointment this week! The boys are doing awesome and enjoy moving you up the mountain poster we made! I’m glad you’re eating well! We love you and are missing you! Good luck to the team and stay safe! Praying for y’all
Posted by: Brooke Q on 5/15/2015 at 10:10 am
Thinking clear blue skies for you all….Chris..Dad and I love seeing the updates. Your breakfast sounded wonderful to have on the mountain…dare I let the cat out of the bag that you are Great at cooking breakfast! Oh and Landon won’t share his Elmo with Cohen…and there isn’t an Elmo for sale in Fairbanks..so Cohen has a Blue Elmo which is really Cookie Monster that Brooke found and he is happy and just thinks Elmo has a blue suit on! :c)
Take care all…Be Safe…every step upward will be amazing!
Posted by: Melissa & Dave on 5/15/2015 at 9:33 am
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