Entries By steve gately
June 13, 2016
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
June 12, 2016 - 10:50 p.m. PDT
The Denali - Upper West Rib Team did a great job today. Blue sky and light wind graced us this morning, and despite a slower than desired departure out of camp everyone climbed really well. As soon as we stepped out of camp we sank up to our knees. This was the first day we got off the beaten path and made our own trail up to the
Upper West Rib. Unfortunately with all the new snow fall in the last couple weeks breaking trail was difficult and energy expensive. Despite this added challenge the team did a great job and we worked our way up to the West Rib at 16,400'. We cached a couple days of food and fuel here and began our descent as the clouds started to roll over the ridge. We're all tired after a high output day but happy with our accomplishments. The weather forecast is calling for a storm approaching tomorrow and lasting a couple days so we will rest and prep for our summit rotation.
Thanks for all the support out there!
RMI Guide
Geoff Schellens and the Upper West Rib Team
June 12, 2016
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,270'
June 12, 2016 - 11:35 am PDT
Good Evening,
Today was a very productive rest day for the
Upper West Rib team here at 14k camp. We slept in, had a slow breakfast of eggs and hash browns with lots of coffee and then relaxed. At around noon we started building snow walls to fortify our camp. The team was unstoppable! These guys worked for hours and even when I told them to take a break, they would be back at it 5 minutes later. We are planing to cache some food and file up on the Rib tomorrow, weather permitting.
Thanks again for following along,
RMI Guide
Geoff Schellens and The UWR Team
June 11, 2016
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,410'
June 10, 2016 - 10:11 pm PT
We woke this morning to much improved weather. Some scattered clouds and a light wind but a huge improvement from yesterday. We had a quick breakfast and set about breaking camp. Just after the sun hit we were off and climbing. The team did a great job today, we had to battle a little around
Windy Corner, it was a bit windy (go figure), but we were out of it soon and on to 14K Camp. After tents were up, everyone settled in to our new home above the clouds. Tomorrow we will do some training and fortify our camp with snow walls.
Thanks for following along with us.
The
RMI Upper West Rib Team
June 10, 2016
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
June 9, 2016 - 9:22 pm PT
We woke up this morning to cold clear sky's with a nippy wind. After a quick breakfast we packed camp, made a cache and got rigged to start climbing. Of course at this point it began snowing heavily, the wind picked up and the visibility went down. We pumped the breaks and hung out in Jake's posh tent for a little bit. By noon thirty we called it and decided to set up
Camp at 11 again. 10 minutes later another guided team returned from an unsuccessful cache attempt saying that it was really nasty up there! After getting tents up we got together for some fresh brewed coffee and snacks, the truffled gouda cheese was a huge hit.
The forecast for tomorrow is looking better so we are planing on moving up tomorrow.
Thanks for following along
The Upper West Rib Team
On The Map
June 9, 2016
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
June 8, 2016 - 10:30 pm PT
The team did an excellent job today. The weather was mealy; periods of light snow, partly cloudy, some wind here and there. Everyone handled all these conditions, and a big climbing day, in stride. We made our way from 11 Camp up Motorcycle Hill, up Squirrel Hill, across the Polo Fields, around Windy Corner and on to 14 Camp. At 14,000' we caught our first glimpse of the
Upper West Rib for a few seconds when the clouds parted. Then we headed back to our home at 11 Camp. Everyone is feeling great and excited to move up a little more.
Thanks for following along, cross your fingers for good moving weather for us.
RMI Expeditions
Upper West Rib Team
On The Map
June 8, 2016
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
June 8, 2016 - 10:04 pm PDT
The weather gods heard our prayers last night and rewarded us with cold clear skies this morning and views south towards Kahiltna Dome and Mount Foraker. Views to the Northeast revealed the first obstacle of our next leg, Motorcycle Hill, and further in the distance the Southern end of the
West Buttress and the Upper Peters Glacier.
Our team enjoyed a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and hash browns and with full stomachs we promptly went to work fortifying our camp by building snow walls around our tents, kitchen and most importantly building a bathroom fit for a Kings royal tush! The rest of the day was spent snacking, lounging and preparing for our carry tomorrow. For the rest of our ascent we will carry part of our gear and food higher on the mountain, in this case to somewhere between 13,600 - 14,000, and then return to our previous camp (11,000) This process not only helps reduce the weight needed to be carried between camps but will also allow the team to begin acclimatizing by climbing high and sleeping low where our bodies can better recover.
We're now settled in for the night and the clouds have rolled back through camp and a light snow is falling. Everyone is doing great and were all excited to be trading sleds and snowshoes for crampons and an ice axe. From here on out we're climbing!
RMI Guide
Steve Gately & Team
June 7, 2016
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
June 6, 2016 - 10:20 pm PT
Welcome back folks! Our team woke this morning to clearing skies down the Kahiltna Glacier with views of Mount Frances, Mount Hunter and Mount Foraker. This is really the first opportunity our team had to get a sense of where we were and what's around us. What a brilliant way to start our day after a stormy evening yesterday! After a quick breakfast we broke down camp, packed our sleds and headed north towards
11k Camp. This day is hard work. Faced with about 1,800ft of vertical and 100lbs of gear per person, it's easily the hardest day we've had so far this trip. But, it's also our last day with heavy sleds until we start our descent. Our team quite excited by that prospect basically drug us to 11k! Okay, well, not quite drug us but they out performed our expectations by a long shot! We're now settled into camp after a few hours of hard work shoveling and digging tent platforms. The clouds have eased there way back in but were hoping for clearer skies tomorrow for the first well-earned rest day of the trip. Thanks for following along! Stay tuned for more!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
June 6, 2016
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 9,500'
June 5, 2016 - 11:33 p.m. PDT
After a late night walking the lower Kahiltna Glacier we decided to sleep in. We had coffee and brunch around 10:30 and then waited to see if the weather would improve before breaking camp. We passed by
Jake's crew and woke them from an afternoon nap, and then on towards Ski Hill. With a heavy pack and sled, there is no way to make the climb up ski enjoyable. The team did a great job gritting their teeth as we slowly made our way up Ski Hill. As we made our way above 9,000' the light snow we had become accustomed to picked up with the wind so we found a flat place around 9,500' and settled in for the night. After pesto tortellini and a hot drink, we crawled into our sleeping bags. Everyone is doing very well and having fun despite the mediocre weather.
Thanks for following along, more tomorrow.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and the
UWR Team
On The Map
June 5, 2016
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7600'
June 4, 2016 - 11:46 a.m. PDT
The team played a lot of hurry up and wait most of the day in Talkeetna. We put the final touches on packing, weighed in for the flight, and waited for a weather window to get into the Alaska Range. Our window opened right around 5 PM and we snuck into
Kahiltna BC just before it socked in again. Once on the glacier we spent a few hours rigging for rope travel and re-packing before we hit the dusty trail. Everyone did a fantastic job and just before 1 AM we set up camp at 7,600' on the Kahiltna That's it for now. We're all really excited to be here.
Thanks for following along,
RMI Guide
Geoff Schellens and The UWR team
June 3, 2016
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 348'
June 3, 2016 - 10:54 pm PT
The
Upper West Rib team started the day like any reasonable person in Talkeetna would, lots of coffee, eggs and bacon at the Roadhouse. From there we headed down to the K2 Hangar and went through all our gear and got packed up for flying into the Alaska range tomorrow. In the afternoon we had our NPS orientation and put the final touches on gear packing before relaxing a little. It began raining here in town but even the inclement weather couldn't bring down the stoke in our group. Everyone is extremely excited to get into the Range. Keep your fingers crossed for good fly weather for us tomorrow.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
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Dubay, you missed a great summit in Baltimore last week for an even better summit. Good fishing (of course Garrick’s boat caught all the fish), good food, good company. Be safe and enjoy. See you soon.
Posted by: Bill Pinkham on 6/14/2016 at 4:42 am
Amazing photos. Lots of thoughts for you all from down here in WA! Happy climbing!
Posted by: Korinne on 6/13/2016 at 2:55 pm
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