Entries By tyler jones
June 7, 2018
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
Today was another rest day with a top notch breakfast donated from our fellow RMI team
Mike Walter who is currently on the way down to the airstrip. The breakfast quesadilla extravaganza started with snow and ended with heavy snow. We said good bye to Walter team and are looking forward to some training in the next few hours to dial in our technique for the next stage of our climb to carry supplies for our high camp. This will set the stage for our summit push when the weather allows. For now we will out chill the snow and let you know how our carry turns out tomorrow! We are wishing good luck to the
Van Deventer and
Hailes teams as they are pushing to high camp today for their summit bid!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
June 6, 2018
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Wednesday, June 6, 2018 - 4:52 PM PT
After a busy week of pushing up to
14,000' Camp, we took a much deserved first full rest day. The team had a rough nights sleep at our new altitude and learned how to manage the morning “snowstorm” in the tent that develops from the condensation our breath gives off and freezes on the inside of the tent walls. To sum it up, it’s not a pleasant way to wake up! Despite that, we got to sleep in and wait for the sun to hit our tents before we had a big breakfast with bagels, cream cheese and salmon!! The morning sun helped dry out our sleeping bags before some afternoon snow showers moved through. Tomorrow we might have a more active rest day filled with some training and a walk to the Edge of the World. All and all, the team is enjoying some rest and should sleep much better tonight as our bodies continue to acclimate to our new elevation.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
June 5, 2018
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
Tuesday, June 5, 2018 - 4:28 pm PT
Well our lucky streak with the weather continued today. The Team was up early packing our equipment and taking down tents for our move to
14,200ft camp. The group of gentleman we have on this trip seem to get stronger each day developing skills both physically and mentally. Though we are all a bit warn down from this week's efforts, we are happy at our newly-built camp in the basin. We have spectacular view from our tents, which are currently glacier-front property. We are sitting pretty and looking forward to a full rest day tomorrow along with hydration, acclimatization, and a few skills for higher on the mountain. The camp will also get a few upgrades I’m sure.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
June 5, 2018
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Monday, June 4, 2018 - 10:00 PM PT
The gang awoke to a clear, crisp morning on the day of our carry to 14, 000' Camp. The group was raring to go and many could hardly sit still. Whether it was excitement or to keep the cold at bay was difficult to tell. Today would be the first day of climbing, when the group would strap on crampons and walk with an ice ax in their hand. This would be made even more difficult by the ever thinning air as we gain more than 3,000' of elevation on our way to
14,000' Camp. However, this group of climbers, after tackling the approach into 11,000' with professional style, would not be phased by things as trivial as thin air, heavy packs, and the guides incessant reminders to rest step and pressure breath. Right out of camp the climbing hits you head on with a steep slope known as Motorcycle Hill. Lucky for us the snow had been packed down and our crampons with their many points allowed us to send motorcycle with ease. At the top of our first obstacle we were treated to views of the Peters Glacier as well as the Father and Sons wall, an impressive alpine face of granite and blue ice. Further in the distance the wilderness of the Alaskan tundra stretched far beyond the limitations of the human eye. The scale out here is truly impressive. Reinvigorated by the views, the climbers were ready to scamper up squirrel hill and charge across the polo fields straight to Windy Corner. Again luck was on our side as the often ferocious Windy Corner would not live up to its name on this day. With the bulk of the hard climbing behind us, only one hill remained between us and our cache site at 14,000'. In the style that us guides have come to expect from our climbers they crushed the last hill and strolled into 14,000' Camp with ample energy. Friends and other climbers from RMI groups ahead of us treated us with smiles and a much needed water refill as we dumped our gear in our cache and prepped for our return to our Camp at 11,000'. The day was only half over. With water and snacks in our bellies we turned our boots down hill hoping to make it back to the safety and comfort of our tents before the snow turned to mush and the sun baked our minds. The climbers of the Jones expedition once again did not disappoint as all members of our group made it safely back to camp in time for lunch and well earned nap.Tomorrow will be another big day if the weathers on our side?
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika and Nick Scott
On The Map
June 3, 2018
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
Monday, June 3, 2018 - 3:11 pm PT
The sun is shining and the weather is sweet at
11,000 feet. We were singing a sweet song as the walking was easy to grab our our cache back at 10,200 feet. To the rescue came quesadillas for breakfast filled with eggs, hash browns and bacon along with some rest day vibes from Bob Marley. We want y'all to know our bellies are full and we are taking it easy this afternoon with some training later this afternoon as we begin the climbing portion of our expedition. We will stir it up in the kitchen tonight and prepare ourselves for another hard day, as we will be jammin’ up to 14,000' camp to cache half of our group and personal supplies. We are hoping for another natural, mystic day tomorrow.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
June 2, 2018
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Saturday, June 2, 2018 - 3:23 PM PT
Early this morning we broke down camp under perfect conditions! The team climbed remarkably strong and we made great time up to our
Camp III at 11,000'. We arrived in mid morning to avoid traveling while in the heat of solar rays and overheating our engines.
The crew then built camp in short order now we’re settling in for a mid day siesta. We’re strong, happy and stoked with our performance.
Tonight we will have a feast of Annie’s Mac and cheese, then we will try to be up before the sun hits us in the morning for a short back carry to retrieve yesterday’s load of groceries, fuel, and personal luggage. That’s all for now from our new camp and currently the rest and hydration station.
Cheers,
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Brian Mazaika, and Nick Scott
On The Map
June 1, 2018
Posted by: Tyler Jones
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 9,600'
Friday, June 1, 2018 - 4:58 PM PT
Today we awoke to a clear and cold morning in camp and after breakfast we began the hour long climb up
Ski Hill. Taking advantage of the brisk temperature, it allowed us to stay cool and good snow conditions had us walking in just our boots. Walking without snowshoes let us set a good pace to our cache site at 10,200 ft. At the cache, we left some group meals, extra personal food and gas that we don’t need for a few days. After burying our gear, we descended back to camp in bluebird skies, sun and incredible views of the Lower Kahiltna glacier. Soon enough however, the heat of the sun had us retreating back down to camp and into our tents for some rest and relaxation after a hard morning. The menu for tonight calls for some quesadillas, which is most often a favorite meal on the mountain! If the weather holds true tomorrow, we hope to make the ascent again tomorrow and move our camp to 11,200'.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
May 31, 2018 - 5:28 pm PT
Less than twelve hours after arriving at Kahiltna Base Camp, we woke early, ready for the first leg of our ascent. After quickly breaking down camp and eating an even quicker breakfast, we loaded the last of our gear into our already over burdened expedition sleds and began the walk down heart break hill towards the vastness of the Kahiltna Glacier. The morning was cold and crisp. Perfect conditions for the route to our camp at 7,800 feet. Snowshoes would not be necessary today as the snow was firm and smooth. The skies were clear with only minimal clouds capping the summit of Mount Foraker to the west and a bit of haze blocking our view of
Denali to the north. Our group of hopeful climbers looked like a freight train as our three rope teams chugged along with our sleds in tow towards our objective for the day, moving one step closer to the slopes of the West Buttress. After several hours of hard walking, we arrived in camp at the base of Ski Hill and set up our temporary homes for the next few days. Today was easy compared to what lies ahead, but our group of climbers looks strong and ready for the challenge.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
Wednesday, May 30, 2018 - 11:40 PM PT
Today we got a nice breakfast in town and headed over to the hanger for a final bit of packing. The weather turned out to be a bit fickle so we started some training to pass the time and our fingers were crossed for improving weather. We went to our lunch break and just when the rain started in town the mountains opened and we got the word we would try to fly on the glacier. We’re finally here at
Base Camp and will make our first move early in the morning toward 7,800 camp at the base of Ski Hill. We enjoyed our first dinner as the skies were clearing and caught a glimpse of Denali in the distance!
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika and Nick Scott
On The Map
Tuesday, May 29, 2018 - 5:27 PM PT
Hello from the
RMI Denali Expedition, Team Jones! Last evening we all met in Anchorage and drove up to Talkeetna early enough to enjoy our first dinner in town and begin to get to know one another. Today, we started with an early breakfast knowing we had a lot of preparations to do in hopes of flying onto the Kahiltna Glacier tomorrow. We spent the day inspecting our gear, organizing our packs and reviewing some mountain skills like setting up our tents and how to rig our sleds we will be towing the beginning of our expedition. It’s been a busy day but the group has been managing the time well and we are ready to go! Thanks for reading our first blog and we look forward to sharing our adventure as we move along the next couple weeks!
R
MI Guides Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika and Nick Scott
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Dave and Team! Keep it up! Thinking of you and praying for clear blue skies!
Posted by: Paul on 6/9/2018 at 5:56 am
Dave and team, thinking of you guys and hoping the weather clears and you get some clear, calm skies. Couldn’t quite see the mountain from the office, but had a great view of the sleeping lady this afternoon. Pray for us as we embark a hike to Thunderbird Falls with the kids on Sunday - 2 miles/100 feet elevation gain round trip.
Much love,
B
Posted by: Beth on 6/8/2018 at 9:03 pm
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