Entries from Denali

Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - 9:45 pm PT

Snow day at 11,000'.  Thankfully the wind calmed down as we went to bed last night.  Through the night and much of today it was just light snow and a lot of cloud. As we ate dinner and told each other stories in the dining tent, the storm ramped up and now, as we climb in tents for the night, it is officially DUMPING snow.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - 8:20 pm PT

After a night of heavy snow we had an awesome breakfast of blueberry pancakes. We then reinforced our camp in anticipation of the continuing storm. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and so I was inspired to write a poem about our adventure. Here goes:

Denali is the mountain, they call it the “great one”.

Here in North America it’s second to none.

To get to the summit, that is our goal. 

Standing so majestic, it captures the soul.

On our way to the top, we have to dig deep.

With courage and strength, a reward we will reap.

On this journey, new friends have been made.

The memories we share will surely never fade.

Each step gets us closer to reaching our dream.

I know we can do it, we have a great team.

Look up to the clouds, the beauty that we see.

Rising so high, its name is Denali.

RMI climber Mark Kulow

Monday 19, 2023

The sun quickly parted from 14,000’ camp this morning and we were then met with slushy snow.  We had a brunch fit for kings as Guide Andy procured brie and other items from descending parties. It added a certain sophistication to our bacon cream cheese bagels.  The day kicked off with a chess open in the main tent, joined by a local chess legend from International Mountain Guides, the team *cough Lenhardt* were humbled by their opponents’ prodigious skill and unassuming demeanor. Nevertheless, Guide Jack, Katharine and our very special Big Strong Andy assembled an impromptu chess board made of duct tape and packaged substances whose legal status is in question back on the lower 48.  The games were played with much merriment and sportsmanship.  For his final act, Guide Joey prepared for us another purloined comestible. The meatballs tasted even meatier as we were not the ones who brought them up.

As the snow falls, the team, hydrated and breathing light, await further developments in weather to allow for progress later in the week. Our pieces continue to act in concert for the real checkmate.

RMI Guides Andy, Jack, Joey and Team

Monday, June 19, 2023 - 10:07 pm PT

At 5 AM there were already some signs of the storm coming in up high but thankfully it was calm where we were. We left camp at 7:30 and gained 1,000' in 90 minuntes.  We put up camp at 11,000' right next to Dom's RMI team and dug in deep.  By midday it was snowing and the wind was coming up.  We sat out the afternoon in tents. Dinner was in our dining tent in reasonably good shelter as it got a bit meaner outside. We saw a number of unsuccessful teams passing through headed down. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Monday, June 19, 2023 - 8:49 pm PT

We awoke early to crisp cold air, and stepped out of our tents onto the fresh snow which was like a field of frozen Baja-blast. We then headed downhill to bring up our cache, The sound of our snowshoes crunching on the ice sounded not too unlike biting into a fresh Crunchwrap supreme. Once we reached our cache we stuffed our duffel bags like they were beefy 5-layer burritos, and then we were on our way back up the “unrelenting” hill to camp. The sight of our orange sleds sliding across the glacier resembling slices of bacon gliding across a skillet. Out in the distance we had a spectacular view of Mt. Denali, a colossal tower of ice and black rock, looking like a delicious Oreo milkshake.

Once back at camp, after a quick meal of smoked salmon and cream-cheese bagels, there was no time to rest as we prepped our  camp for some snowy and windy weather for the next few days, cutting ice blocks and building walls in an assembly line like a bunch of McDonald’s workers prepping the most delicious McDouble….And it looks like this McDouble will be our home for the next few days.

RMI Climber Joey Myers

Sunday, June 18, 2023 - 10:02 pm PT

A much better start to the day today.  We made good use of it and were on the trail by 6:50.  Glacier conditions continue to be excellent with few crevasses. We intended to move to 9,500 ft but the team was doing so well that we pushed on up to 10,000 at Kahiltna Pass. Word is that a storm will hit tomorrow evening. We wanted to be closer to the shelter of 11,000' Camp and took the precaution of sending Dustin, Michael and Sam up with food and fuel to lighten loads tomorrow. They were back in camp at 6pm. We enjoyed dinner together in the dining tent. The fathers on the team told of their children as we marked Father's Day on Denali.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Sunday, June 18, 2023 - 9:54 pm PT

After an early wake up of 0330 and a quick breakfast the team began the ascent toward 11,000' Camp. The brisk morning air called for thick gloves and layers that were quickly shed as the sun broke over the peak, illuminating the lower Kahiltna Glacier. The suns rays consistently beat down on the team and in combination with the still air caused an almost equatorial heat, despite the ambient air temperature being near freezing. The vastness of the Kahiltna cannot be understated. While sitting on the top of Ski Hill we speculated we could see nearly 15 miles to where the glacier took a turn out of view. Outside of the vibrant, tropical colors worn by the climbers, the only other colors were the icy blue of the sky, white snow, and black rocks jutting out from cliff sides. Despite the lack of other visual stimuli the shear beauty of this area strikes the team with awe every morning when they rise from their tents.

RMI Climber Travis Sturckow

Sunday, June 18, 2023 - 7:32 pm PT

The entire crew wishes everyone a happy Father’s Day! It’s probably not how I envisioned spending my first Father’s Day as a dad, but I can think of worst places to be than 14 camp. I’m sure over the years I’ve given my dad many grey hairs and stressful nights during my adventures in the mountains. I’m sure my boy will do the same if he chooses to spend time in mountains. I know everyone up here appreciates the sacrifices our loved ones at home have made so we can be up here on Denali.

After avoiding the logjam yesterday up the fixed lines, we had the route up to the buttress to ourselves and cruised up to the top of the fixed lines to stretch the legs and get to a higher altitude. After getting back to camp we listened music while having a block party (aka building walls around our camp) in anticipation of significant snow and wind in the coming days. We probably have the best camp at 14! Our team is really firing on all cylinders and has become a family. There’s already talk about a reunion in the coming years.

I can’t thank Bleys, Mike, Steve and Kerry for all their efforts in weather forecasting and the conversations I’ve had with them. It’s admittedly a weird position to be in without internet and see for myself what the weather models are saying. So I can’t thank you enough for keeping us safe. We were holding out hope that our friends launching for the summit today would get it in but high winds and a cloud cap thwarted their efforts. It’s been a challenging season with stormy weather on Denali this year and our trip has been no different. Unfortunately for our loved ones at home it’s going to be a while longer before we make it off the mountain. Stormy weather is expected through Thursday with a possible summit window Friday and Saturday. Our team remains positive and everyone is feeling strong if and when our window comes. 

I promise though we’ll be home before July hopefully with a summit!

RMI Guide Andy Bond

June 17, 2023 11:04 PM PT

Day 12 of our Denali climb.

Today we had a sleep in at Camp 3 and woke up in beautiful sunshine and 15cm (6 inches) of fresh powdery snow. We looked at all the climbers who went up the fixed lines to get to 17k camp for a summit push on Sunday, but we all agreed the night before that we need more time at 14k camp before our summit push. We hope for another weather window at the end of next week (fingers crossed). No worries, big strong Andy still has two pounds of cheese left and will be safe.

Instead of climbing, we hired lovely Lenhardt for an intense yoga session to get mentally and physically ready for this mountain. After that railroad, Jeff improved our eating tent to make it comfier for the following days and Katherine worked hard to make Joey's long hair cut more functional and fashionable for the mountain.

The focus of the afternoon was listening to music, chill outside, eat snacks and hydrate, and let our bodies adjust to the new altitude. We also improved our sleeping tents, so the polar bear can sleep well at night and doesn't attack his tent mates. In the evening, Heidi gave us a call to come to the edge of the world for the first round of Denali's Next Top Model. We stretched our legs and walked over to this stunning place where the mountain drops 7,000 feet to the northeast fork of Kahiltna. We had great views of Mount Foraker and the valley. We had a good photoshoot, and all the Bond girls made it to the second round. Heidi was very proud of us. When we came back to our camp, Mr. Bond had already prepared a nice dinner for us.

To finish the day, a short German "th" joke for you . The captain of a boat is calling the German coast guard "Help, we are sinking, we are sinking". The German coast answers "Ok, no worries, what are you thinking about?".

Stephan Schiffer aka Polar Bear

June 17, 2023 10:50 PM PT

It was snowing again at 4 AM when we hoped to get up for climbing. We checked it repeatedly in the following hours but didn't feel good about what we saw.

Eventually, the snow quit, but by then we'd have been pushing up three hours of hill in the hottest part of the day. We decided to call it a rest day instead.

It ended up sunny and hot in the tents and we napped, read and snacked our way through the day.  We'll try again tomorrow.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn