Entries from Denali

Thursday, June 23, 2022 9:41 pm PDT

We made the big move from 8,000 to 11,000 ft today.   This was on mostly familiar terrain for us, of course.  But the unfamiliar parts brought us into a whole new world.  We set out at 5:30 AM from the base of Ski Hill in perfect conditions for mountain climbing.  It was cool, shady and calm and the snow surface was frozen up nicely.  We cruised right on past our food and fuel cache from yesterday and reached the head of the 46-mile long Kahiltna Glacier.  What remained was a little steeper terrain on a feeder glacier, but we managed that hard work without any trouble and pulled into camp at 11 AM.  Things had clouded up a little, which was a good thing, keeping the sun off us as we did the hard pull into camp.  It was nice to be greeted by Andy Bond and his RMI team, enjoying their rest day at 11K.  We set into the hard work of building a new camp at a new elevation.  The clouds began to fade, and we were stunned at the beauty of our surroundings.  Whereas the scenery from within the valleys has been great, now that we are getting up a little, we can start to see out.  The glacial ice surrounding us is endlessly fascinating with giant walls and towers pitched at impossible angles.  We napped away the intense sun that came with the afternoon.  Dinner in a new camp with a new view was excellent. 

Tomorrow we’ll go back down for our supplies. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Thursday, June 23, 2022 7:28 pm PDT

What a day, what a day!

The weather was a little up and down but all things considered allowed us to move to 17k camp. It is a burly move. The morning started we suspect clouds but they soon gave way to mostly clear skies. Of course by time we started to walking the clouds came back and made for some tough seeing. Buy we made it to the fix lines and were greeted by a snowy slope making for better walking. We cruised the fixed lines, dug up our cache at 16,400 and continues our journey up. More fix line bring us to Washburn's thumb and on the buttress ridge. It is an amazing walk with amazing exposure. One last snow slope dips us into our new home. Life isn't easy up here but we make strong work setting up camp and making water. Dinner is currently being served, scrumptious dehydrated Mountain House. We are working on relaxing and recovering for tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be our big day. The weather looks good enough and is our opportunity before the winds pick up and shut the door on us.

Wish us luck!!

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Wednesday, June 22, 2022 - 10:18 pm PT

Greetings from airy 11,000' Camp where the mountaineers flock like the salmon of Capistrano. Would you indulge us in settling this morning’s debate: is there a more superior cereal than Cinnamon Toast Crunch (CTC to those in the know). This writer thinks not and attributes todays stellar team performance to this fortifying breakfast enjoyed over laughter and the spirit of camaraderie that only six days of shared tents, suffering and toilet buckets can conjure.

Today’s adventure began with the famed Motorcycle Hill. We cruised harder than Harry and Floyd en route to Aspen. Squirrel Hill elevated us to new and exciting views as we caught our breath before crossing the polo field. No polo was played. And then of course the much anticipated windy corner, which was hot and windless. Overall a gain of over 3000 feet.

On the descent the heavens darkened and in recognition of the fervor and prowess of this team, released thunder that rolled and echoed off the surrounding ice. We have declared our team name: the thundercats. And like Thor wielding his hammer, the thundercats will brandish their ice axes on the upper mountain if the weather allows.

We have handed off the hula hoop to Hannah’s team at 14,000'. Kiira claims she cannot be beaten in a hula hoop contest. We beg to differ, and look forward to proving it in a couple short days when we return to 14k to claim our camp and our cache and our hula hoop title.

We are enjoying resting at camp tonight and have planned a spa day for tomorrow. The hot springs here are just divine.

RMI Climber Holly

Wednesday, June 22, 2022 - 9:43 pm PT

We set out at 6:30 AM today for a carry of food and fuel.  Skies were clear and winds were calm as we walked through the early morning shadows up Ski Hill.  Ski Hill wouldn’t actually have been such great skiing with about a half dozen crevasses opening up, but it wasn’t bad for walking.  We enjoyed great views of Denali’s steep South Face and of the rocky southern aspect of Kahiltna Dome.  Our loads were considerably lighter than those we carried yesterday and we made good time.  The terrain got easier as we cruised along the plateau before Kahiltna Pass.  We cached at 9700 ft at about 10 AM, burying the supplies deep enough to thwart the ravens.  It took just over an hour to descend to camp, by which time the sun was getting quite strong.  We did a few camp chores before diving in the tents to snooze the afternoon away.  It was burrito night on the Kahiltna.  We filled up and most of the team was getting ready to turn in -under skies that had clouded up- by 7:30. 

The plan is to move on up to 11,000' Camp tomorrow if the weather cooperates. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Wednesday June 22nd - 5:34pm PT

To the edge and back. Not a lot of excitement today, given it was a rest day.

Breakfast burritos started our day and led into a walk to the Edge of the World. The Edge of the World is a cool rock feature one can stand on, a lot like pride rock on Lion King but this one had a relief of 7,000 feet. The view will give you chills from the beauty and the sheer height of it. The walk is short but is nice to stretch the legs. Our legs are about to have a handful of large days coming their way. More napping and snacking have wrapped our day, along with a visit from another RMI team who did their carry to 14k camp.

Tomorrow we are hoping to move to 17k camp and be in position to summit this beast. It's all so close and yet, so far away. Send all the good weather vibes our way.

All the best,

Hannah and Team

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 - 10:02 pm PT

The alarm rang at 12:30 AM today.  We sprang right up, ready to escape basecamp and truly get this expedition underway.  Skies were clear -which was exactly what we were hoping for in order to get the glacier surface well frozen.  Travel is easier when walking atop the snow rather than sinking in, travel is safer when the snow bridging crevasses is frozen solid, and travel is more pleasant when it is cool.  We dressed up, had a breakfast together and then we split up to knock down tents and get geared for travel.  There is plenty to do on such a morning.  Especially the first morning for a team.  We were still getting ready three hours later and finally the rope teams started moving at 3:40 AM.  We began by going downhill to the main Kahiltna Glacier.  It was hard work, trudging along on snowshoes under heavy packs and pulling fully loaded sleds.  But it was made pleasant by the incredible scenery  - it was particularly beautiful seeing the colorful early morning sunshine lighting the upper slopes of Mt. Foraker.  We met a handful of guided teams “heading for the barn”.   They’d been successful in reaching the top and were excited to be in the final stretches.  Always enjoyable for the guides on our team to see friends from other companies and other continents. 

Progress was steady and conditions were good enough.  The glacier has obviously lost a lot of snow in recent warm and dry weeks and so crevasse bridges were  sagging, but workable.  We pulled into our intended camp at the base of Ski Hill (8000’) after about six hours.  There was a fair bit of work -as always- to dig a new home in the snow, but we got it done and we’re able to dive in the tents so as to get some well earned naps and some time out of the sun.  By our dinner in the dining tent, snow clouds were pushing in from the north and spitting moisture our way.  Temperatures were on the chilly side as we did final chores and turned in for the evening.  We hope to do a “carry” tomorrow, if given half a chance. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 - 9:56 pm PT

Hey hey hey,

You freeze, you fry they say in the mountains and oh did we do both. A frosty morning greeted us as we packed for our carry and ate our cherrios. Hot coffee brings you to your happy place as you thaw your fingers on the vessel. It's a quick walk to the edge of camp before the terrain steepens and we approach the bergschrund where the fixed lines begin. It's steep gaining the West Buttress but man are the views great. A birds eye view of 14,000' Camp give perspective along with the grandeur of everything around us. We bumped just another couple vertical feet up the Buttress before digging our hole for our cache. The morning started cold but soon turned to hot when the sun arrive. By time we got to our cache it was windy and clouds were swirling around us. As we retraced our steps back to the fixed lines we lost the wind and then entered a mega heat bubble. The temps swing so drastically, so quickly out here. It was a solid day of work today that deserves a rest day tomorrow. We are now in position to wait for a weather window to go for our summit bid.

Here's to waiting and being pateient,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 - 8:49 pm PT

The weather couldn’t make up its mind today-  it was cold, it was hot, it was sunny, it was cloudy, it was clear, it was snowy, it was windy, and it was still. It literally couldn’t make up its mind from minute to minute. This of course necessitated putting on and taking off layers, putting on sunscreen, and opening and closing the vestibules. Our heads are still spinning.

Today was what we called a reverse carry day which means we headed down hill to retrieve our cache from 10,000' and hoofed it back up the hill to camp. Andy called this a rest day. His idea of a rest day is a little demented in my opinion. On the Appalachian trail, we would have called this a Nero day (translation- nearly a zero day). 

We also prepped for tomorrow by deciding what we are going to carry up to 14,000' Camp for caching. The strategy is to split our load so no one day is heavier than the other.

Camp life today involved consuming large volumes of food while we still have an appetite which also means we don’t have to carry it. Many of us are finding out that we packed way too much food and are excited when anybody is willing to eat some of it. We also tossed around some deep questions like -if you could go back in any period of history when would it be? My answer was the future, specifically the day we summit this massive mountain. You may have also heard that one member of our team is carrying a hula hoop up the mountain. After a little research project from our followers, we learned that if our team member is successful in hula hooping for 30 seconds on the summit, they will break the record for the highest hula hooping. The current record is on Kilimanjaro at 19,300'.  Stayed tuned.

RMI Climber Mary-Beth

Monday, June 20, 2022 - 10:17 pm PT

Today we moved camp from 7,800' to 11,200'. The weather has been in our favor, and we are right on schedule. This move was a big effort. We gained 3,400 vertical feet over about 3.5 miles with backpacks and sleds in 5.5 hours. Steve’s hula-hoop proved to be a challenge in the 6 inches of fresh snow we got overnight as it acted like a West Virginia earth mover until he put it were it belonged - around his waist. Over the last 1,000', we encountered the rare Type 2.9 fun but RMI Guides Andy, Grayson and Ben kept us moving and motivated. Andy only threatened to turn the car around once. One of the benefits of later season trips is moving into tent platforms and toilet facilities that were already built by teams ahead of us on the mountain. So, like stinky cuckoos, we rolled into 11,200' Camp and got set up quickly. Huge amounts of carbs and electrolytes were consumed. Then we napped. And napped some more.

Tonight we dine in a proper posh. Bacon Mac & Cheese is the main course followed by sleeves of Oreos and mini Snickers bars. Everybody is happy and healthy and the weather is lining up. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

For the comments, what do you call a huge pile of cats?

-Hyde

Monday, June 20, 2022 - 8:39 pm PT

Hello all,

Well today is a low reporting day. It was a rest day. We rested. We ate. We napped. We reviewed skills. And we ate dinner. Rest days can be hard. Hard to not think about home. Hard to not think about the summit, on whether you have what it takes or not. Just hard to not get inside your head too much. That's where napping comes into play. One can simply dream of something else. These rest days are important though for our bodies to recover. Recover so we can have a good carry day and later a good move and summit. Tomorrow, as long as the weather holds, we will carry our gear higher so that we are in position to move to High Camp. Snow flurries have danced all day, so hopefully they take a rest from their twirling, dancing fall from the sky and allow us to have a good day.

Talk tomorrow,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team