Entries from Denali
June 1, 2021
Posted by: Mike King, Alex Halliday, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
Tuesday, June 1, 2021 - 3:10 pm PT
The forecast ended up being accurate for a change. We got light snow and wind beginning around midnight that has intensified over the morning. Between the wind, snow and lack of visibility we are staying at 11,200’ today in hopes of making a carry to 13,500’ when the weather allows. Until then we are enjoying the heavier meals and lot of good stories in the kitchen tent. While not the most exciting part of the trip, days like this let the legs rest and the heart/lungs acclimate which will only help us up higher on Denali.
June 1, 2021
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Matias Francis, Chase Halbert
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Denali
Elevation: 17,200'
Tuesday, June 1, 2021 - 12:03 pm PT
Happy June 1st! It doesn't feel like it much here at 17K. We missed sending a dispatch last night because of some electronic technical difficulties that are resolved, but you should have heard via RMI Alaska Team led by Mike Walter that we all moved to 17K yesterday on a perfect day. It was relatively warm, calm, sunny, and as we were the first few teams out of camp, were able to move smoothly up the fixed lines and along the West Buttress.
We had hopes of going for the summit today, but the chance of snow that often only brings precip to the lower mountain defied that hope overnight and into today. We've got 3 to 4 inches of new snow in camp, still snowing, low vis, and just enough wind to move it around at maximum efficiency. It was a pretty easy call to stay in the tents today and ride it out, hoping that tomorrow brings clearer conditions.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Matias Francis, Chase Halbert, and team
Wahoo to ALL of you! What a thrill to watch your progress from afar. I say sleep for days has been well earned!! I am so very proud of each of you and all the major steps you took to get there and then to make the summit. Wow is all I’ve got and thanks to the team of guides who kept you safe and focused and climbing!!! Amazing!
Posted by: Bethany on 6/3/2021 at 4:22 am
Can’t wait to hear you made it to summit - good luck Matt! All the way!
Posted by: Mitchell Fry on 6/2/2021 at 5:03 pm
June 1, 2021
Posted by: Mike Walter, Avery Parrinello, Luke Wilhelm
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 17,200'
Tuesday, June 1, 2021 - 11:26 am PT
Snow and wind moved in last night, so both RMI Denali Expeditions led by RMI Guides Mike Walter & Pete Van Deventer are resting, tent bound at 17,000' Camp. The weather is not violent, but it is miserable outside of our tents with lots of blowing snow. On the upside, it’s pretty warm for 17,200’.
Hopefully tomorrow’s forecast verifies and we’ll have a chance for a summit bid. In the meantime we’re trying to stay warm and dry, hydrated and fed.
Hi Ben!
Hopefully you and your team are sitting on top of the world today! What a courageous and impressive challenge you chose. Looking forward to seeing your photos and hearing your stories. Stay safe!
Pat and Althea
Posted by: Althea Daley on 6/2/2021 at 5:32 pm
Hoping you all made it to the summit today. We can’t wait to hear how it went, especially Alex’s mom!
Posted by: Jackie Woolley on 6/2/2021 at 1:04 pm
June 1, 2021
Posted by: Eric Frank, James Bealer, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Monday, May 31, 2021 - 11:09 pm PT
Sunday, May 30th, started out clear and cold but quickly warmed up as the sun hit our camp. The good weather meant moral was high in 14,000' Camp as everyone who was acclimated and ready to go started to climb towards High Camp at 17,200'. We, of course, being new to this high elevation stayed in camp and watched the conga line turn into a log jam at the base of the fixed lines. We made good use of our day by brushing up on our fixed line and running belay techniques. At the end of the day a well worn trail was stomped in by the uphill traffic and left us feeling optimistic about our own plans to cache at 16,200'.
Today (May 31) the team braved a cold morning in order to get a head start out of camp. We climbed up the fixed lines and cached at 16,250' on the West Buttress. The afternoon turned into a scorcher on the way down as the solar energy made it feel like 90 degrees outside. We returned to camp and had delicious burritos for dinner.
Congratulations Norm and your team! Stay safe and enjoy, can’t wait to see the pics and hear the stories!
Posted by: Linda Hill on 6/3/2021 at 8:55 pm
Elliot - looks like an incredible adventure!! Hope you and the team stay safe and warm. Keep on trucking and enjoy the views!
Alex
Posted by: Alex Thornton on 6/1/2021 at 8:22 pm
June 1, 2021
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Matias Francis, Chase Halbert
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 17,200'
Monday, May 31, 2021 - 10:21 pm PT
Both RMI Denali Expeditions led RMI Guides Mike Walter and Pete Van Deventer made it to High Camp today at 17, 200'. We are busy melting snow and making hot water for dinner. If the weather is good, we hope to go for the top tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Yessir! Good luck my guy. xoxo
Posted by: Z on 6/1/2021 at 8:39 am
I hope you make it
Posted by: Erin on 6/1/2021 at 8:09 am
June 1, 2021
Posted by: Mike Walter, Avery Parrinello, Luke Wilhelm
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 17,200'
Monday, May 31, 2021 - 10:21 pm PT
Both RMI Denali Expeditions led RMI Guides Mike Walter and Pete Van Deventer made it to High Camp today at 17, 200'. We are busy melting snow and making hot water for dinner. If the weather is good, we hope to go for the top tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Wow. Spectacular. Your patience has paid off. Good luck with your summit. Be safe and have a blast at the top of the world.
Posted by: Bruce on 6/1/2021 at 12:10 pm
We are soooooo excited for all of you, but especially BEN! We hear the view from the top is pretty spectacular and we can’t wait to hear all about it! God bless! Pat and Althea
Posted by: Althea Daley on 6/1/2021 at 10:32 am
June 1, 2021
Posted by: Mike King, Alex Halliday, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Monday, May 31, 2021 - 4:55 pm PT
After going to bed last night there was an earthquake that shook camp and caused some ice to fall waking up the guides and a few in the group. The others were too deep in sleep from our exhaustive day of trail breaking. Today we got a casual start with a big bacon and cream cheese bagel breakfast. Around 10:30 we headed down to our 9,500’ cache and by 11:30 we had started back up hill in the sunny weather and thin clouds that can feel like your being microwaved. The team did well and are all back in their tents enjoying some down time and their luxurious accommodations. Hard saying what will happen tomorrow cause there is stormy weather in the forecast. We will shoot for a carry of food and fuel around Windy Corner. Thanks for following along.
Climb on Tom!!! I am with you in spirit!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/2/2021 at 3:35 am
May 31, 2021
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Matias Francis, Chase Halbert
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Sunday, May 30, 2021 - 9:45 pm PT
The weather trend is finally improving for us! Today was a relatively pleasant day at 14,000' Camp. The ridgeline above was showing some wind this morning but that diminished through the day. Rather than jump up there and get cold, chilly, and tire ourselves out doing a small cache, we opted to stay in camp, organize, and prep to move to 17,000' Camp tomorrow. That didn't seem to stop most of camp from taking a run at it, which only reinforced our decision. We'll look to get up early tomorrow, be early out of camp, and be settled in to 17,000' comfortably so that we're ready to summit the following day. The pace of things will accelerate now and everybody is excited!
RMI Guides Pete, Matias, Chase, and team
Pulling hard for you Big Marc!! You got this!
Sending love and warmth from your fans in Seattle! Looking forward to cheersing your success with an ice cold rainier
Posted by: Patrick Smyton on 5/31/2021 at 10:31 pm
It is about six pm Pacific and I’m hoping you are all so snug at 17,000’ tonight. Wishing you all safe climbing and clear skies. Go, team, go!!
Posted by: Bethany on 5/31/2021 at 6:07 pm
May 31, 2021
Posted by: Mike King, Alex Halliday, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
Sunday, May 30, 2021 - 9:36 pm PT
I woke to the sound of song birds chirping by our dining tent. That could only mean one thing, that the storm had broken and we’d likely get a nice day to move camp. We woke up at 5 am and we were walking by 8 am. The storm had put 18” of new snow down. Since there were no early risers to break trail, we took that on ourselves. The day was hot and included lots of deep snow. We pulled into 11,200’ Camp at 4 pm. Camp setup, dinner and bed was all the bandwidth we had. Tomorrow we will back carry to 9500’ to retrieve our cache of food and fuel. It’ll feel like a rest day compared the effort put forth today. Goodnight.
Awesome stuff Rob and team! All the best!!
Posted by: Andrew, Alex, Oscar and Anabelle on 5/31/2021 at 10:49 pm
Way to go Abby and team!
Posted by: Mark Westling on 5/31/2021 at 10:09 pm
May 31, 2021
Posted by: Mike Walter, Avery Parrinello, Luke Wilhelm
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Sunday, May 30, 2021 - 4:34 pm PT
The storm finally blew itself out last night at 14k, and we woke to a light breeze and partly cloudy skies. Winds persisted up high and, after an early breakfast, we decided to pump the breaks on moving camp today. The next few days look good in terms of wind, so we’re gunning to move to High Camp tomorrow and hopefully having a shot at the summit.
Over 100 climbers moved or carried up the fixed lines today, making for a heinous traffic jam that we wanted no part of; this is the first big push of the season, as many teams have stacked up waiting for a weather window. If the weather cooperates we plan to get an early (and cold) start tomorrow, with hopes of getting to 17,200’, building camp, and having enough time to recover for a potential summit bid the next day. The weather and the mountain are in control here, though, and we’ll adjust to whatever is thrown our way. We’ll be in touch tomorrow.
We are all hoping for the window to open for you guys. Up-up to the top!! Good Climbing Y’all. Vt. Is thinking of you. N. & P.
Posted by: Sandy on 6/1/2021 at 4:54 am
Fantastic news to hear that the weather has cleared! We’re hoping for continued good spirits, clear skies and a smooth route to the top. Good luck from Vermont! Stay safe y’all.
Posted by: Tracy Wilhelm on 5/31/2021 at 4:31 pm
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I hope you are acclimating well; taking deep breath’s and enjoying such amazing views. Praying for good weather and a safe climb. Cheeseburgers will be waiting for you!
Posted by: claudette Crockett on 6/4/2021 at 5:01 am
Stay warm Rob and team!
Posted by: Connie on 6/3/2021 at 7:41 am
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