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Entries from Denali


Denali Expedition: Gorum & Team Carry Gear to 10,000

Thursday, May 23, 2019, 6:17 PM PT We went to sleep last night surrounded by some of the biggest, most beautiful mountains on earth. When we woke up this morning, all we could see was white. Our blue skies had been replaced by clouds and light snow. Luckily, the change in weather did nothing to slow our progress. We rolled out of our tents, packed up what seemed like a totally unreasonable amount of food and gear, and then headed uphill. We hauled our packs and sleds up to 10,000', dug a hole in the snow, and buried all of our things. In a few days time we will be back to retrieve them, and move them farther up hill. After squirreling away our gear, we boogied back down to camp. The team made excellent work of the downhill, which is always a good sing. We are all dried out and are eating burritos now. Not much else to report from the day. The view were minimal. The work was hard. The plan is to go to bed early and move our camp to 11,000' tomorrow if the weather cooperates. Either way, we are having a great time here on the Kahiltna! RMI Guide JM Gorum

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

So excited for your good weather and great progress! We are all pulling for great weather going forward and successful climbing

Posted by: Ellen Smith Eaton on 5/25/2019 at 7:28 pm

Thanks for the updates! Love you Dad! Rooting for you and hoping for good weather!

Posted by: Katie Knudsen on 5/24/2019 at 8:11 pm


Denali Expedition: Gately & Team Fortify Their Camp at 14K Camp

Thursday, May 23, 2019 3:28 pm PT Today the team focused on fortifying camp, finishing the snow walls that shield our tents from the wind. The Mountain treated us to beautiful morning views above the clouds while we worked, but the weather turned snowy by afternoon. Later in the day, the team practiced using ascenders in order to be prepared for our eventual trip up the fixed lines. Weather allowing, we are hoping to put those skills into practice tomorrow, leaving a cache of summit food at 16,000 feet. RMI Guide Steve Gately
Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

This is such exciting adventure to follow!  I am so proud of my Grandson James!
It is such a pleasure to read each word on every blog—Thank you all for this! On to the Top of the
Denali World with safety!!

Posted by: Pat Howell on 5/25/2019 at 12:37 pm

The blog makes it sounds so beautiful!  Stay safe and can’t wait to see your pictures and hear your stories.

Posted by: Jill and Kristi Snow on 5/24/2019 at 4:21 pm


Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Make a Carry to 17,200’

Thursday, May 23, 2019 9:31 am PT We had a good, long day of climbing on the West Buttress yesterday, pushing all the way the 17,200' camp with our cache. The day started early and cold as we fired up our stoves hours before the sun was on our tents. After an efficient breakfast of granola and hot drinks, we prepared for our day of climbing. Except the mountain had different plans for our early start: a lenticular cloud cap had formed, indicating high winds. Plumes of blowing snow were visible from the summit down to the top of the fixed ropes (16,200'). So we pumped the breaks, stayed warm in our tents, and watched the weather unfold. Finally the winds seemed to abate and we left camp at 10:15. We encountered good climbing conditions and perfectly cool temperatures as we ascended out of camp and then up the fixed ropes. The lower part of the West Buttress was equally enjoyable. Once we topped Washburn's Thumb, around 17,000' we were met with 15-20 mph winds. Those wind speeds are generally not that alarming for mountain climbers, but at this altitude and the cold temps of Denali it made the climbing cold and more challenging. Six hours after leaving camp we arrived at the 17,200' camp where we spent and hour and a half digging a cache hole, sorting gear, and breathing the rare air of altitude. The descent back to camp took us three hours, so vestibule to vestibule we had a 10 1/2 hour day--good training for summit day! Today we are resting and I am about to fire the stoves for breakfast--this time a more leisurely affair with smoked salmon and cream cheese on toasted bagels, a true luxury at 14,200' on Denali. The weather forecast is calling for a strong storm through the weekend. We'll watch how that develops, and hopefully get a weather window for an unmitigated bid early next week. But for now we will rest and fortify camp in anticipation of the weekend's storm. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Hi Peter,

Hope all is well and you are enjoying the adventure.  Sounds WAY harder than sailing to Hawaii, despite the smoked salmon and bagels!  The scenery looks incredible.  Stay warm and safe.

Naomi and the UBC PAR nurses

Posted by: Naomi Roddick on 5/24/2019 at 11:49 am

Wonderful to hear you had such a successful climb yesterday!
Praying for your safety throughout the weekend.

Jim, think about sailing in the warm winds of codorus while you wait it out!!
I’ll be waiting.

xoxo
Mary Beth

Posted by: Mary Beth on 5/24/2019 at 5:58 am


Denali Expedition: Gorum & Team Fly on and Move to Camp 1

Wednesday, May 22, 2019, 11:30 PM PT Well, we are on the Kahiltna Glacier. We have begun the climb! We flew on early this morning with perfect weather, a smooth ride, and amazing views of the Alaska range. After landing, we consolidated and re-organized our gear, picked up fuel from base camp, rigged our sleds, and started walking. After about five hours of travel time, we arrived at 7800 feet, our first camp on the Kahiltna. After setting up tents and building a kitchen we moved into an early dinner. We’re going to try to wake up a little on the early side tomorrow. Our plan is to carry a load up to 10,000 feet. Hopefully, with an early start, we can be back down in camp hiding from the sun during the hottest part of the day. Everyone did really well today despite the warm temps and heavy loads. We’ll check back in tomorrow afternoon. RMI Guides JM Gorum, JT Schmitt and Dustin Wittmier

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Excited and happy for the team’s smooth start!  Appreciate and look forward to the updates!  Positive thoughts and prayers for all!  We love you B!

Posted by: Jennifer Adams on 5/24/2019 at 10:31 pm

Praying for reasonable weather. Sending all kinds of love, especially to JT!

Posted by: Wendy Emmer on 5/24/2019 at 6:45 am


Denali Expedition: Gately & Team See the Edge of the World

The team woke up to gorgeous weather and we enjoyed another lengthy breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns and bacon before heading down to 13,600ft to grab our cached gear. We spent the afternoon fortifying our camp by quarrying snow blocks to build walls around our encampment. With a little time left to spare before dinner we all walked out to an area known as "The Edge of the World". By walking out to the edge of Genet Basin, where 14K Camp sits, you're met with 6,000ft of relief straight down to the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. One by one each climber is belayed out to a perch of rock that overhangs the immense exposure. Easily some of the most epic and grand photos you'll ever take in your lifetime. We're back at camp now and ready to dive into another dinner. Tomorrow the plan is to take another rest day and finish fortifying our camp ahead of some stormy weather arriving this weekend. The team is all doing great and enjoying their time here at 14,000ft. RMI Guide Steve Gately
Leave a Comment For the Team (1)

Go, brother Kelby, go! Good luck, gang. You’re crushing it!

Posted by: Phil Richardson on 5/23/2019 at 7:31 am


Denali Expedition: Gately & Team Move to 14K Camp

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 8:43 pm PT The winds from the previous day had subsided overnight an we woke up to mostly clear skies. You could see the south winds hammering the pipe West Buttress from camp. By the time we made it through breakfast, the winds dropped and we were in camp. With warmer temps forecasted and only light winds in camp we opted to try for the move. Long story short, it was windy. The kind of wind that your walking straight into for hours. The team did well taking care of hands, feet and faces. We finally found a break from the torrent at 13,600ft. A long hard day brought us to our new home here at 14,000ft. With camp finally set up, we're all looking forward to a hot drink and a big dinner. Tomorrow we'll try and back carry to 13.6k to pick up our cached gear then enjoy the afternoon off to rest and recover. That's all for now, life is good! RMI Guide Steve Gately
Leave a Comment For the Team

Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Wait Out The High Winds

Monday, May 21, 2019 4:43 pm PT We're taking another planned rest day today in order to get strong and acclimate for our forays up higher. As it turns out, the forecast for high winds came to fruition and we would not have been able to climb higher today even if we had wanted to. Instead, we had another leisurely brunch and worked on fortifying camp with more snow walls. We also practiced fixed line travel for moving above here. Steve Gately's crew (RMI Denali 2) just rolled into camp, so we're gonna go welcome them with some water. We hope the weather will let us put a cache up high tomorrow and then return back down to our current camp at 14,200'. We'll let you know how it goes. RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Kelby,

We have returned from Hawai’i.  It was quite a bit different than these photos. 8-)  Hoping for calmer weather for all of you in the days to come.

The Tidds

Posted by: Steve and Tina on 5/24/2019 at 4:08 pm

Good luck to the team and Tom Mulvey! May you find favorable weather.

Posted by: Jerry Suyderhoud on 5/22/2019 at 7:15 pm


Denali Expedition: Gately & Team Rest Day at 11K Camp

Monday, May 20, 2019 10:59 pm PT I was up this morning early to keep a close eye on the weather in anticipation of a potential move to 14k Camp. Puffy cumulus clouds clung to the surrounding terrain features and were lapping in and out of camp like the tides at about 6AM. Our forecast was calling for an 80% chance of snow showers and increasing south winds into the evening. I opted to give the weather an extra hour to show it's true intentions. I could hear the noises of other teams rustling around, presumably preparing for their own move to 14k Camp. I've seen plenty of deceiving mornings here in the Alaska Range luring you to trust that the forecast was wrong, as if so often can be. I ultimately didn't like the look of it. The team has worked hard for five days now and a full rest day seemed appropriate before committing ourselves to the higher altitudes of the mountain. So we slept in until about 9am and made a wonderful breakfast of eggs and hashbrown burritos that lasted nearly until midday. By then the clouds had overtaken camp and it began to snow lightly. By 1pm the snow intensified and the forecasted south winds showed up early and turned camp into a whirlwind of snow that made it hard to see across camp. Wrapped snugly in our warm bags we all felt good about our decision to take an extra day. It's not always you get such confirmation of a decision well made but today we did and it felt good all the while snuggled up in our warm bags reading and snacking the afternoon away. Tomorrow's forecast looks much more promising and we'll repeat the process of waking up early, sticking our heads out the tent and making another decision. Hopefully this time we'll like what we see and we'll get to move on up! Thanks for following along everyone! RMI Guide Steve Gately

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (1)

Hi Steve. Bruins swept, sitting and waiting on a 3-2 blues over sharks series. Chara still 7’0” on skates and moves like a sack of pea gravel. Go Red Wings.

Posted by: Wild Bill on 5/21/2019 at 11:08 am


Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Enjoy Their First Full Rest Day of the Expedition

Monday, May 20, 2019 5:40 pm PT We slept in a little bit this morning, enjoying our first full rest day. The weather was cloudy with light snow and strong ridge top winds--perfect for a rest day! We had an extended brunch with substantial portions of hashbrowns, bacon, egg, and cheese burritos, and plenty of coffee of course. Other than eating and resting, our team rallied a work party this afternoon to start building walls around our camp to protect from any potential winds. The weather forecast calls for sunny weather with strong ridge top winds tomorrow, decreasing by Wednesday. Right now the plan is to rest again tomorrow as our bodies get used to living at high altitude. Hopefully we'll be able to make a cache up high on Wednesday. RMI Guide Mike Walter
Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Appreciate the updates and photos from Denali.  Sure hope the weather cooperates for more climbing tomorrow.  Glad they have an excellent contractor to help build snow walls around the camp.  Hope you are keeping warm up there, Tom!

Posted by: Susan Royce on 5/21/2019 at 11:23 am

Great newsy updates! Sounds like this year’s climb is going well. Hope your rest day and snow walls prove successful! Good luck with the winds!

We are all thinking of you, Tom M, and hoping your new gear is keeping you safe!
xo

Posted by: Susan Mulvey on 5/21/2019 at 10:55 am


Denali Expedition: Walter & Team Improve Camp Life at 14,000’

We woke from our first day at 14,000' camp to beautifully clear skies and stunning views of the West Buttress to our north and the rest of the Alaska Range to our south, punctuated by the other two massive peaks in the range, Mt. Hunter & Foraker. After a modest breakfast of granola and hot drinks, we headed back down hill to retrieve our cache, just shy of Windy Corner. That trip involved just over an hour of moving, so we're enjoying lots of rest the rest of the day. Besides resting, eating, and hydrating, were doing some chores around camp, like improving our kitchen/eating tent by digging it deeper and wider and buffing out the seating. We have a rest day planned for tomorrow. That usually means sleeping in and some form of bacon and eggs breakfast burritos for an extended brunch. We'll touch base again tomorrow. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Go Tom Mulvey from San Rafael Rotary!  May the weather favor you the rest of the way too! You deserve an easy one this time.

Posted by: Paul Claeyssens on 5/20/2019 at 12:55 pm

The cream of the crop will rise to the top

Posted by: Chris Torney on 5/19/2019 at 9:39 pm

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