Entries from Denali
Friday, June 22, 2018 - 8:57 pm PT
The snow just kept on coming down last night. It didn’t pile up all that deeply, but it was persistent and wet. We kept checking through the early morning hours, and then through the mid morning hours after a team breakfast, but it went right on until the early afternoon. By then we’d determined to take a hint and declare a rest day. Things actually cleared up nicely by mid-afternoon and
Denali came out in all her glory. By then it was unbearably hot in the tents and would have been about ten times hotter walking uphill with big packs and sleds. We rested. It was burrito night in the main dining tent and after a great feed and some storytelling, we returned to the tents under once again cloudy skies. We’ll hope for a better morning tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
June 22, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 17,200'
Friday, June 22, 2018 - 7:45 pm PT
It's been a Tale of Two Camps, either the Camp all sits together or they rally up the same piece of terrain at the same time. We were second on the fixed lines and after an initial moment of flailing we got to 16,200' for a break. The remainder of the day had us climbing the
West Buttress into 17 camp with amazing views of the Peters Glacier and North Summit of Denali. Light wind made some of the exposed ridge sections feel more exposed. Today was a good lesson in keeping toes and fingers warm because we didn't set any records for the 14-17 leg. Everyone is nestled in their tents drying out boots and gloves. Dinner, hydration, sleep and hopefully we'll be heading for the summit on Saturday.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Thursday, June 21, 2018 - 10:39 PM PT
We were up at 2 AM for our much anticipated launch from
Denali Basecamp. It was still cloudy and overcast and seemed to be moving toward being more cloudy and overcast, but we felt we had something of a window for moving. After a hot breakfast, we knocked down tents and rigged up for glacial travel. By 4:38 we were walking down the SE Fork of the Kahiltna with our snowshoes on. A number of other teams had begun climbing in the hours ahead of our departure, so the soft snow trail was packed nicely for us. As expected, glacier conditions were good and it was a relief not to be crossing open crevasses and sagging snow bridges. There wasn’t too much to see with all of the cloud, so we just concentrated on walking steady for an hour at a push. We very nearly saw the sun at one point just after 8 AM but that was it despite this being the Solstice and a traditional big day for sun worshipers. Five and a half hours brought us to 7800 ft, and our intended destination. By that point the clouds were right down on us and it was snowing lightly. We built a quick camp and got inside before it got snowing a little more heavily in the early afternoon. We snoozed and drank water to recover from the morning workout. The wet snow continued right through dinner, but we weren’t so uncomfortable in our cozy dining tent with snow benches and countertops. Now that all are in bed, the snow keeps on coming, but quietly... there is no wind and that is a good thing.
Best,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
June 22, 2018
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Hannah McGowan, Gloria Roe
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Thursday, June 21, 2018 - 10:16 PM PT
After the Hurricane Horiskey beatdown and yesterday’s big move we decided today was a great day to rest and let our bodies begin to acclimatize to the higher altitudes. So we slept until the sun hit our tents and then we enjoyed a hardy meal of breakfast quesos and talked strategy for our cache day tomorrow. Post breakfast we enjoyed an afternoon snooze (have to let the breakfast settle) and then did some organizational prep before rollin on into dinner and a celebration of Josh’s 48 birthday! He had a smile bigger than the solstice sun when we sung him Happy Birthday and presented him with a cheesecake and mini cake complete with a candle. After filling our bellies we dispersed to our tents and are enjoying the rest of solstice snuggled up waiting for our cache day tomorrow.
All is well here with our Super Crew!
Happy solstice everyone!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
June 22, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Thursday, June 21, 2018 - 10:04 PM PT
Yup, just another weather day here at
14,000' Camp on Denali. Snow and calm air the entire day. Breakfast was ate, coffee drank and cards played throughout the day in the Posh. We were hopeful this low pressure system was breaking up tomorrow. Instead it looks to be a Saturday to Monday window. We'll wake up at 5 am and check the weather. Fingers crossed we can get to 17 camp and be on the summit Saturday.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika and Nick Scott, along with their expedition team flew off of
Denali on June 20th. They will be headed home from Anchorage in the next couple of days.
June 21, 2018
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Hannah McGowan, Gloria Roe
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 -- 11:14 PM PT
As it turns out, the sun does still exist!! We saw it last night— well actually just the cold sunlight that reflected off the moon— but it was surrounded by bright blue sky and we finally got to see the gorgeousness of the landscape we’ve been inhabiting for days.
We woke in a white out but made the move to
11,000' Camp anyway, with the thought that we must be right at the top of the clouds. Sure enough, we were right! Our new home at 11,000' welcomed us with sunshine to dry out our gear and allow for lounging not in a tent. After a big burrito dinner we are fat and happy back in our sleeping bags, but this time they’re dry and our alarms aren’t set to wake up every hour for shoveling. Much love to all of you who care enough to listen in! Sending special birthday wishes to Cody, Lindsey’s brother!
With love,
RMI Super Crew
On The Map
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 - 9:52 PM PT
This is one lucky team of climbers. We woke in Talkeetna under cloudy skies... pretty much the same cloudy skies that had kept anybody else from flying during the past six days. It sprinkled rain on us as we ventured out for breakfast but by the time we’d eaten, our pilots surprised us by announcing that basecamp was in the clear and that it was time to fly.
We geared up, loaded the planes and lifted off by 9:15. The ski equipped DeHaviland Otters got us through to
Kahiltna Base Camp by about 10 AM. Views while flying weren’t stupendous since there was still plenty of cloud hiding the big peaks, but as we got into the center of the range, the lower parts of the big peaks were stupendous enough in their own rite. Basecamp at 10 AM was a very busy and bustling place after a week of no-fly days. Tyler Jones and his RMI team loaded onto the planes we vacated. They’d finished a storm plagued trip and hadn’t been able to move to high camp or summit but they appeared happy and healthy just the same. We built camp and spent the day reviewing glacier travel techniques and sorting gear and supplies. The team seems pretty at home in this world already. We’re hopeful this break in the weather will last... that said, now -at 9 PM- it is snowing lightly. So much recent snow has sure been a good thing for healing up the lower glacier. Word is that open crevasses are few and far between and sketchy bridges are scarce.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
June 20, 2018
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
Wednesday, June 20th - 8:18 pm PT
We woke to clouds and snow at 14K Camp today. We were hoping for clear weather to make a carry to
17K Camp; unfortunately, the winds up high prevented us from getting on the fixed lines. We eventually went for a walk up towards 15,000' to stretch our legs and lungs. The Team got a spectacular view of Genet Basin and the lower Kahiltna Glacier. We are back in camp now and continue to hang out at 14K. The forecast has been accurate for 17K and above but not so for 14K Camp. We'll need to see decreasing winds up high to make our move and if we don't get that in a few days the only option will be to descend.
RMI Guide Mike King
June 20, 2018
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 - 3:09 AM PT
Today we woke to more winter with the wind blowing in our faces as we crawled from our tents. We did an Alaska leisure start. This is when you wake up and wish the weather was better but... will pack slowly. So we crept through the white, snow blowing all around us, and trail blazed through the deep snow. After many hours we arrived in Base Camp in dashing style. The evening was caped with more quesadillas than we could eat and a celebratory beverage. As we nestle in our sleeping bags for what we hope is the last night, we dream of burgers and beverages on the other side..... it’s snowing now, of course. Don’t fret we have had a blast on this adventure though we are bitter with the weather. We will out chill Denali. You can count on it.
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Bryan Mazaika and Nick Scott
On The Map
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We are so enjoying following your journey and the pictures are magnificent. Continuing to pray for good weather, safety, and health of all of you! Godspeed!
Posted by: Shari Ramsey on 6/24/2018 at 9:28 am
Jon & Margaret - Stay healthy and in good spirits. I check this blog every day.
Posted by: Joy Reuter on 6/24/2018 at 8:29 am
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