Entries from Denali
May 21, 2024
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Tuesday, May 21, 2024 - 9:58 am PT
Our first relaxed morning in the books. We woke up with the sun, and had an experimental breakfast of pan fried cinnamon rolls. Update, the experiment went well - and we've got another two cans for higher up the mountain. After breakfast we took some down time and then rigged up the empty sleds to make our way down to our cache. After a quick 40 minute downhill, we were reunited with the rest of our group, and personal food and gear. We rigged the sleds back up now full, and made our way back to camp. Once back at camp, we had a relaxing afternoon and prepped camp for some incoming weather. We wrapped up the evening with some butter chicken, and then crawled in bed looking forward to our first full rest day.
RMI Guide Nikki Champion
Sign Up For Denali Expedition May 14, 2024 Emails
May 21, 2024
Posted by: Mike Walter, Jess Wedel, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
We had good weather yesterday and climbed to High Camp (17,200') to establish a cache. Twelve hours round trip back to 14,000' Camp deserves a rest day today as we wait for a weather window for a summit push. We'll touch base again tomorrow.
Sign Up For Denali Expedition, May 5, 2024 Emails
So fun to read about your progress up that beast of a mountain. We’re thinking about you all, a lot, and hope you find a treasure on the summit. Thanks for your amazing spirits and sending lots of love from VT! Stay safe and have fun.
Tracy and Bruce
Posted by: Tracy and Bruce WIlhelm on 5/22/2024 at 10:01 am
Great job to all! Shout out to Pouliot. He is supposed to take pictures to bring home & our most pressing issue at home is that the exchanger by Darla failed on Mon and Tue.)
Posted by: scott robertson on 5/21/2024 at 12:36 pm
May 21, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Monday, May 20, 2024 - 11:30 pm PT
At 6am, 14,000' Camp is a cold, quiet place as everyone tries to stay deep in their sleeping bags. It was also gorgeous this morning, so we rallied everybody and headed uphill towards the mythical fixed lines well before sun hit camp. It was a chilly start, but gave us the advantage of being among the first teams headed up. We clipped in and started up and that walk made us work today. Much of the ascent was steep, blue ice with little in the way of texture or foot holds in it. But we not only persevered, we cruised up quite smoothly. We then traversed the West Buttress, admiring the views and seeing 14,000' Camp well below. It was a perfect day for climbing and we took it all the way to 17,000' Camp, where we dug a hole to hide our goodies, and then headed back for our cozy home. The fixed lines were quite blue on the way down too, burning calves and feet, but soon we were past and stepped back into the sunlight of camp. It was a great effort from everybody, and tomorrow we plan to rest.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Sign Up For Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024 Emails
Keep up the the great work! You guys are killing it!! So exciting
Posted by: Jacqueline Millen on 5/21/2024 at 7:28 am
May 20, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Sunday, May 19, 2024 - 10:59 pm PT
This morning every peak around us, including Denali, was wearing a funny cloud hat - lenticular clouds and a sign of high winds. It made the decision pretty clear: we would rest at 14,000' Camp today. We did all of our usual rest day things and watched as camp was engulfed by a calm, white cloud, before it started to snow lightly. Despite all that, the tents were catching quite a bit of solar radiation and it was quite warm and comfy inside. We made a decent start at building snow walls to protect camp should the weather turn worse. The forecast sounds decent tomorrow, so we are hoping for weather in the morning that let's us carry to 17,000'.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Sign Up For Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024 Emails
Hey Jackson! I got my Mothers Day postcard today from Denali! It made my day!
Posted by: Amy on 5/20/2024 at 3:05 pm
May 20, 2024
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Hello from 11,000' Camp on Denali!
After a quick breakfast of oatmeal, we tore down camp and retraced our steps from yesterday. As we worked our way in and out of the clouds and limited visibility we finally pushed past our cache site, and continued to 11,000 ft. Once we rolled into camp, the work for the day wasn't done. We made quick work setting up tents and building camp. After many hours of hard work we finally wrapped up the evening with some ramen as it lightly snowed at camp. Tomorrow we will make the quick jaunt downhill to our cache and get the rest of our gear. Check in tomorrow!
RMI Guide Nikki Champion
Sign Up For Denali Expedition May 14, 2024 Emails
Keep going!! Love to you Tim! Go team!!
Posted by: Teri on 5/21/2024 at 12:40 am
Way to go Pops! We’re rooting for you. We love you.
Posted by: Noel on 5/20/2024 at 8:19 am
May 20, 2024
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Daniel May, Lacie Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Sunday, May 19, 2024 - 8:56 pm PT
Of Hypoxic Dreams, Luxury Items, and the Suspension of Olfactory Senses I was sitting at dinner, sipping a glass of aged Saperavi wine with a perfectly-cooked ribeye steak, describing to my friends an expedition up Denali. One of my friends then asked "so what happened after Camp 2?" I stared down into my glass and a panic set in: why couldn't I remember anything else of the trip? I shot awake, back to the reality of where I was: in a Trango 4 tent, at 11,000 feet, in the middle of the sunny night, cold, with my tent mates Chris & Ilya. There are still weeks to go. Our tent, tent 2, as it were (we have no idea which ones are 1 and 3, but we're in the middle, so we'll call it number 2), has been affectionately (or derogatorily?) referred to as the "manferno" and "the pile." And it was beginning to smell, as you might imagine after 6 days without showers, but the mind has a way of shutting out the involuntary gag reflex when confronted with fermenting sleeping bags, excessive sunscreen, and jambalaya in a confined space, heated by the nearly all-day sun.
Today was a rest day for the team, apart from a crampon refresher, to recuperate from the last few days of dragging sleds uphill, and to acclimate. A day to eat, and relax. In tent 2 today, we prepared a charcuterie board with various cheeses, meats, olives, chocolates, hot sauces, and crackers. The olives in particular added the missing ingredient in our mountaineering potpourri. With the aforementioned lack of breathable oxygen, you might even say that tent 2 is the perfect place to prepare for higher altitudes. Each of us finds solace with some small item to still feel human on days like today: a pillow, a paper book, or, in my case, an electric razor to avoid looking like a grizzly mountain hermit–at least from a distance, the smell would surely give it away up close.
Off we go tomorrow, crampons beating against the ice, sleds pulling on our backs, on to cache gear higher up to build the next pile.
RMI Climber Skyler Parkhurst
Sign Up For Denali Expedition, May 12, 2024 Emails
This team always seems to have the most creative posts. (Definitely have been getting a kick out of reading these every day.)
Posted by: Some guy from Puyallup on 5/20/2024 at 1:45 pm
A new literary classic is born- “The Manferno” by Skyler Parkhurst!
Love you, great job so far, and keep up the pace! Go team!
Posted by: Matt Milford on 5/20/2024 at 10:09 am
May 19, 2024
Posted by: Mike Walter, Jess Wedel, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
We're resting in camp today. It's cloudy and snowing lightly. There's a big lenticular cloud cap up high. Our plan is to practice fixed rope travel in camp today and hopefully put in a cache at high camp tomorrow if the weather allows. We'll keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Sign Up For Denali Expedition, May 5, 2024 Emails
Go, Nick, go!!! We love you and are cheering you on! Can’t wait to celebrate your summit and return home.
Love, Spauldings one & all!
Posted by: Sharon Spaulding on 5/21/2024 at 10:47 am
We love reading these blog posts! Thank you so much for sending and keeping the team safe. Tell Nick Roberts we love him.
Posted by: Kathie Roberts on 5/20/2024 at 3:53 pm
May 19, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Saturday, May 18, 2024 - 10:35 pm PT
Everyone seemed to agree that last night was one of the best nights of sleep they've had. Something about a big day, hard work building camp, and the impetus to climb deep inside your bag to hide from the cold at 14,000' made for a good night. We let sun hit the tents and warm things before rousing for breakfast, then strolled back to our cache at 13,500' to retreive the rest of our food and belongings. It was a good active rest mission, stretch the legs but not work too hard. An afternoon of naps and snacks led to a quick fixed line refresher before dinner. We're happily settled in at 14,000' now with all of our stuff and looking for the next opportunity to head up for a trip along the West Buttress to 17,000' camp. That day will be another carry and cache, but we are getting closer to the goal. Everyone is psyched to be up at 14,000' where the living is good and the views endless. We'll touch base tomorrow.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Sign Up For Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024 Emails
This is so great! So proud, excited and inspired by the adventure and commitment from the Team!!! Just keep climbing!
Stay safe and enjoy the climb!!
XOXO
Amy and Pat
Posted by: Amy and Pat Breen on 5/19/2024 at 6:11 pm
So exciting! Even the beginning of your adventure sounds amazing. I love the read the updates. Stay safe.
Posted by: Priscilla on 5/19/2024 at 5:30 pm
May 19, 2024
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
Saturday, May 18, 2024 - 10:11 pm PT
Another solid day in the books. We woke up to clear skies, and cold temperatures. After a later dinner yesterday, we opted for a Slightly more casual start time. After a quick breakfast of granola and blueberries we packed up about 2/3rds of our group food, fuel, gear, and personal food and started up Ski Hill. After many hours of climbing we ran into Dustin's team digging up their cache around 9,900', and decided that would be a good place to put ours. We unloaded all the gear and food we wouldn't need for the next few days, buried it, and marked it with some wands. Then strapped our now empty sleds to our back and made our way back to the base of Ski Hill. We finished the evening up with the weather and some beef burritos. The plan is to move to 11 camp tomorrow if weather allows. Everyone is doing great on this first few challenging days. Check in tomorrow!
RMI Guide Nikki Champion
Sign Up For Denali Expedition May 14, 2024 Emails
Good job on the first part. Sounds challenging. We’re hoping the weather cooperates and things go smoothly for the team. We love you Pops!
Posted by: Noel, Xander, and Nora on 5/21/2024 at 11:30 am
Sounds like a strong start! We are rooting for you and the team! Sending lots of strength & love!
Posted by: Kelly Jeremy on 5/19/2024 at 2:44 pm
May 19, 2024
Posted by: Mike Walter, Jess Wedel, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Saturday, May 18, 2024 - 4:29 pm PT
Mission accomplished. We had sunny weather with a light, but chilly breeze for our back carry. It took us 15 minutes to get back to our Windy Corner cache and an hour to get back up to our camp in Genet Basin. A good leg stretcher. We will likely rest tomorrow and try to carry to high camp on Monday.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Sign Up For Denali Expedition, May 5, 2024 Emails
Happy birthday to my brother andre!! we think of you every day! make the most of it and look forward to hearing about this wonderful trip!
Rachel, Simon, Olivier et Alexandre xxx
Posted by: Rachel on 5/19/2024 at 9:42 am
In every place on Earth you travel
The people who love you ever marvel
Your strength and stamina
Your will and resolve
Your curiosity and fearless nature.
All will carry you
To see the rarely captured
Glimpses of our world
From Nebraska to Alaska you are in my heart.
Posted by: Becky Farho Killian on 5/19/2024 at 7:37 am
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We are all rooting for you and praying for you and your crew Jimmy! I check here daily to see where you all are and how it is going. Then I can tell the sisters when they ask about you. Keep up the good work, stay strong, and believe!
Posted by: Sister Michelle on 5/22/2024 at 10:44 am
I couldn’t be prouder Jimmy. Everyone is constantly asking about you and so excited about what you’re doing. You can do it! Open the way! It sounds like you have an incredible group, keep up the good work. -Much Love, Hannah
Posted by: Hannah Peters on 5/22/2024 at 6:02 am
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