Entries from Denali
Monday, July 3, 2023 - 9:05 pm PT
It has been a windy snowy 24 hrs at 11,000ft. Not very pleasant to be outside of the tents for long. We are biding our time, waiting to make a break for it.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
July 3, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Michael Murray, Sam Marjerison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Monday, July 3, 2023 - 12:28 am PT
We battled our way down to 11,000 ft. A big day of work. Lots of packing, lots of dicey climbing down the tricky steps of the West Buttress. This day was supposed to be a nice one, but we could see every sign that the storm was coming in early. We had to fight a little to get around Windy Corner. It snowed on us as we climbed down and as we fought to get a camp up at 11,000'. But we are happy to have made such progress should the storm now come in hard.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
July 2, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 20,310'
Sunday, July 2, 2023 - 3:56 am
The RMI Denali Expedition June 11 led by RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli reached the summit of Denali on Saturday evening. The team is safely back to camp at 17,000'.
Nice work team!
Dear Saurabh
Congratulations on your team’s spectacular and adventurous climb to the ultimate height of 20310 ft above sea level in trying weather conditions and chilling cold amidst snow storms . Kudos to the dedication ,commitment, disclipline and team work which enabled you to reach your goal। We are proud of you my son . May you achieve even more goals in your life.
Ravi and Anjali
Your dad and MOM
Posted by: Ravi on 7/2/2023 at 8:17 pm
That’s awesome!! Congratulations everyone!!
Posted by: Jenni on 7/2/2023 at 6:37 am
July 2, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 20,310'
July 2, 2023 - 4:16 am PT
Summit!!! On a fine day. A little bit of a long one though -fifteen hours round trip. We got tangled with a couple of other guided parties. Those other teams were breaking trail, so it is tough to fault them for being slow. We were on top at 8:30 PM and back to 17,000' Camp just after 2 AM. The weather was very nice, but it wasn't the warmest day on top. Most of us had on all the clothing we had.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Congratulations Mitch!!! Such an inspiration at, dare I say, 61!
Safe travels back down and thank you to ALL the team for keeping making it happen.
Posted by: Marcelle Flowers on 7/3/2023 at 12:57 pm
Well done team! Cheers to a tremendous accomplishment. Special props to Dustin and Sam for their guidance on Rainier last month. Safe travels my friends!
-Joe
Posted by: Joseph Mueller on 7/3/2023 at 7:51 am
July 1, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 17,000'
People like to throw around the word ‘Conquer’ in reference to the mountains they climb. As if they defeated the mountain when they touched its apex. I find this to be a distasteful representation of summiting a mountain and as we crawled into our sleeping bags in the crisp, cold air of Denali’s 17,200K we certainly didn’t feel like conquerors. Tired, cold, and atrophied from the last 18 days on the mountain we slept knowing that Denali had granted us the opportunity to touch its peak and not that we had bested it.
The team awoke to clear skies and one of the first green lights we received from Denali, it was time to climb. At 10:25, we started our journey upward not reaching the summit until a hard, but well fought, ~10 hours. We are back down at High Camp; tired, sore, but satisfied with the effort and accomplishment. We start downward tomorrow in search of all of the cravings we have been fantasizing about.
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli
July 1, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 17,200'
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Friday, June 30, 2023 11:47 pm PDT
The gods of Denali blessed the team with the weather window needed to begin the hardest three days of our lives. We began our assault up The Wall and eventually the fixed lines. The sun was surprisingly warm and persistent. The black rocks jutting from the frozen snow reminded me constantly of the Oreo McFlurry I will no doubt consume when I get off here. We are thinking of you all as we attempt to summit tomorrow.
RMI Climber Travis and Team
Lisa and Blair wishing you luck!!!
Posted by: Blair Johnson on 7/2/2023 at 7:16 am
Peace, gratitude and mental toughness…you’ve got it!!!
Posted by: Kim on 7/1/2023 at 9:35 pm
July 1, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 17,200'
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Saturday, July 1, 2023 1:12 AM PDT
Right on schedule, the clouds cleared out and the wind dropped down. First nice day we've had, actually. We used it well. The team made the jump to 17,200' feet. It was tough climbing and the packs got even bigger and heavier when we stopped at 16,200' feet to add yesterday's loads. But we got 'r done. The views were amazing, considering that the team really hadn't seen much of our surroundings yet. We have a forecast of fine weather tomorrow. Perhaps we go up.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
So exciting for you Mitch & your amazing team. Stay strong & know that we are all praying for you!
Posted by: Pam Cashion on 7/1/2023 at 1:24 pm
A really exciting day for everyone! Thinking about you all and hoping it’s a summit!
Posted by: Leslie Vance on 7/1/2023 at 11:08 am
June 30, 2023
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
Thursday, June 29, 2023 10:25 pm PDT
Not much of a break in the weather today but we made the best of it. We watched, waited, and slow-rolled and then went for it, leaving camp at noon. There was still snow falling, but the wind had quit. We trudged up to the fixed lines and then ascended them with little difficulty, reaching 16,200 ft. Nobody got to enjoy the spectacular views as we were still locked in cloud and snow, but we cached our supplies and dropped back down, reaching camp at 6PM.
Hoping for some clearing tomorrow (as usual) we would like to move to 17,200ft.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
Sending Best wishes for a break in the weather for you Dustin and Dave and Team!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 7/1/2023 at 7:23 am
Keep up the great effort team! Hoping for a window so you can top this off soon and get down safely.
Posted by: Dan Murray on 6/30/2023 at 2:49 pm
June 30, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
As we arose from our tents again at 14,000’ camp, fresh snow covered everything as if a frozen Baja Blast machine broke in the middle of the night and began spewing as far as the eye could see.
Today marked a choice, go for it, and continue up beautiful Denali, or stay here at14,000’ Camp for another night, and wait for a better window. Upon first view of the surroundings, the choice was clear, spend one more day resting. This journey has been largely about patience, especially these last few days, but we are on the home stretch now, also just days away now from returning to civilization…
All the fish tacos, burritos and fajitas, Doritos, and Fritos, and Cheetos, pizza, burgers and glizzies and frozen margaritas All these and more, await at Talkeetna
Climber Joey Myers & Team
June 29, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Wednesday, June 28, 2023 - 10:39 pm PT
Our climb yesterday earned us a well deserved rest day. After sleeping in we were awoken to some delicious extra cheesy breakfast burritos. This was followed by a musical production of “These Boots Were Made For Climbing” by the soon to be famous Denali 10 (look for us on TikTok). Stay tuned for our upcoming show “Dancing on Denali”, which will include some tasteful nude scenes as well. The rest of our day was spent relaxing as we look forward to beginning our summit push either tomorrow or Friday.
RMI Climber Mark Kulow
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Congratulations & Happy 4th of July!
Jokes are all downhill from here… :D
Posted by: FAUSTINE SAMEC on 7/4/2023 at 9:24 pm
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