Entries from Denali

The jagged, monolithic peaks of the lower Kalithna begin to make themselves visible again.

We have just torn down camp. The anticipation of this moment has been building even greater since our departure was delayed by yesterday’s fog. The midnight sunshine just beyond the horizon still illuminates us deep into the night making the time of 1:55am seem wildly incorrect. We begin to move.

It’s now 3:12am. We’ve descended the hazy 600ft from base camp and sit just beyond the danger of the house-sized seracs looming off the side of Mt. Frances. Directly in front of us as we sit and replenish ourselves with food and drink is Mt. Crosson. Just left of it looms the beautiful Mt. Foraker, its upper half hidden just hidden behind a small cloud system. Our rest comes to an end. It’s time to begin the ever so slightly increasing grade up towards our next camp.

As we move the air is light and serene. Other than the sound of our snowshoes crunching the snow beneath our feet and our sleds sliding, there is no other noise for miles around us. In my left earbud plays Fryslan by Phil Cook. The pattern of our movement becomes hypnotic. My world becomes managing my pace to avoid stepping on the rope in front of me, interspersed with seconds of beholding the ether that surrounds me. To our right, an orange and magenta hue begins to materialize in the Alaskan sky as the sun begins to return from its brief absence beyond the horizon. Looking upward towards it presents our desired destination, veiled in a partially transparent fog, like a bride on her wedding day, Denali appears. It beams with a beauty matched by very few other things in this world.

We continue forward entranced by the sight. The weight of our heavy packs and sleds begin to melt away as we gaze upon the peak. A solemnity fills the moment that feels religious in nature. There is no more music playing in my earbuds. It is just the rhythmic beating of our snowshoes that fills my ears, and this epic sight that fills my eyes. I am totally absorbed. Quickly as this moment came, so it did depart, as again the mountain would hide itself behind an immense fog, abruptly returning us to the physical realm.

Enriched by this experience, we press forward, climbing steeper terrain before reaching a plateau which will lead us to our next camp site. The going is slow and heavy. Chilling cold air pockets move through our path at times. We break one final time before making the final mile push to camp. Upon arrival our guides probe the area upon which we will be building our living quarters for the next couple days (hopefully). We finish just before 9am. Crawling into our sleeping bags for “night,” we adorn the proper attire of sleeping masks to block out the now powerfully shining rays of the sun to spend the day resting for the journey which is set to continue early tomorrow morning once again.

As I now lay in my sleeping bag, my tent mates asleep beside me, I sense a number of emotions within me: satisfaction, anxiety, excitement, connectedness, all of which seem to stem from the same place: a determination to succeed at this challenge as a team. I close my eyes as gentle folk music softly plays in my earbuds once again. “One thing at a time,” I remind myself.

For now, all there is to do is to rest.

RMI Climber Thomas Goossen 

Thursday, June 13, 2024 8:34 pm PDT

Hello again,

Today we enjoyed our well-deserved rest day! It started with a casual breakfast of hot drinks and blueberry pancakes. That's right folks, Our very own pancake house at 14,000'. With bellies full of pancakes, we then enjoyed lounging in our very hot tents. Letting the bodies recover and rest is Important for the big days we have in front of us. In the afternoon we fine-tuned some skills needed to go up the fixed lines and use running belays. The Team is ready and psyched to get one step closer to our goal of getting to the top and home safely.

Tomorrow, we will do our carry. Once we get the carry in, we Are in position to wait for our summit window. So once again wish us luck and send all the good weather vibes our way.

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Dave Hahn & Team are Flying onto the Kahiltna Glacier! Follow along with us as they begin their climb of Denali.

Wednesday June 12, 2024 11:29pm PDT

A big day in Talkeetna.  It was cloudy and rainy, but that didn’t prevent us from starting out with a breakfast meeting at the Swiss Alaska Inn, introducing the team and discussing expectations and strategies for the climb.  We carried on by regrouping over at the airplane hangar to sort equipment and get packed.  We broke things up with an excellent briefing from the National Park Service.  Denali climbing ranger, Alan Davis spoke to us about current conditions and the need to prioritize safety on the mountain.  K2 Aviation - our flight service- then let us know what to expect in regards to getting on and off the mountain via ski plane in variable weather conditions.  We then buckled down and put in a few serious hours getting organized for the climb.  This was capped off with a formal weigh-in, a prelude to loading up the airplanes -which we hope will take place tomorrow morning.  The team then relaxed at Mile High Pizza Pie in the heart of Talkeetna.  Enjoying dinner and the drizzle from low clouds.  We are set and excited to get on the mountain. 
 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 8:40 pm PDT

Clothes and food in our packs and headed down to our cache. The round trip only took 2 hours and we were back in our tents relaxing. Relaxing is the main focus from now through tomorrow. The team has earned a rest day to recover from some big days and to recover for a big carry day on Friday. We are trucking along and right on schedule. Hopefully the weather keeps holding and we keep hitting all our target days. As we get ready for bed, light snow falls on our tents It’s a soothing sound to fall asleep to. As always keep up the good weather vibes and throw in there some sleep like 10-pound baby vibes.

Thanks for following along!

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - 2:13 pm PT

Stuck at Basecamp

Today was going to be the day, the start of the trip. The launching point of our grand adventure. We were ready. We had practiced our ice axe arrest, learned how to rig our sleds, and relearned how to use the bathrooms here. The CMCs. We went to bed anxious, ready, and excited. But that’s when the snow started, and kept going. We were socked in a cloud with no sign of any mountains around us and no viable window for a move to our next camp. So we sat and sat and drank coffee waiting for our time to come. When the sun finally showed itself, it was just too warm (I know, shocker) to head out. The biggest crevasses on our climb form on the lower Kahiltna and with the mushy snow from the strong sun/ warming temps plus the variable weather, we stayed at Basecamp. We’ll try again tomorrow to get to the base of Ski Hill, our Camp 1.

Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

Tuesday, June 11, 2024 - 10:17 pm PT

Our climbing team came together today.  After years of planning and anticipation and training… twelve of us got together in the Anchorage airport and got started on RMI’s final Denali Expedition for 2024.   We made it with all of our gear and without flight cancellations… it all worked out.   We boarded the Denali Overland van for the big drive up to Talkeetna.  The windshield wipers were on for much of the journey and the spectacular mountain vistas were… shrouded, for the most part.  We broke up the trip with a stop at the last big supermarkets -in Wasilla- where we rounded out the trip menu with some fresh food for down low on the mountain.  We got back in the van then and made it up to Talkeetna by 5:30 PM.  Having settled our gear in the airplane hangar, we checked in to the comfortable Swiss Alaska Inn and then made the short hike over the railroad tracks and into downtown Talkeetna.  The rain seemed to be keeping the tourists in check so we had a quiet dinner at the brewery and then walked down to the mighty Susitna River to gaze at the water and the clouds (where there might normally be mountains).   The team then walked past a few perfectly good bars and watering holes to turn in early and be ready for what promises to be a big day of packing and prepping for the climb tomorrow. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Tuesday, June 11, 2024 - 11:29 pm PT

Good evening readers!

Today we woke to squirrely clouds, moving in and out. Snow would start and stop. We dragged our feet and when the weather looked right we made our move. It was a long, heavy, tiring move to 14,000' Camp. It snowed for parts of it, we were in the clouds for most of it, and had a few moments of blasts of heat. The team did well and is excited to be one step closer. We ate a late dinner of mac and cheese and are now snuggled in our sleeping bags. Everyone has earned a good night's rest. Tomorrow we will back carry and then relax the rest of the afternoon. Thanks for the good weather vibes. Keep them coming!

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

The team has arrived in Talkeetna with all of our bags!

Yesterday, we spent the day doing the hard work of packing for a three week expedition. It's hard to visualize how much you'll actually need and hard to come to terms with the sheer weight of the equipment needed for a Denali Expedition.

There are no porters here. We have to carry everything we need on our own backs, but that is what makes Denali special. You can't pay your way to the top.

We’re currently loading up the planes and trying to fly to Basecamp. Wish us luck! 

RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Nicole DePetris and team

PC: Dominic Cifelli

Monday, June 10, 2024

Good evening all,
Today was a good day. Today we made our carry to 13,500'. The skies were mostly clear with no breeze. We were the first team out of camp. We didn't see another team until we headed back down. The route was in great condition which made for smooth walking. We are getting closer and closer to our goal but we still have many days ahead of us. Many hard days ahead of us. We made it back to camp just as it started to snow. The snow hasn't stopped since.  We aren't sure what tomorrow will bring. If the weather is good, we will move. If the weather isn't good we will rest up for when it is good. Keep sending those good weather vibes!

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team