RMI Expeditions BlogRSS

Mt. McKinley: Hahn & Team - Edge of the World Trip #2

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Solveig Waterfall, Tim Hardin, Cody Doolan | July 12, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'

This day started out fine.  We definitely felt like we’d dodged a bullet since forecasts had predicted 6 to 12 inches of new snow overnight at 14,200 ft.  We got nothing and liked it.  The morning seemed perfect as we ate breakfast in strong sunshine and calm conditions.  We had high hopes for the sun working its stabilizing magic on the avalanche slopes between us and our climbing goals.  Since the clouds were gone, the team geared up for another walk to the Edge of the World.  This trip would be pretty simple compared to yesterday’s as we now had a packed trail to follow.  It was a thrill to reach the rocks this time and to look down into the abyss.  We took hero shots, posing on the high points and basked in the sunshine.  The clouds began to form as we walked back toward camp.  Unfortunately, they kept building and by dinner there was a massive cap on the mountain and wind was scraping hard at the ridges around us.  We happen to be perfectly sheltered from this particular storm at the moment, but it is obviously nasty above and around us… not exactly the stabilizing influence we were seeking.  So we’ll go to bed and hope for better things in the morning.  We are still doing fine for food and fuel, but are aware that a few more of the teams around us have reached their limits and are now focused on descent.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Sign Up For Mount McKinley 2012 Email Alerts

482 views

Comments