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Mt. McKinley: Walter & Team Enjoy a Rest Day

Posted by: Solveig Waterfall, Mike Walter, Ben Liken | May 13, 2013
Categories:
Elevation: 11,200'

We got a good night’s sleep last night, and even slept in until the sun warmed our tents. Then we indulged in a hearty brunch of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and plenty of coffee.

We took a much needed rest day today, and enjoyed lounging around in the sun. We also did some work, like building walls around our camp and improving our kitchen area, as well as preparing our equipment for our cache tomorrow. Barring poor weather, we will carry supplies up to around 13,600’ and then return to our camp for the night. Tomorrow will bring a much anticipated change, as we trade our snowshoes and trekking poles for crampons and ice axe. Motorcycle Hill, right out of camp will provide the first of many challenges tomorrow, we’ll let you know how it all plays out.

Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter

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Mt. McKinley: Walter & Team Reach 11’ Camp

Posted by: Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall, Ben Liken | May 12, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'

We’ve been enjoying good weather on the Kahiltna Glacier, and today was no different. After a trace of new snow overnight, we awoke to partly sunny skies. A breakfast of smoked salmon with bagels and cream cheese started off our day. After breakfast, we packed up camp and began the climb up towards Kahiltna Pass, en route to the 11k camp. We’re taking advantage of the good weather and making good progress so far. Tomorrow we’ll sleep in and take a rest day and prepare a cache of supplies to carry up around Windy Corner.
We’ll keep you posted on our next move. Until then, we’ll be resting…we’ve earned it.
Mike & team

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Mt. McKinley: Walter & Team Arrive on the Mountain and Travel to Camp 2

Posted by: Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall, Ben Liken | May 10, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 9,400'

Greetings from the Kahiltna Glacier. We had a great day yesterday, as we flew into Kahiltna Basecamp in the morning, prepped our gear, and started climbing. The weather was beautiful and the snow conditions were perfect for efficient travel. We took all of our gear to our first camp, at the confluence of the Kahiltna Glacier and the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, at the base of Ski Hill.

We started this morning with bagels & cream cheese, with bacon, before we packed up and started climbing. Leaving camp, Ski Hill provided the first (of many) up hills of our journey.  We climbed once again with great weather and snow conditions, hauling our heavy expedition loads on sleds and in our backpacks. With tired legs, sore shoulders, and tender hips, we arrived at our Camp 2, 9,400’ on the Kahiltna Glacier. A hearty dinner of Indian food filled our stomachs, along with plenty of hot drinks to rehydrate.

We’re in our tents now, looking forward to a restful night’s sleep. It’s snowing lightly, with no wind. We’re hoping for good weather tomorrow, and moving up to Camp 3, at 11,200’.  We’ll be in touch again soon with an update.

RMI Guide Mike Walter and team

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Mt. McKinley: Walter & Team Gearing Up in Talkeetna

Posted by: Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall, Ben Liken | May 09, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 346'

Yesterday was spent at K2 Aviation’s hangar, putting the finishing touches on our packing and preparing.  The weather is beautiful herein Talkeetna, and we fully expect to be able to fly into the Alaska Range today.  Hopefully the next time we touch base will be from the Kahiltna Glacier.

Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter

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Mt. McKinley: Mike Walter & Team Begin Their Journey in Alaska

Posted by: Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall, Ben Liken | May 07, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley

Welcome to the start of RMI’s Denali climbing season!  All of the team members have arrived in Anchorage, and we’re on our way to the small town of Talkeetna.  Talkeetna is the main access point for climbers heading into the Alaska Range.

We’ll start the day tomorrow with breakfast at the historic Talkeetna Roadhouse, and then spend the bulk of the day packing equipment for our expedition. We’ll also check in with the National Park Service and go through their informative orientation slide show.

That’s it for now. We’ll keep you posted with another update tomorrow.

RMI Guide Mike Walter & team

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Mt. Rainier: Winter Seminar Training Above Camp Muir

Posted by: J.J. Justman, Casey Grom, Billy Nugent, Ben Liken | March 13, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,000'

RMI Guide JJ Justman checks in from Camp Muir with a video and photos of their day of training.

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Beren & Team’s Decision on Cotopaxi

Posted by: Jake Beren, Ben Liken | February 18, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 18,400'

Greetings from Quito! 

Early this morning (or rather late last night), our team set off to try to climb Cotopaxi. When we woke there was a little precip, but we knew we could handle it and continued with our preparations to go see what we could do. Breaking trail through the new snow for hours this morning did little to slow down this team and we found ourselves high on the mountain before the sun had risen. At around 18,400 feet above the sea, crossing a reactive windslab above a gaping crevasse stopped us in our tracks, too risky to chance a crossing and our high point today. The team impressed me with their dedication to safety and a good time in the mountains over standing on a summit and Cotopaxi rewarded our judgment with a break in the storm to take in the sights of this beautiful mountain.  Crossing crevasses, down climbing ice steps and navigating seracs in the early morning light was a real treat and we appreciated these features of the route even more as the weather rolled in for our last few moments before returning to the hut. A short nap and then down to the bus in the snow, so much for life in the tropics. It has been a real treat to share these climbs with such a good team, thanks everybody.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Beren & Team Ready for Cotopaxi Summit Bid

Posted by: Jake Beren, Ben Liken | February 17, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000'

Hello, this is Jake Beren in Ecuador calling in for the RMI team down here. We had a fantastic day yesterday just resting and recouping after a pretty big week so far here in Ecuador. And this morning we’re going to head up to the hut on Cotopaxi. And with any luck, tonight we will be making our bid for the summit. So wish us luck and keep sending those good weather vibes down here and I will check in tomorrow.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Beren & Team Relaxing after a Successful Cayambe Summit

Posted by: Jake Beren, Ben Liken | February 15, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

Hello, this is Jake calling in from Ecuador. Just to let everybody know that after our successful climb of Cayambe today, we have made it safely, soundly and well fed back to Chilcabamba where we will be spending tonight and tomorrow resting to get ready for Cotopaxi.  All’s well after a big day and we’re looking forward to a little bit of R&R.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Cayambe Summit!

Posted by: Ben Liken, Jake Beren | February 15, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 18,997'

Buenos dias from the top of Cayambe!

We had an absolutely stunning day for our climb today, first clear day up here in weeks and perfect cramponing conditions all the way up. So we will give you guys a shout on the way down and super proud effort by the team today. Everybody did a fantastic job and we’ll give you shout when we’re down safe and sound.

Alright, thanks.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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