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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Summit!

Posted by: Jake Beren, Leon Davis, Josh Maggard | June 17, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 20,320'

Monday, June 17, 2013
Hello, this is Jake with RMI #5 standing on top of Denali with an awesome crew on an absolutely beautiful day.  We’ll give a shout when we get down but it doesn’t get too much better than this. Thanks everybody for the support, and will be checking in from down low. Over and out.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren’s Team at High Camp

Posted by: Jake Beren, Leon Davis, Josh Maggard | June 16, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 17,200'

Sunday, June 16th, 2013
Holy cow we made it up!  Leaving early, we passed RMI 4 at the base of the fixed lines, high fiving as we continued our climb. The team did a remarkable job making it to high camp in fine time. The West Buttress proper is the most fun part of the route and earns the namesake title. We cruised up to our cache at the base of Washburn’s Thumb and barely slowed down with the extra weight. Arriving at camp didn’t even require a coat once we stopped. The weather is perfect now and all we need is one more day and I’m sure the team will make it to the top. We are ready to outchill weather if it comes, but hopefully we can get one more day of this fantastic weather. Send us all good weather vibes if you please and we will check in tomorrow.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Travel the Fixed Lines to Washburn’s Thumb

Posted by: Jake Beren, Leon Davis, Josh Maggard | June 16, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'

Saturday, June 15th, 2013
Big day here on Denali. A big congrats to Tyler Jones, Garrett Stevens and crew for a job well done going to the top!  We didn’t lounge around ourselves and made an early bid for our cache at Washburn’s Thumb. The team handled the fixes lines very well and we made great time up to 16,400 feet under perfect climbing conditions. It was a great day to enjoy the views and we relaxed up high before hitting the sauna on our way down. It was HOT and we were sure glad to be on our way back to camp by the time the temperatures peaked.

Naps followed our work day and we are tentatively optimistic that we will be able to move higher tomorrow and get in position to put all the hard work and experience to the test in the next few days. Keep some fingers crossed for us friends, we’re gonna need some good weather for a few days.

Over and out.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Enjoy Their Rest Day

Posted by: Jake Beren, Leon Davis, Josh Maggard | June 14, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'

Friday, June 14, 2013
It sure felt nice for the team to get a little extra time in sleeping bags this morning before an epic pancake and bacon breakfast. Then it was off to practice for the fixed lines and Autobahn just outside of camp. The team is primed and ready for moving up on the mountain, skills sharp and energy high. After a siesta, we will take a stroll over to the Edge of the World and take in the sights nearly 7,000 feet down the NE Fork o the Kahiltna before dinner. Not a bad day up here at all.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Retrieve Cache and Race Around for Science

Posted by: Jake Beren, Leon Davis, Josh Maggard | June 14, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'

Thursday, June 13, 2013
Today we “rested” at camp, but it hardly felt like it. After breakfast we put on some empty packs and boogied down to retrieve our cache at 13,500’. The wind kept our somewhat spirited return trip from being too hot. Once back and rested, we fortified camp with stellar walls for the afternoon. Some of us even found a little time to participate in a high altitude medical study which had us racing around in the name of science. Then dinner and a few songs around the stoves and off to bed. The team impressed everyone around with our hard work and we really earned some down time tomorrow. Maybe there will be some actual rest for this not so weary crew.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Move to 14,000’

Posted by: Jake Beren, Leon Davis, Josh Maggard | June 13, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'

Wednesday, June 12, 2013
A fine day for a move presented itself to us this morning and we certainly made the most of it. Leaving our 11,000’ Camp in the early morning cold is great training for the chill of higher altitude and we made a solid bid before the sun came out in force. It’s nearly always hot coming into 14 and today was no exception. We were treated to some real hospitality when we arrived in the form of another RMI Team, led by Tyler Jones and Garret Stevens. Freshly hydrated, we set to work building camp and rebuilding ourselves with a big meal and early night’s rest. Tomorrow is a rest day, but I hazard a guess that we will be working in some way most of the day, retrieving a cache, fortifying camp and practicing for the fixed lines.

It is exciting to be up here with such a great team!

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Carry to 13,500’

Posted by: Jake Beren, Josh Maggard, Leon Davis | June 11, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'

Tuesday, June 11, 2013
All these early mornings are sure getting us dialed on working in the cold and will surely pay off up high. Today we led the way out of 11,000 ft camp by a few hours and reaped the reward of hitting the sun at a not-so Windy Corner and putting in our cache at 13,500 ft in still, warm weather. The team did a great job and collectively we avoided baking in the afternoon sun. Now back at camp, the team is relaxing and recovering so that if Mother Nature allows, we can bump camps to 14,000’ tomorrow. All we can do now is rest up and hope that Windy Corner lets us through one more time.

RMI Guides Jake Beren, Leon Davis & Josh Maggard

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Mt. McKinley: Team Beren Enjoys Rest Day

Posted by: Jake Beren, Josh Maggard, Leon Davis | June 10, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'

Monday, June 10, 2013
It did snow a little bit last night and the cold wind this morning made a camp day a welcome change of pace for this team. We are climbing very well so far, and I’m sure everyone would’ve done just fine continuing higher this morning. Patience on the big mountain is key, and the recovery day will only make us stronger for the future as we acclimatize and settle in to camp life.

After a big breakfast we reviewed some cramponing techniques and ice axe usage. After our mid-morning relaxation session we are going to have a potluck lunch and move to a little rope work and cache digging before dinner. Tomorrow if the weather is workable we will carry towards 14,000’ Camp and get a little taste of some real altitude. Everyone sends their best to family and friends back home.

Over and out,
RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Arrive to 11,000 Camp

Posted by: Jake Beren, Leon Davis, Josh Maggard | June 10, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'

Sunday, June 9, 2013
Tonight we will sleep well after three big days on the lower Kahiltna. We arrived to 11,000’ camp in the early warmth of a new day and made camp easily. A strong performance by the team gives us great confidence in our abilities the higher we move and with a full day of rest tomorrow, we should only grow stronger. 

The rest day won’t be entirely lounging about. We are going to review some tricks of the trade for motion on the upper mountain and ready loads for our carry towards our 14,000’ Camp.

So with a light snow falling onto our tents and the sound of other teams passing through camp, we say goodnight to our friends and family.

RMI Guides Jake Beren, Leon Davis & Josh Maggard

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Mt. McKinley: June 4th Team Beren - Ready in Talkeenta

Posted by: Jake Beren, Josh Maggard, Leon Davis | June 06, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 358'

Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Hello,
This is the RMI Mt. McKinley June 4th Expedition. The whole team is here in Talkeetna, Alaska, packed and ready to rock. Today we packed up, checked our gear and sat in on a National Park Service orientation to preview a bit of the upcoming adventure. The team is excited and ready to launch. So far the flying weather hasn’t let many folks land these days, but it appears to be stabilizing just in time for us to storm the SE fork of the Kahiltna. With any luck we’ll fly out tomorrow morning, so we better get some rest tonight.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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