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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team to the Edge of the World

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene | June 16, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'

Today we enjoyed the luxury of waking to the sun on the tents, avoiding the early morning cold. Once up and fed, we took a fantastic walk to THE EDGE OF THE WORLD. Perfect views of the lower Kahiltna Glacier 7,000 feet below our perch and we all took turns peeking over the edge and snapping a few photos. Don’t worry friends and family, we were on belay the whole time.

For the afternoon we rested and welcomed the RMI 4 team after their stylish send on Denali yesterday. Nice job everyone!

Then it was back to work, setting up a fixed line practice and trying as many variations as possible to prepare for the cache tomorrow. Now it’s dinner time, catch y’all tomorrow.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Back Carry to 14K Camp

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene | June 15, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'

Climbing consistently gives you opportunities to improve, especially on Denali. A summit day is possible only after weeks of getting in position. During those weeks we are dedicating ourselves to improving all aspects of our game.

This morning we took the lessons of yesterday’s approach to go pick up our cache at Windy Corner. Getting ready in the cold morning will pay off as we move higher. The crew did well on the back carry and the little bobbles in our rigging were addressed when we got back with everyone taking a little time to do some homework dialing in their cold weather systems.

Tomorrow we will rest here at 14,000’, reviewing fixed lines, running belays and if we have some visibility, taking a short cruise to THE EDGE OF THE WORLD for some views. Then it all depends on the weather, but the team is feeling great.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Move Into 14K Camp

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene | June 14, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'

Waking to perfect conditions, clear and near windless, we decided to saddle up and move on up to Genet Basin and make a new home at 14,000 feet. Our hard work yesterday really paid off, leaving us with a perfect trail to camp. It was even downright hot as we pulled into camp and we found a great camp left to us by our friends now living at 17,000 camp. Thanks.

It was still tough, but our team held together well and turned in early for some much needed rest. Tomorrow we will most likely retrieve our cache and spend the afternoon relaxing and preparing for the fixed lines higher up. Cross your fingers for some high pressure. A week would be plenty.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Break Trail to Cache Supplies

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene | June 14, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'

After our rest day yesterday, we were certainly ready to bust a move this morning. Clear and cold conditions soon gave way to snow flurries and minimal visibility. We made ready, grabbed another cup of coffee and caught enough of a lull to try to carry loads higher on the mountain. Our plan was entirely dependent on conditions encountered on each stretch and despite being the first trailbreakers since the storm, we were able to kick a proud track through several feet of new snow up to Windy Corner and make our cache. Our team opened the route up in good style and if favored by workable weather will try to push it up to 14 Camp tomorrow. Everyone is doing great and will surely enjoy a good night’s sleep after a solid day in the mountains. Thanks also for the messages to the team!  Keep ‘em coming! 

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Rest at 11,000’

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene | June 12, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'

Throughout the night the clouds surrounding camp started to produce snow and dropped over a foot around our tents. Plans are always in flux up here and our carry higher on the mountain has been postponed. The crew is unfazed, merrily digging out our home and relaxing with a big salmon and bagel breakfast. Another round of digging and a bit of rest before our upcoming potluck lunch. Down days can be productive, storing up strength for higher up on Denali and fine tuning the essential camp skills required for the future. That’s all for now, cross your fingers for a break in the weather and we’ll check in later.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Move to 11,000’

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene | June 10, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'

A big aloha from 11 Camp! 

We woke to our first clear morning of the trip, with brightly colored lenticular clouds stacked over Mount Forraker. It was cold and clear in our neck of the woods and we traveled well on our way to our cache at 10,000 feet. With slightly lighter loads we dispatched the final hill into camp and moved right in to camp. Now we rest during the heat of the day and recover after a great, but tough day.

Tomorrow, if the weather permits we will retrieve our cache and ready ourselves for life higher up.

Take care everyone,
RMI Guides Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene and Team

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MT. McKinley: Beren and Team Move to 9,500’

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene | June 10, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 9,500'

Do two times constitute a trend?  Probably not, but today did share a few similarities with yesterday. We woke to a little squirrelly weather with a few inches of snow on the tents and it was unclear whether heading up was a good idea or not. We watched the skies and eventually decided to move. As we climbed into the whiteout above camp and onto Ski Hill proper, the snow stopped and we enjoyed pockets of visibility. It was downright hot as we pulled into camp with an excellent down glacier view. We were able to go down to baselayers as we built camp and as soon as we finished setting up shop it began to snow. Now we are enjoying a hot beverage before some Tortellini a la Thomas for dinner. Tomorrow we’ll see what happens in the sky and hopefully move to 11 camp.

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt. McKinley: Beren and Team Move to 7,800’

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene | June 08, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'

When we woke early this morning we weren’t sure what the day had in store for us. The cloud deck dropped during breakfast and no one could really tell if it was raining or snowing. We returned to the tents to wait for a trend to emerge and in about an hour made the call to try to leave basecamp for higher pastures. We had perfect conditions to make our way to the base of Ski Hill and set up camp at the confluence of the Main and Northeast Forks of the Kahiltna Glaciers. As soon as camp was buffed out, it started to snow and we are enjoying a little siesta before dinner.

If the weather is cooperative we will move higher tomorrow to get within striking distance of 11 Camp and the upper mountain.

Hope all is well down South!

RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Mt.McKinley: Beren and team fly onto Kahiltna Glacier

Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Jake Beren, Thomas Greene | June 07, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'

It doesn’t always happen like this up here, but when you can fly out of Talkeetna at 9 am, just like you planned, it is a real sweet start to a trip. We landed on a warm glacier and spent the day settling into our new pace on the mountain. Building camp, rigging sleds, reviewing some techniques and most importantly checking out the views. It is stunning here and perfect weather for starting this adventure. If it holds we will wake up and head towards 7,800’ camp at the base of Ski Hill tomorrow, testing our new knowledge and taking our first literal steps.

Til then,
RMI Guides Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene and the gang.

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Mt. McKinley: Jake Beren and Team Arrive in Talkeetna

Posted by: Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene | June 06, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 348'

Greetings from Talkeetna AK! 

Our team made it in last night/early this morning with all gear accounted for and we enjoyed a good night’s rest in Talkeetna. This morning it was business as usual, big breakfasts at the Roadhouse, a NPS orientation and a lot of sorting gear in the K2 hangar. Now we are checking tents, stoves and group gear before a big feast tonight. With any luck we will fly out tomorrow morning.

Til then,
RMI Guide Jake Beren

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