RMI Expeditions BlogRSS

Entries By walter hailes

Mt. McKinley Expedition: Hailes & Team Descending

Posted by: Walter Hailes | June 08, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 9,500'

We have been busy on the mountain.  With our summit attempt thwarted because of weather and the next projected weather window this Sunday the team has decided to head home to our families. 

Last night we slept at 14,000 feet and after a leisurely start to the day we have descended to about 9,500 ft. We will sleep here for a few hours tonight, awake around 4 a.m. so that we can take advantage of the frozen snow bridges,  and push on to the Kahiltna air strip. Unless we get stuck on the glacier because of bad weather this will be our last message from the mountain. We will talk to you all very soon.

RMI Guide Walter Hailes

6

---

Mt. McKinley Expedition: Hailes & Team Move to 17,000’

Posted by: Walter Hailes | June 07, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 17,200'

Hey RMI, this is Walter Hailes calling from 17,200’ on Mt. McKinley. We made our move today from 14,000’ to our high camp at 17,000’.  We are all safe and sound up here.  It’s a beautiful day, warm temperatures, sunshine and light wind.  This nice weather is not expected to stay around so we’ll see what it looks like in the morning but we may be making our summit attempt soon.
Stay tuned and hope for good weather!
RMI Guide Walter Hailes

8

---

Mt. McKinley Expedition: Hailes & Team Rested and Ready

Posted by: Walter Hailes | June 05, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'

We have two rest days in our legs and a good weather window predicted for the next few days so we are going for it!  Our plan, with safety at the forefront of our minds, is to move to high camp (17,000’) tomorrow and make our summit attempt the following day. This is why we have worked so hard to get to this point.  We are physically and mentally ready!

6

---

Mt. McKinley: Hailes & Team Prepare for Move

Posted by: Walter Hailes | June 04, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley

We finally got some Alaska mountain weather today. We made our final preparation for moving higher today by putting in a cache in at the top of the fixed lines and we got into a little wind and blowing snow in the process. When we set off this morning at 9am it was clear and cold with some obvious, but not outrageous wind on the ridge. Everything went smooth on the way up and only on the descent did we get some 20-25 mph wind and blowing snow. Just enough weather to make things fun.

RMI Guide Walter Hailes

P.S. Steve would like to wish Denise a happy birthday.

9

---

Mt. McKinley Expedition: Hailes & Team at 14,200’

Posted by: Walter Hailes | June 02, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'

Yesterday we moved from 11,000 ft camp to our current home at about 14,200 ft.  We spent the entire day in a cloud with a little snow but it was still quite warm.

Today we are relaxing and enjoying another sunny day on the flanks of Denali. We picked up our cache this morning and had the rest of the day to rest and recuperate.  Everyone is having a great time and we excited to keep moving higher.

RMI Guide Walter Hailes

4

---