Sunday, June 18, 2023 - 7:32 pm PT

The entire crew wishes everyone a happy Father’s Day! It’s probably not how I envisioned spending my first Father’s Day as a dad, but I can think of worst places to be than 14 camp. I’m sure over the years I’ve given my dad many grey hairs and stressful nights during my adventures in the mountains. I’m sure my boy will do the same if he chooses to spend time in mountains. I know everyone up here appreciates the sacrifices our loved ones at home have made so we can be up here on Denali.

After avoiding the logjam yesterday up the fixed lines, we had the route up to the buttress to ourselves and cruised up to the top of the fixed lines to stretch the legs and get to a higher altitude. After getting back to camp we listened music while having a block party (aka building walls around our camp) in anticipation of significant snow and wind in the coming days. We probably have the best camp at 14! Our team is really firing on all cylinders and has become a family. There’s already talk about a reunion in the coming years.

I can’t thank Bleys, Mike, Steve and Kerry for all their efforts in weather forecasting and the conversations I’ve had with them. It’s admittedly a weird position to be in without internet and see for myself what the weather models are saying. So I can’t thank you enough for keeping us safe. We were holding out hope that our friends launching for the summit today would get it in but high winds and a cloud cap thwarted their efforts. It’s been a challenging season with stormy weather on Denali this year and our trip has been no different. Unfortunately for our loved ones at home it’s going to be a while longer before we make it off the mountain. Stormy weather is expected through Thursday with a possible summit window Friday and Saturday. Our team remains positive and everyone is feeling strong if and when our window comes. 

I promise though we’ll be home before July hopefully with a summit!

RMI Guide Andy Bond