Mt. McKinley Expedition: The Climb Begins for Champion & Team
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom, Hannah Blum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
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Sunday, June 1, 2025 12:25am PDT
Everyone’s weather dance must have worked, because we finally made it onto the mountain. After two and a half days of waiting, the stars aligned, and we got the call to load up around 1 PM. Everyone put on their mountain boots, threw their duffles into the conex for the next 20 days, took one final team picture, and boarded the planes.
After a flight above the clouds, we quickly descended to basecamp and unloaded into a pocket of sunshine. We went through group gear, repacked our duffles, and rigged the sleds to set out on our journey. Around 3 PM, we were finally walking and beginning the long-awaited climb.
We inched our way across the lower Kahiltna until we made it to Camp One, with the sun still above the mountains. This was our first chance to practice the craft of camp building—everyone set up their tents, crawled in, and waited for a late-night dinner of pesto tortellini. Finally, close to midnight, we wrapped up our day and prepped for tomorrow, when we hope to cache somewhere above 9,500 feet.
We’re excited to finally be climbing!
RMI Guide Nikki Champion & Team
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Mt. McKinley Expedition May 27, 2025
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Comments (6)
Jarmilo drzim palce!
To everyone I wish you clear days and low winds.
Posted by: Iveta on
Sending warm thoughts to Mila and the team!
Posted by: Eva on
Glad things cleared up! Thanks for the updates!
Posted by: Janessa on
Praying for this team to have a safe and impactful trip.
Posted by: Colin on
Praying for favorable weather and a safe climb. Thank you for the updates!
Posted by: Erica Stietenroth on
Cheering you all on from Michigan and sending you best wishes for an incredible climb! Stay safe. <3
Deb K.
Posted by: Deb Kendall on