McKinley Expedition: Champion & Team Enjoy First Day on the mountain
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Nick Sinapius, Rosie Hust
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 7,800'
5/14 - Day one, done and dusted! We woke up to the call that we could fly, so we got our last fancy coffee drinks for a long while and shuffled over to the hangar to get our soft shells on, and ready to fly. We loaded the planes and by 10AM - planes were in the air!
Once we landed, it was a mad dash to reorganize, leave a cache of goodies for later, and rig up to start to move to Camp One.
A little bit after noon, the teams was tied in and ready to roll. Down Heart Break Hill, and across the Kahiltna Glacier we went. Many hours later we were pulling into Camp One, a welcome home for the night. We quickly began the work of building camp, melting water, and getting a quick dinner of broccoli cheddar soup and chicken sausage rolling. It was a long day, and a late night, but by 11P everyone was tucked into their sleeping bags. Tomorrow we aim to carry somewhere between 9.5-10k, and then make our way back to camp.
Here's to hoping for another day of good weather!
RMI Guide Nikki Champion
Comments (3)
You all have our continued focus and consciousness, stay strong.
Posted by: Mark Moses on
You are about to attempt Denali — a mountain so cold, so tall, and so disrespectful to human comfort that even the oxygen up there files complaints.
Some people climb mountains for glory. Some for self-discovery. You’re doing it because apparently paying money to drag a sled uphill in subzero temperatures sounded fun.
At sea level, you are functional adults (not Joe though). Up there? You’ll become exhausted toddlers wearing expensive jackets. Simple tasks become epic quests:
‘Can you clip this carabiner?’
‘I don’t know… I need a snack and emotional support.’
But here’s the thing about Denali: it doesn’t care who you are. Your job title? Irrelevant. Your follower count? Meaningless. Your fantasy football championship? Pathetic. The mountain treats everyone equally — like underprepared penguins.
And yet… you climb anyway.
Because somewhere between the frozen socks, the questionable hygiene, and the moment your eyelashes freeze together, something incredible happens. You realize you can do hard things. Really hard things. Like waking up at 3 a.m. to pee into a bottle without ruining your sleeping bag. That’s growth.
Will there be suffering? Absolutely.
Will you question your decisions? Repeatedly.
Will someone cry over trail mix? Statistically certain.
But one day you’ll ll look back and say:
‘Remember when we voluntarily carried 80 pounds uphill while our lungs negotiated their resignation?’
And you’ll smile. Mostly because you survived.
So when the wind is brutal and the climb feels endless, remember:
Every step gets you closer to the summit.
I’m proud of you brother, of all of you.
SimplePie
Posted by: Keith Berry on
The mountain does not care whether or not you reach the summit…that is fleeting. What is lasting is who you become on the climb and what you will bring back to the world as a consequence. XOXOX all ways and always.
Posted by: Hilary (aka Candice’s Mum) on