McKinley Expedition: Breen & Team Explain How they Spend their Weather Day
Posted by: Jackson Breen, Lacie Smith, Raymond Holt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 14,000'
Monday, June 8, 2026 - 7:51 pm PT
D(ave): Hey ChatGPT, I’m writing a daily update blog for the 14 people following our expedition up Denali and I need some clever ideas about how to structure it so that it isn’t just a bland update about what we did that day. Can you help me generate some ideas?
C(hatGPT): Sure, happy to help. Before I get started, can you give me an idea about what you did today so that I can start to
D: Yep. Today we woke up to a delightful brunch of breakfast burritos and hot drinks, our guides then confirmed that the following day (Tuesday) we would be heading up to 17 camp from where we would then make a summit push on Wednesday or Thursday (obligatory “whether permitting” disclaimer, of course). We went over a lot of details about what to bring to 17, expectations and what to wear on the summit push - basically, it is going to be cold so bring every layer you have and the guides will give final instructions on the day of the summit push based on conditions. After brunch we brought our ice axes into the cook tent and we taped them up with foam and duct tape to further insulate our hands from the cold metal. Once we were done with that we and brought our overboots and crampons into the tent so we could cut slits into the over boots so that our crampons fit. Ray did mine. It was like showing a horse. He was very gentle. Would recommend. After that, we all broke up and anxiously went through our gear, making sure that we knew where everything was so that we could get an early start tomorrow. That’s pretty much it.
C: Ok, that is a great blow by blow of what happened during the day. Did anything else noteworthy, funny, or unusual happen? Do you want this update to only factual, or do you want to throw in some made up or funny things.
D: Ummm, Peter led the building of an arch with snow blocks to stay active. We listened to Alonzo’s pump up song “Into the Danger Zone”. We learned that Jackson and Ray used to neighbors and that they had opposite schedules - one getting up early while the other stays up late. Matt taught a few of us Farkle (a dice game), and Ricky gave a lecture on dark matter, dark energy, the difference between special and general relativity, and other mind bending astrophysics topics. You know, just random conversations.
C: Ok, that is helpful. Since you are on an expedition have you thought about putting this into a cabin fever theme?
D: Yeah. I thought about that. Something like “Day 2 of sitting in the tent waiting for the storm to pass. No one is here except Peter, and his pug tattoos to keep me company. Peter doesn’t say much anymore but one of his pugs, the grumpy one, told me that I smelled today, which I thought was pretty rich coming from a dog” Anyway, I didn’t think that would go very far as it is so far from our actual experience.
C: Ok, I think I have everything that I need. Here is a clever blog post for your expedition “Today we got ready to head up to the next camp and then to the summit. Everyone is in good spirits and anxious to get going.”
D: Wait, that’s it?
C: Yep. What did you expect. I’m not even connected to the internet.
D: Fair point. I guess I’ll go with that and close with the answers from yesterday’s secrets post. Here they are!
1. Dave
2. Ricky
3. Pattie
4. Matt
5. Alonso
6. Lacie
7. Ray
8. Peter
9. Lizzie
10. Jackson
RMI Climber Dave
Comments (6)
Farkle on the mount!
-fellow Farkle fan
Wishing you all the best!
Posted by: Nneka on
Reading your daily entries reminds me of comic magazines series, let’s title it, ‘The magnificent 10?” Always exciting to read the next episode.
What a strong group you have there! As Celtics Doc Rivers says, “Ubuntu”. Praying for all.
Posted by: Tess on
Things are getting sporty up there—my favorite moments in mountaineering. Relish it for us!
Posted by: Reusserzales on
Keeping our fingers crossed you have great weather! Thinking warm thoughts for you all.
Posted by: Leslie on
Go Team Kuhl! And get ready to freeze your butts off. Cooold over 18K in forecast but all going to be worth it. So close!
Posted by: Ed DaPra on
What a clever format! Silly chat bots - the struggle is real. Thank you for revealing the identities of the secrets - now we just want to have a BBQ with all of you and hear all of your stories. C’mon over when you’re done climbing the mountain!
Exciting news about moving day! You’re **so close** to the top of North America! Fingers crossed the weather holds for the next few days for you.
Posted by: Team Kuhl on