Entries from Mt. McKinley

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 - 9:56 pm PT

Hey hey hey,

You freeze, you fry they say in the mountains and oh did we do both. A frosty morning greeted us as we packed for our carry and ate our cherrios. Hot coffee brings you to your happy place as you thaw your fingers on the vessel. It's a quick walk to the edge of camp before the terrain steepens and we approach the bergschrund where the fixed lines begin. It's steep gaining the West Buttress but man are the views great. A birds eye view of 14,000' Camp give perspective along with the grandeur of everything around us. We bumped just another couple vertical feet up the Buttress before digging our hole for our cache. The morning started cold but soon turned to hot when the sun arrive. By time we got to our cache it was windy and clouds were swirling around us. As we retraced our steps back to the fixed lines we lost the wind and then entered a mega heat bubble. The temps swing so drastically, so quickly out here. It was a solid day of work today that deserves a rest day tomorrow. We are now in position to wait for a weather window to go for our summit bid.

Here's to waiting and being pateient,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 - 8:49 pm PT

The weather couldn’t make up its mind today-  it was cold, it was hot, it was sunny, it was cloudy, it was clear, it was snowy, it was windy, and it was still. It literally couldn’t make up its mind from minute to minute. This of course necessitated putting on and taking off layers, putting on sunscreen, and opening and closing the vestibules. Our heads are still spinning.

Today was what we called a reverse carry day which means we headed down hill to retrieve our cache from 10,000' and hoofed it back up the hill to camp. Andy called this a rest day. His idea of a rest day is a little demented in my opinion. On the Appalachian trail, we would have called this a Nero day (translation- nearly a zero day). 

We also prepped for tomorrow by deciding what we are going to carry up to 14,000' Camp for caching. The strategy is to split our load so no one day is heavier than the other.

Camp life today involved consuming large volumes of food while we still have an appetite which also means we don’t have to carry it. Many of us are finding out that we packed way too much food and are excited when anybody is willing to eat some of it. We also tossed around some deep questions like -if you could go back in any period of history when would it be? My answer was the future, specifically the day we summit this massive mountain. You may have also heard that one member of our team is carrying a hula hoop up the mountain. After a little research project from our followers, we learned that if our team member is successful in hula hooping for 30 seconds on the summit, they will break the record for the highest hula hooping. The current record is on Kilimanjaro at 19,300'.  Stayed tuned.

RMI Climber Mary-Beth

Monday, June 20, 2022 - 10:17 pm PT

Today we moved camp from 7,800' to 11,200'. The weather has been in our favor, and we are right on schedule. This move was a big effort. We gained 3,400 vertical feet over about 3.5 miles with backpacks and sleds in 5.5 hours. Steve’s hula-hoop proved to be a challenge in the 6 inches of fresh snow we got overnight as it acted like a West Virginia earth mover until he put it were it belonged - around his waist. Over the last 1,000', we encountered the rare Type 2.9 fun but RMI Guides Andy, Grayson and Ben kept us moving and motivated. Andy only threatened to turn the car around once. One of the benefits of later season trips is moving into tent platforms and toilet facilities that were already built by teams ahead of us on the mountain. So, like stinky cuckoos, we rolled into 11,200' Camp and got set up quickly. Huge amounts of carbs and electrolytes were consumed. Then we napped. And napped some more.

Tonight we dine in a proper posh. Bacon Mac & Cheese is the main course followed by sleeves of Oreos and mini Snickers bars. Everybody is happy and healthy and the weather is lining up. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

For the comments, what do you call a huge pile of cats?

-Hyde

Monday, June 20, 2022 - 8:39 pm PT

Hello all,

Well today is a low reporting day. It was a rest day. We rested. We ate. We napped. We reviewed skills. And we ate dinner. Rest days can be hard. Hard to not think about home. Hard to not think about the summit, on whether you have what it takes or not. Just hard to not get inside your head too much. That's where napping comes into play. One can simply dream of something else. These rest days are important though for our bodies to recover. Recover so we can have a good carry day and later a good move and summit. Tomorrow, as long as the weather holds, we will carry our gear higher so that we are in position to move to High Camp. Snow flurries have danced all day, so hopefully they take a rest from their twirling, dancing fall from the sky and allow us to have a good day.

Talk tomorrow,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Monday, June 20, 2022 - 7:37 pm PT

Final Dispatch! Final Jeopardy! 

The sound of Lisa the Basecamp Manager waking us up by saying “Planes are coming!” 

What is the greatest sound in the world?

Correct!

The team has never packed up camp so quickly. Too quickly it ended up because we played hurry up and wait for about three hours before our ticket to town arrived. It was worth the wait for hot showers, running water and flushing toilets. 

So to end our adventure together dear reader, here is a group photo of the team.

Thanks for following along!

RMI Guide Jak Delaney

Monday, June 20, 2022 - 8:39 a.m. PDT

So we did it, well almost. We’re right back where we began our journey but this time we are stuck here. I’m of course talking about Kahiltna International Airport. How did this happen? Let’s start at the beginning of our day.

BEEP BEEP BEEP. The 1:00 a.mm alarm goes off, the guides rub the sleep / snow out of their eyes. Oh wait, did you say snow? Yes, yes I did because the guides decided to roll the dice and open bivy instead of set up a tent for our “last” night out. Anyways not a big deal, snow brushes off and sleeping bags dry eventually.

The rest of the team quickly rallied and broke down camp and we headed out on the mushy trail. Slightly less mushy though thanks to a slight refreeze from the night. Thank goodness for that because we crossed a lot of snow bridges over crevasses. The walking was easy and the team was traveling well, until Heartbreak Hill, the final slope up to the airstrip. It’s just steep enough to be terrible and just shallow enough grade to last for what feels like forever.

Finally, finally we made it to the airstrip. Our time to get back to civilization was here! Except not, because we didn’t fly out. Now here’s how we got stuck. Clouds. Clouds everywhere. First clouds at the airstrip prevented them from flying, then clouds in Talkeetna, then more clouds at the airstrip, then clouds both places.

So as I write this we’ve missed our window for flying out today and await patiently for a break in the weather tomorrow. Let’s hope the next dispatch is a picture of us clinking glasses and celebrating in Talkeetna!

To be continued….

RMI Guides Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed and the team

Sunday, June 19, 2022 - 11:29 p.m. PDT

We got a lot done today! Lots and lots of work to get gear checked and ready for loading on airplanes, but it was the kind of labor that -- when you get it behind you -- makes you realize that fun is just about to start. It was rainy and drizzling in Talkeetna today, and there wasn’t any airplane traffic to and from Kahiltna Base Camp. The pilots we spoke to said it was only their fourth “down day” of the season -- which is a pretty remarkable testament to the good and stable weather that climbers have enjoyed. 

We got started with a fine breakfast “meeting” at the hotel, introducing ourselves to one another. But then we moved out to the hangar to give gear checks and get sorted. We received our briefing from the National Park Service and caught up with current events on the mountain. Finally we weighed and labeled all the loads and with everything ready to go we quit for the day and had a nice relaxing outdoor dinner at the brewery in town.

Forecasts suggest we’ll get lucky in the morning. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and team

Sunday, June 19, 2022 - 8:32 p.m. PDT

It's us again!

It's day 10 on the glacier. So far we are right on schedule. Every day we have accomplished what we set out to do. Today we did our back carry down to 13,400' to dig up our gear and bring it back to camp. We left early enough in the morning to beat any heat and turns out we beat the snowfall as well. The snow has been falling all day today. It's light and fluffy and we are all wondering why we didnt bring skis. At this point we are situated to rest, make our carry to 17k Camp, and then wait for our weather window to move and summit. In theory, in a perfect world, we are on schedule to summit on Friday. But on Denali anything can happen and our perfect world could turn into multiple days waiting out stroms...who knows?! Fingers crossed we have luck and good karma on our side. Tomorrow is a rest day and hopefully the snow will stop and settle on the slopes above. It's off to bed to escape the snow.

Goodnight all!

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Sunday, June 18, 2022

Dun-dunana-dun-dun-dunnn (Imperial March music...please use your imagination)

We continued our migration down glacier from 14 Camp to the airstrip. Instead of a Flying V, we are in a Tromping I, roped together as always but this time it is very obvious as to why. The Kahiltna Glacier has melted down and broken up significantly since our last crossing. Weaving left and right, searching high and low for snow bridges that looked like they would support our weight. We finally make it the base of Ski Hill and decide to call it a day. The heat of the day has started to weaken the already soft snow and low and behold who do we see on the horizon??! It’s an RMI team headed uphill! Andy Bond and crew have just arrived at Camp 1. So we decide to spend the night with them to both let the snow and our bonds of friendship strengthen! Ends up there are mutual friends not only amongst the guides but also the teams! Let us rejoice! Tomorrow in the wee early hours of the morning we shall resume our march with refrozen snow and renewed strength in our quads.

We have the downhill mentality and the end is in sight (figuratively)!

Cheers,

RMI Guides Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed and the team

Sunday, June 19, 2022 - 4:37 PDT

The dispatch takeover continues!

We woke today to overcast skies and a light dusting of snow. Luckily RMI Guide Andy Bond coached us well, and told us we had to have the most pristine camp of any of the teams here at 7,800'. We had pulled all of our gear inside before we went to bed so no one woke up to soggy clothes. Unlike RMI Guide Avery Parinello’s guide team who slept out in the snow.

There was a luxurious breakfast of bagels with cream cheese and lox before our daily exercise. By 6:30 a.m. we were leaving camp with full packs.

We cruised up Ski Hill and cached our gear at Kahiltna Pass, roughly 10,200’. It was a delight to have empty packs on the stroll back to 7,800’ Camp.

Camp was warming in the early afternoon sun as we arrived around 12:30 p.m. We spent a leisurely afternoon enjoying the comforts of our home and the luxury items we brought on the trip.

There were tea tree oil foot rubs, beard combing, using our sleds as lounge chairs to catch some rays, eating charcuterie over some riveting conversations - and my personal favorite, hula hooping!

We will have an early dinner in a few hours and climb into our turtle shells for an early evening. Tomorrow we make the move to 11,200'.

-- Another mystery writer from the Denali Expedition led by RMI Guides Andy Bond, Grayson Swingle, and Ben Luedtke