Entries from Mt. McKinley
Hello, this is Dave Hahn checking in from 7,200' on Mt. McKinley.
Sure enough, we lucked out yesterday morning and flew onto the mountain first thing. By 10 AM, our K2 Aviation pilots, Randy and Tony, had the team unloading the big red ski-equipped Otters at 7200 ft on the Kahiltna Glacier. There was plenty to do for the duration of the day in establishing a camp and reviewing glacier travel techniques. We did take breaks from our labors in order to gaze up at the gargantuan flanks of the surrounding mountains. Denali itself even made a few appearances, shaking off low clouds from time to time and attempting to give us the big stare-down from long distance.
Our intention was to get to sleep early and to wake at 1 AM in the hopes of traveling through the heavily crevassed sections of the Kahiltna while the snow surface was frozen up solid. But due to low clouds rolling in, the surface never came close to freezing. In fact, throughout the night there were persistent rain and wet snow showers that convinced us to postpone our travel plans for a day. So today we are resting and casually sorting gear at basecamp. There is only one other team in base today, camped a few hundred feet away and presumably sharing our hopes for better weather tonight. We've got a mountain to climb.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Hello from Mt. McKinley.
We woke up early this morning to clear skies and no wind at 14k Camp. Elias and I got all dressed, left the tent, and took a look at the ridge at 17,000'. There were huge cloud plumes flowing over the ridge and spiraling into the sky; an obvious indicator of weather no bueno. Given the recent snows up high and the high winds, we decided to sit it out a day and give it a go tomorrow if weather cooperates. The forecast calls for improving weather trends, so we should be in position when it gets "nice". The weather did actually turn out to be pretty nice today, so no need to send Joe Horiskey any harassing emails!
We will check in again soon.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
Hello, this is Linden Mallory checking in from 11,000' on Mt. McKinley.
After five consecutive days of moving camps and loads up the mountain a break was very much in order and we decided to use today as a rest day here at 11 Camp. We savored sleeping in this morning, not emerging until the first rays of sun hit the tents. Much to our surprise after hearing more about a possible low pressure system in last night's forecast, today has been beautiful. The low hanging clouds of yesterday are nowhere to be found and just a few faint whisps can be seen hanging near mountain tops. We sat around the kitchen this morning exchanging war stories and washing down our breakfast burritos with steaming cups of coffee and tea.
We then took advantage of the nice weather to cover some more training and climbing techniques now that we are moving off of the lower glacier and onto the upper mountain - spending a few hours working with ropes and ice axes. It was a scorcher of a day (at least by Alaskan standards) with the sun beating mercilessly off of the fresh snow. Temperatures were well over 80F in the tents - nothing compared to Tuscon's 114F but very hot compared to the wind and snow we had previously. The rest of the afternoon was passed relaxing, napping in the tents, reading, and sorting gear in anticipation of our move to 14,200' camp ("14 Camp") tomorrow.
Kel and I used today to pull together a little surprise cheesecake for dessert tonight, celebrating not only the rest day but also Paul's birthday from a few days ago as well as Madhu's which is today. We had the chance to read all of the blog comments last night, thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support - the team enjoyed hearing from all of you back home. Everyone is doing well, spirits are high and we've all benefited from some down time today. We're hoping that this weather holds and are eager to move up to 14 Camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
The Mt. McKinley Custom Expedition led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn, Geoff Schellens, Lindsay Mann and Zeb Blais were loading the planes at K2 Aviation en route to the Kahiltna Glacier at 9 a.m. Alaska time.
We wish the team a safe and successful expedition on Mt. McKinley!
Our climb has had a flawless beginning thus far. True, we haven't actually hoisted a pack, walked uphill or even set foot on a glacier yet, but that will all come soon enough.
First things first... yesterday the climbing team came together down in Anchorage and shuttled on up to Talkeetna. Today was actually jam-packed with orienting provisioning and preparing for our climb. If all goes well, we hope that K2 Aviation will be able to fly us on to the Kahiltna Glacier tomorrow morning. It seems the weather has been a little sloppy of late, although it did break long enough today for planes to get in and out of Kahiltna Basecamp a few times, retrieving the RMI team led by Jake Beren. It was great to chat with his guides and climbers as to current conditions on the hill. Combined with the briefing we received from the National Park Service this morning and what we've gathered from other acquaintances in the streets and eateries of Talkeetna throughout the day, we are feeling quite knowledgeable as to what we may find. Next step is to go and see for ourselves. We had a fine dinner at the busy West Rib Pub before retiring -with fingers crossed for easy flying conditions- to our comfy beds in the Talkeetna Motel.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello, this is Mike Haugen checking in from 14,000' on Mt. McKinley.
After a great push to cache our gear up high yesterday, we took today as a rest day. Although we were in the clouds most of the day, the sun was peaking through just enough to heat up the inside of our tents via the greenhouse effect. Thus, our nap-puchinos were glorious. After our naps and some lunch, Elias and I taught the crew some rope tricks that will help us be efficient as our rope teams make our way back up through the fixed lines and the running belays (our protection on steep slopes) that lie on the upper mountain. Our plan is to hurry up and wait for the perfect weather that will allow us to move from 14,000' Camp to 17,000' Camp. RMI's Joe Horiskey promised us perfect weather tomorrow, so send him angry emails if it is snowing or windy.
We will check in again soon.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
Well I'm sure you all have been wondering where in the world we are. Forgive the suspense, but it has been an action packed few days. After our last sub-space frequency, we had to re-reevaluate our situation and make the difficult, but ultimately very clear decision to return to lower elevations. After many days at 17,000 feet and over a week waiting for a window at 14,000' camp we were plain out of time for a realistic summit attempt. Often these expeditions make allowances for running over budget on time and our team was prepared to hold out for a workable window to go for the top. However, the weather never did us the favor of cooperating. Such is the way of the mountains and we are wise to read their signals.
Our stay at 17,000 feet was marked by deep snow, drifting thigh to waist high outside of camp and persisting for days. Accompanied by high winds that loaded start zones and released multiple full track avalanches that ran down almost to the ranger station at 14 camp, stability seemed far from our reality. Our route to Denali Pass ran several times and when the storm cleared long enough the famous autobahn is positively pregnant with deep windslabs. The weather reports we have been monitoring continue to predict unstable weather, high winds and more snow, followed by a large low pressure system bringing more bad weather to the mountain. Still we didn't want to head down, but staying longer in such weather exposes us to greater risk the longer we stay.
Capitalizing on a lull in the weather, we began our descent of the West Buttress yesterday. That is my favorite part of the route and presents some of the most interesting climbing on this route. Our 19 days on this beautiful mountain prepared us well to move efficiently and though I would gladly have gone to the top with such a great team, I was glad to be able to handle the route's namesake feature in windy conditions with safe teammates.
Despite the spindrift and new snow, conditions did present us with some pockets of sunshine where we were able to see this mountain in its stormy glory. We made it down to 14 camp where we regrouped and hoofed it down to 11,000 feet for a hot meal and a few hours sleep with some amazing skies on our way around Windy Corner.
Three hours of downtime, then it was off again and we raced the warming Lower Kahiltna Glacier's snow bridges to the runway. On our exit we were able to see the upper mountain up the NE Fork and again from the airstrip. It was still socked in with a cloud cap and high winds and our call to escape, though bittersweet, remains sound.
Having not heard the sound of planes in the air for days, it was a treat to see the Otters, Beavers and Cessnas amongst the spectacular backdrop of Mt. Hunter and Foraker. Our gear sorted, we were on the afternoon flight and are now back in Talkeetna, magically back to summer and a land where green things flourish and showers imply happiness instead of misery. In a few hours our team will meet again for another dinner, prepared by strangers and without the ambiance of a snow fort. It will be a welcome treat.
Thank you friends and family for the support and love on our adventure. We went out not knowing what would happen and we returned safe, but with some unfinished business. I am content that we gave it our all and emerged friends and stronger for the time amongst the clouds and upper atmosphere. Thanks to a great team and excellent colleagues, it was an adventure I am happy to have shared with everyone,
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Despite a forecast last night calling for the arrival of a low pressure system blowing in from the Bering Sea, the unsettled weather finally swung in our favor this morning. The skies were mostly clear above us when we got out of the tents, and the bank of clouds hanging just to our west hung stationary, not quite reaching past Mt. Foraker and Kahiltna Dome. Seizing the first day of good weather we've seen since leaving Base Camp, we loaded up our packs with food, fuel, and a few extra supplies and headed up out of 11 Camp. To say it was an amazing morning for climbing is an understatement (although I realize we're a bit jaded by the whiteout conditions of the past few days) - it was calm, crisp, and clear, the route was in perfect shape, much of the new snow blown away making for perfect cramponing, and the temperatures comfortable. By the time we reached the top of Motorcycle Hill, just above 11 Camp, we all had grins from ear to ear - we couldn't believe how nice the conditions were especially because we were anticipating spending the day hunkered down in camp battling wind and snow.
We climbed all morning, making great time up to Windy Corner at over 13,000', finally stopping just past Windy Corner at 13,600'. There we dug a big hole and dropped all of the gear we were carrying. Caching gear like that benefits us in two ways: it allows us to break down the massive amount of supplies we need to carry on this mountain and move them up in more manageable loads as well as helps us acclimatize and get used to the altitude. By climbing up higher during the day we expose our bodies to thinner air and help kick start the body's acclimatization process before descending back to a lower camp where we can rest and recover - hence the climber's adage "climb high, sleep low".
After finishing our cache we turned back down our trail and motored back into camp, reaching our tents mid-afternoon. While the clear skies filled with clouds throughout the day the conditions remained warm and calm without even a breath of wind. The clouds are certainly building, indicating the arrival of a possible front, but they haven't stacked up like we were anticipating so we are in a wait and see mode. If we are feeling up for it and the weather cooperates we would like to move up to our next camp at 14,200' tomorrow but we need conditions, both weather and the group to align perfectly for that. If we aren't able to make the move tomorrow we will stay here at 11 Camp and rest and recover from the past several days of travel. We will check in tomorrow and let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
RMI Guide Jake Beren and team of climbers have decided to return to Talkeetna. The group was at 11,000' this morning and making their way to the Kahiltna Glacier where they hope to be flown off the mountain later today.
We began the day well before the direct sun was in 14,000' Camp, which made for a chilly start. After a delicious Cinnamon Toast Crunch and coffee breakfast we made our way uphill. The weather was not perfect, but Elias and I were sure that the morning sun would burn off some of the clouds and the winds were going to subside. We made our way kicking steps through deep snow up to the fixed lines that take us to the top of the West Buttress. Our goal was to keep going up to 17,000' Camp to cache some food and gear, but the deep snow and icy conditions on the fixed lines made travel a bit slower than was expected. We were very happy to cache below a beautiful, giant piece of granite called Washburn's Thumb at 16,770'. It will be very easy to pick up our cache from there on our move to 17,000' Camp. We made it back to camp in good style right about dinner time. Elias and I continue to be impressed by the climbers on this expedition.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
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Stay safe and warm. That mountain has no problem making you a permanent resident. Seem to be making good time though, I been in that area my self. Stunning!
Posted by: Chip Jackson on 6/30/2011 at 3:36 pm
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