Entries from Mt. McKinley
June 19, 2014 - 9:34 am PT
As the wheels of our bush plane touched down in Talkeetna last night, my mind breathed a bittersweet sigh of relief. On one hand, we were back in civilization with amazing conveniences, such as flush toilets and food with expiration dates, but the trip had not turned out the way I hoped in previous months of dreaming about it. After taxiing through the airfield, we unpacked the plane and I cataloged the 36 hours of frenzied activity leading up to that point.
The weather throughout this trip was challenging. Aside from the first few days traveling up the lower
Kahiltna Glacier, we battled ominous and unpredictable forecasts, and lots of marginal weather. The team did a great job of staying positive, always assuming that after the snow ended we would get our break. Day followed day, but the snow didn’t stop. It wasn’t a blizzard by any means, but just bad enough to not be able to move up high and make a summit attempt. Every morning we would get up and either watch snow fall, or see wind howling across the summit plateau.
After nine nights at
14,200’ camp we were in a difficult position. We had managed to get a food cache up on the route, just below 16,000’, but the snow was presenting avalanche danger, the forecast hadn’t improved and the days were counting down. The group had a long discussion about schedules and desires, eventually coming to the conclusion that we would split ways. Part of the team would stay, join another
RMI team for support and wait for better weather. The other half of us would pack up most of the gear and move downhill toward the runway. Family, friends and work obligations were calling our names. After a 15-hour, 14-mile walk through the night, we made it to the landing strip, caught a plane and found ourselves on terra firma Tuesday night around dinner time.
As a
guide, these trips are some of the most difficult to manage. The puzzle was one piece from coming together, but it wasn’t meant to be. The frustration was not solely ours. This has been a rough year in the
Alaska Range weather-wise. When we flew onto the glacier, the summit success percentage was a depressingly low 16%. It has hardly risen since then. It would seem as though this season has been one of failure, but I prefer to view it differently. As a team, we did everything we could to be ready, the mountain simply said “no.” That doesn’t mean that we didn’t have an enjoyable trip with lots of good memories. Quite the contrary, we had several good weeks together filled with learning and bonding. I am reminded of the very applicable mountain phrase, “The summit is for the ego, but the journey is for the soul.”
Final thoughts-
To our three climbers- Andy, Jesse, and John. Thanks for arriving fit, ready to climb and with great senses of humor. You guys were a riot to hang out with in the cook tent, and on the rope. I have every confidence that given a decent weather window, you guys could tag the top. Unfortunately, not getting a chance to summit is sometimes part of big mountain climbing. You guys handled it with class and smiles. I hope our paths in the mountains cross many times in the future.
To my fellow RMI guide,
Geoff Schellens, it is always a pleasure to work with you. Good times, buddy. You are smart, patient and ridiculously strong at altitude. I felt lucky to be up there with you.
To all the family, friends, armchair mountaineers and acquaintances who followed along in the last few weeks; thank you for the support. Your comments on the blog and daily positive vibes were the fuel that pushed us along up there. We thought of you in every decision, and with each picture we took.
Until next time, keep warm and enjoy every moment of life.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
June 18, 2014 - 9:00 pm PT
We went around Windy Corner! We dug a hole (or chipped one out of extremely hard snow)! We buried some stuff (food, fuel, overboots, etc.)! And then we came back down to our camp at 11k'. All in all, we had a great day; the team is moving well and getting more and more psyched as we make our way up the
mountain. The weather is gradually improving and we enjoyed blue skies and beautiful views of the Messner Couloir and the Orient Express on the upper mountain from the cache site. We filled up with an early dinner tonight and are racked out in anticipation of a big day tomorrow on our move to 14k' camp.
Check in again tomorrow...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
June 18, 2014 - 8:20 pm PT
We woke up around three to clear skies and no wind. We couldn't resist this opening to cache gear up higher. We were traveling so well this morning that we decided to carry all the way up to
McKinley's 14,000' camp. It was such a nice day up there that we spent around an hour and a half catching up with the
Tyler Jones' and
Jake Beren's teams. It looks like there should be good weather for a couple of days?? Cross your fingers for all of us!
The plan for tomorrow is to move our camp up to 14,000'. We are hoping for more of the same weather we had today.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and Team "The Ocho"
On The Map
June 18, 2014 - 4:51pm PT
Well, it's time to light this candle. We're getting ready to vacate the premises at 14K and head up for the thin air of
17K camp, after our extended stay here in advanced base camp.
Yesterday we put the final pieces in place, as a group of guides took on an afternoon mission to move some group gear from a cache at 16,700 up to our future high camp. The afternoon was a perfect day for fast movement and by 6pm we were comfortably situated with the food, fuel, hardware and kit that we'll need to launch for the top. Team No Troubles gets to reap the benefit of yesterday's work, as the normally heavy group load is now up high, and folks will get to move with their bad selves and a little bit of personal gear. Woot!
It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster these last few days, wishing for good weather and then having forecasts dash our hopes. But this latest round of prognostication seems to give us the glimmer of goodness we need, opening the window just enough for us to make a tactical strike. Stoke and energy is at an all time high, and we'll channel that energy into upward movement as soon as we can in the morning.
We really appreciate the love and support - keep it coming the next few days!
Until tomorrow,
RMI Guides Tyler, Garrett, Geoff and Team No Troubles
June 18, 2014 - 3:00pm PT
RMI Guides Adam Knoff, Lindsay Mann, Andy Hildebrand and Team have arrived in Talkeetna, AK to start their 2014 Mt. McKinley Expedition. Everything is going as planned for the team. They have completed their equipment check, met with the National Park Service and with good luck plan to fly onto the
Kahiltna Glacier tomorrow.
Follow along on the RMI Expeditions Blog for updates on the team!
June 18, 2014 - 3:42pm PT
Hello again from
14k camp! Today we are taking a well-earned break to recharge both ourselves and our electronics before hopefully heading uphill tomorrow. Yesterday we took a quick trip up to the top of the fixed lines to work the kinks out of our systems and get in some acclimatization. The crew was treated to their first views of Mt. Hunter and Mt. Foraker poking out through the clouds, and everyone performed admirably on both the ascent and descent of the fixed lines.
Looking forward, we have a tentatively favorable forecast for the next few days. We hope to make a push uphill tomorrow pending the weather, but in the meantime, we are doing our best today to rest and eat lots of food in preparation for the work ahead!
Cheers,
RMI Guide
Katie Bono & Team
June 18, 2014 - 12:24am PT
Today we got some news that a window may come our way in the next few days! We woke with the sun warming us. Granola and coffee got our day started at
14k camp. We saw fairly good weather throughout the day, yet a forecast for another big pulse of heavy snow for the near hours! Our equipment, attitudes, and stoke for the future are high and our methods of getting there are well calculated.
We wait another day hanging in there for the final push up the mountain. This season has not given many opportunities for a summit push but if we try and give it our whole effort we may just succeed! Tomorrow we will make our final preparation to stay or plan our departure Keep your eye on us and think high pressure weather.
Cheers,
RMI Guides Garrett, Tyler, Geoff and the No Troubles Team
June 17, 2014 - 11:00 pm PT
A rest day on Mt. McKinley! And well earned. The weather has been kinda funky; we woke this morning to around a foot of new snow but things steadily improved over the course of the day. Eventually, the sun broke and we enjoyed some turbo-tanning for much of the afternoon. But now the flurries are back and the flow has shifted from southeast to westerly. We briefly got a view of the tundra over Kahiltna Pass with a wall of large cumulus clouds headed our way. We are now in those clouds but they haven't hit with much wind so camp is still pretty pleasant. The gang is packing up for tomorrow's forward carry where we are hoping to get a cache in around Windy Corner, setting us up for a move to 14,000' if the weather cooperates.
We will talk to you later,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
June 17, 2014 - 7:14 pm PT
Once again the weather turned nasty overnight. We woke up to howling winds, snow, and low visibility. We waited until later in the morning and the weather began to get better. We decided to do our back carry since the weather was just good enough to travel. We made great time getting back down to our cache at 10,000'. We dug up our cache and were reunited with much of the food and gear that we will not be using until higher up on the mountain. As we were headed back up to camp, the skies cleared somewhat and the weather was downright pleasant the rest of the day.
Our plan for tomorrow is to cache much of the same food and gear up
towards 14,000'. This will take some of the weight off from our move day and help us acclimatize to higher altitudes.
Climb high and sleep low.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and "The Ocho"
On The Map
June 16, 2014 11:31pm PT
Happy Monday from all us sinners up here at 14 Camp! Today we rested and trained for our foray up the
fixed lines. After a bit of afternoon rest we then spent some time fortifying camp. It's been great up here so far and we are lucky to be surrounded by the other RMI teams. Everyone had been super hospitable and helpful getting settled in. If the weather allows, we will try a mission to the top of the fixed lines. If not, a day of rest sure wouldn't hurt.
That's all from 14!
RMI Guide
Jake Beren & Team
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Eric, Thank you for taking such good care of ‘Patty’s little boy’. The RMI blog posts that you provided were beneficial to both excited and worried family members. We even had the reassurance of your Mom, now that is special! Also, thank you for allowing John to continue with Team Jones, No Troubles. I realize that restructuring teams in mid-expedition is not usual protocol and wanted to thank both you and Geoff for facilitating this. You allowed John to fulfill a dream! Best Regards, Kent Stenderup
Posted by: Kent Stenderup on 6/23/2014 at 11:19 am
Eric—— Thank you for the beautifully written “final thoughts”. It provided positive closure on the “Upper West Rib” expedition. I have great respect for your focus on safety and appreciate the decisions that you made. I am happy for my son , John, that he was able to transition over to Tyler’s group and continue his quest and eventual summit. I spoke with him last night after the team arrived in Talkeetna. He had nothing but praise and appreciation for your great leadership. I would like you to thank your Mom , again for me, for her words of encouragement. It really helped me! Thank you so very much!!!
Patty Stenderup
(PS—- I am still wondering where in Ohio you are from??? I am also a Buckeye.
Posted by: Patty Stenderup on 6/23/2014 at 10:44 am
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