Entries from Mt. McKinley
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Today we "rested" at
camp, but it hardly felt like it. After breakfast we put on some empty packs and boogied down to retrieve our cache at 13,500'. The wind kept our somewhat spirited return trip from being too hot. Once back and rested, we fortified camp with stellar walls for the afternoon. Some of us even found a little time to participate in a high altitude medical study which had us racing around in the name of science. Then dinner and a few songs around the stoves and off to bed. The
team impressed everyone around with our hard work and we really earned some down time tomorrow. Maybe there will be some actual rest for this not so weary crew.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
On The Map
Thursday, June 13, 2013
We are all safely nestled in our tents just off the landing strip at basecamp. We had a magnificent flight from Talkeetna to basecamp at the flanks of
Denali. The weather on the glacier is as warm as I have ever seen it. For this reason, we are not traveling today and instead used the warm weather during the day to organize our backpacks and sled loads. We worked on some crevasse rescue techniques as we are about to head out onto the Kahiltna Glacier; a glacier filled with giant cracks in the ice. We are going to travel up glacier tonight so we can travel on firm snow and solid snow bridges. Wish us a solid freeze!
RMI Summit Team 6 - R
MI Guides Mike Haugen, Mike Uchal, Katie Bono & the team
On The Map
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Today we are all contributing to the blog. Have had big winds once again and are fixing our kitchen tent and building more walls - getting a little stir crazy! Hope you all enjoy the words from each of us!
Hi to my family, I love you all hope to give grandpa a hi five soon! Kiss to Bean. Love, Ty
Hello to all my family and friends! Kisses to Amy, a big scratching behind the ears to Barley, Blue, and Miles. Thanks for all the positive wishes! -g
Wendy, Taylor and Nathan.
Love and miss you. I hope you feel my hugs and kisses at bedtime. Be home soon. Love Dad
Dear Michelle,
I love you and miss you and the girls so very much. Please give all of my love to A-Bear and K-Bear, and tell them daddy will be home soon. Also, pass along my love to my mom, dad, Clubbie and Chevy. Love, Justin.
To my Hubby,
I hope you're flying high this week and passing all your tests. I really really miss you right now. Give my love and lots of treats to the girls :) Until i get home i'll leave you with reflections of a week at 14,200. To quote the crew from BBT"It was a snowy nightmare from whence there's no return." Tiamo mi amore-Jess
To my family and friends, thanks for all of the support, love and prayers. I am "living the dream" at 14K. The DeLorme transceiver is no longer working, thus no updates there. I love you, Matt! You are my light. I love you Mom, Dad, Bud and all my family. Stump, there was a C-17 overhead yesterday--your handiwork? ;) Dad, sadly there is no Denali branch of Subway, but I'm sure you can petition corporate headquarters as one of their most valuable customers. :) Bernard and Judy, the boots are fantastic and keeping my feet warm, thank you! I love you all and miss you all so much. -Robin
Friends, family, countrymen, lend me your ear! The Denali wind gods have saddled us at 14000. The team is at the mercy of Mother Nature and patience is the name of the game. It also means my work schedule is a bit hosed. Team PCET don't count on me coming in next week! Poof - ha! To all loved ones we are sitting strong and doing well. Hope to see you soon. James.
Hello to my dear family Mom Dad Sue Ryan Mia Ron Jodi Dannie Casey Nell Meg Ivy Maggie and awesome friends from frosty Denali! Thanks for all the comments and positive vibes sent! Love you and miss you!! All is good here - hoping our "out chilling" will soon end and we can move up the mtn in the am. Hope all is well with all you! Have I told you that I love and miss you? :) I do! Lori
On The Map
Thursday, June 13, 2013
RMI Guide Mike Haugen called from Talkeetna, Alaska this morning. The weather is beautiful and the team is packed and ready. They are loading their planes at the K2 Aviation Hanger and will be flying to the
Kahiltna Glacier today.
We wish them a safe and successful expedition on Mt. McKinley!
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Hi All!
We are hanging out in beautiful
Talkeetna, Alaska. We had a gorgeous day for organizing and packing our gear. the sun is shining and the mountain is visible in the distance. The team met up in Anchorage yesterday and have been slowly molding into Summit Assassin RMI Team 6! They really are a great crew!
Our gear is all bagged, weighed, and tagged. We got the word that we are all supposed to fly to basecamp around 9 tomorrow morning so we are all scrambling to get in those last correspondences and last minute tasks before the morning. We are all set for an incredible expedition. Off to bed for an early start-
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
A fine day for a move presented itself to us this morning and we certainly made the most of it. Leaving our
11,000' Camp in the early morning cold is great training for the chill of higher altitude and we made a solid bid before the sun came out in force. It's nearly always hot coming into 14 and today was no exception. We were treated to some real hospitality when we arrived in the form of another RMI Team, led by Tyler Jones and Garret Stevens. Freshly hydrated, we set to work building camp and rebuilding ourselves with a big meal and early night's rest. Tomorrow is a rest day, but I hazard a guess that we will be working in some way most of the day, retrieving a cache, fortifying camp and practicing for the fixed lines.
It is exciting to be up here with such a great team!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
On The Map
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Today is unfortunately another out chill situation. Garrett and I woke about 6 this morning to continued strong wind from 16,000 feet and above. The nature of the climbing is steep and exposed. With wind and a very cold north east flow, the risk of frostbite and loss of balance from the wind gusts, we have chosen to stay another day and hope for less wind tomorrow.
We try to conserve our lunch food and avoid the piggy tendency that sitting and waiting in the tents provides! The weather is clear and warm in most of Alaska, but at the altitudes we want to venture into, the jet stream is on!
On a more positive note, RMI Guide Jake Beren and his crew pulled into camp this afternoon, making for a great meeting of the minds in our 14,200' home. We are excited to spend some time with friends and climbing partners from past trips, although we do have high hopes for a move tomorrow.
Report back soon!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
All these early mornings are sure getting us dialed on working in the cold and will surely pay off up high. Today we led the way out of 11,000 ft camp by a few hours and reaped the reward of hitting the sun at a not-so
Windy Corner and putting in our cache at 13,500 ft in still, warm weather. The team did a great job and collectively we avoided baking in the afternoon sun. Now back at camp, the team is relaxing and recovering so that if Mother Nature allows, we can bump camps to 14,000' tomorrow. All we can do now is rest up and hope that Windy Corner lets us through one more time.
RMI Guides Jake Beren, Leon Davis & Josh Maggard
On The Map
June 11, 2013
You can't always get what you want...
Those lyrics from Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones were the first thing that went through the collective consciousness this morning. The guides woke at 6am, packed sleeping bags in preparation for departure and unzipped the tent - only to see winds whipping the ridge of the
West Buttress route above.
While camp here at 14,200' remains relatively calm, the higher reaches of the mountain are getting pummeled by ferocious northeast winds, which are sending plumes of spindrift snow off into the stratosphere. With a forecast high temperature of -15F at the 17,000' camp today, and winds gusting well into the 30mph range, the only safe option is to wait here in camp and hope for a less windy day to make our move. That combination of wind and temperature will actually feel like -65F (approximately), which can freeze exposed flesh in one minute. Needless to say, we're not going to venture into that kind environment.
So here we sit and wait, hoping for a break in the wind. We were treated to a bodacious air show earlier, when the contract helicopter, an A-Star B-3, came ripping around and right over our tents about three times in a row. Seems like they are doing some sort of filming up here, and we all mugged shamelessly as the ship blasted less than 40 feet above us. Good entertainment, to say the least.
While we have had more than one facetious conversation about moving in the wind storm, the group is prepared to wait for the right time and the right weather window. To channel the Stones yet again (and continue the song):
If you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need
So here's hoping we get what we need!
RMI Guides
Tyler Jones,
Garrett Stevens and the patiently waiting team
On The Map
Monday, June 10, 2013
A windy and cold night was greeted by more wind. For our team this is no issue, as we had planned this second consecutive rest day. This will be just the ticket for a more acclimatized and rested body that we will need for summit success.
The menu for this morning was supreme. Round upon round of bagels with cream cheese topped with bacon along with hash browns covered in cheese took us once again well past noon to complete.
The places we travel in the mountains can lead one to believe we are Martians, ready to launch onto to another planet - and that is exactly what we are doing. We push ourselves both mentally and physically, taking our personal learning and discovery to a higher level. When we return from these Martian lands, after having come face to face with deep personal truths and surpassing previously held limitations...we bring a richer and more rounded person home, someone who understands more about the nature of teamwork, sacrifice, and awareness. We thank you all for the support and the opportunity to let us dig deep and take on a new understanding of our passions!
The afternoon has more smelly tent time spent pounding water, fussing over who is the best celeb of all time and growing hairier by the day! The forecast is looking to set up nicely over the next few days and we hope to move to our high camp tomorrow. Till then keep the vibe high for our push!
RMI Guides
Tyler Jones,
Garrett Stevens and the crew
On The Map
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I’m so impressed with all of you! Amazing. Good luck & safe journey up.
Karen
Posted by: Karen Hoffman on 6/14/2013 at 1:40 pm
I take it that Grasshopper will NOT be at happy hour today in McKinney, then. (It was his turn to buy, you know). Safe journeys!
Posted by: Tim on 6/14/2013 at 12:30 pm
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