Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Greetings from beautiful Talkeetna, Alaska! The team arrived yesterday afternoon with big bags, bigger smiles, and high hopes for our Denali expedition. After a round of introductions, we hit the road and headed north from Anchorage. We stopped for last minute food and supplies in Wasilla, and pulled into town about 8 o'clock last night. We transferred all our luggage into the hangar, had dinner, and headed to bed in anticipation of an early start today.
Our morning started with a delicious breakfast at the roadhouse, and rolled right on into a massive gear sort/pack session at the hangar. The team gear piles started out big but have been trimmed down to nice tight kits for the mountain. This afternoon will be occupied by our briefing with the Park Service and a final round of packing, so we should be in great position to fly tomorrow morning (provided the weather cooperates, of course).
Blue skies and sunshine prevail today, so keep your fingers crossed that the high pressure will hold for tomorrow. More to come, stay tuned!
RMI Guides Tyler Jones & Garrett Stevens
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Hey everybody this is Billy here. I'm with Kel, Levi and the rest of the gang checking in from 17K Camp, high on Denali. We had a beautiful day today and it was actually pretty darn hot for our move up to high camp. We spent a good chunk of the afternoon cutting blocks and fortifying our spot. We're hoping to take a crack at the summit tomorrow. The weather forecast looks perfect. We'll call in tomorrow hopefully check in, from the summit perhaps, and then once again once we get back to camp safe and sound. That's all for now, talk later.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Update: 5/29/13
For the last 20 minutes, the shadow of the upper mountain has been creeping across 14,000ft camp. While its never dark here, the temperature drops significantly when the sun slides out of sight. We are now warm and safe in our sleeping bags, and ready to rest after a long day in the sun.
This morning we awoke at 11,000 ft to a crisp clear morning. After only three days at 11k, the place felt like home. All our team members sat in their preferred (and now regular) locations in our dinning shelter. And after an oatmeal breakfast everyone returned to their respective tents on well worn paths.
We then disassembled camp. What had been a home, dissolved into a series of tools and pieces of fabric. After an hour, we were ready to leave. Snow walls proudly protected our empty camp as we headed to 14,000 ft.
The route was familiar - we took the same route to cash gear yesterday. The team climbed even stronger today. Moral was high and the views were spectacular. As we neared 14,000ft, the sun was directly overhead. While Denali can be a harsh wintery environment, it can also feel like a solar oven. The glaciers act like mirrors and there is no shade. We left camp bundled up and arrived dropping with sweat.
We made our way to an old campsite at 14k and refurbished it. We leveled existing tent platforms, dug out a cook shelter and made ourselves at home. From our new home, we have a clear view of the upper mountain. All afternoon we watched climbers and skiers high above us.
We are all excited to get up high. But we also know that there is work to be done. We must train, collect our gear from 13,500 and bring more gear up high. For now, sleep is a priority. We've earned it.
RMI Guides Logan, Leah and Brent
Hey Jo (Gerald) awesome following the trip sounds like going well and weather treating you right stay strong bro. See you soon
Mike
Posted by: Mike weber on 6/2/2013 at 4:55 pm
Hey Betzalel and Ayla,
Gavi and I just wanted to tell you that we are so proud of you guys, and amazed by your adventurousness (if that’s even a word). We are def stalking your blog and can’t wait to see you summit! Also, we heard you guys got the go-pro - so sorry we didn’t get around to getting it for you, but don’t worry we’ll get you an even better wedding present! Anyway, hope you are doing well, missing you tons!!!!!
Monday, May 27, 2013
At 6:00 am few climbers are stirring, preferring to crawl out of their tents when the sun is a little closer to chasing the cold shadows of the night away. But we had a big day ahead of us, and knew we would be comfortable having breakfast and hot drinks in our Posh tent.
A skiff of snow barely covered the tents and the gear we left outside, and a few more clouds lingered around for a short while after we lit the stoves, but the sun was also out and we knew it was going to be good enough to make our carry up to 13,500'.
The crew was super quick getting ready this morning, eager, and certainly a little anxious about the climbing to come. After all, it was to be the steepest terrain we've been on. And as I suspected, everyone climbed well. A very slight breeze kept us comfortable until the last fifteen minutes when the wind stopped and things got hot. We got to our cache site at 2:00, a very respectable time by any measure. Everyone was tired but smiling and happy. The descent was just as smooth, allowing us to enjoy a few hours of well deserved R&R before dinner.
Our plan for tomorrow is to move up to 14,200' camp if we're all feeling good in the morning. Otherwise we'll take a rest day. If we do move up, we'll definitely be taking a couple of rest days there, which are key to our acclimatization to the elevation of camp.
After dinner we read all your posts! Thanks so much for the kind words and well wishes. It was another bright spot to an already good day.
Until tomorrow!
RMI Guides Brent, Logan and Leah
Hey Derek,
Mate we are all following the climb here at DAL3, steamy Darwin,Australia. All those shuttle runs paying off now!! Good luck , be safe mate.
Posted by: Gareth on 5/28/2013 at 10:53 pm
Jeff (dad)
We love reading about your day. Keep it up!
Love Kenny, Alex and Sophia
P.S. I got a hit today dad - Alex :)
Posted by: Veronica Hooper on 5/28/2013 at 10:11 pm
Monday, May 27, 2013
We are resting today! Nothing much to report but a trip to the 6,000' drop into the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna known as the "Edge of the World" where we took some photos. Otherwise we relaxed and enjoyed the perfect weather on our first full day rest of the entire expedition. The team is doing well and excited for the big push ahead! We are hoping to move to high camp tomorrow and make a summit attempt soon thereafter!
Ciao from 14k,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Sunday, May 26, 2013
We had a big day today and per the norm our team crushed it. We set out from 14 camp around 10:30 this morning hoping to get a cache of food, fuel, and gear in place for our high camp at 17,200'. Most teams are content caching somewhere along the ridgeline of the West Buttress and picking up the needed supplies on their way by during the move to 17 camp. Our crew was strong enough to climb all the way up the buttress and place our cache right in the middle of high camp. This will play to our advantage on the move day, enabling us to travel with lighter loads thus conserving energy for our summit push. The day ended up being one of our longest and hardest yet at around 8.5 hours round trip but will serve as good training for the harder and longer days to come. Anyway, we are back in camp relaxing in the evening sun and looking forward to tomorrow's well-earned rest day.
All for now,
Billy
Good luck to everyone! Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Tell Robin we said HI from Destin, FL
Posted by: Mary Romair on 5/31/2013 at 9:03 am
Hi Craig and Billy Nugent Team!
Great job everyone and thanks for the Blog updates! Sounds like Craig is holding his own as the “elder” team member! Of course those that know him would expect no less! He’s 52 going on 25! :)
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Mike Walter & crew rolled into 11,200' Camp tonight at dinner time looking surprisingly good for just having summited and descending from 17,200' today. They're planning on getting an alpine start tonight in order to descend the lower Kahiltna Glacier while it's frozen.
They'll be drinking beers and eating steak soon.
Our hats are off to the entire team. Congratulations all!
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Bagels fried in butter, slathered in cream cheese and accompanied with smoked salmon and bacon. It was the perfect fuel to start us out on the perfect day. Clear, calm skies prevailed over the Alaska Range once again and shortly after 9:30 we were hoofing it down to pick up our cache at 9500'. Everyone cruised up and down, allowing us a quasi rest day upon our return to camp around 1:00.
A little afternoon training with our crampons and ice axes will serve us well as we start climbing some steeper terrain tomorrow. Motorcycle Hill, Squirrel Hill, the Polo Field and Windy Corner will be some of the areas we'll climb through on our way to caching a bunch of food and supplies at 13,500'. We're looking forward to an exciting and challenging day.
As we were preparing to settle in for our dinner of burritos we got a pleasant surprise when the first RMI trip arrived in camp after summiting on a perfect day yesterday. It is exciting to see our friends, and certainly gets us stoked for the climbing to come. We're hoping for some similar conditions when it comes our turn to go for the summit. But for now, we'll just concentrate on the matter at hand. Getting our cache to 13,500'.
We'll be getting up fairly early in order to get back to camp with time to relax and prepare for the next day.
Until then ...
RMI Guides Brent, Logan, Leah
I think George is jealous about your trip. Next time take him too…
Posted by: susan birnbaum on 5/28/2013 at 3:17 pm
Razzle-dazzle & Ray Ray,
What an amazing experience! I remember you telling me about the fried bagels as we sat in the sun trying to imagine what your climb would be like. Can’t believe it’s really happening. Be in every moment, absorb it all: the sound of the snow, your heightened sense of awareness, the way you can read the terrain… It’s you and the mountain.
Miss you, love you,
-E
Saturday, May 25, 2013:
Hi All!
Our team is safely back at high camp after a successful summit bid today! Our entire team made it to the top and we enjoyed near perfect weather and route conditions! We left camp at 9:30 this morning and were standing on the roof of North America at 4:45 pm. After taking photos, exchanging high fives and hugs, and enjoying amazing views we descended towards camp in the evening glow of Alaska sunshine and with the anticipation of hot tea and a warm dinner.
We are all excited to begin our decent tomorrow and look forward to talking to all our friends and family in a few days!
Cheers!
RMI Guides Solveig, Mike, Ben, and the McKinley Team
The sun doesn't set at 11,200' camp until after 9:30 sometime. Then it just passes behind a mountain to cast shadows on this place that we're now calling home. And we're soaking it all up after another nice day of climbing.
Today we made it to camp in under four hours, and for the first time had pretty reasonable sized packs. A cool down-glacier breeze offered us a change of pace from the sweat fest of the lower glacier, and I think most of the team welcomed the drop in temperature.
Pulling into camp in the early afternoon allowed us to walk into a vacated camp spot and relieved us of the tough work of building walls and excavating tent platforms. Most of us relaxed and enjoyed a well deserved break from our toils.
Another first for the trip: we enjoyed a fine meal from the comfort of our Posh House. This is a tent like thing that allows us all to sit, cook and eat, protected from the elements like the wind, cold, snow or even sun. It's cozy and makes it fun to just linger over a couple of hot drinks and enjoy each others company.
Tomorrow we'll be doing a back carry to pick up the cache we left there this morning. We're looking forward to a fairly easy day, and hopefully another great day of weather.
Before we sign off, Ayla wants to give a big shout out to her sister. Happy Birthday Eva! (By the way, your sister Ayla is a rock star - she's doing great.)
Until tomorrow ...
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Hi to Jeff Hooper from sis - I think this is the right team! Hope you are having a great time, looks cold! Take care, thinking of you. Jill and Dad (via phone)
Posted by: Jill Cathey on 5/26/2013 at 7:59 pm
Hello Monica,
Wow the pictures are beautiful! Kathy,Maribeth and I are so proud of your accomplishments!
Praying for you,
First and foremost, the biggest event of the day was Pete's birthday--14K on a sunny day is not a bad place for a party.
Today was a bit a work and a bit of play, or rest anyway. We started by moving the 13,600' cache. We moved the cache and carried the cache to 14K. Resting at the cache spot before our carry, we could hear the water flowing underground, deep under the glacier. The trip back to camp was smooth and everyone arrived back far from flippy-floppy. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the peaceful oasis of our surroundings. Though we all could certainly get used to that lifestyle, we're also eager to make the most of this weather and the team's strength, so we're heading off to bed soon to get ready for tomorrow's carry up the fixed lines.
RMI Guide Kel Rossiter
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Ty thanks for the birthday wishes. much success to you and your team. love you Pete and Elaine
Posted by: Peter Tobin on 5/30/2013 at 5:18 pm
Jess,
Have an awesome climb!!!! Everything is great at the home front.
To the team,
Have a great climb.
Hector
Posted by: Hector on 5/30/2013 at 4:20 pm
View All Comments