Entries from Mt. McKinley
Posted by: Mike Walter, Jess Wedel, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,000'
Saturday, May 25, 2024 - 4:39 pm PT
Well, today didn’t go as planned but it was still a helpful day on our journey to reach the summit of Denali. We woke to high winds above us, deemed it too windy for a safe summit attempt and chose to take a rest day at 17,000' Camp. The sun came out this afternoon and we all enjoyed sitting outside our tents resting, hydrating and taking in the views.
All the guide teams are working together up here and Mike lead a crew of guides up the Autobahn (a long stretch of climbing right out of camp) this afternoon. They checked out conditions and put in work shoveling and digging out pickets so that it’s in good shape for tomorrow.
We are all watching the weather closely and so hopeful tomorrow will be our summit day.
Here we go!
RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Mike Walter, Michael Murray and the Denali team
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Denali Expedition, May 5, 2024
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
The team came to the challenging decision, where part of the team chose to continue uphill and part of the team called yesterday their high point.
For those who chose to continue uphill, you can follow along with their journey on the May 12th Expedition with Dustin Wittmier. For the remainder of the team, we packed up late last night, walked through the night and flew back to Talkeetna mid-morning where we can now enjoy a shower and beer for our hard work.
RMI Guide Nikki Champion & Team
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Denali Expedition May 14, 2024
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Daniel May, Lacie Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
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After a long and heavy day, the team made it all the way to 14,000' Camp with a warm greeting from some fellow RMI teams. We’ve settled into camp, retrieving our gear from below during our back carry. Now being fully set up at 14,000', we are taking advantage of the bluebird skies to rest, practice fixed line travel and walk to the Edge of the World for the beautiful views and photo ops.
Life may be colder up at 14,000' as opposed to 11,000', but no one here seems to be complaining. Life is good.
RMI Guides Dustin, Lacie, Dan, and Team
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 12, 2024
Sarah: What a view! What an adventurous niece! Talked to your Dad this evening and caught up
on his adventurous family. Beautiful weather down here for one day. Wishing you the very best.
Posted by: Coreen on 5/26/2024 at 8:43 pm
Sarah. Of course the summit is the ultimate goal, but the real goal is to enjoy the climb.
We are. Hope you are too. Bob and Pat
Posted by: Bob Brandt on 5/26/2024 at 9:32 am
Posted by: Mike Walter, Jess Wedel, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,000'
Friday, May 24, 2024 11:30pm PDT
We moved to High Camp in great weather today. Seven hours of climbing and hours more of building camp has everyone a bit tuckered. We'll check the weather in the morning and decide about going for the summit.
RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team
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Denali Expedition, May 5, 2024
Big hello and hugs to Jill from all of the Bons! Best wishes on your summit push you stud. We love you!
Posted by: Amanda Stone on 5/25/2024 at 4:15 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,000'
Friday, May 24, 2024 10:51pm PDT
Things worked well for us today to get to 17,000’ Camp. The morning was relatively warm, things looked calm above finally, and everyone was excited to go somewhere new. That was true of most of camp as many guide parties all took the opportunity to bump up to high camp. It was a busy day on the fixed lines and buttress, but overall, it went pretty smoothly for us.
We were one of the first parties to arrive at 17,000’ Camp in the midafternoon, and had plenty of time to build camp while taking breaks to rest and recover up here in the thin air. We are settled in comfortably, and headed to bed shortly to wake up and see if tomorrow is our day to go for the summit!
Wish us fair weather and swift feet!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer & Team
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Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024
Pete, Jackson and team….. you got this!! Proud, inspired and in awe of you all!! Finish the climb!
Posted by: Amy Breen on 5/25/2024 at 11:18 am
Get up that mountain Scott!!! I know you can do it! We are all rooting for your and your team!!
Posted by: Jackie Millen on 5/25/2024 at 9:16 am
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
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Today was a challenging day. We rigged up with half the food and gear to go cache around Windy Corner. We made our way up Motorcycle and Squirrel, and through the Polo Fields but not all the way to Windy Corner. Going to see what tomorrow brings.
RMI Guide Nikki Champion & Team
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition May 14, 2024
Go Uncle Jimmy!!! We are so proud of you! Stay safe and keep climbing that mountain! -Abby, Josh, Carter and Helena
Posted by: Abby Roberts on 5/25/2024 at 10:38 am
Go team Nikki, Go!!!
Posted by: Tracy and Bruce Wilhelm on 5/24/2024 at 1:33 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
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We went to bed last night really warm. The sun was still on the tents, and temps through camp were warm. That lasted until early morning, when suddenly the clouds dropped, and the temperature plummeted. This morning therefore was one of the coldest of the trip, properly bone-chilling cold. Halfway through breakfast the sun finally hit and our fortunes changed, thawing us out and warming up conversation. This was hopefully our last rest day. We took the opportunity to walk the short jaunt to the Edge of the World, where the edge of Genet Basin in which 14k camp is located, plummets to the NE fork of the Kahiltna 7000' below.
Otherwise, we’ve rested and organized for a hoped for move to 17,000’ tomorrow. The forecast looks promising, and we are excited to enter the home stretch! We'll send a progress report tomorrow.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer & Team
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024
We love reading about your expedition! We’re thinking about my brother, Scott and hoping for good weather and a successful climb!
Posted by: Julie Joyce on 5/24/2024 at 7:09 pm
Great updates! And best of luck to the team. Jackson, we’re rooting for you all!
Tracy and Bruce
Posted by: Tracy and Bruce Wilhelm on 5/24/2024 at 1:35 pm
Posted by: Mike Walter, Jess Wedel, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Thursday, May 23, 2024 - 12:38 pm PT
It's a sunny day at 14,000' Camp with thick clouds below and strong winds above. We'll be resting again today, continuing to get stronger for our summit push. Weather models seem to be in agreement that improving conditions this weekend will usher in the first big wave of summit attempts of the season. We're in position to take advantage when we get our shot. We'll keep you posted.
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 5, 2024
We’re cheering you all on!
Posted by: Sharon Spaulding on 5/24/2024 at 4:32 pm
We are so excited for the team! I hope all goes well in our prayers are with you!
Posted by: Kathie Roberts on 5/23/2024 at 5:39 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
It was still pretty clear that we were going to sit today, the winds were ripping around up high like a school of minnows, darting in all directions. Camp, however, had finally calmed, the snow had stopped, and it was shaping up to be a sunny day. The sun eventually evaded the clouds up high and broke free thawing our tents and bodies. The rest of the day we stored up heat in our body batteries, basked in that orange orb, and rested. The forecast is looking better going forward, so we hope to be taking the next steps in the next few days. Until then, we'll continue basking in our high altitude solarium.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 - 9:44 pm PT
Another weather day in the books. We woke up hoping to carry this morning, but instead were greeted by another morning of strong winds and snowfall. After looking up Motorcycle Hill for a bit, and watching to see if weather improved we crawled back in our sleeping bags and decided it was going to be another rest and weather day. We needed winds to die down a bit to make it around Windy Corner. After camp warmed up a bit, we made some coffee and breakfast burritos and settled into another day of acclimating and resting. The weather broke a bit, and we were able to get the caches reading for tomorrow, practice putting our crampons on and just getting a bit of fresh air. Tomorrow we are yet again hoping for a bit better weather, and the chance to carry.
RMI Guide Nikki Champion
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition May 14, 2024
Hi Will and team! Glad you got a small break in the weather and hoping for the best in the coming days. Congrats on your determination and preparation to make the trip - enjoy this adventure to the fullest!
Posted by: Rebecca on 5/24/2024 at 5:15 am
Hey Pops!
Hopefully mother nature chills out a bit and you guys can continue the climb up! Stay safe and we love you
Cody & girls
Posted by: Cody,amanda,addie & ava on 5/23/2024 at 10:40 am
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You are all so amazing! Sara you are so astonishing! I can’t wait to see the pictures. Summit!!!
Posted by: Becky Killian on 5/26/2024 at 7:57 pm
Stay safe up there, team! And pls tell Nick Roberts his Unc B is rooting for him!
Posted by: Unc B on 5/26/2024 at 6:34 pm
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