Entries from Expedition Dispatches
June 18, 2016 - 8:58 pm PT
Remember how yesterday we told ya'll that despite the high clouds and other warning signs of low pressure that the weather was holding? Well, it sure isn't anymore. We delayed our departure from Camp 1 by a few hours and caught a lull that lasted long enough for us to travel to
9,600 Camp comfortably. We established camp and chilled the afternoon away as the winds and snow built. We are well fed, warm, and snuggled in for the night, hoping that the weather allows us to travel to 11,000 Camp in the morning. Only time will tell, but for now the psyche is high.
Love to everybody,
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
June 18, 2016 - 7:51 pm PT
We woke up this morning at 3:00 AM to a wet snow fall on the lower
Kahiltna Glacier. I personally stayed up all morning waiting for it to taper off. Finally at 6 we decided to push to the runway and see if we could get a flight out today. After a couple hours of walking we turned the corner and started up the Southeast Fork, aka Heartbreak Hill. At this point we heard some planes began landing and with the shear excitement of beer and burgers we made our way up to the landing strip. The weather was in and out so we didn't all get flights out immediately but throughout the early afternoon we all got off the glacier and flew back to Talkeetna. We are currently having dinner at the West Rib and preparing for a big night of celebration.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
June 18, 2016 - 7:18 pm PT
It was anyone's guess how today would turn out based on the snow piling up on our tents this morning. We dragged our feet a little before downing a cup of coffee and packing up our camp. We pushed down the glacier in a near whiteout, unsure if any planes would venture into the Alaska Range today. After a great trip the team was ready to head home, but we had to still wait and see what
Denali had in store for us. As we descended, the visibility improved and it began to look like some fancy flying might just get us to a shower after all. The weather continued to cooperate and it wasn't long before the awesome pilots at K2 had us back in the land of green forests, running water and options for food. And like that we left the Range after a few great weeks with our teammates.
It was an exceptional adventure, made great by the team who shared the effort to make it happen. Thanks to all involved for making it happen and we will all be home soon!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and Team called at 2:25 pm PST to let us know they have flown off of the mountain and expect to land in Talkeetna shortly.
Congratulations Team!
RMI Guide Jake Beren and Team called at 2:25 pm PST to let us know they have flown off of the mountain and expect to land in Talkeetna shortly.
Congratulations Team!
Greetings,
Our whole team is here in
Moscow and we just finished up a nice first dinner together. Everyone did great overcoming our first challenge - walking back to the hotel in a severely down-pouring lightning storm. With jet lag. Everyone passed the test with flying colors. And flashes of light.
We're looking forward to a great trip!
Cheers,
RMI Guide
Tyler Reid and Team
The
Four Day Summit Climb June 15 - 18, 2016 was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today due to avalanche danger.
RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Mike Uchal led their teams to Ingraham Flats before making the decision to turn back. All climbers are back at Camp Muir where they will rest and repack before beginning their descent to Paradise later this morning.
June 18, 2016 - 12:40 am PT
Hi all, sorry there hasn't been a dispatch since we summited, we've been busy and on the move a lot. The team did a fantastic job climbing the
Upper Rib yesterday and we all made the summit just after 7:00 PM. After some hugs, photos, and congratulations we began our descent down to 17 Camp on the West Buttress. Thirteen hours after we started climbing we were crawling into our tents, exhausted but very satisfied with our accomplishment. This morning we woke up early to get low on the mountain before the 50 mph forecasted winds rolled in this afternoon. I am truly amazed at how strong this team is, even after a big summit day everyone climbed very well as we made our way down the Buttress and fixed lines to 14 Camp. Here we took about an hour to retrieve our cache and re pack before we hit the trail to 11 Camp. I thought for sure folks would be tired at 11 camp, but no. We dug up our cache here rigged for traveling with sleds and kept descending. We are currently at the base of Ski Hilll, 7800', getting a little rest and waiting for the cold of the night before we walk the lower Kahiltna Glacier back to the landing strip. Weather permitting we will be on board an airplane first thing in the morning.
Thanks so much for following along throughout our expedition
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and the Upper West Rib Team
On The Map
June 17, 2016 - 11:36 pm PT
What a big few days it's been! Forgive the radio silence, but our team has been busy getting some real climbing done. Since our glorious finale to our ascent, we descended back to
17 Camp and had a well deserved rest. We awoke early this morning with a motivating forecast to move and packed up our alpine home and began our descent. As we scooped up caches at 16,600, 14,200 and 11,000 our decision to beat feet downhill seemed well made. Winds and snow took over the upper camps and we made it to 7,800 camp where the air is thick and the temps are pleasant (by our new standards). We carved out a quick camp and are planning on an early morning to try and catch a flight tomorrow. Wish us one more day of decent weather and we'll be back to tell all the details of one hell of an adventure!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
On The Map
June 17, 2016 - 8:48 pm PT
We are climbing! We had a rather early departure from Basecamp this morning, leaving at 3 a.m. while the glacier was still nice and firm. The crew made quick work of the task at hand arriving into our new camp at the base of Ski Hill on the
Kahiltna Glacier in 4 hours and 20 minutes. Rock Stars! We spent most of the day "sport eating" in preparation for the high calorie demand that this mountain will require. We had some clouds move in mid day, but the weather turned out to be great. We plan on another early morning rally up to 9,800 camp. We tried to count how many shells smothered in Velveeta we ate tonight to prep for tomorrow. Unfortunately we're not as top notch as Joe Horiskey. Love to the fans! And the Fams!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
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Thanks to the great guides who did such a wonderful job getting this team up to the summit and safely back down again. Your knowledge of the mountain, the weather patterns, and your decisions about when to advance or when to stay put make all the difference. Thanks a million to all of you. You’re the best!!!
Posted by: Bud on 6/18/2016 at 8:48 pm
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