Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Sunday, June 7, 2015 7:42 pm PT
Yesterday we stormed the
Kahiltna Glacier, officially ending our occupation of Talkeetna. We were able to catch an early afternoon flight, skirting the clouds and safely getting ourselves and all our groceries into the mountains!
We expected a huge backlog of climbers at basecamp, and there were more than a few parties waiting to get off the mountain. However a buried tent city resembling a parking lot of white Fiats, was nowhere to be found. We landed to spectacular views and decided to hit the ground running. Making it to 7,800 Camp in the evening was a great start to the climb.
Today we got a reasonable start to the day, leaving camp at mid morning and carrying to 9,700 feet. It was a pleasant day for walking, with enough cloud cover to keep us from getting too scorched. The team made it and we are now resting before dinner. Hopefully we can use that fuel to move to 11K Camp. Keep those fingers crossed for good weather!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
June 7, 2015, 4:47 pm PT
It is difficult to find a place to begin the final dispatch of our group's grand adventure. No mountain climbing objective quite compares to the raw and unprecedented challenge of
Denali. Having been here nine times before, the burrito of emotions ranging from excitement and joy to anxiety and fear all get rolled into one and when the plane takes off and you go past the point of no return, managing all these feelings becomes more than half the battle. I have seen this mountain crack the hardest of nuts. Climbers who have summitted 8000 meter peaks routinely come here and say it is the hardest mountain they have ever attempted. In the broad scope of mountaineering landscapes, "The High One" stands alone, both on the tundra and in our lives.
With this said, no one is prouder of the group than I am. Two days ago we began our march from 14,000 feet down into the unknown. With wind gusts strong enough to make walking feel like a mosh pit and snow conditions making hide-and-go-seek with crevasses a heart-pounding game, we honestly didn't know what the next hour, let alone day, would bring. After a brief visit at 11,000 feet we kept going into the ginormous ping pong ball navigating only with GPS. At 9,000 feet we had to stop. This sort of challenge became par for the course. Yesterday morning, despite the feet of new snow, everyone's energy, motivation and attitude never wavered. Four hours after leaving camp we were at the air strip and 45 minutes after arriving we were on a plane back to civilization. We fly into Denali as someone and we fly off of Denali as someone else. I have been changed by the mountain many times. Very rarely has a group such as this had a profound influence on that change. It was an honor to lead you all.
Thanks again to
Nick and
Andy for being such hard working and trustworthy partners on the guiding front. You both rock!
Thanks also to those who followed along. The stories of what happens the night you return to food and drink will have to be shared in person.
Until the next adventure. Keep climbing.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
RMI Guide Casey Grom called from the
Mount Rainier summit at 7:15 a.m. His team was on top in warm temperatures at no winds. They began their descent just after the radio call.
Congratulations to the summit climb team!
Saturday, June 6th 10:55 p.m. PT
After three days of significant snowfall, we awoke this morning to mostly clear skies and moderate winds. Three days of laying in a tent will make anyone antsy, and, understandably, the team was raring to head up hill.
We used the energy and enthusiasm to make a move to
Mount McKinley's 14K camp. After an hour of wallowing through deep snow, we escaped onto firmer terrain and found ourselves here in camp six hours later.
Everyone is tired from the exertion, but elated to be this high on the mountain. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
Saturday, June 6th 10:18 p.m. PT
On the Road again!
Yes, today we got to move up into the Genet Basin! We are currently snuggled up in our sleeping bags at
McKinley's 14K Camp. Everyone did an excellent job today and climbed quite strong.
We had a leisurely departure from 11K waiting for the perfect time of day. There was a lot of traffic on the route due to lots of teams sitting out this storm at 11K. However, with our strong group
Tyler was able to giraffe neck around to see what was ahead and plan some strategic breaks in order to avoid the congestion.
We arrived at camp around 4:15pm and everyone was quite efficient setting up camp. After a hard days work, everyone enjoyed many spatulas of Annie's Mac and cheese with crispy bacon.
We are happy to have made the move and will check in again tomorrow!
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Lindsay Mann and Chase Nelson
On The Map
June 6, 2015 11:08am PST
No trip to
Denali is truly complete without a taste of the Talkeetna Hang. With the unsettled weather this week continuing, it hasn't been possible to fly in to the Range. While that can be tough for some to hang out in town, it doesn't take many days stuck in a storm on the mountain before we will be wistfully remembering our down days in town.
The team is doing their best to stay in the game. Despite being ready with planes loaded and boots on, we spent the day in town, not flying. With nothing else to do for the trip, we set out to really get into the Talkeetna Hang. An afternoon pizza party prompted a trip to the river to skip some rocks and look towards the mountains. We couldn't see anything but dark clouds toward the Range so we pushed on. Making a stop at the historic Fairview Inn the team got into some fierce ping pong action. Doubles, singles, it didn't matter. Nice to get the heart beating again. After the games a farmer's market set up shop nearby, a concert in the park struck up and we eventually returned to the hanger for a game of Cards against Humanity. A solid day of hanging.
With any luck we will fly today, but if not I think we can find a museum or two to explore.
RMI Guides Jake Beren, Christina Von Mertens, Andrew Kiefer & Team
June 6, 2015 9:15am PST
RMI Guide
Adam Knoff just called into the RMI office and gave us an update. The team is at
9,000’ camp and heading toward the air strip.
They woke up yesterday and made the decision to head down to 11,000’ camp. In high winds and blowing snow they headed down and after 2.5 hours they were greeted with smiles and hots from RMI Guide Tyler Jones and team at camp. The team took a bit of a rest, packed it up and pointed their boots downhill. They then traveled through deep snow, whiteout conditions and with some help from the GPS they reached 9,000’, where they rested for the night. The Sun came out this morning and the team was all smiles! The team is packed and ready to blaze the five miles of trail in knee deep snow toward Base Camp, where with some luck they will fly off the glacier this evening or by the afternoon on Sunday.
Special request from Adam: “WISH US LUCK!”
The
Mount Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by
Brent Okita and
JJ Justman, both reached the summit this morning! The teams reported a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest. After both teams spent some time on the summit, they began their descent at 7:20 a.m.
Congratulations summit teams!
June 5, 2015 - 6:53 pm PT
We woke this morning to silence, my first thought was that the weather had become good. Soon I rubbed my eyes and realized the we were completely snowed in. After digging out of the tent we spent another hour excavating camp before we could even start making breakfast. Obviously not a move day.
Once camp was dug out and coffee was coursing through us we spent the day sharing stories, reading, and napping in our tents. The wind and snow let up for most of the afternoon and we are all hopeful that tomorrow will bring good weather for us. The team is antsy to move higher on the mountain but there is nothing we can do about the weather. Spirits remain high and everyone is healthy and happy. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow. Thanks for following along with us.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
On The Map
June 5, 2015 3:00pm PST
Snowpocolypse...
Yep, it's still snowing here at
11k camp and the holding pattern...continues. It's deep and fluffy around here! We had to get our periscopes out this morning to escape the tent. The day has been spent waddling like platypuses from our tents to the posh to the bathroom. The team has also spent our time maintaining our camp, shoveling freshly drifted snow, building and rebuilding walls around our tents. Despite the snowpocolypse, spirits have been kept high with card games, jokes, rapping and stories.
RMI Guide
Tyler Jones & Team
Previous Page
Next Page
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Craig and Eric Hi from a much lower elevation. Reading the blog daily so we know you and the team must be happy to be on the mountain and making progress Hope you don’t need to test the coldest protection level of your clothing and sleeping bag. Temperatures look impressive for California boys but know you will source your MN and Scandanavian roots.
All is well here. Climb on! Love Libby and Julia
Posted by: Libby and Julia Heimark on 6/11/2015 at 5:25 am
Dear Craig and Eric,
We wish both of you and the team a safe and fabulous journey. Hope the conditions are ideal.
Take care,
Linda, Ed, and Jared
Posted by: Linda on 6/10/2015 at 7:19 am
View All Comments