We had an alpine start this morning, waking up in the middle of the night for our summit attempt on Cayambe. At midnight the winds were moderate and there was a beautiful, clear, and starry sky above us. We were psyched to see the clear sky, and we hoped that the winds would subside a bit throughout the day.
By the time we left the climbing hut (15,300') at a little before 1 a.m., a cloud had settled in on us and it was raining lightly. As we ascended, the wind and rain increased in intensity and the temperature kept dropping. After about a thousand feet of climbing, we were soaking wet and the wind speed was strong enough that it made climbing difficult. With another couple thousand feet more to climb, we turned around and headed back to the comfort of our climbing hut. Wet and cold, we drank some hot tea and then crawled in our sleeping bags for a few hours of well deserved sleep.
We are all off of the mountain now and headed for the Hacienda Chilcabamba, located just outside Cotopaxi National Park. We will take a rest day there tomorrow, drying out our clothes and getting ready for our climb up Cotopaxi.
We will be in touch again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Hi Dan! Bummer about Cayambe, but I am glad to hear you are playing it safe. The exact same thing happened to us! We got up at 9am and had big plans to spend the day on the beach. Just as I was getting really settled into my lounge chair with a tasty beverage, a big storm cloud rolled in! The temps dropped to like 75F and the winds were blowing beach toys everywhere. Overweight beach goers were waddling about the sand in a panic. It was pandemonium. We had to ride out the storm sipping our cocktails on the balcony. It was really rough, but I intend to press on. We plan to attempt more lounging today. I am with you in spirit, my brother! I will have an extra margarita in your honor and keep my fingers crossed for better weather in Cotopaxi! Love, your big sister.
Posted by: Tera on 6/25/2014 at 11:04 am
Gook luck with Cotopaxi. Thinking of you. Love Mom and Dad
June 22, 2014 - 11:26 pm PT
Hey, it's Billy checking in here from 14,000' on Denali. Our team had a great day up on the West Buttress today. We were able to carry a load of food, fuel and supplies up to 17,000' and get the cache in at 17,000' Camp. It was a long day on the Buttress though. We had mostly clear skies but lots and lots wind and lots of blowing snow. So it made for a tough day all in all everyone did really well.
Everyone is hanging in there and we are hoping to rest tomorrow and then set up for our summit bid whenever the weather decides to open up.
That is all for now.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in from 14,000 ft on Mt. McKinley
Greetings Michael, Bruce & the Rest of the Team: Hope Mother Nature offers up a summit bid soon! You guys are awesome - we are following the blog every day!
Posted by: Chambos on 6/23/2014 at 5:43 pm
Heyooooooooooooooooo!!! You’re almost there! Whoop whoop! You got this! We can’t wait for you to come back because we have a fourteener called Mt. McCornley waiting for you to tackle :)
RMI Guide Casey Grom radioed from the summit of Mt. Rainier at 7:33 am with his Four Day Summit Climb Team along with the Five Day Summit Climb led by Lindsay Fixmer. The Four and Five Day Summit Climb teams reported great conditions on the mountains and a beautiful day with barely any winds. The teams were going to start their descent just before 8 am and will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Congratulations, John! Very proud of the way set goals & focus to reach your goals.
Can’t wait to hear the details. You have a BIG team cheering for you.
Posted by: Nelia on 6/23/2014 at 3:22 pm
Prayers have been answered for your safe trip and return. Aren’t you great. It is special to have a dream and fulfill it. We are so proud of you and your dreams and your hard word work to achieve them. Mark you be the man !!! Have a safe trip home. Looking forward to seeing you soon and hearing about it. Congratulations
Love
Dad
These are the McKinley moments that tend to recharge the batteries and make the hard days tolerable. Inside the tent, wrapped in a mountain of down, fed by the culinary expertise of Lindsay and Andy with views straight down the Kahiltna Glacier that knock your boots off. The simplicity of this entire process creates an appreciation for simple rest not realized in other facets of ordinary life. Get up, work yur' arse off, get real tired and hungry, eat and go to bed. No technology distractions, no depressing news feeds, simply us and the mountain.
Having just completed day three, we are all pleased with our current position. We awoke this morning to chilly temps, blowing snow and low visibility. Because of our lower elevation of 9,300 feet another move day seemed a bit much so we opted for a carry that landed a majority of our team's unneeded gear at the 11,000 ft camp which we plan to move to tomorrow. These first four or five days can be some of the climb's hardest but everyone has handled it with grace and competence. We anticipate another strong team performance tomorrow. Big hugs go out to friends and family who are taking the time to follow along.
Hasta mañana,
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
After a big day yesterday, we had a rest day here at 14,000' on Mt. McKinley. We practiced some more fixed rope techniques and got ourselves organized. Our plan is to move our cache up to 17,000' camp tomorrow. This will allow us to carry much lighter on our move day and to further our acclimatization before we make our big move up to 17,000' Camp.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and "The Ocho"
We had a very windy day today amidst the clouds at 15,300'. Despite today's weather we're optimistic about our Cayambe summit attempt for tomorrow. Caio for now!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
June 22, 2014 - 8:16 pm PT
It seems bizarre to have been in deep winter this morning at 14K Camp, waiting on the snow to stop, and now in summery Talkeetna. But here we are. The snow did let up enough for us to load up some BIG packs and make our way down the mountain. We descended under a beautiful crescent moon until the typical storm conditions at 11K Camp abated and we were able to trade the GPS for some sunscreen. The lower glacier was in fine condition and the team put in another solid effort, putting us at the runway ten minutes before our first plane landed. The journey today was tough, but all were up for the challenge and now are enjoying that first shower in civilization before a meal prepared on something other than a MSR stove. It's good to be back.
Thanks to a fantastic team for an amazing expedition and everyone back home who helped make it happen. We were lucky enough to get to see the view from up top and all the hard work paid off. Nice job everyone.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
The Mt. Rainier Four Day Summit Climb led by Mark Falender reached the summit at 6:00 a.m. this morning. At 7:15 he radioed from 13,000’ on their descent reporting blue skies, a bit chilly and light winds. Congratulations!
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by Seth Waterfall are traveling to the White River Campground beginning their approach to Camp 1.
June 22, 2014 - 2:46 am PT
What a great day in the mountains yesterday! I'd reckon we had one of the nicest summit opportunities of the season and it was a real treat to be in position to make the most of it. We topped out on Denali with spectacular views in all directions and made it back to camp with as close to a solstice as you can get. The sun was still in the sky for an amazing sunset as we pulled into camp after a job well and safely done. Nice work everyone!
This morning weather rolled in from many directions and we chose to stall a bit before heading down the Buttress. The blowing snow let up a little in the afternoon and we made the most if it, getting down to 14K Camp and having dinner before some shut eye. Tomorrow we will keep the momentum rolling downhill if the weather allows and get just a little closer to coming home.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
June 22, 2014 - 12:49 am PT
Today we woke to a cold, windy morning at high camp after yesterday's amazing summit. The blowing snow and frigid temperatures kept us tent-bound until mid-day, when the allure of thicker air and warmer temperatures finally got us motivated to pack up and get moving.
The first stretch down the buttress was windy and cold, but by the time we reached Washburn's Thumb it was much warmer and calmer. We made quick work of the last stretch to the lines, and then shot down the fixed ropes like it was our job. Soon we were dropping packs back in 14k camp, saying hey to Billy Nugent and Mike Haugen and their respective teams, picking up our cache and getting ready to move further down.
Soon enough, we got past Squirrel and Motorcycle Hills, revisiting our old stomping grounds at 11k. We pulled out all the cheese, meat, tortillas, and bagels we had, and commenced to put them all onto the griddle for the annual tradition of the "11,000' Cheese Fry". Basically we just cook all the goodness until folks are full, and then it's off to bed for the early am launch.
We're definitely missing the team members who had to head home early, and hope that everyone is warm and dry. Lots of walking left, but we should be at the airstrip tomorrow if all goes according to plan. We'll check back then!
Cheers,
RMI Guides Garrett Stevens, Tyler Jones, Geoff Schellens and the No Troubles team
Dave!
I can’t begin to know how you feel about what you’ve accomplished! Can’t wait to see you and hear it all through your eyes. Besides we need you…Tristan can’t keep up the pace and is buckling under the pressure of trying to fill your shoes :-)
Posted by: Suzanne on 6/23/2014 at 2:34 am
John, so proud of you and the rest of the team, have been helping you along, knew you could do it! See you soon here in the nice hot valley. Farmor
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Hi Dan! Bummer about Cayambe, but I am glad to hear you are playing it safe. The exact same thing happened to us! We got up at 9am and had big plans to spend the day on the beach. Just as I was getting really settled into my lounge chair with a tasty beverage, a big storm cloud rolled in! The temps dropped to like 75F and the winds were blowing beach toys everywhere. Overweight beach goers were waddling about the sand in a panic. It was pandemonium. We had to ride out the storm sipping our cocktails on the balcony. It was really rough, but I intend to press on. We plan to attempt more lounging today. I am with you in spirit, my brother! I will have an extra margarita in your honor and keep my fingers crossed for better weather in Cotopaxi! Love, your big sister.
Posted by: Tera on 6/25/2014 at 11:04 am
Gook luck with Cotopaxi. Thinking of you. Love Mom and Dad
Posted by: Magda on 6/25/2014 at 7:48 am
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