Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Taylor Bickford, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,000'
Saturday June 11 - 11:59am PT
The last few days have been a blur.
Yesterday we had a hard but a rewarding summit day. The autobahn was mild, but the summit ridge greeted us with high winds, and blowing snow. Despite the mountains best efforts, our entire team made it to the summit and safely back to 17k camp for a late dinner.
Even though we all wanted to sleep in following the summit - we woke up around 9:30am, had a quick hot breakfast, and tore down camp to begin the long process of descending back to the airstrip.
RMI Guide Nikki Champion and Team
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Kiira Antenucci, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
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Evening all,
We did it, we flew onto the glacier! Today is a hurry to wait kind of day. In order to be the first to fly, we were the first in line for coffee. On our way to coffee we saw a fox on the railroad tracks. The last time I summited Denali, I saw a fox before flying. So I think this is a good omen. We shall see. Any who, with caffeine surging through our bodies we are ready to fly. Since our odds looked good for flying we said good bye to the flip-flops and hello to our mountain boots. These bad boys would be our mode of transportation for the next few weeks. With the planes ready for us we began shuffling our gear to the planes. Excitement rushes through you as you walk across the tarmac knowing the moment is here. Next stop the Kahiltna glacier. Seatbelts buckled, headphones on, and the smell of the engine signals its time to fly. The views are so beautiful one can not put it into words. Huntington, Foraker, Hunter, peak 11,300 and many more awe-inspring peaks keep us wide eyed and trigger happy on the camera. After a loop up the Kahiltna showing what we will walk on tomorrow we descend into basecamp with a bumpy landing. It's a quick fire line to move the gear from the plane to the glacier before watching our ride fly away. We are on our own now. We decided to bump down to the lower airstrip which gave us practice pulling the sleds. The team is in tip top shape. Once camp is set up we enjoyed some down time followed by a refresher on skills. Some gear sorting and deciding what hot drinks to bring on the mountain led us into our pizza party dinner. Why eat mountain food when you can fly on pizza! It's an early to bed for us since for the next few days we will be on the night schedule, walking during the cool part of a day.
Tomorrow is the day we take our first steps toward our goal of the summit. Here's to a great journey!
RMI Guides Hannah, Kiira, Dan and Team
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Today was a true rest day. We had a casual morning of hot drinks and breakfast. After that we did about an hour review/ practice of fixed line travel and running belays. Then we did nothing. It was glorious. Here’s a list of the various snacks the team ate on our rest day. Cookie dough, Double Stuff Oreos, beef jerky, parmesan cheese, wasabi and soy almonds, watermelon Sour Patch Kids, chorizo, Beecher’s Flagship Cheese, Ritz Crackers, peanut butter, white cheddar, black licorice, Walkie Talkie Chocolate, dried cherries, Knotsberry Farm cookies, sour gummy worms, original Pringles, fireball, Nutter Butters, dried apricots, dill pickle almonds, Goldfish, ranch corn nuts, melkesjokolade, chocolate chip lovers cookie dough, rattlesnake cheddar, ginger chews, salami, Famous Amos Cookies, Keebler Elf M&M cookies.
Tomorrow’s plan will depend on the “nowcast” for what the weather is doing.
After a while crocodiles,
RMI Guides Avery, Jack, Liam and the Team
I don’t see Heather sharing her Girl Scout Cookies!!!!! Those are some serious snacks!!
Posted by: April Litwiller on 6/14/2022 at 9:20 am
Wow you guys definitely had some good snacks. I am so proud of you Heather Hart. You and your team are ROCKSTARS. I love reading this blog. Miss you girl. #yougotthis
Posted by: Fatima Casiano on 6/12/2022 at 5:38 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Bryan Mazaika
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
Strong Winds, cold temperatures, and firm conditions kept RMI Guides Dave Hahn, Bryan Mazaika, and the four Day Team at Camp Muir last night. The weather has cleared up a bit this morning, so the team will take a short walk on the Cowlitz Glacier before descending. We expect them here at Ashford Basecamp in the early afternoon.
Well done Team!
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Kiira Antenucci, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
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Hello everyone!
Welcome to the start of our Denali Expedition!
The team arrived in Alaska yesterday. After loading 24 duffels into the van, equaling far too many pounds to mention, we made our way to the launching point of our trip: Talkeetna. Talkeetna means where the rivers meet and it is also where many different groups of people meet. It is a dead end down bustling with energy and great food. Tourist from cruises, climbers sunburned and ravenous, fresh climbers with wide eyes and eager all gather at the various restaurants to enjoy a drink and soak in the scenery.
Today was our prep day to get ready to fly tomorrow. After a scrumptious breakfast and several cups of coffee we headed to the hanger and exploded our gear. Before committing to the glacier we need to make sure everyone has the appropriate gear. The team passed with fly colors. Once all our gear was back in our duffle and backpack we divided the team into two for the planes. First we weighed each climber followed by their backpack and their duffle. We are carrying a lot of weight but looking at this team I think they are going to handle it just fine. With everything weighed and sorted we are set to jet in the morning. As long as the weather holds and clouds stay away, tonight will be our last night in a bed, last time flushing a toilet, and last time with cell service. Here's to disconnecting and enjoying the wilderness of Denali for the next few weeks.
Climb on,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team
You go Grand daughter!! So excited for you. Looking forward to seeing you when you come down.
Posted by: Nancy Chenay on 6/13/2022 at 11:48 am
Excited for this blog and all the updates! Go Nathan, Yvonne and Team!! So grateful you have amazing guides for this adventure! <3
Posted by: Ellen Lewis on 6/10/2022 at 10:04 pm
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Brrrrrr! You know what they say “clear skies, cold nights” and boy howdy was that true last night. Thankfully the team has the equivalent of at least two gooses worth of down to stay warm. Sun didn’t hit camp until 9:30 so breakfast was a puffy pants and big parka affair. Thankfully the solar radiation at this altitude works quickly and it was hotter than the center of a hot pocket before we knew it. In order to beat the peak of the days heat we quickly geared up and headed down hill to grab our cache at 13k. We loaded up and trudged back to camp with day dreams of eating the snacks we had cached. The rest of afternoon was spent lounging and devouring meats, cheeses and cookie dough. Tomorrow is a full rest day where excessive snacking is encouraged!
See ya later alligators!
Avery, Jack, Liam and The Team.
Trip,
You have many fans and supporters back here in WY, MN, CA, and MI!! We are all so excited for you!! Have an exhilarating, safe climb!!
Love you
!
Posted by: Lorna on 6/15/2022 at 5:55 am
Go team! We are cheering you all on. (And don’t you worry MAP, your uncle isn’t the least bit worried about your status as current badass of the family! He’s totally good w it
Posted by: Boulder Beckers on 6/11/2022 at 7:17 am
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Taylor Bickford, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 20,310'
Thursday, June 9, 2022 9:42pm PT
RMI Guide Nikki Champion let us know that their Denali Team was 100% on the summit! They are back at camp resting and will give us full details of their climb soon!
Congratulations Team!
Jeff-Rob! What a tremendous accomplishment to be proud of! Wishing you and all your team a safe descent.
Lynn
Posted by: Lynn on 6/11/2022 at 7:04 pm
Congratulations Erik! Awesome job, now come back to work!
Posted by: Marc Taylor on 6/10/2022 at 4:39 pm
Posted by: Seth Burns, Mike King, Josh Geiser, Grayson Swingle, Ellison Boord, Sam Hoffman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Four Day Climb June 6 - 9 spent a windy night at Camp Muir last night. High winds and deteriorating weather kept the group at Camp Muir and unable to make a summit attempt. RMI Guides Seth Burns and Grayson Swingle reported consistant winds 30-40 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. The teams started their descent from Camp Muir around 8 am and will be returning to Rainier Basecamp later this morning.
Posted by: Steve Gately, Ben Luedtke, Lauren Macklin, Mira Schoeberlein
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,100'
The Emmons Seminar Team led by RMI Guide Steve Gately was treated to a beautiful sunrise over Steamboat Prow as they climbed above Camp Schurman. The team turned around at 11,100' due to high winds and difficult trail conditions. They returned from the mountain yesterday evening and will be spending the day at Rainier BaseCamp to complete their training.
Photos: Ben Luedtke & Lauren Macklin
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Wednesday, June 8, 2022 - 10:43 pm PT
Well would you look at that, we’re back at it again. We walked the same stretch as yesterday but today it was both hotter and harder. The team persevered and marched into 14,000' Camp in good style. It was a long day breaking down camp, moving and then setting up again. After a quick burrito meal everyone crawled into bed for some well deserved rest.
Sweet dreams blog reader. I know we will be sleeping well tonight.
Chip chip cheerio,
RMI Guides Avery, Jack, Liam and the team.
Mike!! Both Matt Sky and myself want to remind you to do your push-ups on the mountain!
Posted by: Kyle Davis on 6/10/2022 at 8:10 am
Keep up the amazing work team! I love reading the daily blog !! Miss you Heather Hart! You’ve got this girl!!
Posted by: April Litwiller on 6/10/2022 at 5:49 am
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Good luck and see you out there! Hoping to high five you all heading down as we head up next week with Andy Bond!
Posted by: Holly Hollar on 6/11/2022 at 1:14 pm
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