Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,200'
The storm that moved in so deliberately yesterday evening seemed to pause this morning. At 6AM it was calm at 14k although we could hear big winds up on the crest of the West Buttress. Cloud was all around us, but it wasn’t doing a lot. We ate a slow breakfast and watched the weather. Having no other appointments or engagements, we decided to walk uphill to attempt our carry of supplies. The goal would be 16,200 ft, the top of the fixed lines. We were underway by 9 AM, by which time it was snowing lightly. Since we had two hours of straightforward uphill trudging before the start of the more complicated climbing, we figured we would give the weather a chance to improve. It did not. We turned around at 15,300 ft with the winds seemingly on the increase up above and snow beginning to fall heavily. It only took thirty minutes to reach camp again.
Winds began to hammer our camp by early afternoon and so we built big walls of snow-bricks to protect tents. Thankfully, the fury was short lived and not all that furious. We got a break by late afternoon, which certainly made dinner a bit easier to enjoy in the cook tent. The storm is still with us at 9 PM, ripping the upper reaches of Denali, but sparing 14 Camp for the time being.
We’ll give our carry another try tomorrow should we get the chance.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Posted by: Casey Grom, Grayson Swingle
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb of Mt. Rainier reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 5:30 am this morning. RMI Guide Casey Grom reported a great route and a beautiful morning of climbing. The team is on the descent en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team!
Congrats RMI team. I’m coming Aug 20
Posted by: Erick on 7/3/2021 at 10:21 am
Awesome! Congratulations to the entire team!
Posted by: Mark and Cindy on 7/3/2021 at 9:34 am
Posted by: Mike Walter, Nikki Champion, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Friday, July 2, 2021 - 1:16 pm PT
Just as forecasted, a storm has settled in on Denali. At 14K Camp it is snowing with some moderate gusts of wind and very little visibility. Up above us on the mountain we can hear the winds crashing over the West Buttress like waves in the ocean.
We're protected and safe, though, with a well-built camp. After a hash brown, egg, and cheese scramble for breakfast, we're just relaxing in our tents or in the cook tent, reading, napping, and sharing conversations, a thin piece of nylon the difference between comfort and suffering.
This storm is forecasted to last into tomorrow, and we're in no hurry to stick our noses in it. Hopefully we'll get some nicer weather in its wake.
Go go Aaron!! Keep on goiiiiiiiing. Love, Em
Posted by: Emilee on 7/2/2021 at 2:33 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Taylor Bickford, Luke Wilhelm, Erika Birkeland, Tatum Whatford, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Mt. Rainier Climb, led by RMI Guides Mike King and Taylor Bickford, were on the summit at 4:20 am! The team had good weather with winds at about 10 – 15 mph and blue skies. They are currently descending back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
Congrats to everyone - what an awesome adventure!!! So proud of you all!❤️
Posted by: Stephanie on 7/2/2021 at 2:39 pm
Congrats to everyone! Amazing accomplishment.
Posted by: Cara on 7/2/2021 at 8:05 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Thursday, July 1, 2021 - 10:06 pm PT
Today was a simple one. We got up at 6 AM, ate breakfast and put on our spikes for a short walk down to the cache at 13,500 ft. The team loved the views of Mts Foraker and Hunter. The Tordrillo Mountains were clearly visible to the South. Ravens hadn’t even attempted to break into our well-buried cache. We had it out and distributed for carrying in minutes. Then we walked slowly back uphill with full packs, reaching camp by 10:30 AM. Rest and rehydration was in order as we got out of the strong sun and into our tents. A storm was gradually forming, first with winds up high on Denali, then with a steadily lowering cloud cap. This didn’t prevent us from conducting a brief review of the climbing techniques we mean to employ on the fixed-rope section between 15,000 and 16,000 ft tomorrow when we carry high.
Best Regards,
Posted by: Mike Walter, Nikki Champion, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Thursday, July 1, 2021 - 3:07 pm PT
We enjoyed a long, restful night of sleep at 14,000' Camp, with (relatively) warm temperatures. The agenda for today includes drying out boots in the sun, charging batteries with solar panels, resting, reading, and eating.
It's sunny and warm here in camp, but there's a nasty lenticular cloud on the summit, indicating high winds aloft. The latest weather forecast is calling for a storm affecting the mountain an lasting into Saturday. We're all set to weather the weather. And our hope is to get a good, three day window in which to have a summit bid. We'll be in touch again tomorrow with the latest. Now back to reading...
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Dustin Wittmier, Devin Guffey
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 348'
Thursday, July 1, 2021 - 2:19 pm PT
Just a walk in the park,
A short nap began our long walk out. A 10pm wake up and a midnight start got us to basecamp an early hour. Heavy sleds and packs were no match for our motivation to shower away 22 days worth of smell. Walking the Kahiltna in the middle of the night (granted its always light out) is peaceful. A great time for reflection. Its been a fun, albeit hard, 22 days on Denali. We had it all, snow, wind, sunshine, all three at once. What we didn't have was any illness or injury and that's the important part. Showered, fed, and full of oxygen-rich air, we are all ready for our journey home. Its been a memorable expedition but now its time for family, friends, and recovery.
Well done team, well done,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
Great Job Hannah and Dustin!! It was great following along with you.
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 7/2/2021 at 2:49 am
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, James Bealer, David Price, Axel Ryd, Jackson Breen, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and James Bealer, were on the summit at 6am this morning. The weather had clear skies and a steady breeze of 15-20 mph. They are currently working their way back to Camp Muir.
Well done to everyone who was a part of the summit team! You are all amazing!
Posted by: Jena Marks on 7/1/2021 at 10:35 am
Way to go team.. Looking forward to stories.
Posted by: keith Acheson on 7/1/2021 at 9:23 am
Posted by: Alex Halliday, Henry Coppolillo, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
The Expedition Skills Seminar on the Kautz Glacier has been training on the mountain all week in warm temperatures. This morning was their summit attempt. Due to a significant amount of icefall on the route, the team had to abort their summit bid. The team is safely working their way back to camp and are descending from the mountain today.
Did the Wilson still go, or did you have to go up the fan?
Posted by: Joe on 7/1/2021 at 5:24 pm
Good effort to the team! Any comment on where the icefall was and where they decided to turnaround?
Posted by: Shawn Rezendes on 7/1/2021 at 9:43 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Wednesday, June 30, 2021 - 10:06 pm PT
At long last, we made it from the lower mountain to the upper mountain. The weather was perfect all day long, although forecasts hadn’t given any indication that it might be. It was a bit of work to get packed up and moving out of 11,000 ft this morning… we tend to put down roots, but by 9AM we were stretching the ropes out and walking toward Motorcycle Hill. The snow surface was firm and perfect for crampons. We moved on up over familiar terrain, but this time with unlimited views of tundra and rivers to the north. Views were spectacular as we turned Windy Corner, but of course we couldn’t gaze at them too long -lots of climbing stuff to concentrate on at the Corner. There was little or no wind to be had as we made our way into Genet Basin and the fabled Fourteen Camp at 2:30 in the afternoon. Our expedition experience changed markedly as we hauled through camp. As one of the last guided teams of the season, we’ve been mostly on our own or around one or two other teams at most. It was nearly overwhelming to be seeing so many teams coming and going from 14 Camp. Socially it was exciting -for both guides and climbers- to be seeing friends and co-workers from various companies -many for the first time since before the pandemic. A handful of teams were coming down into camp after summit bids yesterday. Briefly, all three RMI teams on the mountain were in the same place at the same time. The National Park Service B3 helicopter was in action conducting rescues high and low. As we dug in to establish our camp we felt like we’d come into the center of everything. For a short time at least. Many of those we saw will shortly go lower or higher. We still need to drop down tomorrow morning for our cached supplies parked just above the Corner. But tonight we are sleeping at fourteen-thousand-hard-earned feet.
Best Regards.
You’re almost there!!! Hope someone brought the fireworks !! Safe travels :)
Posted by: Mom and Cindy on 7/2/2021 at 4:38 pm
Congrats on the 14K level. It sounds like the camp was as busy as downtown Boston here.
The views sound tremendous & worth the effort. Good luck with the summiting.
You can ask Matt McEttrick how Denali compares with his first family climb here in Milton MA
at the top of Great Blue Hill (elevation 635’) overlooking Boston and Massachusetts Bay.
Joe McEttrick
Posted by: Joe McEttrick on 7/1/2021 at 12:47 pm
Hello Dave Hahn & Team
Great picture of the camp at 14000!
Is the hump in the background the summit?
Posted by: Joseph P McEttrick on 7/3/2021 at 3:19 pm
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