Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Congratulations to Casey Grom and our Liberty Ridge Climb!
Nine and 1/2 hour ascent from high camp and they will descend to Camp Schurman tonight. The team is pretty tired, but great climb and beautiful weather on top!
The Expedition Skill Seminar - Muir has had a great week of training at Camp Muir thus far. They have experienced every kind of weather Mt. Rainier has to offer from blizzard conditions to warm and sunny. They have done a lot of training and have climbed above Ingraham Flats twice this week. They made a summit attempt this morning but were turned back at 11,200' due to high avalanche conditions. The climbers are doing great and they will continue their training this afternoon. The team is considering making another summit attempt tonight weather permitting. They will descend to Paradise tomorrow afternoon and complete their program.
We have been busy on the mountain. With our summit attempt thwarted because of weather and the next projected weather window this Sunday the team has decided to head home to our families.
Last night we slept at 14,000 feet and after a leisurely start to the day we have descended to about 9,500 ft. We will sleep here for a few hours tonight, awake around 4 a.m. so that we can take advantage of the frozen snow bridges, and push on to the Kahiltna air strip. Unless we get stuck on the glacier because of bad weather this will be our last message from the mountain. We will talk to you all very soon.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
What a day is all I can say. We awoke to great weather at 4 a.m. this morning with nice traveling temps. The team packed camp in good style and moved smoothly for just over four hours, arriving at 11,000' camp just after 10 a.m. We went right to work building our best and most deluxe camp yet including an enclosed mountain business station.... and and a posh house kitchen that tops a five star establishment.
The team is climbing well, though a bit pooped this afternoon. All of us are in great spirits. We are hiding in the tents from the intense radiation on this blue bird day while catching up on hydration and rest. Tomorrow will bring us a short back carry to retrive our cache from yesterday which should disperse the lactic acid in our legs by helping us move some blood along with helping the crew further acclimate.
Days like today are some of the best and most memorable in the mountains, and we're all excited to be sharing this experience together. Cheers from 11,000'!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones & Team
Hello,
This is Adam Knoff checking in with the Upper West Rib Team checking in from 14,000' on Mt. McKinley. After making a descent from 17,000' to Genet Basin at 14,200' and regrouping, we are feeling like reaching the summit is a possibility again. We left much of our gear at 17,000' anticipating a return, we’ve just had the most spectacular rest day, and now with the weather improving, we have decided to head back to 17,000' tomorrow on another summit shot.
Although descending to 14 and then ascending again represents a lot of hard work, from an acclimatization standpoint, it’s the bomb and we’re psyched!
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
After all the hard work getting ready, the months of training and many miles of travel, our entire team landed in Anchorage with all our gear ready to get our Mt. McKinley Expedition underway. We are headed to Talkeetna to organize our packs and take care of the final rigging before flying into the Alaska Range later this week. Thanks to all our friends and families back home for all the encouragement and support as we leave you for a few weeks to return with an excellent adventure to share.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Howdy, from the Kahiltna.
Today we made more progress moving nearly all our groceries, gas, and cold weather climbing equipment up to 10k just below Kahiltna Pass. The team climbed strong and moved very efficiently completing the big carry in just five hours round trip - not bad considering the 6ft+ deep hole we needed to dig to fit 15 days of food, gallons of gas and extra personal equipment for our 12-man crew. The weather was in our favor with nice travel temperatures and overcast skies that quickly turned to moderate snow just moments after our team's arrival back to camp just below Ski Hill. With a bit of remission of the snow tomorrow we'll pack camp and move to 11k, where the crampons and ice axes come out and the steeper climbing at altitude kicks in. We will update you again soon.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Hey RMI, this is Walter Hailes calling from 17,200’ on Mt. McKinley. We made our move today from 14,000' to our high camp at 17,000'. We are all safe and sound up here. It's a beautiful day, warm temperatures, sunshine and light wind. This nice weather is not expected to stay around so we'll see what it looks like in the morning but we may be making our summit attempt soon.
Stay tuned and hope for good weather!
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
This is Adam checking in from 17,200’ on Mt McKinley. The past 24 hours were simply an unforgettable mountaineering experience for everyone on the team. The Big Day began early yesterday morning from an 18,000’ High Camp on the Upper West Rib route. We found ideal cramponing conditions as we ascended the 50-degree + slopes of the Upper Rib, to where the route terminates on the western edge of the ‘football field’ below the summit ridge. This section of the route is the crux of the climb and required everyone to draw on their repertoire of previous ice climbing experience at altitude. It was an exhausting haul to reach the Football Field, where our original plan was to rest, brew up, and re-energize for a period of time before making a summit bid. However, our respite in the temporary ‘camp’ lasted longer than planned, owing to the effort it required to reach that point, and Plan B was put into motion. Temporarily abandoning the summit, we determined it was wiser to descend to 17,200’ High Camp on the standard West Buttress route and re-group (we never intended to descend the way we had come, as the slopes are prohibitively steep). Much as Everest climbers do in the interest of acclimatization, the new plan is to descend to the relatively warm climes and thicker air of 14,000’ and strategize the possibilities. We have successfully climbed our chosen route, Denali’s Upper West Rib, and now the fickle mountain weather will determine our chances of knocking off the summit (via the W Buttress route). It would be sweet, but on this mountain you have to roll with the punches. We’ll see what the Weather Gods have in store and make a determination. We’ll be back in touch!
On The Map
We woke this morning to splitter weather and light winds in base camp, and knew that it was time to move. After breakfast we packed up all our luggage, lashed down the sleds, shouldered our pack and headed down Heartbreak Hill. This section of the climb is called Heartbreak Hill because of the fact that teams have to climb back uphill on the way out, but the slight downhill pitch makes for a good initial stretch of the legs for teams on the way up.
Our first few hours got us out and onto the main Kahiltna Glacier, surrounded by the majestic peaks of the central Alaska Range. Foraker, Crosson, Francis, Kahiltna Dome and Denali all towered over our group, giving us a sense of smallness in this vast icy wilderness. The early morning sun made the high east faces of Foraker and Crosson shine as if lit from within, and the views made our climbing truly unforgettable.
We pulled into our camp at 7800' just as the sun came out from behind Denali, and set up camp in some welcome sunshine. Within an hour we had our tents up and folks moved in to escape the intense UV that bounces around the glacier during the day. We've been resting in anticipation of an early carry tomorrow. Everyone climbed strong to camp, and group morale couldn't be any higher. We'll check back in with an update as we continue climbing.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
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Hope the weather on the glacier holds for all of you. Can’t wait to see you Pete!
Posted by: Katie on 6/9/2011 at 12:26 pm
That sucks. travel safely. you guys did great.
Posted by: Colin Talbot on 6/9/2011 at 7:38 am
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