Casey Grom and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir team have had a great week of training on the mountain, but unfortunately were unable to make a summit attempt. We expect the group to be leaving Camp Muir around 10:00 a.m. today.
A plastic jar of moonshine was brought out to the cheers of the 60-70 climbers lounging about, usually draped across some part of their gear. It was drained quickly.
Earlier in the morning the skies looked dismal for planes to fly in, but as the morning progressed the weather outlook followed suit. And sure enough, another flight service got in using their ILF equipment to be able to take off and land in the fog of Talkeetna, something no other Denali plane has. So we watch expectantly for K2, our flight service to get into action soon. After a number of flights by TAT and another service we heard that K2 had turned back, not willing to risk flying into the clouds around the glacier near the airstrip. Our faith that our ride home is coming fades and frustration mounts while watching TAT customers get flown out for well over an hour. And now, a thick ground fog has enveloped the airstrip here on the SE fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. It's 4:30 and my generally optimistic outlook is certainly not what is was a few hours earlier.
But I've seen this story develop in the past. Many times I've been on the winning side of the situation, looking at climbers awaiting rides while I was on my way to a hot shower and cold beer. But today that is not the case. And it's not the fault of the pilot who turned back either. He simply refused to take the chance the other pilots did - the chance of crashing the plane with me and my group on board. So, we wait...
A couple of climbers entertain us with some blues ukulele and harmonica. Ipods are out, as are books that have yet to be finished, as we all try to relax and will the fog away. Thoughts of dinner in Talkeetna are being replaced with thoughts of putting tents back up. But, we still have plenty of time. So we wait, as do you, for our return home.
In the meantime, the flavor of moonshine lingers softly on my palate, leaving me wanting...something more.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Brent, sorry to hear that the weather keeps you guys, as well as a pilot, stranded. Tell the rest of the team that I have a 5 pack of beers waiting for them in Talkeetna. -Steve
Posted by: Steve Vierling on 6/3/2011 at 11:24 pm
Hi Zac! I hope you are taking advantage of the time to read. The girls are so excited to see you I don’t think they’ll give you a second of free time when you get home. We just arrived at my mom’s house, so give us a call there when you get access to your cell phone. Miss you like crazy. Love, M, T & B
Yesterday we moved from 11,000 ft camp to our current home at about 14,200 ft. We spent the entire day in a cloud with a little snow but it was still quite warm.
Today we are relaxing and enjoying another sunny day on the flanks of Denali. We picked up our cache this morning and had the rest of the day to rest and recuperate. Everyone is having a great time and we excited to keep moving higher.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
Weather in Talkeetna and on the mountain has prevented the pilots from dropping off or picking up teams on the Kahiltna Glacier. Brent's team is on the list and ready to be picked up once the weather clears.
The next RMI Team heading on to Mt. McKinley will be lead by Tyler Jones. Tyler and his team are packed and ready in Talkeetna and hope to be flying on soon.
HW - Can’t wait to see you back home. Please continue to take care of yourself. Hope the weather clears up tomorrow. Please call me as soon as you can. Love, F
Posted by: F on 6/2/2011 at 6:34 pm
I hope you enjoy this rest, can’t wait to hear from you when you get back. Let us know when you get to the motel.Love Mom and Dad
Hello, this is the May 31st RMI McKinley Expedition checking in. We are all packed and ready to go. Everybody is super psyched, looking good and strong. It looks like a great crew and we are all super excited.
Unfortunately, the weather is not being super cooperative for us to fly from Talkeetna to the Kahiltna Glacier. We spent today getting packed up, rigged and ready for the glacier so as soon as we have a break in the weather we'll take it and get flown on.
All of our gear is packed in the K2 Aviation Hangar and we are staged and ready to go. We will return to the hangar in the morning and hopefully we'll be able to fly.
We will send more dispatches as we get further along in our expedition.
RMI Guide Garrett Stevens
It's been a long day that started in the wee hours of the morning. The alarm sounded about 2 hours after I sent our last dispatch. 2:00 am was a harsh hour of the day to begin our final walk out the Kahiltna Glacier, but essential to safely navigate and cross the crevasses on our way to the airstrip.
At that time the day is about as dark as it gets, which is to say it's about as dark as 1/2 hour after dusk, perhaps. Combined with cloudy, overcast weather, I wasn't entirely psyched for the walk out. But, as the morning developed things began looking brighter. We finally started off at 4:20 am and initially encountered great walking conditions. Unfortunately, as we lost elevation the snow became softer and softer, having not frozen hard overnight because of the cloud cover holding the earth's heat in. This resulted in a few minor crevasse 'falls' where some individuals broke through crevasse bridges up to their waste at most. Of course, by the time you hear their stories, these crevasse falls will have taken on epic proportions. (A night at the bar can have the same effect)
Well, we finally arrived at Base Camp with our weather outlook improving and hopes to be flown off in short order high in everyone's mind. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had something else in store for us, as it's now evening and raining out. Although comfy and snug in our tents, and happy we're not enduring a big storm up high, we of course would rather be back in Talkeetna, and a little closer to you.
Hope to see you soon!
RMI Guides Brent, Leon and Maile
This mornings attempt to summit with Clay ended as thoughts of family and a safe return home overwhelmed any ambition to tag a summit that, by this time in the expedition, seemed somewhat less important than the experience of the trip as a whole.
So, on the return back to 17,200' we decided to break camp and get off the upper mountain. By that time clouds were building and the winds started getting stronger. Our descent down the Buttress went smoothly even as snow and clouds increased. I was impressed with how the skill level of these climbers had so dramatically improved in the short time we had been climbing together.
At 14,200' camp we were greeted by RMI Guides Adam and Andres of the RMI West Rib trip, who, along with several other guides and climbers, congratulated the team on slipping in the summit before the big change in weather.
So, now here we are at 11,200' camp where we've picked up our cache from a week ago. The RMI Team lead by Walter Hailes is camped here and helped us out tremendously, allowing us to eat a quick dinner in their place and fill water bottles. We are now trying to get a few hours of sleep before waking up at 2:00 am to make our final descent to Kahiltna basecamp. We're getting on a nighttime schedule and traveling on glaciers frozen by the night's colder temperatures which are safer and less liable to collapse under a climbers weight.
But, we are in a race of sorts to get to the airstrip on the SE fork of the Kahiltna before the next weather system arrives. So, goodnight again as we turn in to catch a couple of hours of shut eye.
RMI Guides Brent, Leon and Maile
Rest, rest, rest...the order of the day was rest. After five days of mountaineering work on Mt. McKinley everyone enjoyed our first day of eating, napping, reading, more eating and then bed time.
As luck would have it that the first windy, snowy day coincided with our day of rest. Perfect timing. As we get in bed for the night the sky is clearing and the wind has subsided. We are hoping for another good day tomorrow as we climb to 14,000 feet.
Happy anniversary Steve and Denise.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes & Team
Andy, sorry I missed your call, but we’ve been thinking of you! Stay strong and safe! Mom says hi too! Good luck with the rest of the climb…..then you will need a beach vacation to recoup!
Posted by: Sybille Macke on 6/2/2011 at 1:48 pm
Pete, it’s always great to hear you all are doing so well. I’ll be with Iggy I think when you get back, so get ready for some major dog love. Bisous, Katie
Hello, this is Adam Knoff and the Upper West Rib Team. We are settled in nicely here at 14,000’, Advanced Base Camp. We moved up today in the harsh winds but pushed through, maintained, got here in good style and everyone here is doing great.
We have coined ourselves a new team name that being “The Family Style West Rib Team”. Because back in Talkeetna we decided we were going to fit 5 people in a 4 man tent on our expedition. Courtney Scaife being a good old fashion Wisconsin girl said “This is just like family style camping” and now we will refer to ourselves as the Family Style West Rib Team.
The weather here is cloudy but calm and relatively warm for this altitude. We will be taking a rest day tomorrow, with the exception of climbing down about 500’ below camp to retrieve our cache . The following day we will have a full rest day. So a nice, leisurely couple of days coming up compared to the seven solid days of movement we’ve had the last week. We will be checking in tomorrow and let you know how our rest is going.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
RMI Guide Adam Knoff checks in from 14,000' on Mt. McKinley.
Way to go Courto!!!!!! Keep on making the Cheeseheads proud. You are a super rock star - kind of scares me actually as I sit on my mommy butt drinking beer and watching reality tv. I know you are also super embarrassed reading this right now so I guess my current mission has been accomplished. The Thompson 5 love you. Sus
Posted by: Susannah Thompson on 6/3/2011 at 1:01 pm
Buen dia rucho, te amo mucho…acurucaaaa! jaja… feliz aventura…
Mt. McKinley's "Windy Corner" lived up to it's name today. We carried a load of food and gear into a head wind to a cache site at about 13,500 ft. Luckily once we made the turn around the corner the winds died and we enjoyed the bright, warm sunshine while we buried our cache and took a break before heading back down to camp.
We will rest tomorrow in preparation for our move to our next camp.
Mike would like to wish a "Happy Birthday to Papa George".
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
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Brent, sorry to hear that the weather keeps you guys, as well as a pilot, stranded. Tell the rest of the team that I have a 5 pack of beers waiting for them in Talkeetna. -Steve
Posted by: Steve Vierling on 6/3/2011 at 11:24 pm
Hi Zac! I hope you are taking advantage of the time to read. The girls are so excited to see you I don’t think they’ll give you a second of free time when you get home. We just arrived at my mom’s house, so give us a call there when you get access to your cell phone. Miss you like crazy. Love, M, T & B
Posted by: mary candelario on 6/3/2011 at 7:50 am
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