Entries from Expedition Dispatches
When we woke up early this morning we found clear skies stretching the length of the Kahiltna Glacier but in the distance banks of clouds hung behind the ridges and peaks. Making another early start to take advantage of the frozen surface conditions on the glacier, we were leaving camp by 4am. Whereas yesterday was a mostly flat walk up the Kahiltna Glacier, today we started climbing a few hundred yards out of camp, tackling Ski Hill right away. The trail was straightforward, zigging and zagging up the incline in order to cross the few but large crevasses that stretch across this part of the glacier. The first two hours of climbing were hardwork as it was the first significant climb and we were hauling big loads, our sleds doing their best to pull us back down the hill, but the team did well and took to the terrain and challenge with determination. Soon we crested the steep first pitch of Ski Hill and began ascending the long rolling benches that lead towards Kahiltna Pass - a saddle sitting at the head of the Kahiltna Glacier that spans the watershed divide of the Alaska Range and separates the Kahiltna Glacier running to the south and the Peters Glacier that runs off the other side down to the north slope of Alaska. The upper stretches of Ski Hill can be very frustrating as the glacier's size plays with your perspective, making hills and small features appear close although it takes hours to reach them. So perhaps it was fortunate that the cloud banks which had remained reclusive when we woke ventured out and engulfed the glacier because we couldn't see how far we still had to go. The flip side, however, was that we were soon climbing in a whiteout with snow falling all around us. Climbers liken this to "walking in a ping pong ball" because you are surrounded by white and even your sense of flatness is skewed - everything is a world of white.
We climbed like this for the last two hours, reaching our camp at 9200' with the snow still falling. After probing out camp for hidden crevasses we got to work setting up camp, erecting the tents and building large snow walls to break the wind that is notorious for blowing through Kahiltna Pass. Despite the poor conditions our climbers resisted the urge to climb into the tents and took to the task with energy, building an impressive snow wall around the tents and digging a big kitchen tent for us to eat and cook in.
We spent the afternoon hanging out in the tents, catching up on sleep since we have spent most of the nights walking since arriving on the mountain. The snow let up but the clouds have yet to lift here. We're hoping that they lift by tomorrow so we can catch the amazing views back down the glacier. Tomorrow we are planning to move to 11,200' Camp where we will spend a few nights while we acclimatize and move loads further up the mountain. We will check in tomorrow after we set up camp.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
On The Map
Remember yesterday when the weather was nice for us...not so much today! We woke up to howling winds and snow. Instead of carrying a load to 17,000', we spent most of the day reinforcing our camp by making our snow block walls higher. It was a good team building exercise. We decided that the team had not really gotten the full "Degnarly" experience before today since our weather and travel has been pretty easy (relatively speaking). We are all safe and sound, hunkered down in our warm sleeping bags, and waiting to see what tomorrow's weather brings. We couldn't possibly have two days of bad weather on Denali right!?
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
go daddy go! stay warm, stay strong, see you SOON.
love,
meer
Posted by: meera on 6/25/2011 at 11:01 pm
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
The team enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Hacienda San Luis. We're a colorful bunch of climbers, and the evening was filled with belly laughter.
After a good night's rest, we packed up our bags and headed north to visit the world famous Otavalo indigenous market. We are currently enjoying the market as I write this. Here you can buy all sorts of hand-made items, ranging from alpaca and sheep wool woven goods to wood carvings to jewelry to artwork. The whole experience is nearly overwhelming to the senses; vivid colors, a unique shopping experience, locals dressed in their traditional clothing, and a beautiful setting surrounded by the Andes all come together to make this an unforgettable experience.
After a few hours of enjoying the market, we will regroup for lunch and then make our way up to the climber's hut on Cayambe for the night. Tomorrow we will rest, acclimate to the altitude, and review climbing techniques like cramponing and ice axe arrest, in preparation for our summit bid.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
RMI Guides and Climbers were ascending the route above 12,500’ today when they came upon a party in need of help. A major crevasse had collapsed at the 12,700’ level with at least one member of an independent climbing team standing on it when it fell. The RMI Guides stabilized the climber, treated the resulting leg injury, and transported the climber down to 12,300’, the top of Disappointment Cleaver for a helicopter evacuation. By the time all of this was accomplished a summit attempt was no longer feasible for the RMI Summit Team. The team has returned safely to Camp Muir and will to descend to Paradise.
We slept for a few hours at Base Camp before the alarm sounded at midnight. Groggily getting out of the tent we were treated to spectacular views of the surrounding mountains, well visible in the bright night sky that looked like the sun had set not long before. The clear skies allowed the temperatures to drop while we were sleeping and the glacier surface was settled into a good frozen surface - exactly what we wanted in order to cross the crevasses of the Kahiltna Glacier. After setting our cache at Base Camp (some extra supplies for our return from the mountain) packing up camp, and wishing Paul a happy birthday, we set out. The first stretch of walking actually descends from Base Camp as we leave the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier and join the main glacier itself. While it makes the first bit of walking relatively easy it is named "Heartbreak Hill" because that same slope must be ascended as the final hurdle to reach Base Camp on the return.
But for us it was smooth sailing this morning and we crossed a particularly crevassed section of glacier past the base of Heartbreak Hill without incident thanks to the solid snow surface. The skies remained bright and the sun returned, lighting up the summits of Mt. Foraker and Mt. Crosson as we passed beneath them. The glacier was in good shape and the team traveled well across it, making it to Camp 1 by 9:30 in the morning.
After pitching camp we lounged around watching a series of thick lenticular clouds (which signify high winds) dance across the summit of Denali. It looked like a cold day to be up high. But down here things got hot as the sun beat down on the tents, heating them up to well over 90F.
We spent the afternoon napping and reading in camp, resting from our all night walk. Tomorrow we hope to move to our second camp at 9600' near the head of the Kahiltna Glacier. The team is in good spirits and everyone is taking to life on the glacier well. We will check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
On The Map
Thanks for the write up. Happy Birthday Paul. Looks like you are off to a good start.
Good luck and keep up thegood work
Stu Beth Sam & Liv
Jazz is studying
Posted by: stu on 6/25/2011 at 3:35 pm
Linden, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your writing. When an email alert arrives that there is a new posting, my heart does a little “leap”. I am so glad to hear the entire team is doing well. Onward and upward guys!
Posted by: Laurie Colaneri on 6/25/2011 at 6:56 am
Ahhh...rest day. We didn't even begin to move in our tents until the sun moved from behind the mountain and shined directly upon us. We weren't completely worthless since we took a hike over to an area called The Edge of the World where you can look over 6,000' down to the Kahiltna Glacier. We also got some fixed rope practice in as we made the team work their way through a course with ascenders. We finished the gauntlet with a rappel into the posh house for dinner. We hope to carry a load up to 17,000' Camp tomorrow if the weather plays nice.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
Glad to see that the team is doing well. Patrick I miss you so much and I can not wait to hear about the adventures the mountain brings your way. Stay safe team!
Posted by: Rachel M on 6/25/2011 at 12:15 pm
What a beautiful view. Hoping for good weather. Take care!
Posted by: Brigitte on 6/25/2011 at 7:18 am
This morning we packed up our bags, checked out of our hotel, and headed north. The first stop was at La Laguna Mojanda, a high alpine where the trailhead for our second acclimatization hike is located. We drove through clouds and rain to get there, but when we arrived we where above the clouds and could see the day's hiking objective, Fuya Fuya. Fuya Fuya is a peak that is situated on an ecological reserve, north of the town of Otovalo. The clouds moved in and out throughout the day, and we climbed up through the high-altitude grassland with periods of rain, hail, and wind. The most challenging part of the climb was staying on your feet, as the volcanic soil became quite slippery in the rain. The final 200' of the climb included a fun rock scramble to the summit. Everyone did great, and rose to the challenges that the weather presented.
Now we're warm, dry, and comfortable at the beautiful hacienda San Luis. A big dinner and a good night's rest is on tap for tonight. Tomorrow morning, we'll head to the Indigenous town of Otovalo, and spend a large part of the day enjoying the world famous Otovalo Market. After a leisurely day at the market, we'll head to the climbers' hut on Cayambe for the night. We'll spend two nights there during our summit attempt.
Ciao for now,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The skies above Talkeetna were broken this morning with a light gray patchwork of clouds hanging low in the sky. We packed up our bags from the hotel and walked over to the Roadhouse Café for another hearty breakfast, keeping an eye on the skies through the window. By the time we finished the clouds were breaking apart so we hurried over to the airstrip to see what the pilots thought of the flying weather. Sure enough they gave us the thumbs up and we went into hyperdrive, packing the last few items and loading our bags into the planes.
By 10:30am we were airborne, the team split between two turbo prop planes outfitted with skis. As soon as we climbed above the last remanants of that low hanging cloud layer the Alaska Range reared into view, gradually filling the windshield of the plane with a white mass as we approached. Before long we left the green forest below and crossed above the moraines and glaciers of the Southern Alaska Range. Making a big turn around the southwest side of Mt. Hunter - the third highest peak in the Alaska Range - and entered above the Kahiltna Glacier. Another giant sweeping turn brought us into the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna and Chris, our pilot, gently touched the plane down onto the glacier.
Stepping out of the plane is always an overwhelming experience as the sheer scale of the surrounding landscape is brought into perspective. Soon the planes took off again, leaving us standing at Base Camp with a massive pile of gear and food sitting beside us. We quickly set to work, establishing camp and unpacking and resorting our gear from the flights. The rest of the afternoon slipped by as we reviewed our glacial travel skills, set up crevasse rescue systems, and played with various snow anchors.
In the evening Kel pulled together some phenomenal burritos and then we settled in for some rest. We are waking up again in a few hours to move to Camp 1, taking advantage of the coldest part of the night when the snow is frozen and supportive to walk across the lower stretches of the Kahiltna Glacier which is riddled with crevasses this time of year. We should arrive in Camp by mid morning tomorrow.
The team is doing well, excited to be here, and eager to begin the climb. We will check in tomorrow from Camp 1.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
On The Map
Capitalizing on a break in the weather the high winds subsided just long enough to allow us to move up to 17,000 feet for our high camp on Denali. After moving in last night we hunkered down with some full bellies and awoke to a little bit higher winds than we were hoping for, but we're in good shape sitting tight up here at 17 just sort of waiting and watching the weather, so that's all from 17K camp. And I will be checking in soon. Alright. Bye.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Jake Beren checks in after the team's move to 17,000' Camp
On The Map
Jake, I was just thinking about your BIG day tomorrow and checked in to see if you were still up on the mountain… looks like you are holding strong up there. Sending you some sunshine and awesome weather tomorrow. Hopefully a summit and down for steak and cake soon :) Happy Birthday! hugs, C
Posted by: KC on 6/25/2011 at 9:10 pm
Jake! Happy Birthday!! Once again you’re on a mountain top at the time of your birthday—so no presents for you, my Beemish Boy. I hope your clients are aware that they lucked out, when they drew you as a guide. How does the the iPad respond to the cold? Stay warm!
Love,aged P’s
Posted by: Richard Beren on 6/25/2011 at 6:41 pm
On a cold and windy morning, the climbing teams persevered and made it to the summit of Mt. Rainier. The teams started their descent back to Camp Muir at 8:00 a.m. PST.
Congratulations!
Previous Page
Next Page
Wow! You guys are sure making progress. All that snow must have been scary. I hope the weather holds for you tomorrow. Keep up the good work. Stay safe.
Posted by: John and Lorraine Lorenc on 6/26/2011 at 6:22 pm
I am in awe of your bravery and strength! What a breathtaking photo. Can’t wait to see more pictures!!! Hugs from Clinton, NY Frank.
Posted by: Terri Erin on 6/26/2011 at 4:05 pm
View All Comments