Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Oddly enough, we had great weather today, but we couldn't really put it to good use. We stayed in our 14,200' camp. Forecasts called for dire weather and a couple of our gang were under the weather, dealing with minor colds, so we decided to give everything and everyone a day in which to get better. In fact, none of the other teams on the mountain moved either. We know of four, one other guided group at 14 Camp and three teams up at 17,200'. The National Park Service team packed up their camp and flew out of 14 today by helicopter, their season finished. To take advantage of the fine sunshine and to stretch legs, most of our team roped up and took a short walk to the "edge of the world" on the rim of Genet Basin. It offers magnificent views nearly straight down to the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier and also a good look at the lower portions of the West Rib climbing route. Obviously, if we have the opportunity tomorrow, we want to get back to work on the West Buttress route.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
The Four Day Summit Climbs July 10 - 13 led by Brent Okita and J.J. Justman reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. J.J. reported clear skies and cold temperatures with winds below 20 mph. There is a cloud deck below them at 9,500' but blue skies above.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
Just as the Mt. McKinley weather report predicted, we got six inches of snow last night at our 14,200' camp. There wasn't any wind to go with it though, so the night was an easy one. Most of today was spent "inside the ping pong ball" -in a white world of cloud and falling snow. So most of us passed the time in the tents, sleeping, reading, listening to music or talking about the weather. A high point to the cloudy part of the day was a reading of the comments posted to the RMI blog. We can't bring up a web page, but the comments were cut and pasted into an email for the team and were very well received. Thank You.
Finally, around dinner time, the clouds began to clear and we were treated to stunning views of Foraker, Hunter and Denali. Now, at 9:30 in the evening it is crystal clear above and cloudy down below. This clear and dry evening defies predictions but we'll gladly take it. The big hope now is that tomorrow will stay nice and we'll get to move up to high camp.
Spencer wishes his Mom a happy birthday from Denali... And his teammates second that.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Sending you good tidings for a safe summit Stewart!
Posted by: Gail on 7/13/2011 at 4:31 pm
Spencer, I read this blog every day and just can’t
imagine what you are doing! but then, I just can’t
imagine 99.9% of the things you do! I am just going to
have to live through you, that’s all there is to it.
Russ and I just can’t wait to hear all about it
love to you and best wishes to all on the mountain
Carol
Posted by: Carol Trett on 7/13/2011 at 1:10 pm
Our Four Day Summit Climb teams led by Billy Nugent and Gabriel Barral reached the top of Mt. Rainier today. They climbed into a cloud cap that greeted them with strong winds and cold temperatures. The teams started their descent back to Camp Muir at about 8:01am PST.
Our Emmons Expedition Skills Seminar team led by Dan Windham check it at 12:52pm PST today from Camp Schurman. The team headed out for their summit attempt at about 7:00am PST in hopes that the rain and wind they experienced at camp would die down. The team was able to reach an elevation of 12,000' but decided to turn back due to poor visibility, strong winds and heavy snow. The team will continue training and plan on being back at Rainier Basecamp tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams.
A restful rest day was had by all... Mostly. We slept late, until almost 9 in the morning, and then emerged to find the world a dozen shades of grey as multiple cloud layers shifted slowly about. Our chefs prepared a sumptuous breakfast of egg and bacon quesadillas and we sat about in down coats telling stories for a bit before returning to the comfort of the tents for the day, determined to catch up on sleep and hydration. Our weather forecast made it plain today that we could expect at least a couple days of snow and so it was decided to grab back two days of food from the cache we'd placed at 16,200' yesterday. Geoff and Zeb made the round trip in 2 hours and 15 minutes... just in time since shortly after their return it began to snow heavily. Continued snow will make the cache inaccessible for a time as we may need to let avalanche conditions settle. The team got out in the weather long enough to beef up the tent anchors and eat a hot dinner in the POSH dining tent. Despite the forecast and the snow, spirits remain high.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Do hope there is enough Kungfu chicken to go round…
Take good care all of you, stay happy and healthy and get there!!
Posted by: Claire Munting on 7/12/2011 at 6:39 pm
HEY SPENCER HOLD ON THERE TONTO WEST AND I ARE ON THE WAY WITH FRESH LINENS AND MORE COFFEE AND A LATTE. HEY AND WOULD YOU LEAVE YOUR LEFT OVER STUFF WHERE WE CAN FIND IT. YOU KNOW US JUST KIDDING!!!!PRAY FOR THE BEST WEATHER FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM. GET TO THE SUMMIT!!!!
Posted by: TOBY EMERSON on 7/12/2011 at 1:58 pm
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Hi RMI this is Linden Mallory calling, it’s about 10 AM on Monday morning and we are calling from Denali Base camp.
We made it down this morning. We woke up about midnight last night and had the beginnings of a descent freeze, so we decided to pack up and see how the glacier treated us. We fired up the stoves and cooked up some breakfast and then we were walking in the middle of the night. It was a long but relatively uneventful walk down the glacier. We picked our way down and made it to Base camp about an hour ago. Right now we just packed up all our gear and we are waiting on the airplanes to come and pick us up. We have some low hanging clouds but we are fairly optimistic, a few planes have made it in.
So hopefully our next call is from Talkeetna. We'll check in and let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Welcome back on low-altitude land! Kudos to the great guides who made it happen.
Alysse in the Forest
Posted by: Alysse on 7/11/2011 at 4:26 pm
Glad to hear everyone is safe and sound, can’t wait to hear all the stories. Thank you Linden for all the reports and getting everyone up and down safely.
Posted by: Toni on 7/11/2011 at 3:50 pm
The Four Day Summit Climb July 8 - 11and the Five Day Summit Climb July 7 - 11 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams reported clear skies with cold temperatures and 20 mph winds. The summit teams started their descent from the crater rim at 7:30 a.m. PT.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
Our weather changed a bit for the worse today, but not before we were able to get our work (and play) accomplished up on the West Buttress. As we started stoves a little before 8 AM, there was already an upper cloud layer above the mountain and a fairly thick blanket below. But there was no sign of wind on the upper ridges so we felt pretty comfortable in gearing up to climb after breakfast. Two hours of steady uphill trudging got us to the slightly more interesting terrain of the bergschrund and the headwall above. We latched onto the fixed ropes and made our way up the 45 degree slopes. Conditions were excellent as there were staircase-quality footsteps in the steep snow. We topped the ropes in good time and it was obvious that everyone was game for going higher, but as we rested at 16,200' it began to snow and so we buried the supplies we were carrying (to protect the food from greedy ravens) and we beat feet back down to 14,200'. We weren't away more than six hours for the round trip but even so it was a significant effort and we were proud of our accomplishments. Three or four of the team broke personal altitude records. We rested away the remainder of the day as snow showers came and went. Tomorrow is a rest day for our team anyway, so we don't mind if a little unsettled weather plays through... but just a little. We are already getting excited for a move up to high camp.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hi Geoff, Jeff and I have been e-mailing back and forth on how your trip is going. It`s been a tough go for your team but Mike Walters#1-RMI team from May 2nd is Following you and good luck as you seek your peak. Can`t wait to hear the stories. Good luck Ken Young
PS GO BRUINS
Posted by: Ken Young on 7/11/2011 at 4:36 pm
Frank,
What an accomplishment! Truly awesome and inspiring. See you soon!
Posted by: Michael Duran on 7/11/2011 at 9:04 am
Hey RMI this is Linden Mallory calling from the Kahiltna Glacier. It’s about 3pm on the 10th of July. Those clouds that were building last night covered the Glacier and it never quite got cold enough last night for us to travel. So we are holed up here at 8,700’.
We had a pretty relaxed little day, hanging out, chatting and eating as much food as we can. Right now we are in a cloud bank, no snow at the moment but obscured skies. Things are definitely warm. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the clouds burn off by the end of the day and we are able to get a good freeze tonight and make it to Basecamp tomorrow.
We will check in and let you know how it goes. Take Care.
RMI Guide LInden Mallory
The Four Day Summit Climb July 7 - 10 led by Chad Peele reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team reported clear skies and light winds this morning. They began their descent from the crater rim at 7:30 a.m. PT.
Congratulations to today's summit team!
Previous Page
Next Page
have been following your progress on the blog and praying for a summit and safe return for you and all the team members, can’t wait to hear all the stories when you return, take lots of pics and hope you will give presentation at the medical society mtg when you return
God Bless,
Kenny Tidwell
Posted by: Kenny Tidwell on 7/14/2011 at 8:11 pm
How’s the bacon supply holding out?
Posted by: Joe on 7/14/2011 at 4:18 pm
View All Comments