Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
June 17, 2023 10:50 PM PT
It was snowing again at 4 AM when we hoped to get up for climbing. We checked it repeatedly in the following hours but didn't feel good about what we saw.
Eventually, the snow quit, but by then we'd have been pushing up three hours of hill in the hottest part of the day. We decided to call it a rest day instead.
It ended up sunny and hot in the tents and we napped, read and snacked our way through the day. We'll try again tomorrow.
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
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June 17, 2023 8:56 PM PT
The weather had other plans for us up here at the base of ski hill. We woke up to wet snow hitting the tent and an ominous cloud staring at us from our intended path.
When Denali speaks, we listen. After a lot of watching and waiting, we turned our move into a rest day. We ate, slept, played cards, and read books to pass the time. Luckily, it’s in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Tomorrow, we’ll try again. Wear your pajamas inside out for us.
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli and Team
Posted by: Steve Gately, Emma Lyddan, Ellison Boord, Trevor Katz, Robert Whyte, Mitch Valaitis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,000'
The Mt. Rainier Four-Day climb led by RMI guides, Steve Gately and Emma Lyddan, turned around near 13,000’ this morning. After a cold morning and a light dusting of flurries, the team made the decision to turn back. The climbers are currently on their descent and will be back to celebrate their hard-work this afternoon in Ashford.
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
June 16, 2023 11:38PM PT
On this glorious morning, we awoke to partly sunny skies and light snow showers (for those who don't know, this means mostly cloudy.) As temperatures warmed, we all gathered in the posh for another round of pancake Hibachi. Yours truly went for broke and landed a double pancake flip (that is one pancake flipping twice). Unfortunately, the blast wave of this extreme maneuver broke our big strong Andy's fork.
To make the most of our relatively mild weather and rest day, we headed out of camp and practiced fixed line travel and clipping pickets. The team did great and is ready for whatever gloves the mountain throws at them.
Famished, we made our way back to camp to gorge on snacks, mainly cheese. This helped quell our toilet paper crisis for the near future.
After dinner and a sweet treat of Jack's cheesecake the team retired to hopefully sleep deep and oxygen rich.
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
June 16, 2023 10:20 PM PT
Day 2 started with a much enjoyed few extra hours of sleep as light snow delayed our alpine start. The skies cleared quickly though, and we were able to begin our work for the day - carrying a load of gear and food to cache just below 10,000’.
Everyone put in a good effort, and we were back down to out tents just as light snow began again. The rest of the day was filled with naps and relaxation in preparation for our move to 11,000’ tomorrow.
Posted by: Mike King, Mike Haugen, George Hedreen, Charlie Harrison, Cal Seeley, Bailey Servais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI guides Mike King and Mike Haugen called from the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They reported some chilly temperatures, moderate winds and beautiful weather for climbing this morning. Despite the cold temperatures, the team enjoyed a great climbing route. Congratulations climbers!
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Sam Marjerison, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9,800'
It was snowing at Kahiltna Base last night when we wanted to get going, so we pushed back the wake-up time to a leisurely 4 AM. Conditions improved as we ate breakfast in the shadows. We were climbing by 6:50 AM. Conditions were excellent due to recent snows and cold temps.
The dreaded crevasse crossings of the lower Kahiltna Glacier were practically nonexistent. Sled pulling was quite easy (relatively speaking), though everything was heavy as usual. We reached our intended camp at ski hill in five hours and built a fine home. We dove into tents to beat the afternoon sun.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and team
Way to go, Team Hahn! We are thinking about you and praying for each of you. Mitch, I’m so happy your knee is holding up! I love you!
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all the Father’s up there!!
Posted by: Leslie vance on 6/18/2023 at 8:17 am
Hey Dustin! All the Best to You and Dave and your team! I’m following along.
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/18/2023 at 3:19 am
Posted by: Camille Leininger, Jess Wedel, Pete Van Deventer, Nicole De Petris, Will Ambler, Hannah Blum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb teams June 13 - 16 led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Jess Wedel reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Casey reported a windy day with a great route. The teams were able to spend a bit of time in the crater before starting their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 am PT. Once back at Camp Muir the teams will take a short break before continuing the remaining 4,500' to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Thanks everyone for a great climb yesterday! Great meeting everyone and good luck with the next adventure.
Special thanks to Jess as Cam and I probably wouldn’t have made it without you! Jess, since we didn’t have much time for pictures, would you happen to have any pictures of our climb or previous Rainer climbs? If so, could u send them to my email or post some where on the Rmi blog? Thanks again for everything!
Posted by: Steven Funanich on 6/17/2023 at 11:48 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier, Michael Murray, Sam Marjerison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
Thursday, June 15, 2023 - 9:20 pm PT
We couldn't hang around Talkeetna long enough for breakfast this morning. Denali was calling and we heeded the call. We snacked as we were gearing up to fly. The planes took off at 9 AM and at about 9:45 we were in basecamp unloading. We built camp. It is pleasantly cool for mid June. We made it a training day. We watched airplanes and helicopters come and go as we reviewed glacier travel techniques. Tomorrow we're going climbing.
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
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Thursday, June 15, 2023 - 9:20 pm PT
Day one on the climb is always a tough one. The excitement is swirling, the nerves are high, and the bar for entry is even higher. There is a lot to get used to during expedionary life, especially one as remote as Denali. We have to pretend we could lose our gloves at any gust of wind, lose our gear during the next snowstorm, or rip our homes if we’re careless. The mountain is tough, but today proved that we can be just as tough. The first day is one of the only days that you’re carrying everything you brought all at once. The road to Camp 1 is just too long to do the typical; carry and cache, move camps, grab the cache. So we must make the long slog to the base of Ski Hill. With cold temps, clear skies, and crunchy snow we weaved through the crevassed Kahiltna glacier and made camp at around 8:30 this morning. We’re at camp now, waiting for weather updates and refueling for tomorrows effort. We’ll cache up at Kahiltna pass.
Thanks for following along,
Love the photos - what extraordinary scenery you’re experiencing. Will be looking forward to each post (would be great to see your team via a group shot, if there’s a chance)!
Posted by: robin & rex on 6/16/2023 at 2:14 pm
Thank you for the update stay safe saurabh and take care all the climbers
Posted by: Anjali Sharma on 6/16/2023 at 9:43 am
Thank you for the updates!!
Posted by: Jenni on 6/19/2023 at 5:56 am
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