Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
Saturday, June 26, 2021 - 10:40 pm PT
The bad weather hadn't finished, but we made our break for 11K Camp just the same. What is Denali without some wandering in whiteouts?
It took about four hours and that put us into 11K at 3PM. So nice to see our friends in Mike Walter's group. We dug in right next door to them. Still light snow falling and a lot of cloud, but we are delighted to have different scenery when we can see it. Tomorrow we'll go back down to retrieve loads.
Posted by: Mike Walter, Nikki Champion, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
Saturday, June 26, 2021 - 3:45 pm PT
When we got in our tents last night it was clear and calm, but the clouds, wind, and snow returned overnight, although with much less vengeance than before. We fired up the stoves early with hopeful anticipation that the cloud deck would drop below us and winds would abate, but that was not the case. We decided to stick around 11k another day, with an improving weather forecast ahead of us.
The hope is that tomorrow is our day to bump camp up to 14k. We're rested, acclimatizing, and our team has already tackled the climb to 14k on our carry day; while it will still be strenuous, the team is well prepared for the move to 14k. And we're looking forward to it.
I'll check in again tomorrow, hopefully from a higher vantage point.
We miss you. You are always in our thoughts and prayers. Stay safe and healthy.
Your fan club,
The Arnolds
Posted by: Jeannette Arnold on 6/29/2021 at 4:19 pm
GO AARON!!!!
Posted by: Emilee on 6/27/2021 at 6:11 pm
Posted by: Win Whittaker, Avery Parrinello, Matias Francis, Jackson Breen, Erika Birkeland, Axel Ryd
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The American Lung Association (ALA) Climb for Clean Air Teams were on the Mt. Rainier summit early this morning….100% success! RMI Guide Win Whittaker called from 13,500’ on the descent back to Camp Muir.
THANKS, RMI! What an incredible team of guides (special shout to Erika!). Already pondering the next move…:)
Posted by: John on 6/28/2021 at 2:19 pm
Way to go climbers! And such a gorgeous day!
Posted by: Stephanie on 6/26/2021 at 12:14 pm
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Dustin Wittmier, Devin Guffey
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Friday, June 25, 2021 - 9:51 pm PT
Good evening,
Winds continued today with the first half being rather cloudy. Camp remained quiet with very little climbers out and about. As the clouds faded and the wind lessened, camp came alive. With a bit of nicer weather for the second half of the day, everyone was excited to get out of their tents and enjoy the sunshine but most of all not to be horizontal. All our tent platforms are no longer flat and smooth but now have troughs, bumps, and tilts from the warmth of our bodies melting away at the snow. This is a sign we need to move to a new camp. We are still monitoring the weather for our moment to move to 17K Camp. Once the winds calm down we will take our chance at the summit. We are getting antsy and ready for a change of scenery but we are also committed to being patient. Our patience will pay off.
Patiently waiting,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
Do Well Hannah + team, Waltero
Posted by: Walter Glover on 6/28/2021 at 9:13 am
Happy birthday to Mike!!! I hope you get at least a bit of a celebration with your group, but I hope even more that mother nature will give you the best gift possible with clear weather so you guys can summit soon! I miss you and can’t wait to hear all about your trip! The pups and I send our love!
Posted by: Alex Ament on 6/26/2021 at 12:26 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9,500'
Friday, June 25, 2021 - 6:35 pm PT
This will be our third night hunkered down at 9,500' on the Kahiltna Glacier. It got snowing around midnight last night and just kept going. We checked the weather every hour or so to see if we could get a lull for climbing, but no. Thankfully the winds never got to more than about 20 mph, but they blew steadily throughout the day. We’d taken the precaution of pulling down the dining/cook tent at 1 AM so it was an easy enough thing to build it again at 8 AM to have a dry and calm space for breakfast. Bagels and salmon and a few laughs together before we climbed back in the tents to ride out the storm. By dinner time the snow was falling thick and fast and we were happy to be high enough to be avoiding rain. With dinner complete we did a round or two of chores to strengthen our camp and then crawled in for the night. According to the forecast, tomorrow should be partly sunny. Until then it will be anybody’s guess as to how many hours of noise we’ll endure as the wind and snow pummel the tent fabric.
Cheers,
Good luck guys, wish you all the best! Hope the weather breaks for you. Rest well and may peace be with you
Posted by: Gregory Hatt on 6/30/2021 at 9:44 pm
My son hectoris there with you. I would love to know about his knees and health, how is he doing please
Posted by: Laura fernandez on 6/27/2021 at 7:53 am
Posted by: Mike Walter, Nikki Champion, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
Friday, June 25, 2021 - 12:41 pm PT
The snow and wind from yesterday persisted through the night and into the morning, and now, at midday it continues. The weather is forecast to improve as we move into the weekend, and we are poised to move to 14,000' when that moment arises. In the meantime we're lounging, reading, snoozing, and also digging out our tents. Spirits are high as we continue to weather our first Denali storm. We're all all looking forward to seeing the sun again and getting back to our upward progression. Hard days of climbing and long days waiting out storms are hallmarks of a Denali expedition.
"...snow falls and it passes..."
We'll touch base again tomorrow to let you know the latest.
Hi Daryl and all,
Looks like you’ve been playing the waiting game. I hope you are safe and having a great time. You ROCK!
Posted by: Will on 6/29/2021 at 8:52 pm
Told everyone today Daryl on the Mtn and everyone so impressed! Wishing everyone a good days rest! No such thing as bad weather.. just gotta be prepared for it! Which you all are!
Posted by: Katie on 6/25/2021 at 4:14 pm
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Dustin Wittmier, Devin Guffey
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Hold onto your hats it's windy,
The wind started last night and persisted through the day. The frost in the tents showered down onto our sleeping bags as the tent made a crinkle noise. The snow that had fallen got picked up and tossed into the air creating a snow tornado. It looked magical in a way but our sleeping bags looked better. Its easy to hunker in the tents when outside isn't too pleasant. You can hear the wind up high. It sounds like a waterfall. Luckily at our camp it's only blowing in the 20mph range. As dinner wrapped up the wind and snow caused quite a scene. A scene not too fun to go to the bathroom in. All around the snow whips around. We all waited for a lull in the wind to hustle to our tents and the bathroom. The discomfort is comical and creates some good laughs. If you can't find the funny in the misery than you are in the wrong place out here. Tomorrow is also suppose to be windy so we will hunker in again. We are optimistic that this weekend will be our move date to High Camp. For now, we lay in our tents listening to the snow pitter patter and the tent crinkle in the wind.
Mother nature calm yourself,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
Hey Hannah and Dustin! I’m sending prayers that Mother Nature gets over her crabbiness so you all can move higher!!! :)
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/26/2021 at 3:21 am
Wishing everyone health and strength
Hopefully weather will become better
Best of luck Steven and group
Love and miss you
L
Posted by: Larisa Pivnik on 6/25/2021 at 9:17 pm
Posted by: Mike Walter, Nikki Champion, Ben Luedtke
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
Thursday, June 24, 2021 - 12:48 pm PT
It's been windy and snowy today at the 11,200' Denali Camp, although we caught glimpses of blue sky above us occasionally this morning. We're all cozied up in our tents after a big breakfast. We're content to rest and relax, enjoying some reading and some napping. We're at a great altitude for acclimatization, so we're (hopefully) getting stronger for our next mission, which will be to move up to Genet Basin at 14,200'. That will happen on the next good weather day, perhaps tomorrow but more likely Saturday or Sunday. We'll keep you apprised of our status. But for now we're happy, hydrated, and comfortable in our current camp.
Beautiful team, magestic scenery…keep up the great work Daryl.
Posted by: Pat on 6/24/2021 at 10:39 pm
Posted by: Andy Bond, David Price, Seth Burns, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RM Guide Andy Bond reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team got an early start from Camp Schurman and reached the summit around 5:30 am. They will return to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain. Enjoy these photos from RMI Guide David Price taken from the summit crater of Mt. Rainier this morning.
Congratulations to today's Emmons team!
Doug and Erik — you went, you saw, you conquered! Revel in it!
Rich
Posted by: Rich on 6/24/2021 at 8:20 pm
Congrats Giorgio Kulp on checking off climb one in the ole bucket list. We are proud of your determination and the accomplishment. Can’t wait to hear the story of your adventure. Congrats to the entire team!
Posted by: Debbie Snyder and the Kulprits on 6/24/2021 at 6:23 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Matt McEttrick
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9,500'
Thursday, June 24, 2021
It clouded up a bunch in the night, just as the forecast said it would. By 1 AM when we hoped to get up and climb, it was snowing and socked in, just like they said it would be. We kept checking it for a few hours and it kept seeming wet and a little ugly -poor conditions for moving camp. We stayed put and then conditions improved. But we were already a little past what we’d calculated to be the optimal time of day for traversing the sometimes tricky lower glacier. Then conditions improved considerably.,. Where we’d been led to believe that we’d have a snow/rain day to wait out, instead we had a “bluebird” beauty of a day -to rest- when we hadn’t really thought we needed a rest. Oh well. We slept, we read, we ate, we drank. We went through our gear and supplies one more time, thinning out and weeding excess weight wherever possible. We listened to a thousand giant avalanches. We heard so many rocks fall off nearby Mt. Francis, that it was something of a surprise to come out for dinner and see her still standing. We bided our time. That forecast was still calling for cloud and sloppy weather at basecamp tonight… perhaps we’ll see that, but otherwise it looks perfect for moving this time when the cool hours roll around.
Best Regards,
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Hello Dave Hahn. Matt McEttrick & company:
While you are at 11K with deep snow & cold on Denali;
The weather conditions are quite different in the Lower Forty Eight!
In the west including CA, WA and OR temperatures are flirting with
100 degrees F. For the next few days in Boston Ma temperatures
will be in the 90 to 100 degree range! Much of the US has similar
conditions,
Our best to all! Joe & Marion McEttrick
Posted by: Joseph P McEttrick on 6/27/2021 at 8:11 pm
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