The Expedition Skills Seminar – Muir led by RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Mike King reached the crater rim of Mt. Rainier around 7 am PDT. Seth reported crystal clear skies and light wind. From the summit the teams can see down to 6,000’ where the cloud deck begins. The teams will spend a little time on the summit before beginning their descent back to Camp Muir for their final night on the mountain. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
June 3, 2015 - 5:08 pm PT
Last night shortly after dinner a light snow began falling as we got in our tents. This morning we awoke to 8" of new snow and it has continued falling all day. It is always nice when weather forces a rest day right on schedule.
We drew out the breakfast process making hash browns, eggs, bacon, and uncountable cups of coffee. The early afternoon was spent napping an watching movies in our tents and shoveling out camp. Hopefully tomorrow is nice and we can get a cache in at 13,600' before returning to 11 camp. The teams is in good spirits and enjoying a day off their feet.
That's all for now, thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Geoff Schellens & Eric Frank
Kim and rest in the same sentence? I am imagining you doing push-ups, crunches and using anything you can find in your backpack for weight resistant exercises. Keep enjoying this fabulous adventure!
Posted by: Mary Beth Donelan on 6/5/2015 at 6:09 am
Hi Kim. I just wanted to tell you that last night, Lora put our A/C down to 68. I was freeeezing all night! Ugh. Anyway, what’s going on with you these days? When do you leave for Alaska?
June 3, 2015 - 3:48 pm PT
Pitter, patter, pitter, patter! Snow day at 11,200'. Well, as we mentioned the snow started last night and throughout today we have received more that a foot of light dry fairy dust. This a has been the first session of shoveling out the tent every other hour and almost surely not the last. With a day to sleep in and recover and hide from the pesky weather. This morning we had some excellent grilled breakfast burritos packed with cheese, eggs, salsa, and of course bacon. This afternoon will work on some more skills will need higher on the mountain and spend some time building our walls higher as the storm continues to swirl. With fingers crossed will try to move our bright orange homes up to 14 camp as soon as we get a break in the weather.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Hi Brenda we are following you closely looks like Mother Nature is slowing down the team a little! More time to rest and enjoy the mountain. Take care LUL Richie
Posted by: Richard Larscheid on 6/4/2015 at 5:50 am
June 3, 2015 - 10:10 am PT
Yesterday proved to be a bit bitter sweet for all of us. Despite having the almost euphoric sense of accomplishment for summiting Mt. McKinley, the work left to be done is astounding. Many people may think that when the top is reached it is all downhill from there. In a literal sense that is true, in the big picture that is like saying once you plant a garden food will just appear on your plate.
Nothing is easy at 17,000', especially motivating to pack up the entire camp after only getting six hours of restless sleep coming on the heels of what most of the team considered the hardest summit day they have ever experienced. But as always they impressed me with there drive, attitude and willingness to do what needed to be done. That fact right there is why they all succeeded in this climb.
So after camp was broken, the long tricky climb back down Washburn's ridge began. After those obstacles were over we then needed to descend the fixed lines, stomp down the remaining slopes to camp, dig up the cache and then rebuild a new camp. All while being sleep deprived, hungry, thirsty and utterly exhausted. On top of all that, it is supposed to snow two feet by tomorrow. Ahh, the true colors of this mountain are being revealed.
We will keep you posted on our progress.
Liam, daddy is on his way home soon. I can't wait to see you!
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
June 2, 2015 - 10:40 pm PT (Both updates received)
New heights achieved! Today we rose early to no wind and blue skies with a satellite lenticular cloud slowly inching closer, cluing us into the fact that the weather may change in the next few days. We loaded our food, fuel and other equipment making for a smooth and relatively quick trip up to our next camp at 14,000'. We dug a large pit in the snow in the center of the Genet basin and filled it with many of the supplies that we will need for the next stages of the climb.
With the weather still holding we passed the infamous Windy Corner in breathless air. The crew flowed down hill flawlessly making a short stop at the rarely visited lunch rock bump view point. Taking in the full panorama of the enormous Father and Son wall, the upper Peters Glacier, NW Buttress and the Washburn Wall! Spectacular!
The short nap was well deserved this afternoon and the days timing was impeccable. The snow and a brisk breeze blew in shortly after our arrival. Which was followed by one of the best Ramen meals ever consumed on the slopes of Denali. Now as we crawl into our tents a light snow continues and we wait to see what tomorrow brings. Good evening all.
RMI Guide Tyler JonesJune 1, 2015 Blog
Today was another great weather day! We had bagels salmon and cream cheese. Not bad for mountain food! Yet we decided after four days of hard work we took a real full rest day in order to regain our strength and further our acclimatization.
The day progressed with some tent time laying around like mushrooms on a pizza. As the afternoon rolled in we spent time training our walking skills and prepping our kits for carrying our load to 14,000 Camp. We're hoping for good weather tomorrow. Send us good vibes. As the sun crests the horizon to the north in this latitude we stare at purple sky's to the south in the shade of the mountain.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
June 2, 2015 - 6:56 pm PT
The last few days of a trip always fly by. The summit, descent, and celebration in town all came together over the course of three days. Our summit day was spectacular, with blue, sunny skies, little wind, and balmy (0 degrees F) temps. We got up with the sun the next morning, which felt considerably colder, and packed our bags to descend. We originally planned to go as far as 11,200' Camp, picking up our cache at 14,000' along the way, but when we walked into 11k at 4.30 in the afternoon, and with plenty of energy to spare, we decided to keep the momentum rolling, rig sleds, and head to 7,600’ camp. The few hours of fighting with our sleds downhill proved well worth it. We got to camp at 8:30, where RMI Guides Geoff Schellens and Eric Frank with their Upper West Rib team were super nice and had stoves boiling for us already. We set a hasty camp since we were only going to be there for a few hours, and went to bed. We had our only real alpine start of the trip, waking at 2.30 am. The walk out the lower Kahiltna was one of the highlights of the trip. High thin clouds reflected the light of a not yet risen sun, and the alpenglow on the surrounding peaks burned a brilliant red. A wind at our backs pushed us towards Base Camp. The scene kept our eyes drifting to the sky, and it was impossible not to enjoy the walk despite the heavy packs and sleds. By 7:30 we were at the airstrip, ready for the first flights of the day to Talkeetna. In no time the incredible pilots from K2 descended in two Otters, we loaded the planes, and we were in town, taking in the scents of grass, flowers, and trees for the first time in weeks. We showered off the smell of 18 days on the mountain, and set about filling our bellies with something that we hadn’t carried on our backs. We spent the afternoon drying gear and packing bags for our inevitable separation, and then had a final celebration dinner at the West Rib, a restaurant that is synonymous with Mt. McKinley climbers. Now, we are beginning to part ways. Some of our climbers have left for Anchorage and flights home, while others are staying in Alaska for a bit longer, albeit as tourists. Jet boat adventures, bicycle tours, and road trips to the North side of the park all lie in the future. The guides will amuse ourselves tomorrow with some time on a boat, dropping lines for Halibut, before we also head South to the Mt. Rainier climbing season. The group did a spectacular job on the mountain, climbing smoothly and safely, and we were rewarded with a truly fine summit and 100% of our group on the summit. The guides thank the whole team for their efforts, laughs, and incredible chemistry; it was a really memorable trip for us as well! Thanks to everyone for following along. Now its off to a boat, where someone else baits the hook for us and the fish can’t help but bite!
RMI Guides Pete, Robby, Josh, and Team.
June 2, 2015 - 5:43 pm PT
Light snow is pelting the outside of our tents this afternoon, but we are warm and dry inside. Soon we will need to venture out and build high walls around our camp to protect the tents from any potential wind damage. Despite the fact that it is a lot of hard work, wall building tends to be a favorite among groups. It is half artistry and half big-kid Legos.
The group was already productive today. After a leisurely breakfast of bagels with smoked salmon, we took a three hour stroll down to our cached food and brought it back up to 11,200' camp. Now we are firmly established here and getting stronger for our next move uphill.
RMI Guides Geoff Schellens and Eric Frank
Stay warm Kim with all that new snow. Remember, with your height you will have an advantage getting more Oxygen!
Posted by: JDT on 6/4/2015 at 8:10 am
Hi Kim: Looks like you & the team are doing terrific! We look forward at some point to seeing photos of the snow walls you are building around the tents. Sounds like it could be a “work of art” suitable for gallery viewing.Go Kim Go!!! Be safe & stay well!! Love, Dad
Tuesday, June 2nd 11:23 am PDT
Hello, this is Adam Knoff reporting from high camp on Mount McKinley. I am happy to report that the entire team summitted Mount McKinley yesterday. It was an exciting day in the morning. We were anticipating moving back down to 14K camp to wait out a pending storm that is supposed to arrive this evening. But instead we were granted a weather window in the afternoon that allowed us to go for the summit and achieve the summit. Everyone did great and this morning we are exhausted but happy that the sun is out. We are packing up camp, high camp, and will be moving down to 14K, where we will potentially be waiting out the storm that it supposed to hit us tonight. Stay tuned for more tomorrow. Thank you. Bye.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
RMI Guide Adam Knoff calling from high camp after successful summit!
Monday, June 1st 10:23 pm PDT
This morning we woke up at 7:30 to another beautiful day. Despite the chilly breeze, we packed up camp and had a quick breakfast and hit the dusty trail. Soon the wind dissipated and we found ourselves in base layers again. The team moved very well up Ski Hill and past our cache site on up to 11K camp. Luckily 11K camp was somewhat vacant so we moved right into an old camp saving us a lot of work, although we will need to fix up the snow walls a bit tomorrow. After a delicious dinner of mac and cheese, we crawled into our tents as the low clouds crept higher with the incoming front. Weather permitting tomorrow we will retrieve our cache at 9,600' and do some work around camp here at 11. Thanks for following along with us.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
“Greetings up there!” Hope you are the team that my brother “Steve” is with as I am tracking your progress. Sounds like the trek has been pretty smooth thus far- “GOD SPEED”
“TO THE SUMMIT!!!”
Posted by: Pamela Wincapaw on 6/2/2015 at 5:15 pm
Hey Kim! It looks amazing up there! Stay dry and warm, but most of all enjoy every moment!
Sunday, May 31st 9:38pm PDT
Hi there. This is Adam Knoff calling from High Camp on Mount McKinley. I would like to report that we had a very successful and warm rest day today. We practiced putting on all of our warm clothes, walking around like stay-puffed marshmallow people, getting ready for tomorrow. The weather outlook is still in our favor so we expect to have a good, but somewhat exciting, day on the upper mountain on Mount McKinley. We will call you some time along the line. Adios.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
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Congratulations from Katie, Claudia, and the rest of OPT!!
Posted by: Claudia Daghofer on 6/4/2015 at 1:51 pm
Congratulations, George Nimmo, for reaching the summit and glad you had a good day, despite the undercast. See you in a couple of days.
Posted by: George Nimmo on 6/4/2015 at 1:36 pm
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