Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Hi all!
We are back at 11,000' camp after a successful and gorgeous carry to cache gear at 13,500 ft, just past Windy Corner. When we woke this morning it looked like Windy Corner might live up to it's name; banners of snow were flying high off the nearby peaks from a strong north wind. We had a great smoked salmon breakfast and dragged our feet in camp for a bit to see if the wind would die, and it played ball! The carry was warm and calm, and the group moved great, happy to be free of our sleds, and to have lighter loads.
The weather forecast is sounding stellar for the next handful of days. We're going to make a game time decision tomorrow morning whether to move to the 14,000' camp or stay one more day at 11,000'. We'll let you know!
That's all for now; we're going to crawl into our warm down bags and get some shut eye.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and the crew
On The Map
Well hello all.
Last week temperatures were frigid. I am happy to say today was downright balmy. We'll take it.
We spent our entire day today going over some critical information. Laying the ground work for crevasse rescue. A lot of information was downloaded and everyone seemed to grasp the concepts. Knots, anchors, rappelling into a crevasse, self extrication from a crevasse were some of our topics on this beautiful day.
Kahiltna Base Camp is getting busier by the day. More and more climbers are showing up to head up Denali, other friends are finding success on various routes on the Mini Moon Flower and the North Buttress of Mt Hunter with this current stretch of superb weather.
Word on the street is temperatures are about to get really hot the next few days. We will let you know how that plays out.
Everyone is doing great and says hello.
RMI Guide Jason Thompson
On The Map
Hi Eric-
See you in a couple of weeks!
Posted by: Larry Seaton on 5/17/2012 at 10:38 pm
Posted by: Brent Okita, Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
SUMMIT!
Our first Five Day Summit Climb of the 2012 Season reached the top of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI Guides Brent Okita and Casey Grom and their teams reported clear skies and moderate winds. They began their descent at 7:30 a.m. and are en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team.
Hello from the Alaska Range,
We departed Talkeetna this afternoon and the flight onto the glacier was spectacular, no one was disappointed. We quickly set up our camp on the SE fork of the Kahiltna Glacier and are beginning to adjust to glacier living. The weather is splendid.
We are looking forward to beginning our training tomorrow and will let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Jason Thompson
On The Map
Watching Blaine go to the top…...
Posted by: lee on 5/17/2012 at 12:13 pm
Rich, Amazing pictures, looking forward to more. I wish I was up there with you, but I am enjoying watching the progree from my couch! Stay safe and make every day epic!
Posted by: Erik on 5/16/2012 at 4:56 pm
We had a great day yesterday, and moved our camp up to 11,200'. The weather was perfect for climbing, and we made swift progress up the Kahiltna Glacier towards Kahiltna Pass. We arrived in camp and spent a few hours establishing our camp, as we will be staying here for a few nights. With all of our gear moved in to the 11,200' camp, we are in a great position, and we will spend the day resting and acclimating. We are planning to carry a cache of supplies up to Windy Corner (13,600') tomorrow, so we're looking forward to a lazy day today. The weather looks great the next few days, and our team is feeling strong. We're right on schedule as we start staging on to the upper mountain.
We'll be in touch again soon.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Happy Belated Birthday Carl! We all hope you’re having lots of fun. Hope it’s not too cold.
Posted by: Crystal on 5/17/2012 at 8:50 am
Bernie, don’t slow the team down. Steak & Lobs part II waiting for you when you get back to NYC.
Posted by: Tom Hogan on 5/17/2012 at 8:49 am
It is the middle of May and the wait for fine weather on Mount Everest continues. Many climbers have started up the mountain so as to be in position should a break come in the next few days. A combination team of Sherpas from several expeditions is bound for the South Col now, hoping to be able to fix the ropes to the top when the wind dies. Our team is obviously hoping that the fixing effort succeeds and that those lining up for a first shot at the top get their shot. We aren't eager to be in that first run though. The weather window is forecasted to be short and the climbers are many, so we will instead take our chances on whatever more substantial break comes afterward. But the waiting is difficult. We are all healthy and feeling strong and we've now been down and resting for some time. We want to climb soon and it is difficult to hold back when others are going for it, but our judgment is that a little more patience is called for to fully accomplish our goals. We are each feeling the frustrations of being in a dead-end valley where the only real outlet is a journey through the Khumbu Icefall. It doesn't make much sense to go through that jumble simply for exercise and so we repeatedly backtrack down the trail toward Gorak Shep, taking on more sensible and vastly safer hiking goals like Kalapathar and Pumori Camp One. Our hope in doing these hikes is that our legs and lungs will be ready for the real thing and that daily hikes will keep our brains from fretting over the wait. It is sometimes a little difficult for us to remember that these 19,000 feet "hikes" in the midst of spectacular peaks and glaciers would be lifetime goals for many and that we are extremely lucky to be living in this place... But of course we are preoccupied with the top vertical mile or so of Mt. Everest right now.
Winds are still raking the upper peaks and ridges and temperatures still seem a bit lower than normal for mid-May. Our walks and scrambles on the glacier adjacent to Basecamp reveal slightly less runoff than we'd consider normal. We choose to view this positively in that the Khumbu Icefall won't get up to its full speed while things remain remain cool.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
dave- i had the pleasure of you serving as my guide in sept 98 on an ascent of Rainier. I wish you good weather, health and most importantly- safety. Suerte amigo!
Posted by: david.mendel on 5/17/2012 at 11:58 am
Have you met my friend Moshi Wilfred from Tanzania yet? He’s probably the tallest guy on the mountain.
Best of health and well-being during your climb.
Posted by: Ellen on 5/17/2012 at 11:00 am
Our time in the Alaska Range finished wrapped up just a couple of days ago. We had an extra 2 bonus days in the mountains. Our fly off date was set, but the weather determines our true fly off date. The snow began to fall the night before our scheduled departure date, it kept snowing for the following 2 days. Veteran climbers stated that this had been one of the biggest snowstorms, at Base Camp, that they could remember in the past
7 years. Over 3 ft of snow fell in a little more than a 36 hr period. We woke up on Saturday morning to crystal clear skies, soon the planes began to fill the skies. Everyone at base camp looking for a flight out spent the previous evening stomping out the run way for the planes. Still, when the planes landed it was obvious how deep the snow was for the planes. I think the pilots were getting faceshots, as the snow was hitting the windshields of the planes. We all arrived back in Talkeetna in the early afternoon, on Saturday.
The week consisted of lots of information being uploaded and downloaded to a very enthusiastic group of climbers. Us guides were very impressed with how much information this group of climbers soaked up. Topics covered a wide variety of mountain tactics, how to simply live comfortably in an environment that was cold and snowy, how to set up a camp, crevasse rescue, snow and ice anchors, climber responsibilities, avalanches and rescue, ice climbing and the list continues.
Everyone had a great time experiencing the Alaska range. Ideas have already been hatched for future trips to visit Little Switzerland, the Ruth Gorge or other objectives around the base camp area, from members of this group. Climbing around the Kahiltna base camp area offers a great experience for your first time to Alaska. Hopefully we will see you up here soon.
Everyone is on their way home now but memories will last a long time of this very special place.
Thanks again from Jason, Andres, Anne Gilbert and RMI
This is Dave Han calling from Everest Basecamp. And another nice day here yesterday and today it didn't snow. First time in about 10 days. A little bit drier weather playing through. Teams are starting to get into position now. It's looking like there's gonna be little bit of weather window. They are talking at first about the 17th and the 18th. A little bit calmer weather up above. It didn't look all that windy today. It wasn't quite summit weather. A little bit more of a break coming up that a number of teams are hoping to jump on and establish that route to the top. We are actually looking a few days beyond that and monitoring the weather forecast to see if we get lucky out past that. Today our team went on various hikes. Everybody's feeling strong, feeling healthy. Nice to be running around on the hills around here. This afternoon we had our Annual Invitational Horseshoe Tournament at the RMI Base Camp and it was well attended. Lots of fun for the afternoon. [Groan] And sadly the RMI teams didn't finish in the finals, didn't win but it was a great tournament. We are looking forward to next year. All for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn checks in from Everest Basecamp
On The Map
Posted by: Mike Walter, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9,600'
This morning we awoke to our first views of the Alaska Range. After sitting out the storm in Talkeetna and flying on with clouds still in the area, we were pleasantly surprised with a beautiful sunny day. Our first big hill of the trip greeted us right out of camp, but even with this challenge we moved well up to camp at 9,500'. The Kahiltna Glacier is in great shape which made our travels nice and fluid. Base camp received 3 feet of snow while we sat in Talkeetna, but this just made for great navigating and smooth sailing for us. As we moved into the steeps of Ski Hill, there was a perfect trough to keep our sleds in line and upright. With our first challenges behind us, we rolled into camp around 5:00 and made a yummy birthday dinner for Carl...61 today!! Now, we're resting up for another big push tomorrow to 11,000' camp. Happy Mother's Day to all of our moms! Goodnight.
RMI Guides Mike Walter, Pete Van Deventer & Maile Wade
On The Map
Team, We wish you GREAT LUCK on McKinley. Be safe. Sara and Bill McGahan
Posted by: Bil McGahan on 5/17/2012 at 3:40 pm
happy birthday carl & best wishes for great weather.
summit on!
Posted by: lars on 5/14/2012 at 6:37 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
Hey all! Our previous two day's waiting game turned to hustle and bustle yesterday as the skies opened and allowed the planes to fly. Our flights left right after breakfast, and we landed at basecamp, resplendent with a new layer of snow. It's still early in the season, and basecamp was quiet, with just a handful of climbers waiting to fly off, or start their climb uphill.
After a couple hours spent packing, rigging sleds, and digging our cache, we were on our way, dropping down the SE fork of the Kahiltna Glacier to begin our ascent up the main fork. The skies quickly closed and it began to snow, obscuring the views and dropping the temperature significantly. We made camp in light snow last night, but this AM woke to sun and clear skies! The plan is to make a move to our next camp at 9,600' today.
Happy birthday to team member Carl Devendorf, and everyone would like to wish their moms a Happy Mother's Day!
We'll be in touch soon.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and the gang
On The Map
Mike M….Following your progress…...and rooting for you!! Wishing you clear skies, good weather and the most magnificant views!!
Posted by: Annette on 5/14/2012 at 11:55 am
Go Mike! Have a great climb. I saw the mountain this morning in the sun on my way to work. Looks awesome. Stay safe.
Posted by: Jeff on 5/14/2012 at 10:06 am
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Sounds like a great time! Please give my best to Nick.
Pam
Posted by: Pam on 5/17/2012 at 7:35 pm
Keep going.
Posted by: Richard Coleman on 5/17/2012 at 7:06 pm
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