June 3, 2017
Waking early yet again, our team of intrepid mountaineers had a quick breakfast and fired downhill to our cache at 10,000 ft. Once packs and sleds were sufficiently filled we returned back to camp as the rest of the 11,000' Camp inhabitants were poking their heads out of tents. After a big lunch of rosti and stories, the team reviewed some climbing techniques and packed up for our next carry towards 14,000' Camp. If the weather cooperates we will bump supplies uphill tomorrow to set ourselves up to move locations. We have heard that 14,200 feet above the sea is a nice neighborhood and we aim to get in while prices are still reasonable. Location, location, location as they say.
The team is still doing great and we are ready for the next step.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guides Casey Grom and Kel Rossiter led their Four Day Summit Climb Teams May 31- 3 June to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team reported it was a windy day on top but they were doing well. They will return to Camp Muir for a short break and to pack their gear before descending to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
June 2, 2017
This is Pete Van Deventer calling from Denali. It's been a long day, we have been on the move for a while. We left 17,000' Camp at about 10:50 this morning and have been on the move ever since. We went down through from the thin air up there to 14,000' Camp and saw Brent Okita and Tyler Jones there and then through 11,000' Camp and saw Jake Beren there. Now we are down in the thick, warm air of 9,600 feet the Base of Ski Hill. So we're going to stop here for the evening and eat some dinner and throw the tents up for a little bit and sleep for a few hours. Then we'll get back on the trail and get back to Base Camp for what we hope to be early morning flight 8 or 9 o'clock Saturday morning. With any luck will be back in Talkeetna before we know it. Everybody's been hanging in there really well, it's a lot of walking but the further we go down the better we all feel as they air gets thicker and temps warmer. The cold on the way in feels pretty balmy at this point after sitting what we have sat through and being as high as we have been. We're looking up at the sunshine on the summit of Denali and still lighting up the Orient Express and the Messnar Couloir some of the classic faces of the upper mountain above 14,000' and really couldn't imagine a more perfect setting than where we are right now. So, we will enjoy one more night on the Kahiltna Glacier and look forward to being in town soon.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer checks in from 9,600 ft on their descent.
June 2, 2017
Hello, The team had an amazing day moving up to 14,200 ft Camp today. This team is doing some really great work with smooth climbing and great camp setup skills. We departed our 11,200 ft camp just after 8am and we able to use the morning shade and sun to our advantage, keeping us cool while climbing and warming us during our breaks. We arrived at 14 camp just after noon and enjoyed a sunny afternoon to build our camp. The views are amazing up here and we can see some of the challenges ahead, including the fixed lines. For dinner this evening, the team enjoyed another round of Chef Tyler's chicken quesadilla's served up with some spicy guacamole and Sriracha, who knew you could eat so well on an expedition! Tomorrow we will spend the day in camp resting, reinforcing camp and practicing some skills we will need for the days ahead.
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, JM Gorum and Bryan Mazaika
Amazing pictures…quite the view you have up there. One foot after the other, hang in there and best wishes as you move up the mountain. Be safe!! And Tym, Satoshi says, $2,550.00
Love, Mom
Posted by: Kristi Kennelly on 6/3/2017 at 11:15 am
June 2, 2017
As cold as it is at 6:30am here at 14,200', we knew that an early start to our day would be for the best. The crew was up and at 'em even before hots were quite ready. We all knew this was a big day, and it was.
The sun hadn't hit our part of the mountain yet, so we were bundled up. This is my usual plan, and surprisingly, we were the first group out of camp. This always bodes well in terms of being one of the first on the fixed lines - that part of the mountain which is quite steep where passage up it is protected by fixed ropes that we can secure ourselves to while climbing slopes up to 50 degrees in steepness.
The team really crushed it, then climbed well again on the West Buttress itself. This really is the most spectacular and challenging part of the route. A few of us cached our loads at our standard location at 16,600'. But two of our rope teams climbed all the way to high camp at 17,200' and cached there! Great work by everyone.
Later, upon return to camp, we heard that a group that left an hour after us had to wait for two hours due to the congestion in the fixed roped. We were all pretty psyched that we didn't have that issue. Instead, we had one of the most perfect days climbing the Butttress I've seen. Windless and warm.
The weather forecast is, of course, on everybody's minds, with this window of nice weather perhaps coming to an end in a couple of days. Some guides are even accelerating their timelines to head up to 17,200' a day or so earlier. I've toyed with this idea too, to forego our rest day tomorrow and try to get a summit in while we can. But, my gut tells me to practice the patience I always preach, so we'll enjoy our rest day tomorrow and take it one day at a time. I know we'll all be the stronger for it, and after our big day we're all a little tired right now.
So, good night from 14,200'.
RMI Guides Brent, Christina an JT
June 2, 2017
Our team sends their greetings from 11 Camp! Everyone did quite well on the move here and we enjoyed another perfect weather day on our way up. We left early to beat the heat and it paid off. Once at camp we enjoyed some mellow camp construction and rest whilst our comrades made their way down from 17 Camp. It was great to see some triumphant souls and friendly (if scraggly) faces. Tomorrow we hope to back carry and claim our checked baggage and spend the rest of the day training and resting before working our way any higher. All subject to our beloved Mom Nature of course.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
June 2, 2017
Hey guys, it's Mike Walter checking in early Friday morning up at High Camp on Denali. We had a successful summit yesterday in beautiful weather, barely a breath of wind, nott a cloud in the sky, great views. We got to spend nearly an hour on this on top, and everyone returned back to camp safely. We have the stoves fired and we are going to pack up here shortly and start our movement downward and hopefully be back in town tomorrow. We will be in touch and keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
RMI Guide Mike Walter checks in from 17,000 ft Camp after summit bid.
June 1, 2017
Well we were given another blue bird day today with amazing views abounding in every direction. As many of you may know, clear skies usually correspond with cold temperatures, and that was true as ever this morning. At 8 am Christina ventured a peek at her thermometer inside the tent, and her findings confirmed our suspicions, the mercury read a measly -10 F.
After we huddled around some hot beverages, and waited for the sun to start working its magic, the day truly began. With temperatures rising steadily, a few of our climbers who were feeling particularly well acclimated headed down hill to pick up some of our food and fuel at 13,500 ft while the rest of the crew honed in on their fixed rope skills.
We did a bit of lounging whilst preparing and practicing for our carry to high camp tomorrow and enjoyed drying out and soaking up some rays! It was appreciated by all to have some nice sunny weather to balance out all the snowy weather we endured earlier in the trip. That is all from 14 Camp!
RMI Guides JT, Brent and Christina
June 1, 2017
Greetings from our second night at the base of Ski Hill/Camp 1!
Today we set off early and enjoyed perfect walking temps as we carried our checked baggage to 10,000 feet and cached a sizable load to make tomorrow's move more civilized. If the forecast verifies, we will try to move uphill in the early morning and make our way to 11 Camp.
The team is doing great and perfect weather has welcomed us into the Alaska Range. Big Ups to the first two RMI teams as they get rewarded for their patience and perseverance- Bravo!
We hope to check in from 11,200 feet above the sea tomorrow night!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
June 1, 2017
Hey there - this is Pete Van Deventer calling. We're back at 17 Camp happy to report after a successful summit day on Denali. We had really perfect weather, couldn't have gotten much better. We had 4 mile an hour kind of chilly breeze this morning, but by the time we got to the Football Field things we're getting pretty warm. It couldn't have been clearer or calmer up on the summit ridge. We got out out of camp nice an early today right after Mike Walter's team, and had Denali mostly to ourselves for a lot of the day. It was great, we are all back at camp and everybody's fed and happy and tucked into bed. The goal tomorrow will be the move back down where the air is thicker and temperatures are warmer. Ideally 11,000' or 7,600' and be at Base Camp shortly thereafter. Maybe Saturday morning to try to catch some flights out. So everybody is heading home, everybody is well and everybody is excited after a great day. We got some good photos and we really can't ask for much more than what we got today. Alright - we'll talk soon.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer calls from 17,000 ft Camp after a successful summit day.
From down under great climbing Mark and Rachel and fellow mountaineers on achieving your goal. Heartfelt thanks to Pete, Jess and Jenny for making it possible and particularly for maintaining your morale during that long delay at14K. In our eyes you three are real heroes. Hope weather holds fo a safe and enjoyable decent then celebrate. With our best wishes for a safe journey home. Phil and Vonne.
Posted by: Philip and Vonne Calvert on 6/2/2017 at 3:07 pm
Awesome job!! Congrats JT, Peter, Yon, Rags, Rachel, Mark, Pete, Jenny, Jesse on getting the summit. What an accomplishment. I’m there with you in spirit. Safe travels down. Looking forward to seeing your photos.
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Got your satellite text. Glad to hear you are doing well. Thinking of you and your team a lot. Good luck.
Posted by: Jo on 6/6/2017 at 8:57 am
Burt’s Bees beard looking good Big Stephen! Good luck- hope they have some juicy chicken to keep your energy up.
Posted by: Jake on 6/5/2017 at 1:55 pm
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