Hey, it's Billy here checking in from 14,000'. Our team had a lazy morning today and packed up and moved down from the 17 Camp to the 14 Camp on Mt. McKinley. We had some pretty slow going due to some wind and some kind of funky weather but especially due to very deep snow conditions, lots and lots of snow from the previous storm cycle that kept us at 17.
We are going to walk out of here early tomorrow morning, very early and head for the air strip. So hopefully the next check in will come from the Kahiltna landing strip.
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Huge Congrats!!! I can’t wait to hear all the stories from your adventure! The sunny, warm weather is waiting for you along with everyone here that loves you, two! Elisabeth
Posted by: Elisabeth on 7/1/2014 at 8:32 am
GET SOME team Freed! Keep it goin. Hope the “funky” weather is quenching your thirst to be an official stormchaser
We lit our stoves at 3 AM today and had breakfast a short time later while enjoying the beauty of the Alaska Range in shadow. It took until 6 AM to get moving out of camp at 7,000 ft, but when we did, we were pleased to find that the snow surface was a hundred times more user friendly than it had been the previous afternoon. Our sleds slid easily along and we didn't have the problem of "post holing" that we'd experienced in the warm part of the day. We got to the base of Ski Hill and began the hard work of the day, pulling heavy loads uphill for several hours. Clouds came over, giving some relief from the sun, but also bringing a new storm. Just as we picked and prepared a campsite at 9,000 feet, it began to snow. We spent a good chunk of the afternoon warm and dry in our tents as the snow intensified. Dinner was in our POSH dining tent, skillfully constructed by the guide team who battled to serve up a hearty supper in less than comfortable culinary conditions. Now as we are all in for the night, the snow continues to pile up outside. We'll wait and see what the morning brings.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide JJ Justman reached the crater rim of Mt. Rainier at 6:30 am. The team spent an hour on the summit enjoying clear skies and light winds. They began their descent at 7:30 en route to Camp Muir. They will take a short rest at Camp Muir before continuing down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Team!
June 29, 2014 - 9:51 pm PT
Hello to everyone out there in blog land. We all wish, in some selfish way I suppose, that there was a sure fire way to teleport any curious individuals straight to our location here on what is commonly called the Polo Field of the West Buttress. As I mentioned yesterday, a move to 14,000 foot Advanced Basecamp was on the ticket and we were gonna "make some hay" while the sun did shine. Oh how the "High One" can take any given plan and turn it into any thing she wishes. Like the oxymoron I spoke of about a "windless" Windy Corner. Can you say JINX! As it turns out, not only was the corner as windy as a Dave Hahn Everest story, the sun only shined for a few minutes before it started dumping snow again. Combine this with heinous trail breaking in the multiple feet of new snow and out pops a midway camp spot used only when the going gets tough. So tomorrow the tough will get going again and try for 14,000 feet once more.
Wish for warm toes, a better trail and quite winds.
Until Tomorrow.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Our Cotopaxi Express team enjoyed a tour of colonial Quito today, visiting various churches, museums, parks, and plazas, and learning about the history of Quito and of Ecuador. We then traveled to the equator, just north of Quito. There we visited an ethnographic museum, and straddled the equator with a foot in each hemisphere!
It was a good, relaxing day in Ecuador as everyone is adjusting to the new altitude (9,000') and recovering from a long day of travel yesterday. Tomorrow we'll head out on our first acclimatization hike, climbing Rucu Pichincha, a volcano outside of Quito.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climbs led by Brent Okita and Leon Davis crested the crater rim at 7:35 a.m. Brent reported 25 mph winds and the cloud deck was at 9,500’. The teams spent some time on the summit before beginning their descent at 8:40 a.m.
Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
June 29, 2014 - 8:23 am PT
We finally got off Mt. McKinley as the snow stopped and the clouds parted. We wrapped up a great adventure with a great meal that did not have to be rehydrated.
I want to thank Bruce and Josh for being great partners in our adventure. Bruce is one of my heroes. Even though he is blind, he climbs with a natural ability and has a great mountain sense. He truly understands what mountaineering is all about. I look forward to our future adventures together!
RMI Guide MIke Haugen and Team "The Ocho"
I agree with all. Bruce and Josh are Mountaineers and heros in my book. Glad to know you are safe and now have memories of Denali that will keep with you.
Posted by: James on 6/30/2014 at 6:52 am
I’ve been watching you—but also NOAH’s weather reports—and I’m really, glad you made the decision that you did, even with all of that forward momentum that I KNOW you had. I’m sorry you-all didn’t summit but “he who climbs and then goes down, survives to claim Denali’s crown!”.
June 29, 2014 - 12:16 am PT
I believe the saying goes "when the sun shines, make some hay!" Well metaphors are going to have to do because Toto, we ain't in Kansas anymore and nothing grows up here except foot fungus and beards. So, with the sun finally shining brightly and the snow settled to what seems a safe consistency, the team is ready to make some hay and move to 14,000 camp tomorrow! This morning we didn't crawl out of tents until the sun warmed them up at 9 am. After that, massive coffee presses, eggs, bacon and hash browns followed. Yup, we do it right up here. It was Andy's birthday today so he got to be served all morning and surprised after breakfast to a tent full of balloons thanks to Lindsay's pre-trip preparations. After breakfast the team read, sun bathed, still sunk waist deep in snow when not on the trail and prepared gear to bring up the mountain. We are all excited to move our rested legs and make our way up hill. It will indeed be a doozy of a day, breaking trail, dealing with the sun and carrying heavy loads. I know we are all up to the task.
Wish us luck.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff signing off
June 28, 2014 - 10:07 pm PT
So good to be on Denali. So good to be on the move again. With our late flight onto the mountain yesterday evening, there wasn't so much time to be ready for the late season tradition of walking out of basecamp at 4 AM this morning. We built our camp and put priority on getting good rest instead. Our thinking was that with so much snow (30 inches from the last storm) that we might get by just fine without the early start. We'd plainly seen the lower Kahiltna Glacier during our flight and it certainly didn't look like crevasse bridges were going to be a problem. So we got up at a civilized 7:30 AM and did our organizational work and set out for a daytime Denali departure. As we'd allowed ourselves to hope, crevasses were no problem. In fact the glacier was in better condition than it had been for late season in decades. We made three hour-long pulls with some fifteen-minute restbreaks in between. But in the end we decided not to push on to our normal first day camp goal of 8,000 feet. Despite our snowshoes, the walk was getting strenuous due to the great amount of unconsolidated new snow softening with the heat of the day. We camped at 7,000 ft where the East Fork meets the main glacier and we'll happily begin earlier tomorrow to get ideal surface conditions. Nice to see a few of the other late season guides on the move today as well, a bit of a reunion. Especially nice to hear from Adam Knoff at 11K on the radio and Billy Nugent on top.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
June 29, 2014 - 4:07 am PT
Hey it's Billy here with a late-night check in. I just finished up making dinner and filling water bottles for folks after a successful summit bid today. Everybody's pretty much racked out and exhausted, laying in their tents right now. But their spirits are definitely high. Everyone made it to the summit. We enjoyed an awesome day. Clear blue skies. It was very, very cold, but there was no wind and we were able to make it happen. So, that's all for now. We'll check in again on our way out. Ciao.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent calls in after successful summit.
Congratulations to Bruce and Michael. We are soooo happy for you! Rest, relax, and celebrate when you are ready! Cheers, Katherine and Reid
Posted by: Katherine Mitchell on 7/1/2014 at 7:55 pm
Congrats to Bruce and Michael Freedman and all the rest of the team. Great to see that you made it through all the weather. Cant wait to hear the stories.
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Huge Congrats!!! I can’t wait to hear all the stories from your adventure! The sunny, warm weather is waiting for you along with everyone here that loves you, two! Elisabeth
Posted by: Elisabeth on 7/1/2014 at 8:32 am
GET SOME team Freed! Keep it goin. Hope the “funky” weather is quenching your thirst to be an official stormchaser
Posted by: Jess on 6/30/2014 at 11:27 am
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