June 9, 2016 - 1:56 am PT
We awoke this morning inside a ping pong ball. Watching the weather for a few hours revealed a slightly improving trend, certainly no deterioration. We decided that it was manageable and set forth. The clouds we traveled through and among were friendly and trail breaking was quite doable for this squad. We kept flowing up until we strolled into 14 Camp. We dumped a hefty load of supplies to ease our eventual move to the upper mountain. We are sitting pretty back at
11,000' Camp, fed and ready for bed. Nice work team!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
On The Map
June 9, 2016 - 1:28 am PT
And... we climbed the "Lost Marsupial", on The Throne. Stellar route, stellar scenery and stellar crowd. It is hard to describe what it is to be atop one of these formations, surrounded by the longest glaciers in North America, the tallest peaks in the
Alaska Range, and the best views in the world. Nobody around for miles, and a sense of insignificance directly proportional to the size of our accomplishment. Our two rope teams climbed and descended synchronized, like a well oiled machine, and pitch after pitch, rock, ropes, snow and gear were one with our climbers. Magic enough? More tomorrow.
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and team
June 8, 2016 - 10:30 pm PT
The team did an excellent job today. The weather was mealy; periods of light snow, partly cloudy, some wind here and there. Everyone handled all these conditions, and a big climbing day, in stride. We made our way from 11 Camp up Motorcycle Hill, up Squirrel Hill, across the Polo Fields, around Windy Corner and on to 14 Camp. At 14,000' we caught our first glimpse of the
Upper West Rib for a few seconds when the clouds parted. Then we headed back to our home at 11 Camp. Everyone is feeling great and excited to move up a little more.
Thanks for following along, cross your fingers for good moving weather for us.
RMI Expeditions
Upper West Rib Team
On The Map
June 8, 2016 - 2:25 p.m. PDT
Hi from High Camp on
Denali! We were in a holding pattern this morning as we had high winds and very cold temperatures. Now the day has warmed up and winds have died a bit, but we are sitting in a very thick cloud. The tents are warm as always with the sun's intense radiation shining through. So we sit and wait, snoozing, mixed with conversation, laughter and anticipation. When our window arrives we are in crouching tiger position, ready to launch on our summit push.
RMI Guide
Tyler Jones and Team
On The Map
June 8, 2016 - 12:12 am PDT
And...The sun shined upon us! What a day we had. Full session on the Munchkin Formation practicing
alpine climbing transitions, lasted from morning to evening. Another gourmet dinner brought us to bed time with the sun still on the horizon. We're ready to tackle our first objective here in Little Swiss. Tune in tomorrow to see how it went.
RMI Guide
ElÃas deAndres Martos and Team.
June 8, 2016 - 10:04 pm PDT
The weather gods heard our prayers last night and rewarded us with cold clear skies this morning and views south towards Kahiltna Dome and Mount Foraker. Views to the Northeast revealed the first obstacle of our next leg, Motorcycle Hill, and further in the distance the Southern end of the
West Buttress and the Upper Peters Glacier.
Our team enjoyed a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and hash browns and with full stomachs we promptly went to work fortifying our camp by building snow walls around our tents, kitchen and most importantly building a bathroom fit for a Kings royal tush! The rest of the day was spent snacking, lounging and preparing for our carry tomorrow. For the rest of our ascent we will carry part of our gear and food higher on the mountain, in this case to somewhere between 13,600 - 14,000, and then return to our previous camp (11,000) This process not only helps reduce the weight needed to be carried between camps but will also allow the team to begin acclimatizing by climbing high and sleeping low where our bodies can better recover.
We're now settled in for the night and the clouds have rolled back through camp and a light snow is falling. Everyone is doing great and were all excited to be trading sleds and snowshoes for crampons and an ice axe. From here on out we're climbing!
RMI Guide
Steve Gately & Team
The
Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Mike Uchal and the
Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Eric Frank Reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Eric radioed in from High Break while the teams were on their descent and reported the winds of about 40 - 45 mph on the mountain.
RMI Guide
Casey Grom and Team also checked in from the
Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz, the team is camped on the Wilson Glacier having a great time training.
Congratulations to today's teams!
June 7, 2016 - 8:30 pm PT
We got up this morning to blue skies and a promising forecast. The minute the Big Orange Ball (aka Bob number 2) shined on camp we were outta there, moving uphill. However, we were forced to heavily slow our roll as huge swirling snow plumes were blowing off the 16 ridge and the upper mountain was completely sheeted in wind blown snow.
So we picnicked in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. The visibility was almost endless as we could see much of the range in sharp detail. We rested and snacked for over an hour before the winds started looking more and more friendly. Before we knew it, picnicking was over and as we were hopping onto the fixed lines.
After the practice a few days before the team zipped to the top and met up with our buried stashes! Then it was on! Climbing the 16 ridge is absolutely breathtaking, and we earned it today. The stiff wind never really let up, but it did nothing to dampen spirits as we looked down 2,500 feet to
14K camp and beyond.
Now that the ridge has been walked, and the tents pitched, the team looks to try and recover enough to make a stab at the summit in the morning! Let's just hope this wind blows itself out...
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
June 7, 2016 - 7:24 pm PT
The team continues to do well here at
Denali's 11K Camp. We took an early jaunt down to our cache to get reunited with our extra snacks. Our trail breaking yesterday served us well and we cruised out and back with very good style. Once back, we took an "active rest day," building walls to fortify camp and reviewing some mountaineering techniques. If the weather holds, we will try to cache higher on the mountain tomorrow. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
As our expedition has wound down and we’ve had a few moments to reflect, we wanted to send one final dispatch. By now, everyone has made it home, caught up on some needed sleep and recovery, and nursed some bruised and battered feet back from the long walk out. The memories of a perfect summit day, the many days in tents, the incredible vistas at the Edge of the World and 17 camp are still vivid however!
After an incredible summit day, we packed our camp the next morning as
Brent’s team prepared for their summit bid. Though there wasn’t a rush, everyone was motivated by the knowledge that at the end of our long descent lay Talkeetna, with fresh food, beer, flip flops, and clean clothes. With heavy packs on once more, we made short work of the
West Buttress, coated in a new layer of an inch or two of snow, and cruised down the fixed lines to 14 camp where we were met by
Tyler Jones and team. To them, we owe a lot, as they had taken their rest day to dig up our cache for us, organize and sort it, and met us with water to satiate ourselves and refill bottles. So thankful, and sad that we didn’t have more time to spend with them, we shortly wished them luck and continued down to 11,200.’ It was progressing into the evening hours, and with snow falling and another cache to dig up, we decided to spend the night there. We made a hasty camp this time, with much less concern for walls, or even a flat tent site, and spent the evening rigging our sleds, and packing bags to be ready for an early AM departure.
When we woke, it was still snowing and we sat inside a cloud that blurred the ground, horizon, and sky all into one even color. There are lots of cliches for it: the inside of a ping pong ball, in the white room, or wading through a jug of milk, regardless, that is what we did all day. Flying pretty much completely on instruments, with the occasional wand to guide our way, we made our path down the lower Kahiltna to the airstrip. At one point, an errant black want appeared far off to the teams’ right. As we moved towards it, it shape began to shift eerily, until a black, Canada Goose head came into focus sticking out of the snow. As we realized what we were looking at, the goose shifted, it’s body erupting out of the snow, and it took a look at us and took off in flight, gliding away into the otherworldly landscape.
The poor visibility and trail breaking added time to our march out, and just after noon, we walked into Base Camp, triumphantly, and relieved to be done with the heavy packs and sleds. The weather however provided little hope of flying out, and with an organized low pressure system moving over our area for the next five days, there was some thought that we could be in for the long Base Camp wait. We set up tents, dug up our last cache, sorted gear into duffels to be ready for the flight out whenever it happened, and put snowshoes back on to the Base Camp community chore of packing out the runway. With our work accomplished, we settled into tents to try and calm our minds and find our waiting game zen. Imperceptibly, the tents began to grow lighter, and then a report from a high altitude sightseeing plane made it sound as though there might be a path for our bush planes to get in. Before we knew it, word came that the wonderful folks at
K2 Aviation had launched every plane they had to come get us, and that four Otters were in the air on their way. We stripped camp in moments, and soon the silent sky was filled with the buzz of small aircraft as they all came into the runway in squadron formation. Hardly able to believe our luck, we threw bags aboard, found our seats, stowed our carryons, buckled our seatbelts and we were off.
Landing in Talkeetna after 23 days on the mountain is an amazing experience; it was raining lightly, and the colors, sounds of life, and smells were a massive influx on the senses. We jumped out of our three week old clothes and into cotton, and headed to the West Rib, the famous Talkeetna restaurant and bar, for a celebratory dinner followed by revelry at the Fairview. Just as quickly as the trip started, it wound down, as the team boarded a shuttle the next morning to Anchorage to catch flights back to home and our loved ones.
This trip was marked by a team that endured consistent spats of harsh weather, and endured it well. Sitting isn’t always easy, especially when you have to leave the tent into a blizzard every 45 minutes to dig out your tent again, but the team hung tough and stayed positive, and because of their wherewithal, were able to string together one of the more beautiful summit days that the guides have seen. We’d love to thank the whole team for their patience, strength, teamwork, and desire; it was an honor to climb with you all. Similarly,
Robby and
Jess are two of the most fantastic co-guides that one could ever hope to work with. It took us awhile to reach the top, but it made it that much more rewarding in the end. We’re closing out an incredible trip that everyone involved will remember for the rest of our lives. Thanks for following along on the journey.
Namaste,
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
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Dear B-Law, if you’re reading this note you already know. The house has been boarded up. The doors. The windows. Everything. We’re at the Comfort Inn. Room 112. I love you. Austin
Have fun Team. Brad, send me a postcard from the top.
Posted by: Austin on 6/9/2016 at 6:40 pm
Hi Mattie-
We miss you so much and love hearing about your team’s progress through Jake’s updates. The boys, the PC’s, Adryan, Taira and I are all praying for favorable weather for you in the days ahead. Stay warm, rested, hydrated and focused! Love from us all!
Lil
Posted by: Lil on 6/9/2016 at 6:38 pm
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