Entries from Expedition Dispatches

Thursday, May 16, 2024

The moment we got out of the tents, it was pretty clear we were going to rest in camp today. Gusts of wind were rolling through camp at irregular intervals, shaking the tents in waves across camp. It wasn't particularly strong, just really noisy. Above, however, it was clear that the wind was much stronger, clouds flew by, and a lenticular hovered over the West Buttress. Below, clouds were thick on the Kahiltna as well. So, we lingered over breakfast, then retreated to the tents for reading, napping, and movie time. It was good timing for a rest day for us anyways.

We'll take a look at it tomorrow and see how we go.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer & Team

Welcome to the first dispatch for the May 14th Denali Climb!

After a busy few days, getting to Talkeetna, and spending all day yesterday packing and preparing for the upcoming expedition, we went to bed hoping to fly the following morning.

We woke up early, called K2, and made our way to the hangar by 8 AM, dressed and ready to fly. Spirits were high, and we were optimistic. We loaded the planes and changed into our climbing gear. Unfortunately, the weather closed in on the mountain, and we entered a waiting period.

That waiting period extended into the afternoon and evening. We filled our day with a late morning coffee, walks to the river, a sanity run by Leif and me, and yet another dinner in town.

We will wake up again tomorrow and hope to fly. Until then, we enjoy the warm food and hot showers.

Cheers,

RMI Guide Nikki Champion & Team

Ever read or watch that movie about the guy that gets stuck on Mars? I thought it would be a good one to reread on Denali. You know crazy location, far away from civilization, intense weather. Somehow, I completely forgot about the bit where he was stuck for over a year. Too stressful to read in the tent, I think I'll switch to something lighter like Stephen Kings IT.

Luckily Denali and Mars can be quite different. Lots of white here on Denali (you'll likely recall that Mars is mostly a red color). We can also breathe the air without a spacesuit! Lucky us. Oh, and the views! I'd like to say that pictures don't do it justice, but they sometimes can capture some of the majesty. What they can't do is give you the awestruck feeling of watching an avalanche off in the distance, or the feeling of seeing the bluest blue coming from the frozen snowy waves of crevasses one hundred feet to either side of the trail. Quite striking.

At breakfast somehow, I'm already looking forward to dinner -- the guides, Dustin, Lacie, and Dan have been crushing breakfast and dinners. They've been crushing at the guiding too. Every suggestion or advice is gold, and we always know the plan for the following day clearly. Over breakfast a day ago I joked that in addition to being amazing guides they are also chefs and therapists. They joke that they are only somewhat adequate in the latter two. We all think they're quite exceptional at both.

Today we hoofed it to about 10k feet, buried some stuff, and made our way back to the base of ski hill. If the weather is good tomorrow, we’ll make an even longer trek out of our current camp. If it's not so good, we'll hang out here. I know which one my feet would prefer.

Да луны и обратна,

RMI Climber Ilya Dvilyanski

Thursday, May 16, 2024 1:33pm PDT

Just checking in, not too much to report. 

Winds at camp ramped up last and are strong and gusty this morning. We're hanging at 11k today and plan to move to 14k on the next good weather day.

RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team

The Five Day Climb led by Andy Bond reached 13,200' on Mt. Rainier. The team turned around due to route conditions. They are back at Camp Muir and will be descending to Paradase later today.

Congratulations Team! 

Thursday, May 16, 2024 - 12:11 am

We are camped at the base of Ski Hill, planning to carry tomorrow.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - 11:01 pm PT

We'd like to start today's blog with a special hello from Jackson to Grandma Carol.

Things looked perfect when we first got out of the tents this morning to carry up towards 14,000'. As we exited the cooktent though the winds had started to crank up high, sending lines of snow skyward. We slowly packed, staring uphill trying to make up our minds. After an hour or two the plumes got smaller, and winds seemed to be calming, so we went for it. Turned out well for us. We had at most light breezes all day, and cruised around Windy Corner to the cache spot, deposited our loads of food and accessories, and cruised back to camp, light as a feather. It was a good days work. We're going to look for our best opportunity to move to 14,000' Camp, weather permitting and that will be the next big step. Maybe tomorrow, maybe after. As with all things, we'll see.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - 2:51 pm PT

With our cache established around Windy Corner, our team is resting at 11,000' Camp. It's a bit breezy in camp, much windier up high. A good day to chill.

RMI Guide Mike Walter

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - 7:47 pm PT

We had a stellar day of rest and recovery today at 11,000' Camp. The skies were blue as could be and camp was calm and warm. We waited to leave tents until the sun hit, and lingered over blueberry pancakes and coffee. The midday was time for naps, movies, wet wipe baths, fresh clothes, etc. Then we did a quick hour long practice session of cramponing, arrest, and rope travel practice, before a couple more hours of lounging. We're now properly setup for a carry around Windy Corner tomorrow. Ever higher we go!

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - 8:42 pm PT

We had great weather today and got a cache established up around Windy Corner at about 13,700'. We are all back at camp now. Keeping it brief. Still lots of work to do tonight before we can get horizontal. We'll check in again tomorrow. 

RMI Guide Mike Walter