Entries from Expedition Dispatches
May 19, 2016 - Thursday Evening Post
After much deliberation on the part of the pilots, management Basecamp personnel of our flight service the teams launched for Basecamp. Weather was uncertain but K2, our air service, wanted to at least try to get us in the mountain.
The first plane landed, but with a ground fog rolling in the second of our planes had to turn back.
So, here we are, enjoying life on the mountain finally. Although our partners in Talkeetna are sleeping in beds and enjoying burgers and beer, this is what we've all come here for.
The drama of the spectacular mountains around us has been sometimes muted by clouds moving in, but the team is excited to be here and eager to learn. Before setting up camp we practiced numerous skills, hoping our partners would get lucky and be able to fly on. But such was not the case tonight.
Unfortunate though that might be, I'm delighted to be with folks so psyched to be here and learn and help out. What a great trip this will be.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
May 20, 2016 - 4:30 pm PT
A snowy morning greeted us as we finally crawled out of our sleeping bags after our
first night on the mountain. Unfortunately, the visibility was poor too, so our intentions of bringing a cache of supplies further up the mountain were thwarted. Instead, breakfast flowed into lunch as we enjoyed the comfort provided by our cook/dining tent. Stories were shared over a breakfast of biscuits and gravy, followed by more hot drinks and culminating in a hot pot of Ramen for lunch as we make the most of this weather day holding slim chance of having our other half of the team fly in to join us.
A quick satellite phone call to Christina and the team in Talkeetna let us know they have been making the most of their time by training and practicing skills that we'll need later in the trip.
The Kahiltna crew has not been slacking either, regardless of how the previous narrative sounds. Knots, tent set up, anchors, rescue systems and stove operations have been reviewed and practiced. The team is firing on all cylinders.
Wish us better luck with the weather tomorrow.
RMI Guide Brent Okita and the Kahiltna crew
The May 15 - 20
Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir teams finished up their training at Camp Muir this morning. With a successful summit climb on Wednesday the teams spent yesterday working on crevasse rescue training. Today they packed up and left Camp Muir shortly before 11 am headed for Paradise.
We look forward to seeing them later today.
Congratulations to the Seminar Teams!
May 20, 2016 - 12:24 am PT
Stupendous day here on Denali! We fought saucy winds through the aptly named
Windy Corner, but the sky stayed pristinely azure, and the team ducked their heads into the chilly breeze and powered around the corner, where the winds promptly died. We rolled into 14 looking like a fresh pair of socks, and started building our own fortress next to that of Mike Walter's crew. As the temps dropped, we ate a hearty dinner and retired to the tents. We have a light day on tap tomorrow, returning to our cache to retrieve food and fuel and fully move into 14.
Best from our new abode,
RMI Guides Pete, Jess, Robby, and team
On The Map
May 19, 2016 - 10:28 pm PT
We hung out around camp again today, as the current weather nor the forecast for Denali are conducive to going higher right now. We spent a large part of the day building snow walls around our
camp at 14,000' to protect against wind.
Our plan for tomorrow is similar to today, as we ride out this storm and hope for better weather in a few days.
We'll check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
May 19, 2016 - 9:44 pm PT
Hello from Farine basin,
This morning under cloudy calm skies our team ventured onto the east ridge of Farine, an old remnant of perhaps a volcano comprised of very black rock.
Fun climbing on a ridge overlooking Camp 1 took us to a series of crumbling rock spires. We were stopped by bad snow in a steep gully capped by some very bad rock. As we descended in whiteout conditions to clearing clouds we got some great views of the surrounding valley. Back at camp with some time to kill, many folks grabbed some sleds to race down a slope just above our camp. Lots of belly laughing and memorable moments to behold as spectator or participant. It's getting quite cold now so we are headed back to our tents to warm up.
Goodnight all.
RMI Guides Leon Davis, Mike King and Megan Budge
May 19, 2016 - 2:44 p.m. PDT
One plane is flying up in ten minutes, and with luck, the rest of the team will follow shortly thereafter. Here we go!
The pilot gives us a 30% chance of actually getting to the mountain. I think otherwise. More like a 30% of having to return to
Talkeetna, but good to have a sober expectation of our chances.
RMI Guide
Brent Okita
May 19, 2016 - 8:25 a.m. PDT
We are awaiting breakfast before heading to the airport to see if we can fly out today. The drizzle falling this morning hasn't gotten anyone's spirits down. We're all excited to get going!
Update - 10:14 a.m. PDT
The sun has been peeking out shyly this morning, which is a marked improvement from our earlier rain. The 'rampers' have just finished loading our gear into the two Otters that will fly the team onto the southeast fork of the
Kahiltna Glacier from where we'll start our climb.
Boots are at the ready for when we get the word that the weather's good enough to fly. For now we're in the good hands of
K2 Aviation to make the right decision to fly. They're the experts, and share the same attitude towards safety that we do: it's our top priority.
As I write sitting in the hangar, I'm watching a couple more sun breaks and hearing a plane warm up, droning out the classical music NPR is belting out on the radio. Both good signs, but not good enough yet to slip on the expedition climbing boots I'll have on for the next two - three weeks.
With luck you'll soon be getting a short, curt dispatch from me announcing a move. If not, our next dispatch may be coming from from the dinner table between sips of an Ice Axe Ale. Such is the waiting game here in Talkeetna.
RMI Guide Brent Okita and Team
On The Map
May 19, 2016 - 12:07 a.m. PDT
Today was a beautiful day to go for a walk, so we grabbed our already packed packs from yesterday and headed up Motorcycle Hill. A thin layer of high clouds kept it from getting too hot, and we cruised across a smooth, and relatively crevasse free, Polo Field to Windy Corner, and then around to our cache site at 13,500.' After folding a shovel in half trying to dig through a surprisingly thick ice layer, we found and abandoned cache hole that had blown in and excavated that instead. With food and fuel buried, we made short work of the return trip to 11,200'. Should the weather be fair in the morning, we plan to pack up camp and head up to 14,200' to join
Mike Walter's crew. With luck we'll be checking in tomorrow from our new camp!
Do your favorite weather dance for us,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Jess Matthews, and Robby Young, and Crew
On The Map
May 18, 2016 - 10:22 p.m. PDT
Hello all who may be reading!
A beautiful morning made for a pleasant exercise in breaking down our large camp and preparing our sleds for hauling up glacier. By 11:00 a.m. the team made their way down
Heartbreak Hill to the main Kahiltna Glacier and upstream we paddled in snowshoes. Veering from the main trail we split off further west into a small basin tucked between a long black ridge and a peak known as Farine. We made camp on a high snow roll overlooking the Kahiltna to the south and it is a truly awesome sight. Tomorrow we will wake early for an attempt on the west ridge. Good luck and good night!
RMI Guide Leon Davis and Team
May 18, 2016 - 8:17 pm PT
Finally, all the checking and packing and repacking and a million other things that need to be done before we can fly on to the mountain are done. Cool weather kept the mosquitos at bay, and although it was overcast, word from up high on the mountain reported sunny skies.
We're hopeful for a good day tomorrow so we can start our trip. Planes were taking off and landing
on the mountain all day today, which is always a good sign.
With luck, tonight will be our last dinner in town for a while.
Talk with you soon.
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Christina Dale and Chris Ebeling
Previous Page
Next Page
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Clay,
Good luck on the summit today. Make us proud.
- Josh
Posted by: Josh Wall on 5/21/2016 at 9:39 am
Dave and Shane? Are you with this group? Good luck and much stamina for today!
Posted by: George Head on 5/21/2016 at 9:27 am
View All Comments