Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Wednesday, June 19, 2019 - 2:47 PM PT
We had a slight breeze all night and while the flapping fabric was not enough to keep us up the first night at
17,200’, it had several people not sleeping well. The guides got up at 6:30 am to check the wind and weather. Snow was billowing up into the atmosphere and swirling down the slopes that we would need to climb. We pumped the brakes a bit to see what the heat from the rising sun would do to the winds. After a few more hours the snow was still spinning and we decided it was too late to begin a 12-hour summit bid. The early afternoon has us resting in warm tents and taking some laps around camp to force us to breath more. Just sitting in the tent won’t help us get ready tomorrow. Our plan is to get started shortly after the sun hits camp and be on top early afternoon. Everyone is feeling better then when we first got here yesterday and anxious to finish this wonderful expedition.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Wednesday, June 19, 2019 - 7:22 AM PT
Our expedition has begun and the hard part is done. We managed to come together in the Anchorage airport from throughout North America. As a bonus, all of our gear made it through as well. We loaded up in the traditional Denali Overland van and trailer and got out of rush hour Anchorage traffic for the three hour push to the North. We couldn’t see much of the mountains as clouds were down pretty low, so we focused on enjoying the many shades of green on the valley floor. A stop for groceries in Wasilla broke up the ride nicely and we arrived in Talkeetna by 8PM. There was a brief tour of town before the team settled for the night in the comfort of the Swiss Alaska Inn. The work begins in the morning-packing and permitting.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 9:21 PM PT
Our team enjoyed a rest day today, sleeping in and indulging in a cheesy breakfast scramble brunch. The day started out sunny and we were able to dry gear and charge electronics, but by the afternoon it was snowing lightly.
Tomorrow we plan to carry a cache of food and fuel to ~13,600' around
Windy Corner and then return to our current camp. That's the plan at least. Stay tuned.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 9:01 PM PT
Today started out much the same as yesterday. We hurried through breakfast and headed to the airstrip to see what the flying conditions were for the morning. We received an optimistic thumbs down due to fog in basecamp. The pilots told us to be on standby because the weather was on an improving trend. After hanging out for a couple of hours we got the word that we could fly.
After an amazing flight over the lush green Alaska terrain and into the stark mountians of the Alaska Range, we were delivered to basecamp safe and sound. We spent the day getting everything organized and ready to move to our next camp tonight. We travel at night in the lower glacier because the crevasse bridges are more firm and the sleds drag much easier when things are frozen. Let's hope the weather keeps improving.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 8:55 PM PT
Well, today we finally got out of 14 Camp. We had spent eight nights there and by an early season
Denali trip that’s nothing but for us and the weather we have had, it felt like an eternity. Today proved to be no cooler temperature wise, HOT going up the fixed lines and once we gained the West Buttress proper it was some of the figurative coolest ridge walking this group has done. We didn’t get great views due to thin clouds but that’s ok, our entire trip has been good views.
We don’t know what tomorrow holds and we could take a rest day if needed. High pressure is building over Denali and we are hopeful to summit tomorrow. Getting to 17 Camp can be a chore, but once you're there Camp must be built, 6 XGK stoves must be managed to make drinking water and hot water for meals. Camp is situated in a glacial depression and we can see the Autobahn which plagues climbers for the first two hours on summit day. This section gets its name from how fast you can get going if you fall and are not clipped into the running belays. Other than a long day, the Team is doing mostly well. It’s normal to not feel 100% here at 17,200’. None of us are living our best lives physiologically, but we are really excited to have a crack at 20,320’. Thanks for the support and blog comments, I’ve been saving them for an alternative pep talk tonight instead of my traditional surly high school gym coach style motivational speech.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Kautz route today. The seminar team has spent this last week on the mountain training on snow and ice climbing techniques as well as crevasse rescue. They have enjoyed lectures from their guides, and demonstrations and practice in the techniques of American mountaineering. They are heading back to their camp where they will spend the night on the glacier before returning to RMI Basecamp tomorrow.
Congratulations to today's team!
Today our senses were greeted with cool, fresh, clean mountain air as we stepped out of the van. It was a successful journey today from the big city to the
Caucasus Mountains. This morning we had an alpine start followed by numerous airport cappuccinos, a tranquil flight to Mineralnye Vody, and three hours of driving through the Russian countryside. After four days of travel it’s great to finally be here at the base of the mountain.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
The Five Day Summit climb led by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Josh McDowell took advantage of the weather and reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 9:30 am today. Josh reported warm temperature with winds of about 35 mph. The team will descend to Camp Muir where they will spend another day on the mountain and descend to Paradise tomorrow.
Congratulations to today's team!
Monday, June 17, 2019 - 11:43 PM PT
We were excited to fly up to
Denali Basecamp this morning. We hurried through breakfast and headed to the hangar where our gear was organized and ready to go. Even when we got the word that there was too much fog in basecamp to fly, we were optimistic that it would happen today. We waited into the afternoon when we finally got our chance to fly on. We got everyone and all the gear loaded up and headed to the mountain. About halfway there, the pilots could not find a way through the clouds and were not about to poke around in the big mountains without visibility. We thank them for trying and for using good judgment.
We are currently in a holding pattern and definitely not flying today. Hopefully tomorrow will be our day! Fingers crossed.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen & Team Siete
Monday, June 17, 2019 - 10:15 PM PT
Today was very productive for our team. We woke at 1am, packed up camp, and hit the trail at 3am. By 8:30 am we had made it to the
11,200' Camp, colloquially known as Camp Three. We set our tents up, had breakfast and coffee, and a few hours of rest, and by 1 pm we were back on the trail headed back down to pick up our cache at 10,000'. By 3:30 pm we were back at camp with all of our supplies. But there was still work to do flattening tent platforms, building a kitchen, and fine tuning camp. Dinner by 6 pm and bed by 7:30 seemed appropriate for today.
And tomorrow we earned a rest day. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow, so we won't be missing anything.
We'll touch base again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
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Gareth you have got this!! We’re all cheering you on here in PSL. Can’t wait to catch up when you are back!
Take Care :)
Posted by: Port Sunlight Team on 6/21/2019 at 3:53 am
Go team go, we are rooting for you Allan and for today’s summit!!!
Posted by: Bryan C-G on 6/20/2019 at 12:56 pm
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