Entries from Expedition Dispatches
The
Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons May 31 - 5 June checked in from Camp Schurman this morning.
RMI Guide Walt Hailes and team returned to camp after making their summit attempt. The team reached 13,200' before high winds forced their decision to turn around. They plan to do some additional training today and spend their last night on the mountain. Tomorrow they return to the trailhead and then back to Rainier BaseCamp.
The Four Day Climb June 1 - 4 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning under windy conditions. RMI Guides Mike Haugen and Chase Nelson led their teams to the crater but didn't spend much time due to winds. The teams will descend all the way to Paradise today and we look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
The photos is of Mike Haugen's team ascending to Camp Muir on Monday, June 4. Photo courtesy: Skylar King
Monday, June 3, 2019 - 9:11 PM PT
And on the sixth day, we rested. Boy it felt good to just stay in one place for a day. We woke up to some winds and a little bit of snow, and we were due for our annual rest day here at
11,000' Camp, so we took full advantage. There was no up and attem this morning, as we let our bodies sleep, and waited until 9am to indulge in a eggs and hashers feast. We had a little bit of sun midday, but most of the day the mountain seemed to spit snow and coat us in clouds as we practiced some climbing skills that are pivotal for the coming days. Not much else to report from a day of rest, and that’s a beautiful thing. We’re hopeful to carry tomorrow to a cache site at 13,600’, but the mountain will make the call in the morning.
Until then, stay tuned.
RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe, and Team Tasty Bite
On The Map
Monday, June 3, 2019 - 5:49 PM PT
When we poked our heads out of the tent this morning, we hoped to see sunny, calm skies beckoning us to climb this mountain. It was definitely sunny, but winds up high were blowing snow into the stratosphere. As much as we hoped to climb today, it was an easy decision to stay put here at
17 Camp. We slept in, reinforced our camp with some big snow walls, told some jokes, and talked about the beach. Fortunately it hasn’t been too windy here in camp. We’ve been able to get out and stretch our legs from time to time, inspect other camps for architectural inspiration, and chat with the neighbors. We can see the tundra from up here, the only green in sight, 15,000 feet below us. We’ll do an early dinner again, and get organized in hopes of climbing tomorrow. At this point it all just depends on what the winds do.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
The RMI Denali May 8th Team led by RMI Guides Mike Walter, Alan Davis & Alex Halliday returned to Talkeetna yesterday. After lots of waiting at 14,000' Camp on both the ascent and descent, the weather allowed the team to depart Kahiltna Basecamp. Once in Talkeetna the team sorted gear, arranged rooms, shuttle transportation and flight homes. The trip ended with a celebratory meal before spending their final night in Alaska. All team members should be making their way back to their respective homes. We would like to congratulate them on a safe and successful expedition.
Thanks for following along on their adventure.
Monday, June 3, 2019 - 7:33 AM PT
It was a busy day yesterday. We woke to clear skies with great views of Foraker, Hunter, and Crosson. As we crawled out of the tent you could here the sweet sound of the planes coming in. At that moment we knew we were gonna fly out. This was not a drill, but go time. In record speed we packed up camp and dragged all our gear to the airstrip. Somewhere near 100 people stood around waiting anxiously to board a plane. Like clock work the planes landed, loaded up a team, and flew off so another plane could land and repeat. We waited our turn, a lot like waiting for your number to be called at the DMV, we waited for our name to be called. After a couple hours, it was our turn to load up the plane and hit the slide to the sky. Showers, beers, and comfy beds were in our future. After organizing and cleaning gear, we loaded into a van headed to Anchorage. We enjoyed one final dinner together, reminiscing about the fun time we all had together the last week and a half. It's been an amazing adventure with great people. Lots of laughs, lots of learning, and lots of great memories were shared by all on the team. As we all load planes going to different states to rejoin our normal routine, I wish the best of luck to the entire team on their next adventure.
Till next time,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
Sunday, June 2, 2019 - 11:10 PM PT
We moved up to 17 Camp today. In my opinion, this is the second hardest day of the trip, but everyone handled it with style and grace. We had a perfect day moving up the
West Buttress, with light winds and spectacular views. We’re all straight chillin in our tents now, eating dinner and snacks. The sun hits this camp until past our bedtime, which keeps us warm for the first few hours of sleep. We’re hoping to try for the summit tomorrow if weather allows, so we’re turning in early. We’ll let you know how we’re doing tomorrow.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
On The Map
Sunday, June 2, 2019 - 10:07 PM PT
11 Camp is now officially home! We back carried this morning and finally brought all of our food and gear to camp. It’s a short saunter down to our 10,000’ cache and we make quick work, two hours round trip to be exact. After some afternoon naps and much needed rest this afternoon, we were back up and attem for dinner. The Sriracha Ranch Chicken wraps were a home run! Our 5 star meal was followed up for 5-star views when, for the first time all trip, we finally had a break in the snow and had views of the incredible mountains surrounding us here in the
Alaska Range. It was a day for the books. We’re settling into the routines of expedition life and all is well. Tomorrow, we have our sites set on shuttling some gear up to a cache at 13,600’, but as we do here in Alaska, we’ll pole our heads out of the tent in the morning and see what Mother Nature has in store. Until then, keep it classy out there in the real world.
RMI Guides Robby, Joe, Nick and Team Sriracha
On The Map
Well folks, a lot has happened over the last 48 hours and I'm sorry to have been keeping you waiting. June 1, we woke up to somewhat clearing skies at 14,000' Camp and decided to pack up and get as far downhill as we could. Aside from an interesting GPS guided tour through an area known as the "Polo Field" the weather held out and we made it all the way back to the Southeast Fork of the
Kahiltna Glacier where we began our trip. We arrived just before midnight and quickly set up our tents, had a quick dinner and went to sleep with dreams of flying out the next morning. Well those dreams came true. This morning we woke to the sound of camp bustling with life when clear skies and the sound of basecamp manager Lisa's voice booming through the early morning with warnings that we should start getting ready to fly off. A few hours later we were in the sky heading towards Talkeetna. The trip has finally come to an end. It's been a fantastic three weeks here in the great Alaska Range and its bittersweet to see it end. We'll meet up for one last team dinner tonight before going our separate ways tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for following along. It's been a wild ride!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
RMI Lead Guides
Elias de Andres Martos and
Josh McDowell radioed from the top of Mt. Rainier to report a successful climb. Elias reported that the weather was so good the team only needed their
base layer for upper body insulation. The team will spend some time enjoying the summit before descending back to Camp Muir where they will overnight before descending back to Paradise tomorrow.
Congratulations to today's team!
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You need to rest, boys! Steve, thinking about you everyday; following the blog on the website-it’s great. Well, get some rest, you’ll all be climbing like a bunch of monkeys soon !
Love , Mike and Ruth
Posted by: Mike and Ruth on 6/5/2019 at 3:40 pm
We continue to pray for you Steve. We are at Omaha Beach because Pat’s dad was here 75 years ago and survived to come home. Very emotional day for us but we are remembering you on that mountain and praying you will achieve your goal.
Posted by: Mike and Pat Lurakis on 6/5/2019 at 9:24 am
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