Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Steve Gately, Ben Ammon, James Bealer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Friday, May 31, 2019 4:36 PM PT
With the forecast still calling for heavy snow we have opted to stay in the confines of our camp here a 14K. The team enjoyed a late morning breakfast and is now napping away the afternoon. Sunday is still looking like our first possible day to fly off the glacier with the weather only improving into Monday and Tuesday. The plan as of now will still be to launch downhill around midday tomorrow and travel all the way to the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna hopefully chasing improving weather down glacier and ultimately a flight out of here early Sunday morning. We'll see what hand we are dealt with tomorrow. The hope here is to avoid having to travel and set up camp in bad weather but rather time it just right that we walk straight into a plane. For the time being however, we rest and wait for our opportunity.
RMI Guide Steve Gately
Posted by: Mike Walter, Alan Davis, Alex Halliday
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Friday, May 31, 2019 2:49 PM PT
Nothing is easy about climbing Denali. Just ask any member of our team who worked hard for more than two weeks before standing on top of the highest point in North America 17 days after landing at Base Camp on the Kahiltna Glacier. But that doesn't even tell the whole story. Our team eagerly awaited the start of this expedition and spent three antsy days in Talkeetna waiting for good enough weather to fly into Basecamp as a storm sat over the Alaska Range. Now, after summitting, we have descended to the 14k camp and are comfortably nestled in to our old camp. We are socked in the clouds and it is snowing. This morning we spoke via radio with Robby Young, who is leading the 4th RMI Denali expedition. He reported heavy and wet snow on the Kahiltna Glacier between 7800' and 9600'. The weather forecast is calling for heavy snow to continue through tomorrow, hopefully tapering on Sunday. No planes are flying and we are at the mercy of the weather once again. This time we are eagerly awaiting hot showers, cold beer, clean clothes, and a chance to talk with loved ones. Oh, and also flush toilets. Not necessarily in that order.
Mountain weather is fickle and right now we are at her mercy. We'll take the good weather on summit day in exchange for playing the waiting game on both the front and tail ends of our expedition. And for now we're practicing our Zen patience in the comfort of our 14k camp.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Posted by: JM Gorum, JT Schmitt, Dustin Wittmier
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
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Friday, May 31, 2019 12:14 AM PT
Today we went back downhill to gather all of our cached food and gear. We got it all without any noteworthy event. With the rest of the day, we sat around, ate our new snacks, and practiced some techniques for the fixed lines. We’re hoping to carry to the top of the fixed lines tomorrow if weather allows. The forecast is calling for some snow, but light winds. As long as winds stay calm we can probably get it done. We’ll see what we get and check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide JM Gorum & Team
You go, Dad! Hope the knot tying is going swimmingly. Love you!!
Posted by: Jillian Ludwig on 5/31/2019 at 3:11 pm
Posted by: Steve Gately, Ben Ammon, James Bealer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
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Thursday, May 31, 2019 12:11 AM PT
The team is know all safely back down at 14 camp and tucked in for the evening.
Summit day was a long hard fought battle but everyone did fantastic. The morning of our summit attempt we woke up in early in an attempt to beat the crowds up our first obstacle, the "auto bahn". This section often takes a couple hours to complete without a break and is steep and exposed. The exposure of this terrain requires us to use a form of running protection that protects the team against a fall but is quite time consuming. The end of this hurdle puts you at Denali Pass and our first rays of welcome sunshine. From here steep rolling glacier takes us up and around a swirled white and black rock feature known as "zebra rocks". At the top of this feature we were faced with a gentle but cold 15 mph wind. The terrain mellows out quite a bit as we meander through open glacier past a prominent rock point known "arch deacons tower" and into the football field, a flat depression just before our final slope to the summit ridge. Once on the summit ridge a short but dramatic climb brings us to the summit. The team took a few moments to take pictures and celebrate the ascent before our attention was turned toward getting back home. All in all the trip took us 13 hours round trip, all at elevations above 17,000 ft. With the summit behind us we turn our focus now to trying to truly get back home.
Cloudy and snowy weather are abundant in the extended forecast which means chances of flying off anytime soon are nil. Tomorrow we'll check the weather in the morning and make decision to further descend, or to keep the luxury of our fortified camp here at 14, or opt for better weather. That's all for now, it's late again as I'm writing this and I'm in need of some serious rest! Thanks for following along everyone!
RMI Guide Steve Gately & Team
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Lucas Haaland, Luke Wilhelm
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Alaska Seminar
Thursday, May 30, 2019 9:51 PM PT
Luck was on our side! We woke to clear skies and sunshine. And you know what sunshine means, we went and played in some crevasses. Psyched that the weather hadn't arrived yet, we hit the snowy trail and walked to a beautiful section of the glacier. Tall rocky peaks stood all around us. Their sides full of hanging glaciers. We were safe out of harm's way but could see their ominous appearance. We spent the day ice climbing out of the crevasse and practicing our rope ascending skills. Everyone did a fantastic job in both activities. By the end of the day the forecasted weather started to creep in on us. A light breeze pushed at our backs almost assisting us back to camp. The clouds have begun to lower and small flurries float around camp. It is one of our team members birthdays tomorrow, and he is wishing for good weather. Let's hope his birthday wish is granted and this forecasted snow storm stays away another day.
Goodnight all,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team
Happy birthday Craig! ❤️ I hope you have great weather for your bday! Love you!
Posted by: Angy Gallimore on 5/31/2019 at 8:38 am
Posted by: Robby Young, Nick Scott, Joe Hoch
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
Thursday, May 30, 2019 9:33 PM PT
Hello Loyal RMI Blog Followers,
Greetings from 7800’ Camp, aka Camp 1, here on the Kahiltna Glacier. We’ve made the move! After a 3am wake up, our team got up and attem and we were making the first steps of our expedition by 5am. It was an absolute perfect morning for the move up the Kahiltna Glacier. The route was in perfect condition after a solid overnight refreeze, and the temps were ideal for hauling 100 lbs of food and gear across the Alaska wilderness. We made it to camp 1 in great style, pulling in this morning around 10:45. An early arrival allowed us ample time to build camp, settle in for some afternoon naps and enjoy an early dinner of tortellini and the Denali delicacy, Grandma’s Cookies. We’re tucked in the bags now, and hoping for a carry to 10,000’ tomorrow. It appears some snow is on the way for the weekend and into next week, so any chance to make some progress we will gladly take. We’ll keep you in the loop!
RMI Guides Robby Young, Nick Scott, Joe Hoch and Team Parmesan Cheese
We see you.
Stay safe.
Dinner & golf when you are back!
Love Mo & Christine
Posted by: Rob & Christine on 6/9/2019 at 2:06 pm
Sounds great so far
Hope the rest of the climb is great
I thought you guys just ate dehydrated fake food but the menu sounds great
Love to stephen and God’s blessing to all
Posted by: John Zabinski on 6/1/2019 at 2:17 pm
Posted by: Mike Walter, Alan Davis, Alex Halliday
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
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Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 8:03 PM PT
Today we had a more relaxing morning than the past few alpine starts. High camp was cold and breezy, and we enjoyed breakfast in the comfort of our sleeping bags. Blowing snow was evident on the upper mountain, reminding us how fortuitous we were to have a good weather window in which to summit.
We let the air warm up a bit and the winds abate and then we packed up camp and descended the West Buttress and the fixed ropes on the Headwall. We're now down in the relative warmth and comfort of the 14,200' camp. The air feels a lot thicker here now than when we left it a few days ago.
The plan is to get a good night's sleep and continue our descent tomorrow. The weather forecast is calling for a front to move in tonight bringing snow into Sunday. So we'll play it by ear with where/ when we descend, knowing that planes may not be able to fly into the Kahiltna airstrip until Sunday. We're all content and getting good rest for our long descent down the Kahiltna.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
The air must be chewy at that low altitude. The accomplishment with full saftety has all our admirations. here at the San Rafael Rotary Club
Posted by: Paul Claeyssens on 5/31/2019 at 1:20 am
Hi Piet, feather in your cap!!
Stay safe on the way down.
Posted by: Frik Botha on 5/30/2019 at 10:14 pm
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Lucas Haaland, Luke Wilhelm
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Wednesday, May 29, 2019 - 9:26 PM PT
Howdy howdy. Its us again but this time from new location. We decided to pack up camp, load the sleds, and go for a walk. The clouds came and went, giving us gorgeous views of the surrounding peaks and than closing in us making it look like the inside of a pingpong ball. Regardless of where the clouds were though, the furnace was turned to high and sweat ran down our faces. The saying goes freeze or fry in the mountains and we felt the fry. Once we arrived to our new home, we put on our working gloves and got down to business. It's a lot of work putting in a new camp. You gotta make flat platforms for the tents, dig a bathroom, and dig a kitchen. But at the end of the day it feels good to work hard and do some shoveling. Tomorrow will be less work and more play hopefully. Looks like the weather will hold for one more day before the next weather system moves in. So we will take advantage of any sunshine we can get and go explore.
Time to catch some Zzz,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir May 26 - 31 team members gathered at Rainier BaseCamp on Sunday, May 26th for their first day of the program. After some technical training and a thorough equipment check the team started for Camp Muir on Monday morning. The last few days have been spent near Camp Muir while RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Mike King led the team through glacier travel training and crevasse rescue. This morning the team left Camp Muir en route to the summit. Dave reported calms winds and mostly clear skies as the team reached the crater rim of Mt. Rainier around 6:30 AM. The team enjoyed over an hour on the summit before starting their descent.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
So proud of you Allison!!
Posted by: Lauren on 5/31/2019 at 5:34 am
Great job Suzi!! Congratulations to the group from Shift4!
Posted by: Ned Shuchter on 5/30/2019 at 10:28 am
Posted by: Steve Gately, Ben Ammon, James Bealer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,200'
Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 12:56 AM PT
The team is all safely back at High Camp now. It was a long day for everyone and it's past midnight now and were finally killing the stoves for the evening. I'll try and put together a better picture of summit day tomorrow for everyone. Stay tuned!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
On The Map
Congrats all and safe return!
Posted by: Darren Beck on 5/31/2019 at 6:02 am
Nice one Raj and team! Couldn’t have a better leader than Mr Gately himself!!!!!
Well done all. Bravo
Posted by: John Horgan on 5/30/2019 at 8:57 am
I’ve been following Tom M’s InReach and it looks to me like you’ve reached Kahiltna Glacier - Yahoo!! Welcome back. Congrats on completing the descent, hopefully the planes will be flying you off the glacier shortly. In the interim you’ll probably be digging up a cache of beer, perhaps a nice bottle of bourbon???
When you get back to Talkeetna enjoy: a cold beer or 2, a burger or 3, a looong hot shower, clean clothes, another cold beer, more burgers, perhaps a pizza, calls to loved ones -that’s my recommended order!
It’s after midnight here (and there) but since you’re all awake I’m going to join you in a long awaited celebratory drink. A toast to you all: TEAM WALTER 2019, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION, YOU ROCK!!
Cheers
Jacquie
Posted by: Jacquie Byatt on 6/2/2019 at 12:28 am
Wow, I can’t even imagine what it’s like to reach the top of the world. Stay safe and warm. I’m in 91 degree weather, maybe send just a little of the cold this way.
Posted by: Peggy Robertson on 6/1/2019 at 9:44 am
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