Entries from Locations
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 - 11:21 PM PT
Our workable weather continued today. Crisp, cool and mostly clear conditions prevailed as we set out above 11,000 camp at 7:15 this morning.
Motorcycle Hill was first up, but didn’t take us all that long, just forty five minutes of “duck foot” cramponing up a steep snow slope with a handful of well-bridged crevasses. Next up was Squirrel Hill, a little traversing and some more duck footing, which brought us up to the Polo Field at the west end of the West Buttress. By this point, we were finally out of the valleys... looking up at surrounding mountains has been fun, but now looking out and down at the world from 12 and 13,000 ft is novel and beautiful. Windy Corner wasn’t windy. We took a pleasant rest break there in the mid morning sunshine. Then we put our helmets on and climbed around the corner. A new world opened up to us as we could now see the upper West Buttress and the bulk of Denali’s South Peak up close and personal. At 13,500 ft, we’d reached our target for the day -about four hours above 11 camp. We dug a deep hole in the snow to cache food and gear out of the reach of crafty clever ravens. Enjoying the sunshine and calm conditions, we lingered for about an hour before starting our descent. The track was in fine condition, so walking/climbing down went smoothly and easily. We strolled into 11,000 near two in the afternoon, which as we’ve discovered, is a darn good time for a nap. Clouds came and went throughout the afternoon and evening, there were some light showers, but nothing of great significance from our perspective.
We’ll rest tomorrow to solidify acclimatization before making the big jump up to 14 camp.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
Wednesday, June 27, 2019 - 9:55 PM PT
Mission successful! We cached gear up at 17k high camp. The morning started out pretty warm (for 14,000 ft in AK). We made our way up to the fixed lines. For our first time up the fixed lines, the group did exceptionally well. We made our way up to the ridge at 16,000 ft and caught some wind. We decided to keep going up since everyone was staying warm and relatively comfortable. Although we never lost the wind, we made our way all the way up to high camp. I think our climbers were too distracted by the incredible climbing along the ridge to care about a bit of a breeze.
We said hi to Mike Walter's team at 17k, cached our stuff, and then headed back down to our camp. After a 10 hour day, our climbers (and maybe guides) have earned a well deserved rest day tomorrow. We have been saving a breakfast burrito meal for such an occasion. Goodnight!
RMI Team Siete
The American Lung Association's Climb For Clean Air Team made a summit attempt of Mt. Rainier early today before low visibility and poor weather forced the team to turn. This team was led by RMI Guides Win Whittaker and JT Schmitt. Each team member commits a year to training and raising funds to support the
American Lung Association’s mission of saving lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. The team is currently at Camp Muir and will be heading back to Rainier Basecamp for an afternoon celebration.
Congratulations to Today's Team!
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 - 3:30 PM PT
We had hopes of making a summit push today, but as we were gearing up early this morning winds began to increase and a lenticular cloud cap began forming on the
summit. So we pumped the brakes to see what would materialize. As it turned out, the cloud cap continued to materialize. Eventually we pulled the plug on the waiting game. We'll use today a a rest day (although the weather is making it unable to climb, it is not too uncomfortable at camp). We're hoping for calmer winds tomorrow so we can give it a go.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Today the team explored the city of St. Petersburg, including a beautiful evening canal tour complete with dramatic sunset and hilarious narration from our tour guide. Tomorrow the team disbands, departing in the direction of our various homes or next destinations. A big thanks to everyone for coming together and bringing your A-game to this
Mt. Elbrus Ski Expedition. Till next time...
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
The Kautz Seminar June 23 - 28 made their summit attempt today, they climbed the crux of the route and reached 14,000' between Point Success and the true summit before weather turned them around. RMI Guide Tyler Jones reported a thick cloud cap with snow and cold temperatures. The team will descend to camp and continue their training on the mountain for the next few days.
Tuesday, June 25, 2019 - 10:00 PM PT
We didn't get out of the tent this morning until the direct sunlight at 9:30. We enjoyed a relaxing breakfast of toasted bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon. We are really roughing it here at
14,000' Camp.
After our late breakfast, we did some fixed line practice for our trip up high tomorrow. Our plan is to carry some supplies up high so that when the weather is good we can move to high camp and go for the summit soon after.
The crew is all doing very well and we are excited to keep climbing up!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen & Team Siete
On The Map
Tuesday, June 25, 2019 - 9:58 PM PT
Four AM wake up today down at 9,500 ft. That was a perfect time for watching the early rays of sunshine playing across Mt Foraker’s 17,000 ft slopes. We watched, but we also geared up and ate our Cheerios. There were a bunch of different layers of cloud out and about, but none of those gave us any trouble. We hit the trail by six. It was an easier trail to hit today, since there’d been a good freeze and no additional new snow overnight. Cruising along the upper
Kahiltna in deep, cool shadows was wonderful. Although it wasn’t our intention, we shaved plenty of time off our travel from yesterday as we made it to 11,000 by 8:30 AM. Then there was the familiar work of leveling tent sites, building tents and anchoring them down. By the time the sun found us we were ready for a midday nap. In the afternoon the team got together for a review of the climbing techniques we’ll use to get up and around Windy Corner. The character of the climb changes with tomorrow’s carry. Time to bust out the crampons and ice axes. Hannah crushed things in the kitchen this evening with her acclaimed Mac and Cheese. Things briefly got snowy and cold, and then blue sky and sunshine broke out everywhere as we turned in for the “night”
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Tuesday, June 25, 2019 - 5:24 PM PT
The early wake up call in the cold was well worth it as our team was able to move efficiently up the
fixed ropes and along the ridge to Denali High Camp. We arrives by noon, which gave us ample time to build camp and get some rest. The weather is beautiful, and almost warm in the sun. If this weather persists through tomorrow we will give the summit a shot. We won't know until we wake up, but we're optimistic.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Yesterday we had a relaxing down day at the base of the mountain with on and off thunderstorms, walking exploration of the surrounding area, and coffee drinking. The day culminated in our celebration bbq dinner with our Russian guide Yuriy, master of ceremonies, pouring one vodka toast after another.
Today we’ve just arrived in
St. Petersburg after a somewhat tedious journey through Russian domestic air travel. In my experience it’s usually pretty smooth sailing, but today that was not the case. I’ll spare you the details - it’s the same story as you’ve probably experienced in America. We made our flight and the whole team is psyched to be here.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
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Following along from sea level and 95 degrees, wishing we were there on the top with you. Good Luck with continued good weather and happy hikers. N & P from Maryland.
Posted by: Sandy on 6/28/2019 at 5:42 am
Thanks David - great being connected! Is that Keir in front of the camera in today’s post walking up hill? Awesome views and blue skies!
Posted by: Rich Green on 6/27/2019 at 10:05 am
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