June 3, 2017
Today was yet again another sunny day. We woke up with the sun warming our tents. A rest day and sleeping in, not bad for a Saturday morning. Bagels and cream cheese with bacon filled us up for a round of napping, organizing our high camp equipment, and snacking of course. The mid afternoon heat was kept at bay with a bit of fog allowing us to train more technical skills that we will use to climb the fixed ropes on the headwall for our cache tomorrow. We had a nice evening and are bedding down before another big day ahead.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones & Team
Tym, Tyler, and Team (Otherwise know as the 3 T’s)
It is fun and exciting to read about your progress and plans, daily. The pictures are wonderful. Food sounds good. What an amazing adventure! Good luck as you move onward and ever upward. All my best as you have bigger days ahead. And Tym, Satoshi says: $2562.00.
Love Mom
Posted by: Kristi Kennelly on 6/4/2017 at 7:13 pm
Amir, Tyler, and Team,
We’re all thinking of you guys and the wonderful adventure you’re all having !
A day of rest was slated for today after our big day yesterday, and we took full advantage of it. Feasting on another breakfast of smoked salmon, bagels and cream cheese, we chose to stretch the legs with a short walk to the "Edge of the World", where you can look down into the NE fork of the Kahiltna Glacier some 6000' below, and also see our first camp at 7800'. That seems so long ago that we were there, maybe because it was.
It's been two weeks now that we've been climbing this mountain. And although it's time to 'get 'er done', spirits are pretty high. We're all excited to get into position at high camp, even though we know this means a much less comfortable existence that our digs here at 14,200' provide.
The forecast calls for an end to the high pressure we've been enjoying after tomorrow, but no real significant bad weather coming in either. I've certainly summited when the forecasts have been like this, but it would be nice to have a couple days like the past two. What I do know is that everyone is rested, strong and ready for what comes.
Wish us luck! We'll take all we can get. Talk to you from 17,200' camp.
RMI Guides Brent, Christina, JT & Team
The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Elías de Andrés Martos and Solveig Waterfall topped out on Mt. Rainier early this morning with winds around 50-60 mph. As of 7:18AM, they were at 13,600’ on their descent. It was a very cold, windy climb for them.
Congratulations to today's team!
June 3, 2017
Waking early yet again, our team of intrepid mountaineers had a quick breakfast and fired downhill to our cache at 10,000 ft. Once packs and sleds were sufficiently filled we returned back to camp as the rest of the 11,000' Camp inhabitants were poking their heads out of tents. After a big lunch of rosti and stories, the team reviewed some climbing techniques and packed up for our next carry towards 14,000' Camp. If the weather cooperates we will bump supplies uphill tomorrow to set ourselves up to move locations. We have heard that 14,200 feet above the sea is a nice neighborhood and we aim to get in while prices are still reasonable. Location, location, location as they say.
The team is still doing great and we are ready for the next step.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guides Casey Grom and Kel Rossiter led their Four Day Summit Climb Teams May 31- 3 June to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team reported it was a windy day on top but they were doing well. They will return to Camp Muir for a short break and to pack their gear before descending to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
June 2, 2017
This is Pete Van Deventer calling from Denali. It's been a long day, we have been on the move for a while. We left 17,000' Camp at about 10:50 this morning and have been on the move ever since. We went down through from the thin air up there to 14,000' Camp and saw Brent Okita and Tyler Jones there and then through 11,000' Camp and saw Jake Beren there. Now we are down in the thick, warm air of 9,600 feet the Base of Ski Hill. So we're going to stop here for the evening and eat some dinner and throw the tents up for a little bit and sleep for a few hours. Then we'll get back on the trail and get back to Base Camp for what we hope to be early morning flight 8 or 9 o'clock Saturday morning. With any luck will be back in Talkeetna before we know it. Everybody's been hanging in there really well, it's a lot of walking but the further we go down the better we all feel as they air gets thicker and temps warmer. The cold on the way in feels pretty balmy at this point after sitting what we have sat through and being as high as we have been. We're looking up at the sunshine on the summit of Denali and still lighting up the Orient Express and the Messnar Couloir some of the classic faces of the upper mountain above 14,000' and really couldn't imagine a more perfect setting than where we are right now. So, we will enjoy one more night on the Kahiltna Glacier and look forward to being in town soon.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer checks in from 9,600 ft on their descent.
June 2, 2017
Hello, The team had an amazing day moving up to 14,200 ft Camp today. This team is doing some really great work with smooth climbing and great camp setup skills. We departed our 11,200 ft camp just after 8am and we able to use the morning shade and sun to our advantage, keeping us cool while climbing and warming us during our breaks. We arrived at 14 camp just after noon and enjoyed a sunny afternoon to build our camp. The views are amazing up here and we can see some of the challenges ahead, including the fixed lines. For dinner this evening, the team enjoyed another round of Chef Tyler's chicken quesadilla's served up with some spicy guacamole and Sriracha, who knew you could eat so well on an expedition! Tomorrow we will spend the day in camp resting, reinforcing camp and practicing some skills we will need for the days ahead.
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, JM Gorum and Bryan Mazaika
Amazing pictures…quite the view you have up there. One foot after the other, hang in there and best wishes as you move up the mountain. Be safe!! And Tym, Satoshi says, $2,550.00
Love, Mom
Posted by: Kristi Kennelly on 6/3/2017 at 11:15 am
June 2, 2017
As cold as it is at 6:30am here at 14,200', we knew that an early start to our day would be for the best. The crew was up and at 'em even before hots were quite ready. We all knew this was a big day, and it was.
The sun hadn't hit our part of the mountain yet, so we were bundled up. This is my usual plan, and surprisingly, we were the first group out of camp. This always bodes well in terms of being one of the first on the fixed lines - that part of the mountain which is quite steep where passage up it is protected by fixed ropes that we can secure ourselves to while climbing slopes up to 50 degrees in steepness.
The team really crushed it, then climbed well again on the West Buttress itself. This really is the most spectacular and challenging part of the route. A few of us cached our loads at our standard location at 16,600'. But two of our rope teams climbed all the way to high camp at 17,200' and cached there! Great work by everyone.
Later, upon return to camp, we heard that a group that left an hour after us had to wait for two hours due to the congestion in the fixed roped. We were all pretty psyched that we didn't have that issue. Instead, we had one of the most perfect days climbing the Butttress I've seen. Windless and warm.
The weather forecast is, of course, on everybody's minds, with this window of nice weather perhaps coming to an end in a couple of days. Some guides are even accelerating their timelines to head up to 17,200' a day or so earlier. I've toyed with this idea too, to forego our rest day tomorrow and try to get a summit in while we can. But, my gut tells me to practice the patience I always preach, so we'll enjoy our rest day tomorrow and take it one day at a time. I know we'll all be the stronger for it, and after our big day we're all a little tired right now.
So, good night from 14,200'.
RMI Guides Brent, Christina an JT
June 2, 2017
Our team sends their greetings from 11 Camp! Everyone did quite well on the move here and we enjoyed another perfect weather day on our way up. We left early to beat the heat and it paid off. Once at camp we enjoyed some mellow camp construction and rest whilst our comrades made their way down from 17 Camp. It was great to see some triumphant souls and friendly (if scraggly) faces. Tomorrow we hope to back carry and claim our checked baggage and spend the rest of the day training and resting before working our way any higher. All subject to our beloved Mom Nature of course.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
June 2, 2017
Hey guys, it's Mike Walter checking in early Friday morning up at High Camp on Denali. We had a successful summit yesterday in beautiful weather, barely a breath of wind, nott a cloud in the sky, great views. We got to spend nearly an hour on this on top, and everyone returned back to camp safely. We have the stoves fired and we are going to pack up here shortly and start our movement downward and hopefully be back in town tomorrow. We will be in touch and keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
RMI Guide Mike Walter checks in from 17,000 ft Camp after summit bid.
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Tym, Tyler, and Team (Otherwise know as the 3 T’s)
It is fun and exciting to read about your progress and plans, daily. The pictures are wonderful. Food sounds good. What an amazing adventure! Good luck as you move onward and ever upward. All my best as you have bigger days ahead. And Tym, Satoshi says: $2562.00.
Love Mom
Posted by: Kristi Kennelly on 6/4/2017 at 7:13 pm
Amir, Tyler, and Team,
We’re all thinking of you guys and the wonderful adventure you’re all having !
Can’t wait to hear the stories when you get back!
René
Posted by: René on 6/4/2017 at 3:27 pm
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