Entries from Alaska

Sunday, June 8, 2025 - 1:15 pm PT

6/7/25 - Dustin, Lacie, and Will's Team

Another day well spent in the most awe inspring, humbling terrain I've ever seen. Our team is in the groove and we are making moves in our bid to climb as high as this mountain will allow. Our goal today-- climb to 13,500' from 11 Camp to cache food and supplies for later in our expedition. After debating way too long about what snacks to keep in camp and what to cache (pro tip... do your packing the night before so you aren't the slow poke in the morning like me) we set out for the climb donning our technical gear and crampons up Motorcycle Hill towards our cache objective just past Windy Corner. While the change to crampons from snowshoes was a welcome one, it means we are entering more consequential terrain and great care must go into each and every step. Today we got our first taste of the sharp side of the mountain. While the weather started out nice we soon found out where Windy Corner gets it's name from. As we navigated the labyrinth of crevasses and "holes" we were met with strong winds, blowing snow, and the most raw conditions mother nature has thrown at us yet. Though brutal at times we achieved our objective and morale is high. I won't name names but one of us even brought our snacks up and back down again just to get a little more workout in! This place is unforgiving but we are all learning and growing together as a team. Tomorrow we will enjoy a well deserved rest day before continuing our journey. Oh, and.... HI MUM, LOVE YOU!

RMI Climber Ben

Sunday, June 8, 2025 - 9:55 am PT

Holy cow the team crushed it today. Woke up to lightly cloudy skies, but visibility.  We threw any remaining items to be cached into our packs, ate a quick breakfast of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and just as the sun was hitting camp we began walking up Motorcycle Hill. After a quick break on top of Motorcycle Hill (where the guides applied glitter to celebrate my birthday), we made our way up the steep Squirrel Hill, and across the Polo Fields toward the base of Windy Corner. As we made our way across the Polo Field the snow lightly began to fall and winds were picking up. As we climbed towards Windy Corner, winds were gusting and visibility was decreasing. Teams made a strong push around Windy Corner, through the broke part of the glacier, past 13,500' and all the way to 14 Camp.

At 14,000' Camp we took a nice long break, dug a cache hole, threw on more layers to weather the storm and left all our gear to return to in a few days. Layers on, we made our way back now in moderate snowfall, strong winds, and poor visibility. The team put their head down and made it back to camp in good time. After the long, and impressive day we all shared some Jambalaya and cosmic brownies with candles. It was a great day, and set our team up well to move to 14,000' Camp when weather allows.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

Friday, June 6, 2025 - 10:16 pm PT

Day 7

Today was a great day, balanced with a hike and refreshers on crampon use at our 11,000-foot home. The day started cold, but we were warmed with a southern classic of biscuits and gravy. In the morning, we also had a final chance to admire Will's elegant snow columns, leading the way to the latrine. Sadly, the mountain claimed them while we were out. 

After breakfast, we took a quick trip down and back up 1,000 feet in elevation to retrieve our cache. After the final uphill in snowshoes, we happily buried them in the ground, putting them to use as tent anchors. Above this point, we're in crampons, so Lacie gave us a quick course on their use.

After class, some much needed sun gave us a chance to relax, as well as literally refill our batteries. At dinner, we found that Will had transformed his toilet columns into an enormous kitchen wall to block the weather.

We went to sleep hopeful about the upper mountain, with plans to cache at 14k before some rough weather this Sunday.

-- Charles "Carl" Stephens

Dustin, Lacie & Will's team

Friday, June 6, 2025 - 10:37 PM PT

We could hear it before we could see it, the dreaded wind. It woke us this morning, before we saw it moving snow all across the mountain. We drank some coffee, and watched to see if the winds would die down - but they stayed elevated. Drifting snow all around camp. By 10:00 am it became obvious it was going to be a weather day here at 11 Camp for our team. We had another egg and hashbrown scramble and then spent a few hours out of the wind in our tents. By the mid-afternoon, we layered up and reviewed some of the skills that will make the next day of climbing go smoothly - from running belays, to cramponing techniques, it was nice to get a refresher. After sharpening our skills we rolled into another dinner of mac and cheese and loaded our packs with the group loads for tomorrow. Though there's a little snow in the forecast, winds look more favorable for carrying.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion and Team

Friday, June 6, 2025 - 6:37pm PT

After three weeks in the mountain we flew from Kahiltna Base Camp this morning. While warming our hands with a final cup of coffee at base camp, we got the message that we had all been waiting for.  K2 had launched their planes.  Thirty minutes later, the distinctive red and white Otters roared over and landed in the snowy white landscape.

While weather kept us from standing on top this time around, we had a resoundingly successful trip. I cannot thank our climbers and my fellow guides enough for all of their work, effort, laughs, determination, and patience during this trip. Until next time,

RMI Guide Seth Burns

Friday, June 6, 2025 - 10:45 am PT

Team Dustin/Lacie/Will rose early to low winds, partly sunny skies, & a delightful breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, bacon, & coffee. We broke camp and began our move to Camp 2 at 11,000 feet. The early part of the climb was hot with bright sun, to which one of our Lone Star State participants proclaimed “Welcome to Texas!” The weather gradually turned cloudy with snow which seems to be our mantra but we made good time up the steep terrain. We set up camp and our guides prepared yet another great dinner. The hot sauce selection is truly five stars. The team crashed in anticipation of a full day tomorrow back-carrying yesterday’s cache and training.

--Climber Robert 

PS Happy first birthday as a mom to Melissa!

Thursday, June 5, 2025 - 10:31 pm PT

Another successful day! We slept in a little bit, and had a filling breakfast of smoked salmon, cream cheese and bagels and then rigged our empty sleds and duffles to make our way downhill to our cache. After about 30 minutes of walking downhill in light snowfall, we made it upon our cache site. We made quick work of digging up all of our group and personal food, restocked our sleds and packs and turned around to make our way back uphill. After about two hours of hard work, we made our way back into camp. The rest of the afternoon was spent swapping anchors, and prepping to carry to 13,500' tomorrow. The day was wrapped up with another crowd favorite, burritos and beats by Hannah. Hoping for good weather for our long carry day tomorrow!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

Wednesday, June 4, 2025 - 11:35 pm PT

Told you we were feeling optimistic, and it panned out. We were up this morning to light snowfall, but better visibility than we've had in days. We blasted stoves, and had a quick breakfast of oatmeal before taking down camp and packing everything back into our heavy packs and sleds. Once we were saddled up, we followed in line behind many other teams who had the same idea and weaved our way up Ski Hill, through the 9,500' camp, past our cache, and finally up the final hill into 11,000' Camp. Upon our arrival we saw many familiar faces, as weather has been especially bad at 11,000' and climbers haven't been able to move up or cache for over a week. So after some hellos, and searching the crowded camp - we were able to find a spot to settle for the next few days, built platforms and dug out a kitchen before having a filling meal of ramen, and crawling into bed. Tomorrow weather looks favorable for our back carry where we will be reunited with our other 2/3 of food and fuel.

Looking forward to sleeping in a little.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

Wednesday, June 4, 2025 - 10:14 pm PT

When we think of Sisyphus, we think of a man cursed to repeat the same arduous task each day with no end in sight. Each day he must think this is it - he has rolled this massive boulder to the top of the mountain, and surely his quest must be complete, right? Yet he awakes each day to the boulder back at the foot of the mountain, only to start again. How tragic! How crushing!

Or is it? In his essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus”, Albert Camus posits that perhaps Sisyphus is not doomed to a life of despair, but is actually a deeply satisfied individual. (Mind you, I have never read this essay and have only a surface-level knowledge of French existential literature let alone Greek mythology, so take this with a Denali sized grain of salt). But consider: this man wakes up each day with a clear task. It’s tough work rolling that boulder but he has some sweet views along the way. Every day he completes his task and must feel satisfied with a day of hard work. He goes to sleep feeling accomplished each night. How many of us can say that we have a clear task each day with no other distractions, a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day, and the delicious feeling of going to bed bone-tired which always produces the best sleep?

Our team made it back to Kahiltna Base Camp today, the last leg of an epic three week expedition. We now wait for skies to clear enough for a flight back to Talkeetna. Although the mountain’s infamous weather system ultimately prevented our team from making a summit bid, we are deeply satisfied with the gifts that The Great One has provided us. We were awed by the austere beauty of the Kahiltna and and vastness of the surrounding peaks and ridges. We were pushed to our limits and learned to dig deeper than ever before; whether it be cramponing on blue ice, being blown around on Windy Corner, struggling with all things altitude, or keeping our extremities warm in -40F windchill. We - a group of strangers prior to May 13 - became not only friends but teammates, encouraging each other in our hardest times, cheering each others’ successes, and cracking the most ridiculous and obscene jokes all day and late into the night.

Climbing Denali/Mt. McKinley has been physically and mentally the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Yet each night I went to sleep in the tent feeling a deep sense of gratitude and accomplishment.

Thank you to our incredible guides (Seth, Jackson, and Ray) for showing us the way, and more - from whipping up breakfast and dinner each day, to performing minor foot surgery, to digging Sisyphusian amounts of snow on the daily, to dealing with all of our client shenanigans. You each have unique gifts that helped me get farther than I thought possible.

Thank you to the rest of the team - the  Dont-nalis :) Shannon, David, Ethan, Will, Juan, and of course my other half Jason. I am deeply grateful to have met and befriended each of you. I look forward to our paths crossing again on this great expedition of life.

Love,

RMI Climber Grace

Wednesday, June 5, 2025 - 9:09 pm PT

Surrounded by a majestic you cannot see morphed into our first true view of the epic beauty that surrounds us. Lord of the Rings minus the hobbits, Gandalf, and everything other than really the mountains. Bad analogy but it’s the best I can do.

We cached at 9,900’ and tomorrow, weather permitting, we enter the gauntlet again to Camp 2. I figured making a list of all the things learned so far might be fairly entertaining for all the loved ones back home.

1. Individual snack bags are the way to go. Shoutout to Bob’s daughter, what a game changer.Sifting through a duffel of snacks in 30 MPH winds and snow hitting you in the face makes the See’s Candy not taste as good.

2. Leave a crack in the tent zipper at night. Humidity is very very real, and a damp tent is far from ideal. 

3. Nobody will beat the chess savage, Connor. I don’t think Magnus Carlson has much interest in a game up here in the Alaskan range. 

4. Falling while skiing naked in Colorado is not a good plan at any point in your life.

5. Some adults use binkies, in public, and carry a car seat we believe for themselves? I am as confused as you are, trust me. Hot sauce is the most essential condiment. And under no circumstances can you only bring one.

6. While in Louisiana triple AAA provides world class home cooked service, local errands included.

7. Hot sauce is the most essential condiment. And under no circumstances can you only bring one.

8. Tea tree oil and baby powder is life changing. Bring it, you will not regret it.

9. While training with your pack remember to wear your harness. Your hip bones will thank you a million times over. Seriously, wear it, as stupid as it may look the pack and the harness are enemies.

10. Be organized. Use every tent pocket imaginable. And always, always put things in the same place. Life isn’t easy up here but knowing where your crap is makes a world of difference.

11. When the guides offer you two bagels take the second one with a smile. There’s a method to the madness, don't ask questions and find a way to get it down. Politely refusing a second bagel is a mistake you will only make once. 

12. When you are going downhill use a sled brake. The friction from the rope keeps the back person from playing sled dodge ball. Bumper cars with a 90 pound sled on a glacier is more reminiscent of bowling, you are the pins and the sled gets to be the ball. 

I almost forgot,you can never bring enough skittles. Sure they freeze, but frozen skittles taste as good as room temperature skittles. The originals only.

Thank you for all the prayers, thoughts, and awesome people to come home to.

We wouldn’t be here without the village behind us.

Love,

RMI Climber Caroline and team