Entries from Alaska

Evening everyone,

Who knew climbing Denali had so much resting involved in it. We all train for the heavy packs, long days, thousands of feet of elevation gained. What we don't train for is all the tent time. Time in the tent is important for our bodies to adjust to the altitude but it can be a challenge for the mind. Boredom can sink in very quickly. One must be good at self entertainment and comfortable with you, yourself, and I. It's a crucial skill of the mountain life and the team is currently learning it. Even with all the down time, today went fast. Per usual for our trip so far we had sun, we had clouds and we had snow flurries. A mixture of weather keeps it interesting. Now that we are rested we are ready to move  onward and upward. Hopefully tomorrow the weather holds and we are able to move to 14k camp. It will be a welcomed move with new views, a new camp, and likely new neighbors.

Send all your good weather vibes,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

After an early breakfast In Talkeetna we loaded our gear in the single otter airplanes and changed into our mountain attire before taking a scenic flight into the Alaska Range, with the final destination being Kahiltna Base Camp. After another round of shuttling gear, setting up a quick camp and enjoying a quick dinner, it was an early bedtime as we will be getting up in a couple of hours to start our journey up the mountain to Camp 1.

We will check in soon!

RMI Guides Andy, Grayson, and Ben

Friday, June 17, 2022 1:47 AM

June 17th 2022 - THE TEAM SUCCESSFULLY SUMMITS!

Well hot diggity dog we did it! We went to bed with several inconclusive weather forecasts stressing us out and a weather check at 4:30 confirmed cloudy skies. Alas our actual wake up of 6:30 gave us the surprise “nowcast” we had been waiting for, clear skies and no sign of winds! Huzzah! We quickly set about rallying the troops and making hot water for breakfast. When it was all said and done we were walking by 8:30 headed up, up, up! We first scaled the imposing and cold “Autobahn”. A large steep traverse that gains us about a 1,000 feet. Next we zig and zagged through “Zebra Rocks” gaining more elevation rapidly. Next we meandered slowly and steadily uphill crossing the Denali summit plateau until we got to the “Football Field” a large flat zone that led to our final two obstacles. “Pig Hill” and the summit ridge proper! Pig Hill is a daunting final push up several switch backs to gain elevation before traversing the true summit ridge. The Summit Ridge gave us incredible views and big exposure before finally giving way to the true summit itself! The highest point in North America! There was much congratulating and picture taking and before you know it, it was time to head down. We retraced our steps safely and efficiently all the way back to camp. The crew was tired, thirsty and hungry but by jove they’d done it! All told 13 hours round trip. After being fed and watered, it was quickly lights out for everyone.

Talk to you tomorrow friends, family and loved ones!

RMI Guides Avery, Jack, Liam and the Team

It is a beautiful, sunny day in Talkeetna. The team is hard at work organizing and packing in preparation to fly into Basecamp tomorrow. Everyone is excited and making last minute decisions on oreos vs. famous amos and apple cider vs. hot chocolate. Decisions, decisions...

RMI Guides Andy, Grayson, Ben and Team

Friday June 17, 2022 1:47 am PT

Hello everybody!

Sorry for the late post, here’s what happened yesterday! The short story, we moved to 17 camp and it was exhausting. Oh wait, huh? You want the long story. Alright fine….

So we pre-packed as best we could the night before because we were looking to get a early start. Nothing is more annoying than be stuck behind folks on the fixed lines. Lucky for us our plan worked out. We were the first ones out of 14 camp… actually we were one of only two teams moving that day. The weather forecast has been rather wishy washy so I think spooked some teams from moving. Thankfully we had the inside connection to several forecasts and forecasters so we were optimistic that this was the right move. Anyhoo the team styled the fixed lines again, though this time was a little less joyous due to heavy packs crunching down on our hips. At the top of lines we began to climb some of the best terrain of the trip, the West Ridge! It was an exciting mix of snow, rocks, big exposure, beautiful views, running belays and a little more ascending. The weather was perfect and the team had a blast. When we arrived at 17 camp the real work began, building camp! At 17,000 feet you gotta work slow otherwise you’ll exhaust yourself. The team put in a Herculean effort erecting tents, snow block walls and a bathroom. Then it was freeze dried food for dinner and time to get some well deserved sleep. Depending on the “nowcast” if we wake up to good weather we’ll make our summit push tomorrow!

Wish us luck and send sunshine and low winds our way!

RMI Guides Avery, Jack, Liam and the Team

Saturday June 11, 2022 – 9:13pm PT

Greetings from the Kahiltna,

Snow pitter pattering on the tents lulled us to sleep before disappearing as our alarms rang out. Midnight came far too fast, but the snow had stopped and the clouds lifted.

The first mornings are a little hectic trying to find our groove, our routine in packing up. But with some yummy bagels topped with cream cheese and lox to fuel us, we were ready to take on the day. Our cache buried, sleds loaded, and legs ready, we hit the trail.

Luckily, the first part is downhill, a nice ease into the heavy loads. We will have to climb this hill at the end but that's for another day. The Kahiltna glacier is impressively large with giant crevasses. This glacier goes for 36 miles, and we are going to walk the beginning of it. Several hours of walking brought us to our camp. We made swift work of flattening some spots and setting up.

The afternoon was filled with warm naps, music, and reading. Everyone is enjoying all the naps and snacks. The snow danced its way back in and has been the sound of the evening. We are hoping it quits once again in time for us to begin our walk tomorrow. This trip is all about flexibility so we shall see what tomorrow brings. For now, it's off to bed to stay dry and warm.

Goodnight all,

Hannah and Team

Saturday June 11, 2022 – 10:54pm PT

Hello bloganeers or whatever you call people who read blogs!

We went to bed with a nebulous forecast and thankfully awoke to optimistic looking skies! Looks like the weather would allow us to climb high and sleep low. We feasted upon a southern favorite, grits and pop tarts for breakfast. Then we racked up our gear and headed towards the fixed lines.

A couple hours of slow but steady walking and we arrived at the gaping maw that is the bergschrund at base of the fixed lines. The team locked and loaded and soon we were climbing up the steep snow and hard blue ice. Shouts of “This is awesome!” and “My fingers are cold,” were heard at various times during our ascent. Topping out the fixed lines rewarded us with beautiful views of the West Ridge of Denali and everyone and everything below us. We dug our cache, tossed in our excess gear and took a couple deep breaths of 16,000-foot air before beginning our descent.

Fleet feet and sturdy arm wraps meant a quick trip back to camp where a large meal of mac and cheese and cheesecake was enjoyed by all! Tomorrow, we let the winds up high blow while we gain strength and acclimate here at 14k camp.

Thanks for tuning in blogadors!

Avery, Jack, Liam and the team

Saturday June 11th, 2022 – 9:04pm PT

After making our way from 17 camp to 14 camp, we crawled back into our tents and took a nap. Around 10pm, we woke up for either a late dinner or early breakfast of Ramen noodles and began packing up camp for what we thought would be the very last time. While we had walked into 14 camp in a whiteout, during our nap the clouds had settled below us and it had become a beautiful brisk night.

With camp packed up, we headed towards Basecamp and the airstrip. While we arrived in decent weather, we got word that clouds kept the planes from flying all day. We've now crawled back into our tents and await a weather window that allows us to fly back to Talkeetna.

Think good weather thoughts!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion and Team

Saturday June 11 - 11:59am PT

The last few days have been a blur.

Yesterday we had a hard but a rewarding summit day. The autobahn was mild, but the summit ridge greeted us with high winds, and blowing snow. Despite the mountains best efforts, our entire team made it to the summit and safely back to 17k camp for a late dinner.

Even though we all wanted to sleep in following the summit - we woke up around 9:30am, had a quick hot breakfast, and tore down camp to begin the long process of descending back to the airstrip.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion and Team

Evening all,

We did it, we flew onto the glacier! Today is a hurry to wait kind of day. In order to be the first to fly, we were the first in line for coffee. On our way to coffee we saw a fox on the railroad tracks. The last time I summited Denali, I saw a fox before flying. So I think this is a good omen. We shall see. Any who, with caffeine surging through our bodies we are ready to fly. Since our odds looked good for flying we said good bye to the flip-flops and hello to our mountain boots. These bad boys would be our mode of transportation for the next few weeks. With the planes ready for us we began shuffling our gear to the planes. Excitement rushes through you as you walk across the tarmac knowing the moment is here. Next stop the Kahiltna glacier. Seatbelts buckled, headphones on, and the smell of the engine signals its time to fly. The views are so beautiful one can not put it into words. Huntington, Foraker, Hunter, peak 11,300 and many more awe-inspring peaks keep us wide eyed and trigger happy on the camera. After a loop up the Kahiltna showing what we will walk on tomorrow we descend into basecamp with a bumpy landing. It's a quick fire line to move the gear from the plane to the glacier before watching our ride fly away. We are on our own now. We decided to bump down to the lower airstrip which gave us practice pulling the sleds. The team is in tip top shape. Once camp is set up we enjoyed some down time followed by a refresher on skills. Some gear sorting and deciding what hot drinks to bring on the mountain led us into our pizza party dinner. Why eat mountain food when you can fly on pizza! It's an early to bed for us since for the next few days we will be on the night schedule, walking during the cool part of a day.  

Tomorrow is the day we take our first steps toward our goal of the summit. Here's to a great journey!

RMI Guides Hannah, Kiira, Dan and Team