RMI Expeditions Blog
Saturday, May 18, 2019 10:11 pm PT
We awoke to clear skies this morning and the team enjoyed the extra sleep and a leisurely breakfast of toasted bagels, cream cheese and bacon. Just before midday we put the ropes back on and traveled back down glacier to about 10,000' to retrieve our cache of gear. The weather stayed cool for us with high wispy clouds and filtered sun making the climb back to camp quite pleasant. The team then had the rest of the afternoon off and spent it snacking, napping and more snacking. Well earned time off after the long haul up the
Kahiltna. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will try and climb higher to about 13,600ft to place another cache of gear and further acclimate. This though we lose the sleds and snowshoes for crampons and an ice axe!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
On The Map
We woke early to perfect weather this morning and decided we couldn't pass up the opportunity to move camp up to 14,200' in
Genet Basin. The weather remained great for us all day, with some clouds building mid morning and a few scattered snow flurries, but no wind to speak of. Laden with heavy packs, we made slow and steady progress and after about six hours we arrived at camp. It's been a few hours now and camp is up, the climbers are resting in their tents, and stoves are cranking melting snow for water bottles and heating water for dinner.
Tomorrow we will head back down to Windy Corner to retrieve our cache. That will be a short day and we're happy for that. We're also looking forward to our first complete rest day the following day (Monday). It's time to lick our wounds, rest, and acclimate.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
After a long travel day and an early morning arrival, we took a leisurely morning before heading out on a tour of the city of
La Paz. In the last several years Bolivia has invested nearly $800 million into a cable car system, allowing people to move around the city, high above the buildings. It gave us amazing views of the surrounding mountains, some of which we will be climbing later in the trip, as well as adjust to 13,500’ altitude. A highlight was walking through the witches market, where people would burn offerings in the hopes that the smoke would reach the gods in the sky, and there wishes would come true. The night ended with a great dinner and some packing as we head to Lake Titicaca tomorrow for some more acclimatization and sightseeing before we head into the mountains.
RMI Guide Eric Frank, Andy Bond & Team
This one is going to be brief, I apologize but its been a long day!
We were graced with good weather this morning and we rose early to break down camp and move to 11,000'. The team did a great job moving through the terrain. Light snow flurries kept the temps cool and good for climbing. The final hill into
11,000' Camp is a total butt kicker and the team styled it like pros. The team spent the afternoon building camp and setting up tents before enjoying a well earned meal and a good nights rest. Tomorrow we will travel back down glacier to about 10,000' to retrieve our cached gear and then enjoy having the afternoon free. All is well and the team is doing great!
RMI Guide Steve Gately & Team
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Bryan Mazaika reached 11,200' on Mt. Rainier today. New snow from the last few days and high avalanche danger kept the team from going any higher on the mountain. The team is back at Camp Muir and will start the descent to Paradise shortly.
Congratulations to today's team!
We're on a roll now with another great day today. We woke to clear skies with a cloud deck slightly below our camp. There was some blowing snow visible up towards our destination, Windy Corner. So to drag our feet a bit and let it warm up and see what the winds were going to do we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of toasted bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon--not bad for breakfast at
11,200' on Denali.
The sun eventually hit our camp and the winds abated. So we followed suit and finished packing up, donned our crampons and off we went. We were loaded down with food and fuel in our backpacks, intent on establishing a cache around Windy Corner. The first obstacle out of camp was climbing Motorcycle Hill, which took us 45 minutes to climb. Next we climbed Squirrel Hill and crossed the Polo Fields. Before we knew it we rounded Windy Corner and arrived at our cache site at 13,600'. We dug a deep hole in the snow, buried our gear, then headed back to camp. We were psyched to see the second RMI Denali team, led by Steve Gately, building camp next to ours here at 11,000'.
The next stage of the game for us is to move camp to 14,000'. We'll see what the weather does and that will influence whether we try to move tomorrow or take a rest day.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
The
Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir Team along with RMI Guides Adam Knoff and Walter Hailes had a successful week of training on Mt. Rainier. The team spent the week learning crevasse rescue, setting snow and ice anchors, route finding, avalance training, and many other alpine climbing techniques. The team was able to take several walks above Camp Muir, but the winter like weather kept the from the summit. The team is on the descent and will be back at Ashford Basecamp in the early afternoon today.
Congratulations to today's team!
Thursday, May 16, 2019
A few short waves of snow showers passed through camp overnight and we woke up to a fresh dusting of new snow. A quick breakfast of oatmeal, dried fruit and nuts got us ready for the task ahead today. The terrain ahead would be a bit more challenging then our first day and the team was eager to explore new parts of the range. A decent amount of recent climber traffic has resulted in a well kicked in trail and we were grateful for the easy travel.
From camp our first obstacle is
"Ski Hill". In any other setting this slope wouldn't make you bat an eye lash, but with Denali loads it poses quite a challenge. The team did fantastic with the increase in gradient. A short wave low pressure system was forecast to pass over the region today and we were greeted to a few intense snow flurries that reminded me of the Kahiltna Glacier that I'm more used to seeing. From the top of Ski Hill however, the terrain eases off quite a bit and we meandered our way to about 10,000' where we left a cache of gear to be retrieved later. A quick descent brought us back into camp in seemingly no time at all and the crew is currently taking a load off before an early dinner in anticipation of another long day tomorrow.
Tomorrow, weather permitting, our goal will be to move to 11,000' Camp. Its great to finally settle in at 11,000', build a fortified camp, build the best kitchen this mountain has ever seen and look forward to our first rest day of the trip. That's all for now, thanks for following along!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
On The Map
After three consecutive days of hard work, we had a lighter day today. But it wasn't all rest; we had work to do, to go back down to 10,000', dig up our cache, and haul it in sleds and backpacks back to our camp at
11,200'. It wasn't easy work, but compared to the last three days it sure felt that way.
The snow conditions were excellent for travel on snowshoes and the temps were enjoyable. Intermittent clouds and light snow showers added to the great day. By the time we made it back to camp it was snowing a bit harder, but with no wind it didn't really bother us too much.
This afternoon we are resting, eating and drinking, and preparing gear and supplies for our next cache, which will be up around Windy Corner at about 13,600'. If the weather is good, that might happen tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Wednesday, May 15, 2019 11:00 PM PST
After a good night's rest the team had early start and a quick breakfast before meeting at K2 Aviation to finalize our departure. Weather was looking great and by 8AM we started loading up the planes. Before we knew it we were airborne and on our way. A couple hours spent reorganizing gear at KIA (Kahiltna International Airport) and we donned the weight of a 22 day trip and took off down the Southeast Fork.
It's such a pleasure to be able to travel through this stretch of terrain with good visibility and weather. The Alaskan giants of Hunter and Foraker are staring you down and making the turn North up the Kahiltna glacier
Denali slowly reveals itself.
The team did great handling the heavy weight and readjustment to life on the glacier. We are now camped at the base of a major feature known simply as "Ski Hill" at a popular interim camp at 7,800ft. Tomorrow we will bring a cache of gear to 9,600ft, bury it and return to 7,800ft. This will help get all of our food and equipment further up the hill without having to carry it all up at once. I didn't have to do much convincing! Thanks to everyone whose following along!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
On The Map
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14k camp life!!!!! Woooot, give’r boyz, oh yeahhhhh!
Posted by: Brid on 5/19/2019 at 9:31 pm
Sounds like your progress is good as compared to last year! Enjoy the remainder of the climb, Tom M! Greetings to you from all the Mulvey-Temples ..... from the Oregon coast!
Continue to remain safe and enjoy!
Susan M
Posted by: Susan Mulvey on 5/19/2019 at 1:35 pm
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