RMI Expeditions Blog
May 27, 2014 - 7:08 pm PT
Hearing light snow hitting the fly of our tent this morning prepared us for the possibility that today might finally be the day that stopped our upward progress on the mountain. Very light snowfall coupled with wind and clouds were part of the view from our vestibule. Neither the best nor the worst weather
Denali has to offer, so we decided to get up and at least have breakfast while we waited to see if the day might take a turn for the better.
Over a breakfast that would rival the best your local greasy spoon could offer, the outlook for the day became ever more apparent, we were going to enjoy our first rest/storm day. That no one really voiced any complaint reflected the shared sentiment that we were all ready for a break from the constant pace of the trip so far.
Following our breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and hash browns, we set to explore and debate many of the world's challenges and recount some of our personal histories. Of course, such heady conversation, fueled as it was by caffeine and unexpectedly unused climbing energy, soon left even the strongest of us deserting our Posh House tent for the cozy comfort of our tents and sleeping bags. And so has passed our day, playings cards, reading, listening to music, and just plain relaxing.
Life is great!
RMI Guide Brent Okita
On The Map
May 26, 2014 - 10:46 pm PT
With just a little anxiousness about our carry up to 13,500', the first real climbing of the trip, the team awoke early this morning to a pretty darned reasonable day. 7:00 AM at 11,200' can certainly be chilly, and today was no exception. We washed down our oatmeal with some hot drinks to fortify ourselves for the big day, reviewing as we usually do some key points of the days.
Our climb of
Motorcycle Hill was made before the sun hit the face, making for a chilly start to the day. But at the top we were rewarded with great views of the Northwest Buttress and Peter's Glacier, not to mention the Alaskan tundra in the distance. Squirrel Hill followed and we found ourselves cramponing on perfect snow.
Conditions, in general, were quite nice all the way to our cache site at 13,500'. But what really struck us was how well the team was climbing. And how well everyone was feeling. Yeah, it was a good push for us, but we all took heart in having done well today. Our dinner of mac and cheese with loads of crumbled bacon stirred in hit the spot. There were no leftovers tonight. Cookies for dessert finished us off before we organized gear for tomorrow.
As for tomorrow ... As good as everybody is feeling, if the weather again cooperates, we might just move up to 14,200' camp. Then, we'll be ready for a couple of well deserved rest days.
We'll see ...
RMI Guides Brent, Leah and Nick
On The Map
May 26, 2014 - 10:21 pm PT
Today is day 19 of our expedition, with twelve of those days spent at the 14k Camp. The weather forecast is not looking good for a summit attempt, as a significant weather system is supposed to hit
Denali tonight, bringing snow and wind tomorrow. High winds are forecasted to persist for the next ten days. If this forecast verifies we will be headed downhill shortly, as we still have to make it back down the Kahiltna Glacier to Basecamp before waiting for good enough weather to fly back to Talkeetna. We will definitely wake up early tomorrow morning to see if we get lucky with a quick summit window, but none of us are holding our breaths. We will let you know how the weather treats us tomorrow.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
May 26, 2014 - 10:12 pm PT
Now that we are in the holding pattern, waiting for our window, any day could be our chance to move to 17K and take a shot at the summit. This morning wasn't it though, as we woke to a large, gray lenticular cloud hanging on to the upper mountain. We rested, traded books, listened to music, did a little 14K Camp crossfit, and took a walk to the "
Edge of the World," where the Genet Basin looks over the lower Kahiltna. From the vista we could see our first camp of the trip at the base of Ski Hill. The forecasts continue to be mixed, so we're taking it day by day and seeing what opportunities the mountain provides us. We'll send the news of tomorrow when we know what it is. Until then, we're going to bury ourselves in piles of down and get some shut eye.
RMI Guides Pete, Robby, and Josh
On The Map
Hi this Seth. I'm up at Camp Muir with this week's
Expedition Skills Seminar. We had a really fun walk up the Muir Snowfield today. We had expected rain and it started out like that but after a couple of hours we broke into some sun! The clouds were in and out for the rest of the day so we stayed pretty dry. We are all settled in at camp now getting ready for our first night on the mountain.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
May 26, 2014 - 5:18 pm PT
Hello everyone!
Saying hello from Talkeetna, Alaska! We made it off this afternoon despite the evil forecast. This morning we left 9,700' and walked down glacier into deep clouds that retreated as we made our way to
Kahiltna Base Camp. All day we heard and saw fleets of airplanes coming in and by mid afternoon we were on one of them. So the team is safe and sound taking showers and indulging in vices.
It's been a fantastic trip with a great group. Thanks for tuning in!
RMI Guide Leon Davis
A crux for improvement in most any athlete lies in maintaining motivation; maintaining the drive to begin, practice, and persist at a task until you have reached your goals. In a 2009 piece in
Psychology Today, Jim Taylor wrote that there are three factors that affect performance: Ability, Competition, and Motivation. Motivation is the only factor over which
you have control. Ability (both physical, tactical, and mental) is something that you are born with. Other outside factors influence performance as well such as the away game crowd in sports, or temperature, weather, wind, and conditions in mountaineering. Again, these factors are all beyond our control, and can only be anticipated and dealt with as they appear.
This leaves motivation as the key component to success. When we are motivated, we train and practice in order to maximize our given abilities. This probably isn’t news to anyone, but how do you maintain motivation day after day in a
training process that can take well over a year to reach its culmination? How do you maintain your motivation in the face of cold and wet conditions in the winter, hot and muggy in the summer, or when other elements in your life are pressing in and tempting you to skip a day of training? This is the point that sports psychologists refer to as “the grind”, the point at which training and practice cease to be fun or pleasurable and begin to sap at your motivation. How you respond to the grind is what separates a top performance from a mediocre one.
When you feel your training and motivation beginning to suffer, be willing to admit it and decide what direction you are going to take. You can continue on your current trajectory, or you can redirect yourself toward your goals and redouble your efforts. Once you decide on a path, dedicate yourself to it and recognize that your training needs to hold a place of priority in your
daily schedule. At the same time, take a moment to evaluate your training and decide what is working and what isn’t. If running is hurting your knees and causing you to dread your workouts, reduce the number of running workouts in your training and shift those workouts to a lower impact activity such as
cycling. When the gym becomes claustrophobic, take your
core workouts outside to the local park or woods.
It’s something of a cliché to say that the difference between athletes and great athletes is their dedication to the game. Pelé once said that, “I used to train very hard. When the other players went to the beach after training, I was there kicking the ball.” While most climbers don’t have the time to dedicate themselves singularly to climbing like Pelé did, try to practice that same mental dedication. Ask yourself in the morning what you can do that day to improve and give yourself the best chance on
Rainier or any other peak. Before you head to bed, ask yourself if you did everything you could that day to achieve your goals. Finally, if you have a novel trick that you use to stay motivated, post it in the comments below. Your trick may be just the ticket for another climber!
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the
RMI Blog!
May 25, 2014 - 11:56 pm PT
We took full advantage of our
rest day today, eating a big brunch of egg, bacon, and veggie quesadillas (there is a recurring theme here involving our meals). The storm that was forecast for last night and today didn't materialize, so it was a great day for chatting in the posh, catching some sun, and catching up on journals and reading. Everyone's legs appreciated the recovery from yesterday's big effort.
The forecasts going forward are pretty scattered, and aren't really painting a clear picture, so at this point we're in standby mode, waiting for our weather window to present itself. We'll see when that happens, but until then, we are living really comfortably at 14 camp. We'll be in touch with more news tomorrow.
RMI Guides Pete, Robby, and Josh
On The Map
The
Four Day Summit Climb May 23 - 26, 2014 was forced to turn around at the top of Disappointment Cleaver today due to poor weather.
RMI Guides Eric Frank and Pablo Puruncajas made the call to start the descent. The team will return to Camp Muir and then start their descent to Paradise later this morning. We look forward to seeing everyone at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
May 25, 2015 - 5:33 pm PT
Despite a poor forecast for today, we awoke to calm and only scattered clouds which allowed us to return to our
previous camp and retrieve our cache. The scattered clouds made for some pleasant walking temps and our loads felt lighter than ever before... A nice change for our tired shoulders. We spent the afternoon reviewing climbing techniques for our carry up to 13,500 feet (hopefully tomorrow). Everyone is feeling well rested and we are crossing our fingers that tomorrow will bring another nice day!
RMI Guide Brent Okita
On The Map
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Be safe everyone. Enjoy the experience. Great to see your positive progress.
Posted by: Mark DiLucca on 5/29/2014 at 4:29 am
Dan A and Team,
I am enjoying watching your progress and am glad everything is going well. Stay safe and enjoy your journey. I look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings for you.
Maria
Posted by: Maria Martin Faires, RD on 5/28/2014 at 3:16 pm
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