Saturday, June 15th, 2013
Today was a busy day at the roof of North America! Our team was first out of the gates from 17,200' camp, with a warm, windless departure at 8:00am. The first stretch of the route above camp is also one of the most technical and time consuming; it's called the "Autobahn" and takes a strong, committed team to single push across the steeply rising traverse to Denali Pass.
Our group crushed it, and we were enjoying the sun on the east side of the pass soon enough. The next few stretches went by relatively quickly, although nothing is lightning fast at 19,000'. By the time we reached the Football Field, a flat saddle just below the summit ridge, we were down to base layers and light gloves. Considering the fierce reputation that Denali has for arctic temperatures and raging wind, we consider ourselves incredibly lucky to have had a such an incredible day.
The last climb up Pig Hill was taxing our legs and our lungs, and just when folks had had enough we reached the final summit ridge. Forty minutes later, our team put the highest point of the continent under their crampons, amid much hugging and celebration.
The trip back down was uneventful, albeit hot. The sun roasted our tired crew all the way back to camp. But as soon as we got back, folks were out of boots and into tents, resting and relaxing as we brought hot water and heaping helpings of ramen with bacon and chicken. We're ready for the long trip back to base camp, but that's for another day. Right now, we're savoring the day's events and getting ready for some well earned sleep. Thanks again and we'll check back in soon!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
RMI Guide Tyler Jones and the team from the Mount McKinley summit!
Congratulations Lori and team members. Great job to the guides who encouraged and fed you and got you to your goal. Dad and I haven’t had internet service for days and have had to rely on Dad’s cell phone. Thus, I wasn’t sending you encouragement in words, but you were never far from our thoughts. SO LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING YOUR VOICE. Love you, mom and dad.
Posted by: Fern Hansen on 6/16/2013 at 10:07 am
Sweeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice work Chickie and team. Congrats to you all.
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Levi Kepsel led their Emmons Seminar team through a mountaineering school at Paradise today. It was a beautiful day as shown in JJ's video of photos.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Geoff Schellens and the Four Day Summit Climb team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 7:28am this morning. The team reported clear beautiful skies, steady winds of 10 mph, and cool temperatures. The group spent some time on the summit enjoying the views and are now en route back to Camp Muir.
Congrautations to today's teams!
Friday, June 14, 2013
Greetings from Summit Team 6! We bit off a huge chunk today with our move from Basecamp to Camp 1. We carried all of the food, fuel, equipment, and clothing that we will need for our expedition. Needless to say, we carried heavy! We made the trip up glacier in just under five hours.
Once in camp, we made a bombproof tent site sheltered from the wind. It took us around an hour to get camp setup and organized. We took advantage of another beautifully warm and clear afternoon to take some siesta time. This was much needed since we woke up at 2:00 a.m. to pack up this morning.
We are just getting ready for a Dinty Moore and mashed potatoes dinner. I would imagine it will be another early evening since we have another early wake up time scheduled. Our plan is to carry gear up a bit higher and make a cache and then return to the same camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and McKinley Team 6
Friday, June 14, 2013
Light and variable wind started over night with warmer temperatures. We woke early to beat the heat and the people that have collected at the 14 camp over the past week of stormy weather!
We began our climb to high camp in cold squeaky snow conditions. The headwall where the fixed lines are located were a bit more difficult than our trip up the other day as the wind nearly stripped all the snow and left firm icy climbing! From the top of the lines we began a perfect climb up the West Buttress, which is the most exposed and picturesque part of the climb. The climb was hard but the team did very well. We have sparked our match for our summit push! Currently we are again cowering from the most intense sun of the trip basking in our shelters at 17,200' Denali high camp! Our chill mentality had payed huge today and with a bit o' luck we will have nice weather tomorrow for our summit push! More food, water, and relaxing for the eve. We will try for a call from the summit tomorrow afternoon! Hi Five!
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Garrett Stevens, and Team!
Happy Father’s Day , Justin! Anxiously awaiting to hear that you and team have summited. As one of the guides alluded to in a previous blog, this experience is about more than just climbing a snowy mountain!!!! Can’t wait to hear all the details and “meet” your new friends. Be safe! Love you——Mom and Dad
Friday, June 14, 2013
It sure felt nice for the team to get a little extra time in sleeping bags this morning before an epic pancake and bacon breakfast. Then it was off to practice for the fixed lines and Autobahn just outside of camp. The team is primed and ready for moving up on the mountain, skills sharp and energy high. After a siesta, we will take a stroll over to the Edge of the World and take in the sights nearly 7,000 feet down the NE Fork o the Kahiltna before dinner. Not a bad day up here at all.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Hello RMI Family! Our Emmons Expedition Skills Seminar started today at our Basecamp in Ashford. The team got to know one another, we did clothing and equipment checks and now we have moved on to the fun stuff!
It's a beautiful sunny day down here while practicing some vertical moves on the ice wall. We are going to play around this afternoon before we venture onto the mountain to acclimatize and practice some on-mountain skills.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
The summit group for today June 15 th; so happy for you! You have been on my thoughts and prayers! Sounds like a blessing from The Lord with the great weather and success! Yeah! I am excited for you! Way to go Papa, Kevin, Aaron and SB!
Our Four Day Summit Climb teams led by Casey Grom and Andres Marin reached the top of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Casey reported beautiful clear skies above 7,500’, a light breeze and cold temperatures. The team will be crossing the crater to Columbia Crest, enjoy the views and then head back to Camp Muir.
After a successful summit yesterday, Eric Frank and the Kautz Expedition team will be back at Basecamp in the early afternoon. JJ Justman and the Expeditions Skills Seminar - Emmons team will be spending the day at Basecamp training.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Today we "rested" at camp, but it hardly felt like it. After breakfast we put on some empty packs and boogied down to retrieve our cache at 13,500'. The wind kept our somewhat spirited return trip from being too hot. Once back and rested, we fortified camp with stellar walls for the afternoon. Some of us even found a little time to participate in a high altitude medical study which had us racing around in the name of science. Then dinner and a few songs around the stoves and off to bed. The team impressed everyone around with our hard work and we really earned some down time tomorrow. Maybe there will be some actual rest for this not so weary crew.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Thursday, June 13, 2013
We are all safely nestled in our tents just off the landing strip at basecamp. We had a magnificent flight from Talkeetna to basecamp at the flanks of Denali. The weather on the glacier is as warm as I have ever seen it. For this reason, we are not traveling today and instead used the warm weather during the day to organize our backpacks and sled loads. We worked on some crevasse rescue techniques as we are about to head out onto the Kahiltna Glacier; a glacier filled with giant cracks in the ice. We are going to travel up glacier tonight so we can travel on firm snow and solid snow bridges. Wish us a solid freeze!
RMI Summit Team 6 - RMI Guides Mike Haugen, Mike Uchal, Katie Bono & the team
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Congratulations Lori and team members. Great job to the guides who encouraged and fed you and got you to your goal. Dad and I haven’t had internet service for days and have had to rely on Dad’s cell phone. Thus, I wasn’t sending you encouragement in words, but you were never far from our thoughts. SO LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING YOUR VOICE. Love you, mom and dad.
Posted by: Fern Hansen on 6/16/2013 at 10:07 am
Sweeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice work Chickie and team. Congrats to you all.
Billy
Posted by: Don on 6/16/2013 at 9:00 am
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