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Elevation: 11,200'

Throughout the night the clouds surrounding camp started to produce snow and dropped over a foot around our tents. Plans are always in flux up here and our carry higher on the mountain has been postponed. The crew is unfazed, merrily digging out our home and relaxing with a big salmon and bagel breakfast. Another round of digging and a bit of rest before our upcoming potluck lunch. Down days can be productive, storing up strength for higher up on Denali and fine tuning the essential camp skills required for the future. That's all for now, cross your fingers for a break in the weather and we'll check in later. RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Yo Eric & Elias! Keep up the good work. We’re pulling for you! Can’t wait to see the summit pictures! Wayne, Ian & Zach

Posted by: Wayne on 6/14/2012 at 5:17 am

Ross and K. Hopefully everything is working out in the tent. Fate kept me here for this one. I cant wait to hear the stories. Remember to keep your water bottles and the tuna salad in your bags!! Stay warm guys! - Dave

Posted by: dave kolar on 6/13/2012 at 8:06 pm

Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Make Back Carry

June 11, 2012

Posted by: Jake Beren

Elevation: 11,200'

We awoke at dawn. Not all that impressive because dawn is at least 8 hours a day this time of year. Once awake we had a beautiful cruise down to our cache at the corner of the Kahiltna Glacier with great visibility in the early morning light. We loaded our packs and reveled in the absence of the sleds/anchors and even picked up the pace a bit to help with our acclimatization. Back at camp it was second breakfast, a nap and a bit of technical review before dinner. Tomorrow, if the mountain allows, we will carry towards 14 camp and return to 11,200 feet to recover. That's all from here, the team is doing great and looking to take it higher tomorrow! RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Way to go Eric! We are all following along with your journey here. Your two nephews and goddaughter wish you good luck and are anxiously awaiting your return. Noah and Ethan climbed the big sand dune at Warren Dunes this past weekend and Noah asked if it was as big as the mountain you were climbing. I told him it was close…

Posted by: Zach Schafer on 6/12/2012 at 8:24 am

Bob, keep it up bro, I know you can do it, one step at a time. You have a great team and the best of guides…to the top!

Posted by: John Spinks on 6/12/2012 at 5:56 am

Mt. McKinley: Beren & Team Move to 11,000’

June 10, 2012

Elevation: 11,200'

A big aloha from 11 Camp! We woke to our first clear morning of the trip, with brightly colored lenticular clouds stacked over Mount Forraker. It was cold and clear in our neck of the woods and we traveled well on our way to our cache at 10,000 feet. With slightly lighter loads we dispatched the final hill into camp and moved right in to camp. Now we rest during the heat of the day and recover after a great, but tough day. Tomorrow, if the weather permits we will retrieve our cache and ready ourselves for life higher up. Take care everyone, RMI Guides Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene and Team

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Message for tony crumley David called made it to his new afghan camp. Em has been admitted to hosp. Keep climbing we are proud of uou! Love you

Posted by: Jill crumley on 6/11/2012 at 1:00 pm

Bob, glad to hear the progress you and the team are making, keep it up. My prayers and thoughts are continually with you.

John

Posted by: John Spinks on 6/11/2012 at 8:57 am

MT. McKinley: Beren and Team Move to 9,500’

June 10, 2012

Elevation: 9,500'

Do two times constitute a trend? Probably not, but today did share a few similarities with yesterday. We woke to a little squirrelly weather with a few inches of snow on the tents and it was unclear whether heading up was a good idea or not. We watched the skies and eventually decided to move. As we climbed into the whiteout above camp and onto Ski Hill proper, the snow stopped and we enjoyed pockets of visibility. It was downright hot as we pulled into camp with an excellent down glacier view. We were able to go down to baselayers as we built camp and as soon as we finished setting up shop it began to snow. Now we are enjoying a hot beverage before some Tortellini a la Thomas for dinner. Tomorrow we'll see what happens in the sky and hopefully move to 11 camp. RMI Guide Jake Beren

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To Christel: liebste Grüße und eine nächtlich wärmende, feste Umarmung, Tropf

Posted by: Susann on 6/10/2012 at 12:35 pm

Message for Bob…Could not be prouder of you brother!

Posted by: John Spinks on 6/10/2012 at 11:06 am

Mt. McKinley: Beren and Team Move to 7,800’

June 8, 2012

Elevation: 7,800'

When we woke early this morning we weren't sure what the day had in store for us. The cloud deck dropped during breakfast and no one could really tell if it was raining or snowing. We returned to the tents to wait for a trend to emerge and in about an hour made the call to try to leave basecamp for higher pastures. We had perfect conditions to make our way to the base of Ski Hill and set up camp at the confluence of the Main and Northeast Forks of the Kahiltna Glaciers. As soon as camp was buffed out, it started to snow and we are enjoying a little siesta before dinner. If the weather is cooperative we will move higher tomorrow to get within striking distance of 11 Camp and the upper mountain. Hope all is well down South! RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Great to have the opportunity to virtually follow your tour. To Christel: Aunt ever I am so proud you are doing this, one day we might tackle the Matterhorn together ;)

Posted by: Wenke Stalling on 6/10/2012 at 2:07 am

Bob~Kristi made it to Rwanda, after 27 hours!! Now you have to make it to the top!
Kathy

Posted by: Kathy Spinks on 6/9/2012 at 1:37 pm

Mt.McKinley: Beren and team fly onto Kahiltna Glacier

June 7, 2012

Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Jake Beren

Elevation: 7,300'

It doesn't always happen like this up here, but when you can fly out of Talkeetna at 9 am, just like you planned, it is a real sweet start to a trip. We landed on a warm glacier and spent the day settling into our new pace on the mountain. Building camp, rigging sleds, reviewing some techniques and most importantly checking out the views. It is stunning here and perfect weather for starting this adventure. If it holds we will wake up and head towards 7,800' camp at the base of Ski Hill tomorrow, testing our new knowledge and taking our first literal steps. Til then, RMI Guides Jake Beren, Elias de Andres Martos, Thomas Greene and the gang.

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Mt. McKinley: Jake Beren and Team Arrive in Talkeetna

June 6, 2012

Elevation: 348'

Greetings from Talkeetna AK! Our team made it in last night/early this morning with all gear accounted for and we enjoyed a good night's rest in Talkeetna. This morning it was business as usual, big breakfasts at the Roadhouse, a NPS orientation and a lot of sorting gear in the K2 hangar. Now we are checking tents, stoves and group gear before a big feast tonight. With any luck we will fly out tomorrow morning. Til then, RMI Guide Jake Beren

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Ciao Eric, Thinking of you and praying for good weather and a safe trip. We are very proud of you and all the hard work it took to get you where you are today. Can’t wait to see you to share stories. Amore from Mom and Dad

Posted by: Tom and Kathy Schafer on 6/16/2012 at 11:15 pm

Wow- thats impressive progress. Also - potluck? I thought this was supposed to be hard! You should be relaying stories of extreme hardship and grit!
You guys are awesome.
All the best.

K - Uma came back Malaysia and we had a hurricane at home…till the home was in order and to her spec. :-)

Posted by: AK on 6/12/2012 at 7:03 pm