July 14th, 2014 - 7:45 pm PT
At seven this morning, a good chunk of the sky was clear. We could see way out into the tundra to the West and there were mountains visible in the South that we were seeing for the first time on this trip. Our objective, Denali's South Peak, was in the clear and there didn't appear to be any wind blowing at Denali Pass. We geared up to climb for the summit. There was a bit of cloud to watch in the Northwest though. As we broke trail toward the base of the Autobahn (the route to Denali Pass) we watched that cloud in the NW come a little closer. We climbed some of the steeper terrain of the Autobahn while still in morning shadows. It was cold and progress was slow due to our need to re-establish the snowed over route. The clouds encroached on the North Peak. Then they formed a cap on the South Peak. We were still in relatively calm conditions, so we pushed on to about 17,900 feet, in order to give the clouds a chance to change their mind and flee. This didn't happen. The clouds became a snowstorm and so we spun around and worked carefully back to high camp. Since the storm showed no signs of abating, it seemed a good time to retrieve our emergency cache of food from 16,200 feet. A few intrepid guides accomplished that mission just in time to avoid strengthening winds on the West Buttress. We're safe in our tents now at 17,200 feet, waiting for the storm to go elsewhere before we try once again to climb Denali.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
July 13, 2014 - 10:58 pm PT
Yesterday was a tough climb to reach high camp at 17,200 ft. Bad weather at the start of the day caused us to get on the trail later than we'd have liked and a couple inches of new snow on the route made the steep pitches a little more exhausting than they might otherwise be. Even so, with heavy packs and tired legs, we were thrilled to balance along on the crest of the West Buttress, enjoying an endless sunset of golden light. We pulled into camp at 9 PM, just as the sun got tangled in thick cloud. It was a scramble to build camp and get stoves going before the real cold took hold. We ran stoves until 2:30 AM in order to have enough water. As we worked hard to get dug in, we watched a team of two guides and one climber make a late descent of the "Autobahn". They'd managed to thread the needle and hit the summit and as they neared camp, the weather came in again with clouds and wind. Our tents stood up to a few good gusts in the night and the usual blowing snow but as tired as we were, it didn't keep us awake. Morning was calm and easy where we were but too windy and mean up above, so we finished getting our camp in order and took it easy instead of climbing. The team of three has descended now and we are left alone in our quest... Likely the highest people in North America, even as we simply sit in camp on what has become a beautiful evening. If the good weather lasts until morning, we'll know how to use it.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
July 13, 2014 - 4:05 AM PT
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling in from 17,000' we made it up today, a better than expected day. It didn't start out too good but we made good use of it. We left 14,000' at 1:30 in the afternoon and got up here at 17,000' at 9 PM, which was a little bit late but we managed to get all buttoned down before the storm started again. All are doing well at 17,000' and now we're ready to get lucky up here.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from 17 camp on Mt. McKinley.
July 11, 2014 - 11:04 pm PT
There wasn't much reason to get up early for climbing this morning at 14,200 ft. It snowed throughout the night and continued through the morning, piling up to about 8 or 10 inches. Luckily there wasn't much wind with it though, so we slept well. Our radio conversations with the folks hanging at 17K revealed that they hadn't gotten snow, but had gotten plenty of wind. The consensus seemed to be that if the weather eased, folks would be bailing out of high camp and quitting the climb. We made the best of calm conditions at our camp to get out for some exercise. The gang built snow walls and dug tunnels and watched wind and cloud buffet the upper mountain. Things did ease in the afternoon and our friends on high began descending. Ben Liken counted 43 climbers eventually making their way down the fixed lines. That number represented five different guided teams from three different companies. They'll head for the airstrip tomorrow, leaving us alone at 14,200 and virtually alone on the mountain. One guided team of three (two guides, one climber) remains at 17,200 hoping for better luck, it would be great if we could get up there to keep them company.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hi Dave. With a good supply I know the weather will clear soon & you will get the team up for a really awesome summit. safe travels & post more photos.
Posted by: Mary on 7/13/2014 at 1:26 am
Hi Dave -
I’ve been following your teams journey. This latest dispatch reminds me of when we were down on Vinson and ended up being the only team on the mountain.
You’ve probably already heard from RMI HQ that the latest issue of Outside magazine has a large article about what happened at Everest this year.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you guys get a weather break and are able to continue upwards.
July 10, 2014 - 10:32 pm PT
Hey all,
Today we awoke to just about the same weather we went to bed with yesterday, that is mostly cloudy with a little wind and snow. Knowing that we weren't walking up hill in it, we had a multiple-course breakfast of bacon, fried tortillas with sugar, bagels, eggs, and even some sausage gravy. By the time we finished up the weather had trended from poor to stormy. With winds and snow on the rise, everyone helped in building some walls and re-anchoring our cook tent. Looking above to high camp we radioed with some of the other teams. They said they were in pretty much the same weather and were staying put. The whole team is keeping vibes positive as we wait for Denali to stop what it does best.....storm, storm, storm.
All the best,
RMI Guide Ben Liken
Thanks for the birthday wishes Joe and Sean. Hope you and the rest of the team get a break in the weather soon. Cheers to all of you and have a wonderful day!
July 9, 2014 - 10:34 pm PT
It wasn't such a bad day to start. There was plenty of blue sky overhead at 6 AM and a little wind to contend with up high, but the day had potential to be just right for moving to 17,000 ft. The team was feeling good and ready. But we held off, talked some on the radio to friends at 17K (teams up there were staying put, not going for the top) and we watched the weather deteriorate. The winds increased, a cloud cap formed on the mountain and the rest of the sky began to cloud up. Before it clogged up completely, we roped up and took a short walk to "The Edge of the World" to look down on the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. We belayed each other out onto the overhanging prow of rock for hero shots. Then we headed back to camp and hunkered down in the tents for an afternoon of light snow and heavy cloud. We'll hope for better weather tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
We broke a few personal altitude records today. Our stoves were lit shortly after 6 AM while Genet Basin was still deep in cold shadows. The weather didn't look perfect, but that was more of a concern for two of the other guided groups camped alongside us since they were trying to figure whether to commit to a move to 17K. We were just contemplating a carry to the top of the fixed ropes at 16,200 feet and we could do that in iffy weather. We set out at 8 AM and made easy progress as the clouds washed in and out a few times. Within a few hours we were at the foot of the intimidating fixed lines. The slope angle goes up in a hurry at that point, and looking at this incline for several days from 14K can psyche one out. Best to come to terms with the fixed section of the climb and to gain confidence on it, which was what we did today. We topped the ropes and made our cache at 16,200 feet in calm and sunny conditions. People were heard to say "This is pretty cool" in English, German and Russian. The confidence building continued as we dropped back down to 14 camp without difficulty. We own the place now as the other groups made their move to 17 camp. We all got a good look from above at a hundred empty tent snow walls, impressing us with how "crowded" this important camp can be in mid-season and how delightfully uncrowded it is now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
It snowed through the night and into the morning here at 14,200 ft. Not heavily, and there wasn't much wind finding our camp, so it wasn't like it was an awful or epic storm. But it was enough of a storm to keep us from going climbing today. We caught the odd view of the mountainside through occasional cloud breaks in the morning and saw dramatic avalanche scars in the Messner Couloir and Orient Express that matched the rumbling we'd heard. After a long breakfast, we turned the day into a rest day to shore up our acclimatization. By evening, the clouds were breaking up and it seemed that weather was improving again. We'll try again tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
July 6, 2014 - 10:18 pm PT
Today, our first day at 14K, wasn't very difficult. We got up just slightly ahead of the sun, which made it past Denali's West Rib at 9:20 AM. We had a big breakfast and then geared up to go rescue our cache from the ravens. It only took a few minutes to walk down to 13,500 feet. And then a bit longer to dig up our food and gear -which, thankfully, hadn't been attacked by birds. Then it was just about an hour in the hot sun to get back to camp. We had a short training session in the afternoon to review techniques that we'll employ on the fixed rope section between 15,000 and 16,000 feet. And around dinner time, we were happy to welcome Adam Knoff's victorious team back into 14 camp. They drank water and repacked while telling us stories of the upper mountain. Then they eased out of camp on their way to 11K while we dined, chatted, and headed for bed. The sky has clouded up again and light snow is falling, but we'll hope that tomorrow's weather stays good enough for us to carry up to 16K.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Wishing you all a very successful and safe journey to the summit!
You guys are an inspiration!
Posted by: Ahin Handa on 7/7/2014 at 12:21 pm
Hello Denali-Team!
Thank you for your reports, I read every day. So I can take part a little bit in your expedition. Really I haven´t seen so much snow before, even not on pictures.
Furthermore I wish you sunny weather and a good time for all of you! Stay healthy and in good condition!
Ute
July 5, 2014 - 10:18 pm PT
We gladly used another perfect day to move up from 11,000 to 14,000 ft. We managed to get as far as Windy Corner enjoying cool, morning conditions, but there is no way to sugarcoat the walking weather for the final ninety minutes into camp, the sun was intense, the air was still and the climbers were plain old hot. That said, it was tough for anybody to complain too much at the combination of great weather and sweet route conditions. We've kept our streak alive, nine days and half a mountain without having to step over an open crevasse. All were interested and a touch apprehensive to see a raven hopping around our 13,500 ft cache as we approached. He or she hadn't had any luck in getting to this one though, and we took a moment to pack down the five foot deep snow covering the buried treasure -one more time. We'll retrieve that food and gear tomorrow if all goes well.
It was fun "catching up" to the other climbing teams at 14K, although we haven't really as they are a day or two ahead of us now and are closer to moving up than we are. Also great to follow the progress of the only other RMI team on the mountain via radio today as Adam Knoff and crew hit the jackpot for stable weather for a summit bid.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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We are cheering for you all and keeping the faith for good weather! Stay warm, stay positive and see you soon!
Posted by: Sarah Jayne on 7/15/2014 at 9:15 am
Another snow day!! Look forward to summit report tomorrow.
Posted by: Mary on 7/15/2014 at 3:50 am
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