Entries By Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Mike King, Zeb Blais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Thursday, July 11, 2013
We couldn't have asked for a much nicer day, but we'd have loved to have used it differently. It was clear and sunny from start to finish at 14,200' ft, just as we'd hoped it might be to settle the slopes above us. But I'm sure every climber on the team would rather have used such sparkling and fine weather to climb, rather than for waiting to climb. It was a bit of a tough day for the team as we had two climbers descend with Mike King, bound for base and Talkeetna. Their problems, a head-cold and a sore foot, were relatively minor, but 14,200' is not the best place for such issues to resolve and we had a golden chance to team Mike up with a descending team led by guides we know and trust. But we are sorry to not finish the entire climb together. It has been a great team. We can't say for sure that we ourselves won't be headed down in a day or two, but we cling to a slim chance for getting to the summit. Zeb and I went on a short recon mission on the suspect slopes and found things better than we'd expected. Good enough that we will make an attempt on 17 camp in the morning if the weather cooperates. We are still getting reports from those at 17,000' that the route to Denali Pass (18,300 ft) is presumed to be avalanche prone and impassable at present, but we'll just try to solve one set of problems at a time.
The National Park Service rangers at 14,000' used the fine day to remove their seasonal base. A B3 helicopter flew laps for several hours to get the gear and personnel down. Camp -and the mountain in general- is getting very quiet as we near the end of the climbing season.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Last night's snow shower turned into the "heavy fall of snow" that we've been promised on a daily basis by our forecasts these last ten days. It snowed, it snowed and then it snowed some more here at 14,200 ft. We estimated that it was coming down at a rate of 3 inches per hour. Zeb got out at three to rally a shovel brigade in retaking the camp from the tent-bending powder deluge. We could hear great avalanches roaring repeatedly down the steep and icy flanks of the West Buttress. It didn't ease until around nine in the morning, by which point we figured about 24 inches had fallen overnight. Needless to say, today was not a climbing day for us. The wind was still pulling huge streamers of snow off the route we'd hoped to trace along the crest of the Buttress. And the slopes leading to the ridge were now all suspect in terms of snow stability. So much snow falling so quickly doesn't give the stuff a chance to settle. One of the ways it settles on a mountainside is to avalanche. There was plenty of visual evidence (when the clouds parted for a minute here and there) that a number of avalanches had already occurred on the route to the fixed ropes, but there were also still vast stretches of undisturbed deep new snow. We needed a hot and sunny day to glue things in place and to make it all safe again. But you can't always get what you need. Our day was mostly cloudy with light snow showers. Zebulon gave a great lesson in basic snow science, demonstrating how to identify weak layers in the snow pack, how to compare the hardness of those layers, and in how to conduct a "compression test" on an isolated column of snow in a study pit. Our climbers then dug their own pits and made their own observations as a way of understanding our challenge in these next few days. We need to figure out the level of hazard that exists on the slopes above us without exposing ourselves to that very hazard. And we don't have much time to do it in. We only have a couple more days of food available. Our greater cache of food is now the one sitting above the suspect slopes... In perfect position for our summit bid, but out of our reach until we determine that the avalanche hazard has diminished. Lots to figure out on Denali. We aren't alone though. The other teams, mostly at 17 camp have similar dilemmas What we all need, first and foremost, is a break from continued bad weather. As is normal, we need a little good luck. Despite the challenges, the team is still in good spirits. Today, we went over the blog comments together. We can't surf the web with our setup, but the RMI office was kind enough to cut and paste the comments into an email for us. Thanks, from the entire team, for keeping us in your thoughts.
Best Regards
Dave Hahn
On The Map
nice pic! brrrrrr!
Posted by: michelle on 7/12/2013 at 3:10 pm
Happy Birthday Mike! Here with Abby at the bakery wanting to make you a cake! Stay safe…enjoy the summit cuz ya know its up there!
Wendy
Posted by: Wendy on 7/12/2013 at 8:03 am
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Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Not too much to report on our scheduled rest day at 14,200' on Mt. McKinley. It was calm and sunny, despite the persistent storm forecasts, but it did seem to be getting progressively more cloudy as the day went on and it started snowing at a good clip while we ate dinner in our cozy POSH tent. The team did an excellent job of taking it easy today. We caught up on hydration and sleep, rested sore muscles and dried out boots and socks. We pared down the personal gadgetry and entertainment systems for the hard move up to 17,200' and tried to figure out any clothing or gear that would not be useful up above.
The number of teams around or above us has been steadily diminishing and as is normal for this point in July, the National Park Service climbing rangers have been packing up their seasonal station at 14 and getting loads ready for helicoptering. It has been fun visiting with the other teams, but it is also quite enjoyable to have the mountain in its natural state -quiet and uncrowded.
If it doesn't snow too much tonight and we get a decent shot tomorrow, we'll move to high camp.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Scott’s family - We have closely been following your climb. Praying all of you have a wonderful, successful, and safe climb and summit.
Posted by: Michelle Adaska on 7/11/2013 at 7:07 am
Tell macca (Sean) that we miss him, especially Archie. Go hard haradinko!
Posted by: Gem and Luke on 7/11/2013 at 5:05 am
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Monday, July 8, 2013
One of our better weather days of the trip. That said, it is snowing good and hard now at our 14,200 ft camp, but that isn't so important (yet). It was clear and calm this morning when we were interested in starting our carry up onto the West Buttress of Denali. By far, this was our coldest morning. We were guessing it was -10F or thereabouts. We started climbing at a quarter to 10 this morning in bright sunshine. The route goes uphill in a hurry out of 14 camp and we made steady progress toward the "fixed ropes". This steep and intimidating section of the climb was tough, as expected. Hard ice, 45 degree angles, unrelentingly uphill and airy feeling... but it was also spectacular when one was able to look up from the hard work for a moment to see the lower Kahiltna Glacier or Foraker across the way or the clean granite of Denali all around us. We reached the ridge crest (16,200 ft) at 2 PM and took a welcome break, gazing down at the Peters Glacier and the Northwest Buttress on the "other" side of our perch. Thus we broke Max's altitude record, which was momentous. But his was the only one to fall as our other climbers had previously topped mountains like Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua. All noted that 16,200 on Denali felt a little different than similar heights on other mountains. We cached our supplies and descended in gathering cloud and murk. We'd reached 14 camp by 4:30 and took a few hours to kick back and drink water before dinner. Tomorrow is a rest day, and a welcome one after four hard days of moving and acclimating to uncomfortable new altitudes.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Way to go guys! Sounds like conquering the headwall is an accomplishment all in itself. Something to celebrate in the POSH with your melted ice cocktails!!
Enjoy your very much deserved rest day, saving some energy and positive mental fortitude for the next leg.
Thanks Dave for describing the day so vividly!
Posted by: judychristofferson on 7/9/2013 at 11:08 am
Wow, Max! We are so impressed. Take care, climb safely and we are praying for good weather. Love, Grandma & Grandpa
Posted by: Bill & Caryl Reese on 7/9/2013 at 9:18 am
This morning was the first in a while that we weren't getting up early, desperate for conditions to be favorable. We got the stoves started around nine, which sounds late and lazy, except in these parts, the sun doesn't get around the mountain until 9:30. It was socked in and cloudy for our breakfast, and then snowing again, but without any wind. We were set to do our "back carry" -dropping down to pick up our cache from the other day, but we'd also been in touch with Pete VanDeventer and knew his team was descending and would pop out of the clouds any minute. It made sense to greet his gang and to exchange notes at 14,200 before going to get our carry done. It was fun to see their team, flush with success and excited to nearly be done with their climb. In the early afternoon, although it was still snowing, we set off into the murk to find our 13,600 ft cache. The cache was undisturbed, which was a relief. Guess we'd buried it all too deeply for the Ravens. It took just over an hour to make it back up to camp with the cargo. People retreated to their tents for a snooze while a few of us built a new kitchen-dining complex. The clouds began to drop and the sun got shining brightly for dinner and the few remaining hours of the day -it ducks behind the West Buttress at 9 PM and the temperature seems to drop about fifty degrees in a few minutes at that point. But we were treated to great views of Mounts Foraker and Hunter sticking out from the solid base of clouds spread below us. The forecasts still call for snow, but luckily they aren't always right in just how much snow we'll get and at which elevation it will fall. A calm day tomorrow for our carry to 16,200 ft would be greatly appreciated.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
thank you for diligently posting on your team’s progress. best of luck on your summit bid, and hoping for your safe descent.
Posted by: michelle on 7/9/2013 at 11:10 am
Good luck. Great reading about your progress.
Rachael
ABQ Uptown 985/NM/CO
Posted by: Rachael C. Lujan on 7/8/2013 at 2:47 pm
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Saturday, July 6, 2013
14 K at last! But we had to fight our way up here, it didn't come easy.
Back down at 11,000 ft in the early hours of the day, it looked as though we might get decent weather. At least, if one was looking up at the West Buttress, there was good visibility and not much sign of wind, if one turned and looked West, however, there was still a massive flow of cloud, as there had been all week, often overflowing and engulfing camp.
We ate breakfast and packed, it seemed especially difficult to get going after having become so deeply dug in for the best part of a week, but we managed. Naturally, as we roped up and and got ready to walk, the clouds swept in and the wind came up. We came full on into strong, steady winds as we topped motorcycle hill and it seemed we found even stronger winds at the crest of squirrel hill. All of this was while inside a big white freezing cloud, so we were getting rimed up and frosty as we leaned straight into the storm to climb higher. On the polo field, we still had wind but we were getting occasional sun breaks. Windy Corner lived up to its name today. Getting past it was the key battle of the day, but we knew if we could pass the corner we could leave the wind and cloud behind. Sure enough, as we reached our cache from yesterday, we'd found a calm and sunny glacier. It took another ninety minutes to get into "Genet Basin" which we reached at 3:30 PM. We were happy to rejoin the teams we'd shared 11 camp with. There were plenty of empty camp sites with good walls, so building our nest at 14,200 ft was made slightly easier. The team was a little weary after pushing through such harsh conditions, but all were excited to be back in the game, to have new and awesome views and to have beat the forecasted "next storm". Yes, that is right, we are in for another one. The western sky was full of wind sculpted wave clouds, as if a fleet of flying saucers were attacking Mount Foraker. By the time we finished dinner, Denali was cloud capped as well and the snow was starting to fall at 14,200.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Yea, ravens at 13,000 ft?!? Those must be some bad ass ravens
Posted by: Fred on 7/7/2013 at 5:54 pm
Erik Nelson’s uncle and aunt here, following the journey eagerly. Proud, Praying, Positive! The Mariners’ Cove crabbing operation has been fun and successful. Hoping the same for your adventure, Erik and team.
Posted by: Jay and Carol Sigafoos on 7/7/2013 at 2:31 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Zeb Blais, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
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Friday, July 5th, 2013 10:57 p.m. PST
Finally a break in the weather. Things calmed down during the night and the upper layer of clouds began to dissipate. As we watched for an hour or two beginning at 5 AM, the weather went back and forth for a while, but once we committed to getting the team up and getting going, it all began to go our way. We dealt with slightly cooler temperatures and steady breezes as we left camp at 9 AM for our carry, but we had big blue skies overhead which was great for everybody's morale. Snow conditions were perfect for walking, which was a little surprising after so many days of falling snow. It seems that it had been such a long dry spell previously, that the surface had gotten firm from wind and sun. When new snow landed on that surface, it just blew clean. At any rate, it was perfect for our crampons today. We got up Motorcycle Hill and halfway up Squirrel Hill in the first hour, which entitled us to enjoy grand views of The Northwest Buttress and the Peter's Glacier. The second hour took us into the "Polo Field" as folks now call the basin which the end of the West Buttress towers over. We moved through this area without much visibility as another cloud had found us. By the time we reached Windy Corner, we were walking out of the cloud and getting big views again. Windy Corner has been a concern for several weeks now as the June heat wave had produced a rockfall hazard in the area. But there had to be some benefit to the storm that was keeping us down, it froze things up nicely above the corner and our passage was fast and safe. We cached food and fuel at 13,600', just past the corner. It had taken four and a half hours to reach our destination. We buried things deep to thwart the cache robbing ravens, and then began an easy descent with light packs. By 3:45, we were back in camp, basking in sunshine. There is still plenty of cloud around, but for the moment it is below us. We hope it stays that way as we want to move to 14,200' tomorrow. All were excited and energized to finally see beyond the corner. Denali's South Peak was no longer far away or on some horizon, it was front and center... and gigantic.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Dave and Team-
Good to hear that you are finally able to move. I arrived in Moscow yesterday with Casey Grom and teamates. We fly up to the Elbrus area tomorrow morning.
-Larry Seaton
Posted by: Larry Seaton on 7/6/2013 at 9:49 pm
Dear Will and team: Glad that you can finally get on the move again, and that it was a good weather for the most part. Heard from Amy yesterday, and she relayed the news. Your Dad says hi, and sends his love. Hope today brings another day of good climbing.
Posted by: Vicki on 7/6/2013 at 10:30 am
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Groundhog Day at 11,000 ft on Mt. McKinley. Another storm day from start to finish. Moderate winds, light but steady snow falling, poor visibility. Our POSH tent is a well dug-in fortress; essentially a covered pit in which we've cut benches for people and shelves for stoves. It provided excellent shelter today. Obviously, we drag out the meals for several hours, eating and talking and talking some more so as to avoid going back into our sleeping tents too soon and for too long. We each put in a few sessions of digging out the tents during the day, which is good for the tents, but also for our muscles and our brains. In late afternoon, the team assembled for a lesson in how we'll climb the "fixed ropes" section of the route between 15,000 and 16,000 ft. Then it was time for dinner, more talking in the POSH, and finally bed once again.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Awesome news! We heard from Anders by Satellite phone that the weather broke and the guys were able to climb up past Windy Corner to cache some gear yesterday (July 5th) around 13K. Then they descended back to sleep at their now very familiar Camp three. Just posting this so other families get the news in case you don’t get to update the RMI blog soon. We were thrilled to hear you guys were able to do some climbing and make some progress! We look forward to reading Dave Hahn’s recap of the day, and hope you get another lucky weather break.
Posted by: judy christofferson on 7/6/2013 at 7:15 am
OK, enough already with the snow! Surely you guys have suffered enough and have earned a chance to get up that big hill! We are doing weather dances here on a frequent basis and hope that your weather fortunes soon improve.
Be sure to have Anders tell you about his love of penguins!
Posted by: Randy Christofferson on 7/5/2013 at 2:09 pm
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
We hear that there was better weather in other places on Denali today, but not so much here at 11,000 ft. Different day, same weather. It was snow, blowing snow, cloud and blowing cloud. We made good use of an afternoon sun break to put on harnesses and crampons and go for a short walk on the lower half of "motorcycle hill" which is just above camp. It was a nice opportunity to stretch legs and review climbing techniques as well as a chance to see some cool blue crevasses. After a fine Mexican dinner, we chatted to pass the time and listened to radio traffic from around the mountain. It seems that we might have slightly better weather for a few days, at least according to our radio. We'll be ready to take advantage. There are four other guided parties waiting things out with us at 11 K and I'm certain they are ready to get moving again as well.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Glad you guys stopped lazing around in your tents and got out to get some exercise!! : ) The Christofferson family sends our love to Anders and Happy Fourth of July to you all from the Jersey Shore. Wish we could send up some of our burgers and corn on the cob!
Post Hurricane Sandy motto of the NJ Shore is “We are Stronger than the Storm” You guys are too!
Posted by: judy christofferson on 7/4/2013 at 12:00 pm
Happy 4th of July everyone!!! Hugs and kisses Will :)
Posted by: Amy Huson on 7/4/2013 at 9:51 am
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
There was some reason for optimism at 6 this morning when snow stopped falling and we were granted a view of some blue sky and the upper mountain. The guides got up and out to brew a cup of coffee and to watch the skies. It was considerably colder at 11,000 ft this morning, down to about what should be "normal" for this place. We watched clouds build up again and eventually we found ourselves in another snowstorm before we could even call the gang to breakfast. Mike King taught a well-attended seminar on knots and hitches in the main dining tent for a good chunk of the morning. Some lounged the day away in the POSH while others returned to their own tents to clear the snow and read/sleep/zone-out. Our afternoon was brightened when our good friends Tyler Jones and Laura Rogers, of RMI and Whittaker Mountaineering respectively came skiing down out of the storm. They are up to play and were just successful a few days back in climbing Denali's North Peak. They regaled us with all of the news of the other teams around the mountain and a pretty comprehensive wrap up of the entire season in the range. Eventually, they moved down into the clouds to get a little closer to Basecamp and we moved back into our POSH tent for dinner and a final round of stimulating conversation before bed. We remain optimistic that the snow will quit and the clouds will flee.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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take great care! good luck!
Posted by: michelle on 7/12/2013 at 3:16 pm
Good luck and be safe.
Rachael
ABQ Uptown 985 NM/CO
Posted by: Rachael C. Lujan on 7/12/2013 at 9:59 am
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