Entries By ben ammon
Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - 5:32 PM PT
We'd already sent in the dispatch yesterday and then skies cleared up and we enjoyed a sunny evening. Today however, we woke to grey skies up above and clouds pouring over
Kahiltna Pass. The teams in camp all got a slow roll to see who would break trail up Motorcycle Hill. This led to a bottleneck and a slow pace. After an hour the clouds had descended and snow was blowing. Our goal today was a cache around Windy Corner, but due to the volume of climbers, new snow and low visibility we opted for a 12,500' cache. We are back at Camp at 11,000' hoping to get a chance to move up to 14,000' Camp in the next few days.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Monday, June 11, 2018 - 5:35 PM PT
Not much to report from
11,000' Camp. Today we woke to snow, after breakfast we were shoveling snow and about every two hours since there has been more snow to shovel. The one caveat is that the wind is light. The Team has been working on "out chilling the storm" as a long time RMI guide once put it. We are hopeful that the weather begins clearing tomorrow so we can put a cache in striking distance of 14 Camp. Everyone is healthy and warm.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Sunday, June 10, 2018 - 3:08 pm PT
Clouds and snow moved in last night just prior to dinner. We had the chance to see our 2 RMI Teams who had been on the summit Friday and get some route info. The snow continued through out the night with minimal accumulation. When we woke, there were faint views of the surrounding peaks and ridges. After breakfast we roped up and walked down to our cache at 9700' and dug up our food and supplies. There has been a low pressure system moving in from the North and being near the demarcation line was quite stunning. As we turned the corner onto the
Kahiltna Glacier, we could see clouds rolling over Kahiltna Pass and Kahiltna Dome while the view South was blue skies and calm weather. Soon we were engulfed in the clouds and light snow for the walk back to 11,000' Camp. Now we are back in our tents listening to snow fall and enjoying the warmth of the sun trying to cook through the clouds. The Team is doing well, we are hopeful that the winds stay calm so we can carry around Windy Corner or even into Fourteen Camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Saturday, June 9, 2018 - 5:36 PM PT
Day 4 had us up early and breaking down camp. The surrounding area at 2:30 AM with no wind seems like it's perpetually 9:00 PM. We hauled our camp and personal gear to
11,000' Camp over 6.5 hours and the team did great. Some people have sore feet and some have sore hips, those real pressure points a constant reminder of what it's like to do hard work in the mountains.
Our new camp is nestled in a basin that is surrounded by large glacial features and the backdrop is Motorcycle Hill and the Father and Sons Wall. Tomorrow we will go back to 9,700' to retrieve our cached food and fuel and then rest the remainder of the day.
Weather continues to be great and the forecast inaccurate so when they forecast a clear day we'll probably be battening down the hatches. Until then I am hoping for a forecast of snow that never a arrives and winds that don't materialize. So much in life we can't control, this team is doing a great job of focusing on the things they can control.
That's all from 11,000' on Denali.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Friday, June 8, 2018 - 3:15 PM PT
The clouds cleared after dinner last night with expansive views of the lower Kahiltna Glacier. We were able to see the descending RMI Group after their successful summit and glean some route info. With the surrounding peaks providing the backdrop, we set off at 5:30 AM for 9700' on the glacier. The route ascends
Ski Hill, think fun blue run at a resort. Our goal was to cache food and fuel to make the move to Camp 2 lighter. We took a lot of breaks to take pictures and not over do it after yesterday's heavy day.
We are all back in camp at 7800' drying our boots and enjoying the heat on the tents. The plan is to eat, sleep then move to 11,200' tomorrow. We'll take advantage of the cooler temps and leave before 5 AM. The route is in incredible shape with lots of snow and a well traveled route. The climb doesn't get easier but these first 5 days of getting in position to climb above 11,200' are tough on the hips, feet and shoulders. Still keeping our fingers crossed while we listen to bush planes fly overhead.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
We all turned in early last night with an anticipated 2 AM wake up call. The guides woke at 2 only to see snow, wet tents and zero visibility. Ear plugs back in and snooze until 4:30 AM. The clouds had thinned out, snow was drier and still falling but the saving grace was we could see the lower skies of Mt Francis and the airstrip markers.
The Team got ready to go after a quick breakfast and hot drink. The walk down heartbreak hill with big sleds and breaking trail through new snow went surprisingly well. No one broke down and asked to return to Talkeetna so we walked into the thick clouds, think if you were trapped inside of a ping pong ball. There was a faint trail from the teams who arrived late in the night and all of a sudden there was nothing. We plodded through the snow and up the main fork of the Kahiltna Glacier navigating by GPS and the occasional bamboo pole that is placed for just these conditions.
Wet snow was falling but not a trace of wind. Sweaty with sore hips we rolled into camp as the cloud bank lifted just enough to see camp at the base of
Ski Hill. We are all tucked in our tents and resting up for our carry day to 9600' tomorrow. Our hope is to travel early when the temperatures are cooler and place our cache of food and fuel. Everyone is dry, warm and re-hydrating after a tough day. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Tuesday, June 5, 2018 - 7:21 PM PT
This is Mike checking in from Talkeetna, Alaska. The Team arrived with all bags in tow and in high spirits. We spent the day packing and sorting our gear and food that we’ll depend on for the next three weeks. The weather is beautiful here in town and with an estimated 100 climbers heading towards the summit of Denali today. We hope the pattern holds so we can fly in tomorrow morning.
There are some itchy feet and anxious minds amongst our group, which is to be expected. They have been training and dreaming of this expedition for a long time now. There is nothing like getting into the Alaska Range on a ski plane and letting all of life’s little pressure points disappear.
The trade off is that when we drop out of society, we loose the convenience of that part of our lives. We will be hauling 22 days of food, fuel and equipment (100+ pounds per person) up the
Kahiltna Glacier causing very real pressure points. We will be checking in each day and keeping our fingers crossed for sunshine and light winds.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Mike King, JT Schmitt and Ben Ammon
The Four Day Summit Climb June 23 - 26, 2017 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning with cold temperatures and slight winds. RMI Guide Tyler Jones and team were on their descent by 7:15 am and returning to Camp Muir. The team will take a short break to eat and re-pack before continuing their descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb team!
RMI Guide Ben Liken and the Four Day Summit Climb team June 17 - 21, 2017 made their summit attempt of Mt. Rainier this morning but were forced to turn around at 13,800' due to high winds and icy conditions. The team is making their way back to Camp Muir where they will take a short break and re-pack their gear before continuing their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
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Just guessing this is where I find Lindsay J and Matt F. (Didn’t get Team info, so taking a guess). Guess you two will be dusting off those snow shoveling skills! No more dragging tires in 100 degrees…now it gets REAL! Enjoy every minute.
Posted by: Ellen Mader on 6/13/2018 at 5:11 am
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