Entries By daniel may

Sunday, June 14th - 11:15PM PST
Greetings from team DDM at 14k! We started our morning with some high winds that almost flattened our cook tent. Once we reset our anchors, we enjoyed a nice rest day full of naps and snacks. Thank you to Seth and Jackson for leaving all of their cookies for us to enjoy. Our dear climber Zack sang us a song about camp DDM at 14k to the tune of Pink Pony Club. We will enjoy another rest day tomorrow full of more snacks, prep for our move to 17k, and more singing.

Cheers!
-RMI Gudie Mac

6/13 1. Guest dispatcher Zach checking in with the DDM team here at 14k camp.

The day began with another cold morning easily battled by bellies filled of hot beverages and CTC (Cinnamon Toast Crunch). The team looked incredibly strong and efficient today as we made an acclimatization push up the fixed lines. 

The entire way up was gifted with incredibly clear views in every direction. Once at the ridgeline we got out first glimpse of the entire northern side of the range and beyond into the endless expanse of Alaskan tundra. From there we made our way back down to camp for a relaxing afternoon just as a storm closed in behind us. The afternoon was a combined mix of snow and sunshine making for a wonderful ambiance.

The status que around the team is consistently being upheld as the world's best #1 rope team continues to stealthily slide under the radar and avoid demerits. Team Erik and the Squatters aka the New Mexico Allstars continue to excel at every aspect of Denali life- something all of us common folk can only dream to achieve.

Finally Team Hoarding Marmots including yours truly, continue to evolve our domicile. What began as the chateau marmot, then the fortress of demerits and finally the marmot chalet has again evolved through the course of the trek. The warm, sunny afternoons have turned the tents into a sauna like relaxation pods and with the addition of hours of spa music on loop the Marmot Spa has opened for business... until the speaker dies. While actively attempting to bribe our wonderful guides to help add the finishing touch to the Marmot Spa by providing facial massages, they have respectfully turned us down citing a lack of fresh cucumber slices and thawed facial cream.

Tomorrow is another scheduled rest day just in time for the next storm system to flow through. After that we wait for the next 3 day weather window to begin our summit push

Mia and Beckett, I hope you get to experience places like this when you get a bit older. Hi mom! 

Hoarding marmot,  

Signing out

- RMI Climber Zack

Friday, June 12th - 11:30PM PST

Sorry forgot to post yesterdays dispatch. Here is today’s:

The team had a good active rest day today. After sleeping in, we enjoyed a good hot breakfast. We then hiked over to the edge of the world to enjoy the beautiful vista, and to get our legs good and warmed up for tomorrow. This afternoon, we practiced rope skills for tomorrow's anticipated acclimatization trip up the fixed lines. With bellies full from dinner, we are ready for another good night of sleep at 14,000 feet. 

- RMI Climber Paxton
Junior Assistant Dispatcher (In training)
 

Wed 6/10/2026 11:09 PM PST

Hot, heavy, and beautiful describes our day today. We awoke with the sun, broke down camp, and began our journey to move our home to 14k camp. The team arrived in style and had a full dinner of burritos. We are going to bed, happy, full and ready to enjoy some beach days in this beautiful place!

- RMI Guide Dan May & Team
 

Wednesday, June 10, 2026 - 12:07 am PT

Another lovely day of near perfect weather. We awoke to cold temps and clear skies with our sights set on caching just below 14,000' Camp 

After a long day in the sun, we made it back to camp just in time to lounge and view the splendors of 11,000' Camp before our move tomorrow!

RMI Guides Dan May, Drew O’Brien, Mac Nolde and the team

Monday, June 8, 2026 - 10:26 pm PT

Today was a well earned rest day. So far the mountain has allowed us to stay right on schedule. Lucky enough to enjoy some beautiful days of easy weather. Today was spent lounging around camp, practicing our crampon-ing skills and building our fortress of solitude. Stay tuned as we look forward to moving higher up the mountain tomorrow!

RMI Guide Dan May

Sun 6/7/2026 - 10:58 PM PST

Today’s haiku:

Heat panic in tent
White out on the back carry
Rest day tomorrow

- RMI Climbing Team

Saturday, June 6th - 8PM PST

Late last night, the guide team received news of the passing of an NPS ranger in a tragic accident. The morning greeted us with crystal clear skies, sunshine and the mountain shining and glowing extra special. The day was spent reflecting and remembering the fallen Ranger. A mountain guide, Ski patroller, Nurse, and Denali NPS pro Ranger, she dedicated her life to selflessly serving others in the front country and in some of then most austere environments. She will be missed and celebrated. Also in our thoughts today are the RMI guides currently on NPS volunteer ranger patrols, all previous volunteers, the Pro rangers and pilots. These folks give their time, effort, and sometimes lives to make Denali the special and life changing place that it is.

The team had smooth move day to 11 camp.  We dug in Camp deep in anticipation of a short storm. Now at 11 we are looking forward to starting the acclimatization process and setting ourselves up to move further up the mountain.

-RMI Guide Team

Friday, June 5th - 6PM PST

Greetings!

We had a successful day caching at 10000’ and getting ready to move to 11 camp tomorrow. The guides have taken to the Zeppathon, listening to all of Led Zeppelin’s albums and discussing their favorites. Led Zeppelin IV seems to be a favorite. The climbers are doing great and had so much fun helping their guides dig the cache (they offered). Conversations amongst the clients have ranged from ‘how many siblings do you have’ to ‘what is your spirit vegetable?’ One of the our climbers noted what great posture one of our female guides on the trip has. Spirits are high and the sun is hot. Dinner tonight is burritos with more discussions of getting to know each other. The topic tonight is biggest regrets in life.

Cheers!

-RMI Guide Mac (with the good posture)

Friday, June 5th - 12:15AM PST

Guest dispatcher Joe reporting in from Denali.

The DDM Expedition (Daniel/Drew/Mac) departed Talkeetna this morning in good order. Blue skies and calm  air made for an easy flight for our daredevil K2 Aviation bush pilots so everyone enjoyed a little extra sightseeing swooping through the peaks along with a couple barrel rolls just for a little spice. Deposited safely on Kahiltna Glacier early, the group repacked yet again for foot travel and proceeded directly to Skill Hill Camp. The exceptional weather persisted throughout the day, with just a few chill winds interleaved with atypically hot sections. Arriving with plenty of energy, the team stomped out a camp area and got down to the real business of the day: Mac's Mac & Cheese.

On a more tragic note though, departing Talkeetna also meant departing Zach's lunch meats and cheeses abandoned in the hangar fridge. Although he'll survive just fine having apparently packed at least 50lbs of other snacks, this was an emotional blow for his and your reporter's Rope Team Hoarding Marmots, and honestly an affront to our venerable mascots. Tomoki also left a few things in that refrigerator but him and his companions Chris and Paxton on Rope Team World Best #1 Rope Team weren't as loud about it so our guides still don't know and they villainously avoided their fair share of judgement and demerits.

Meanwhile under Sarah's strong leadership and Erik's silent execution, Rope Team Erik and the Squatters continues to be all Rope Team We're So Perfect We Show Up Two Minutes Before Every Meetup And Had All the Gear We Were Supposed To Have And Didn't Leave Anything In The Refrigerator. Some people your faithful chronicler just doesn't understand. Tomorrow the expedition will make an outing to cache supplies and gear uphill in preparation for a hoped-for move to 11 Camp ahead of an expected downturn in the weather.

-RMI Climber Joe