Entries By dustin wittmier

Saturday, June 8, 2019 - 7:39 PM PT

Guess who’s back? We are. We’re back at High Camp. A place I never really thought I would find myself twice over the course of one Denali trip. The Precision Strike Summit Team (PSST) made quick work of the move back up here. We are a well oiled machine by now. Other teams yell various commands when passing anchors on the fixed lines: “stop!” “go!” “climbing!” “what?” “did you say go?” “huh?!” We climb in silence now, like panthers, sure of each others actions without having to verbalize them. We made it to 17,000’ Camp and moved right back in to our old tent platforms, so that made things efficient. We’re currently all chilling out in the tents, rehydrating, and waiting for dinner. The views are great, but we’ve already spent four days looking at them, so nobody is terribly preoccupied at this point. Here’s hoping tomorrow is another calm, clear day.

RMI Guide JM Gorum

On The Map

At high camp, I had a dream about eating cheesy hash browns and eggs. This morning, that dream became a reality. We ate breakfast burritos, lunch burritos, and dinner burritos. We lived a life of luxury that was not possible at 17,000 feet.

We also came up with a plan for the coming days.Tomorrow, half the group will walk out towards base camp and a flight towards Talkeetna. The rest of us will stay here at 14 just in case we have a summit window within the next few days. The forecast is calling for light winds this weekend, which has us hopeful. Regardless of what happens, we will certainly be eating more burritos.

RMI Guide JM Gorum and Team

Thursday, June 6, 2019 11:56 PM PT

We woke up this morning and looked uphill at the summit again. We watched as winds increased up high. We watched a few teams leave camp and turn around before Denali pass. We looked at our dwindling food. We looked at our rapidly filling poop cans. When we added it all up, we decided that it was time to leave high camp. Four nights at 17,000 feet can seem like an icy eternity, but the team actually managed it quite well. There was nothing in the forecast that made us want to stay any longer, so we left. We’re back at 14 camp now, which seems like a beach resort in comparison. Some folks have decided they have had their fill, and some want to sit it out for a few more days, potentially trying again. Tomorrow we will flesh out our options and make a plan. For now, we are excited for the best nights sleep we’ve had in a while. We’re excited to eat something other than freeze dried food. We’re excited to be able to wear fewer than three jackets to bed.

RMI Guide JM Gorum & Team

Wednesday, June 5, 2019 - 4:43 PM PT

Well, if it’s not one thing it’s another. The wind finally died down for us, and we had a beautiful start to our summit attempt. As we neared Denali pass and the top of the Autobahn, thunder started rumbling in the distance. In a matter of minutes we were underneath the leading edge of a 30,000 foot anvil. We tucked tail and ran back to camp, threading through climbers intent on continuing uphill. We can deal with cold, snow, and wind, but the only cure I know for lightning is distance. All in all it was a good day, considering we are all still healthy and happy. We’re going to regroup this afternoon, consider the forecast, and come up with a plan for the next few days.

RMI Guide JM Gorum

On The Map

Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - 6:16 PM PT

Last night was probably the least comfortable night of the trip. We had strong gusts throughout the night that rattled our tents, and kept us all far from sleep. We spent the morning hiding from the cold and sipping on hot drinks. The winds were too high to make a summit attempt. Eventually things calmed down, and we ventured forth into the world. It has turned into quite a nice day up here, with winds near the summit diminishing as well. We’ve had some amazing views looking down at our previous camps and the Kahiltna glacier winding out of sight. The forecast looks promising for tomorrow. Once again, we’ll wake up in the morning and see what the mountain gives us.

RMI Guide JM Gorum

On The Map

Monday, June 3, 2019 - 5:49 PM PT

When we poked our heads out of the tent this morning, we hoped to see sunny, calm skies beckoning us to climb this mountain. It was definitely sunny, but winds up high were blowing snow into the stratosphere. As much as we hoped to climb today, it was an easy decision to stay put here at 17 Camp. We slept in, reinforced our camp with some big snow walls, told some jokes, and talked about the beach. Fortunately it hasn’t been too windy here in camp. We’ve been able to get out and stretch our legs from time to time, inspect other camps for architectural inspiration, and chat with the neighbors. We can see the tundra from up here, the only green in sight, 15,000 feet below us. We’ll do an early dinner again, and get organized in hopes of climbing tomorrow. At this point it all just depends on what the winds do.

RMI Guide JM Gorum

Sunday, June 2, 2019 - 11:10 PM PT

We moved up to 17 Camp today. In my opinion, this is the second hardest day of the trip, but everyone handled it with style and grace. We had a perfect day moving up the West Buttress, with light winds and spectacular views. We’re all straight chillin in our tents now, eating dinner and snacks. The sun hits this camp until past our bedtime, which keeps us warm for the first few hours of sleep. We’re hoping to try for the summit tomorrow if weather allows, so we’re turning in early. We’ll let you know how we’re doing tomorrow.

RMI Guide JM Gorum

On The Map

Not much going on at 14,000’ Camp today. We ate a late breakfast, and have been watching it snow all day. It’s pretty easy to take a rest day when the weather doesn’t permit much else. Folks have been alternating between reading, napping, and guessing what’s going on in the real world. At this point, with our cache up high, we’ve done all that we can do to prepare to summit this mountain. Now we just rest, recuperate, and wait for good weather. If the forecast holds, we might not have to wait very long, but we will see.

We’ll check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide JM Gorum

On The Map

Friday, May 31, 2019 7:58 PM PT

Today we woke to relatively warm temperatures and light snow. As we looked up to the ridge of the West Buttress there didn’t appear to be any winds, although a bit of snow continued to fall. After a speedy breakfast we decided to make moves and head on up the mountain to cache gear somewhere above the fixed lines. Throughout the first few hours of the day we progressed apprehensively, wary of some menacing looking clouds that were lingering higher up on the mountain, but as we cruised up the fixed lines we were treated with warm temperatures and light winds. This enabled us to progress to 16,600 feet to dig a cache to store some gear to support ourselves for our summit bid. After a quick break we turned around and headed back down to 14 Camp where we are now relaxing and waiting to eat some dinner! Spirits are high and we are all looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

RMI Guide JT Schmitt

Friday, May 31, 2019 12:14 AM PT

Today we went back downhill to gather all of our cached food and gear. We got it all without any noteworthy event. With the rest of the day, we sat around, ate our new snacks, and practiced some techniques for the fixed lines. We’re hoping to carry to the top of the fixed lines tomorrow if weather allows. The forecast is calling for some snow, but light winds. As long as winds stay calm we can probably get it done. We’ll see what we get and check in tomorrow.

RMI Guide JM Gorum & Team