Entries By henry coppolillo

Wednesday, May 24, 2023 - 11:14 pm PT

It was a good day for us to sit. Yesterday's strong effort meant everyone slept well, and long. We got up late, enjoyed our last bagels and smoked salmon, told stories, and generally enjoyed the rest day. Snow and clouds intermittently invaded camp, with some breaks of brilliantly strong sunshine. For a bit of movement and boredom cure, we built a bunch of walls to deflect the wind that may come tomorrow. Tomorrow, we will rest again, as the forecast calls for winds at 17,000' to elevate significantly tomorrow. We'll see how this weather system plays out, and it's good comfort for us to know that all of our pieces are in place and when the window opens, we'll be ready.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Wednesday, May 24, 2023 - 9:00 am PT

The climbing along the West Buttress is some of the most fun and aesthetic of the whole Denali trip and we got a perfect day for it. We left early, with camp still in the shade and chilly. But we climbed out into the sun within the first hour. The fixed lines, which has been blue blue ice when we first got to 14,000' had pasted in with the last couple days of snow and there were nice steps kicked in for most of the way. We rolled over the top of the line onto the ridge to stunning views that extended forever. We could see trees from our perch (or at least green). We continued along the Buttress, picking our way through the airy terrain will above 14,000' Camp and the Peters Glacier on the other side. By afternoon, we walked into 17,000' Camp. Doing most anything at 17,000' is hard. You have to show down - how fast you walk, shovel, etc. We got a hole dug and left our goodies, then retraced our steps back to 14,000' Camp. The team did an incredible job and got the trip done in 10 hours. We were back in camp for dinner time. Things are set and now we wait for the weather to open a summit window.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Monday, May 22, 2023 - 10:11 pm PT

It was an incredibly pleasant day at 14,000'. It snowed lightly all night but when we woke up it was bluebird and calm. We took our time over breakfast (again) and started to wrap our heads around the schedule and logistics above here. We did an afternoon training session to prepare for the fixed lines and running belays of the West Buttress above, then retired for a warm and sunny siesta. The rest was part of the plan as we intend to head up the fixed lines and along the West Buttress tomorrow to put in a small cache and get familiar with the terrain. With that complete, the puzzle pieces that we have control over will be in place for our summit push.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Sunday, May 21, 2023 - 9:59 pm PDT

It was a wonderful morning to wake up at 14k Camp. A classic 14k Camp morning includes sunshine and stunning views of Hunter and Foraker -- make this trip so special. We waited for the sun to warm the tents, and rolled into coffee with eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon for breakfast/brunch. We readied to run back towards Windy Corner to grab our cache. We made quick work of the back carry, 1.5 hours round trip, largely due to the sudden snow squalls and wind that rolled in hard on us. It motivated us to get back to tents. With all of our stuff now at 14k Camp, we are psyched. The weather looks to remain sporty tomorrow, so we will likely rest, but we are in place and ready to make our first tour up the fixed lines when the mountain says we may pass, and that will set us up to start looking for our summit window. Cheers from 14,000' on Denali!

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and team

Saturday, May 21, 2023 - 11:27 pm PT

Big moves today. We bounced back and forth on whether to move this morning, as it snowed all night and was still when we woke up. After a bit of waffling we decided it was time. Though it was pretty cloudy and white at 11,000', it was dead calm, and it looked much the same above. We stayed in that cloud until Windy Corner and it was HOT. It acted much like a microwave and we were sweating, both from heat and loads. The theme was pretty similar to yesterday - our travel was smooth, it was hard work, but the team was strong and we clipped right along. Six hours after leaving 11,000', we walked into our new home at 14,000'. 

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Friday, May 19, 2023 10:30pm PDT

We had a quite pleasant jaunt up to Windy Corner and around today to cache. It was good to make another step forward and get a load of food and fuel stashed up near 14,000’. Things are looking promising to move to 14,000’ soon, our first chance is tomorrow and hopefully we wake up and things look good to go. It's been Nice to be at 11,000', but we have seen enough of it and it's time to move on.

Our day today was calm, mostly clear, and very warm. The team was fully in sync, and we made short work of the round trip and walked back into camp looking fresh as ever. Juan chose mac and cheese for his birthday dinner, so we also had something to celebrate today.

All around, spirits are high, and life is good.

RMI Guides Pete, Henry, and Tatum

Thursday, May 18, 2023 8:12 pm PDT

Finally, we got to stretch our legs today!

We woke to beautiful conditions in camp, the first time we haven't woken to the tents flapping and slapping. We smashed an oatmeal breakfast and coffee and grabbed backpacks, sleds, and snowshoes and beat feet back to our hole in the snow that held all our best food and treats. We made quick work of the day, three hours round trip, and came back to sunny camp, warm tents, and dry sleeping bags. It was also our last day hauling sleds until we descended for good. So, when we walked into camp there was much rejoicing.

Tomorrow we plan to carry another cache up high to Windy Corner or 14 Camp depending. That will set us up to be ready to make a big move to 14!

RMI Guides Pete, Henry, Tatum and Team

Tuesday, May 16, 2023 - 7:40 PM PT

Our life inside the snow globe continued today but got more comfortable as we dug in more completely. We dug our cooktent down further this morning so that standing puts us level with ground. Down that deep the wind cease to matter as much and we have sealed ourselves into a quite cozy spot. We moved through breakfast before retreating to the tents for the majority of the day. We made a lot of progress on our reading lists and did a fair bit of napping and eating to pass the time. We are hopeful that the trend will improve tomorrow and allow us to jump back down to 9,600 to retrieve our cache. Then we will have more exciting news to report, but for now, we are warm, fed, and happy, patiently waiting for the mountain to say we may pass.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Monday, May 15, 2023 - 8:00 pm PT

It was a windy, snowy day at 11,000' Camp. The kind that had us happy to linger in sleeping bags until late. Eventually we rose and put some energy into solidifying camp before we plowed through a bunch of hot breakfast burritos. Weather days are for spending in tents so we spent a fair amount of time horizontal, welcome after yesterday's effort. As the afternoon wore on we were ready for movement so we got to building some walls to deflect the wind and make life a bit more pleasant. Much like building with adult legos, made out of snow. So now we have quite a habitable spot, a good thing since this weather system may stick around for a few more days.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Sunday, May 14, 2023 - 9:49 pm PT

The mountain reminded us how strong she is today and have us a good fight. We woke to sun and warm temps in camp and the beginnings of a beautiful day. We packed up camp and started moving uphill again to 11. At first we moved with better vis, views, and a little jump in our step. But as we walked the clouds from yesterday moved back in with a stiff wind and a lot of blowing snow. Quite quickly we had little visibility and following the tracks of previous climbers became quite difficult. But the team was warm, had all the gear we needed to move in the weather, so we marched on with the help of GPS. After a good battle and a longer day than anticipated, we made it to 11,000' Camp. Tents were a welcome sight but the battle wasn't over. We still had a few hours of camp constructing to do before we would be in our shelters. The team worked really well together and rallied it out, and now we are sitting snug In tents and sleeping bags, reminiscing about the day.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer