Entries By jackson breen
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9,400'
Saturday, May 11, 2024
We got most of our food and fuel pushed all the way to 11 today. We went into the day with a plan to carry as high as we could and made sense. It's been quite snowy on the Kahiltna below Kahiltna Pass. We were in the sun in the morning but it looked socked in above, so we dragged our feet a bit. We didn't see much evidence of wind, and a could of teams headed up, so with some trail breaking ahead of us, we decided to go. As expected, the light turned flat pretty quickly. But we were moving along well. We caught the last team in front of us around 9,700', and trail breaking became our job. We had a chilly breeze coming from behind, and we thought we might just lose it and get some better visability around the corner towards 11,000'. That worked, and then we were only 20 minutes from camp, so why not go the distance! It was a proud effort from the team. We dropped our loads, stowed sleds on packs, and with minimal weight on us for the first time on the trip, stretched our legs out on the descent. It had snowed yet more below, so we broke trail back downhill again, but made easy work of that. It was pretty pleasant and surreal, with snowflakes filtering silently down around us, and the snow on the ground absorbing every sound, we moved through a silent, empty landscape, the sound of our own passage swallowed up. It was a long day capped with a restorative bowl of ramen and then off to sleep.
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Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9,400'
Friday May 10, 2024 9:02 pm PDT
Everything that we could not see last night was visible and resplendent this morning. Skies were crystal blue, and Hunter, Foraker, and Denali were all standing proud. It was the perfect morning to start moving. Some breakfast and quite a bit of organizing, caching, measuring out ropes and sleds, etc., and then we were ready to start walking. First down Heartbreak Hill to the lowest point of the trip, then steadily up the gentle inclines of the lower Kahiltna. It should be the only day of the trip where we move with everything at once, so our loads were HEAVY! But the team did great churning the legs and we sidled into camp at the base of Ski Hill around 5.
Throughout the day the weather deteriorated, and we went from staring at these Alaskan beauties to being able to see 20 feet in really flat light. We went from stripping to sun hoodies, to putting on puffies, and set up camp in similar conditions with light snow. The sun is poking out now as the stoves roll towards dinner. Soon we'll be crawling into sleeping bags.
We'll check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide Pete VanDeventer & Team
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Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7800'
Thursday, May 9, 2024 - 10:48 pm PDT
The pilots in the Alaska Range are some of the best mountain pilots in the world, so when we chatted with K2 today and they said they didn't think the weather was going to let us make it to base camp today, we took it to heart. They are the pros at flying and if they don't want to go, we don't want to be on the plane. So, we cooled our feet, had a nice breakfast and a nice coffee, and made a plan to refresh some crevasse rescue skills in the hanger. No sooner had we built an anchor than we got the call that things were changing for the better. They watched it for a bit, loaded the planes, looked at it some more, and decided it was worth trying. Sure enough, there was a clear path up the Kahiltna, and suddenly we were in the Alaska Range listening to the retreating whine of the turbo otter as it headed back Talkeetna, leaving us on the glacier to contemplate the size and scale if peaks around us and our undertaking.
We opted to stay at base camp tonight and get things sorted, so we set tents and had our first meal on the mountain. It's a different vibe now from the nervous waiting and preparing. We are here and it's up to us to start moving our things uphill. So, we'll take our fate in our hands and set out for the base of Ski Hill tomorrow to take our first steps on our journey up Denali.
We'll check in tomorrow.
RMI Guides Pete VanDeventer, Jackson Breen & Team
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Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
The team got into Anchorage yesterday and drove our way to Talkeetna making a stop for last minute grocery’s and marveling at the glimpses of Denali and the rest of the Alaska range as they poked through the clouds. Once in Talkeetna, we checked into the hotel and ate burgers, calling it an early night before our big day of packing and preparing!
Today we spent the morning going through gear. We sorted our stoves, tents, kitchen, warm layers, and most importantly FOOD! After that, we had a nice orientation with the climbing rangers where we talked about the mountain, keeping it clean, staying safe, and received our clean mountain cans (CMC’s). The final bit of the day was spent packing our backpacks and duffels and weighing in to prepare for a flight to follow. We spent the evening enjoying pizza and beer as some rain came in. With any luck we will fly tomorrow and be walking on the mountain soon!
RMI Guide Jackson Breen
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Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024
Posted by: Andy Bond, Seth Burns, Jackson Breen, Joey Manship, Robert Whyte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir team led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Seth Burns has concluded their week of training and returned to Paradise. Although the weather threw a few curves at them, the team was able to get in lots of training including cramponing, glacier travel, ice climbing, rappelling, and crevasse rescue. We can probably consider it winter camping as well. They endured some cold temperatures but also enjoyed some beautiful sunrises and sunshine.
Nice work team!
Posted by: Joe Hoch, Nicole De Petris, Jackson Breen, Charlie Harrison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 9,700'
RMI Guide, Joe Hoch, reported the following from Mt. Baker this afternoon:
The team is back at Sandy Camp after their summit attempt. We made it up to the crater rim, at around 9,700'.
The team will enjoy their dinner at camp, a good night's rest before they pack up camp and head back to the trailhead tomorrow. Nice work team!
Congratulations to the entire team! And a special shout out to intrepid Chris Rowley!
Posted by: Regina Leeds on 9/2/2023 at 10:52 am
Posted by: Jack Delaney, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,871'
RMI guides, Jack Delaney and Jackson Breen, had good news to report from Sandy Camp this afternoon. Their team navigated late season conditions on Mt. Baker and made it successfully to the summit!
Nice work team!
Posted by: Steve Gately, Joe Hoch, Jackson Breen, Joey Manship, Raymond Holt, Ben Thorneycroft
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
Today's RMI Four Day Climb with guides Steve Gately and Jackson Breen climbed to Ingraham Flats to enjoy the sunrise. The high heat, and current route conditions prevented the team from safely going any further onto the upper mountain. The team enjoyed the morning climb and are now descending to Paradise.
Posted by: Ben Luedtke, Jackson Breen, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise August 8 - 13 team met last Tuesday at Rainier BaseCamp for their first day of Technical Skills training. On Wednesday, led by RMI Guides Ben Luedtke, Jackson Breen and Joey Manship they headed to Paradise and hiked to their first camp. The team spent the next several days learning and practicing glacier travel skills, crevasse rescue and expedition style climbing. Yesterday they bumped camp to 10,080' Camp Muir and with an alpine start this morning they reached the summit of Mt. Rainier. The team is safely back at Camp Muir where they will have a short break to repack and re-fuel for the remaining 4,500' down to Paradise. They will conclude their program with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to the team!
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Steve Gately, Sam Hoffman, Jackson Breen, Erika Birkeland, Hannah Blum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,200'
The Four-Day climb of Mt. Rainier led by RMI guides, Dominic Cifelli and Sam Hoffman, were turned around this morning due to thunder and lightning. The team is currently on their descent and will celebrate their hard work at Basecamp in Ashford before team members head their seperate ways.
Pete and crew…Wishes for a great expedition. Will follow along from the cornfields and basketball courts of Indiana. Waltero [Spanish name I heard I needed 12 years ago at Aconcagua, Argentina L O L] Be Safe.
“Stand up straight.”
.
Posted by: Walter Glover on 5/12/2024 at 11:36 am
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