Entries By mike king
Posted by: Mike King, Alex Halliday, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
Monday, May 31, 2021 - 4:55 pm PT
After going to bed last night there was an earthquake that shook camp and caused some ice to fall waking up the guides and a few in the group. The others were too deep in sleep from our exhaustive day of trail breaking. Today we got a casual start with a big bacon and cream cheese bagel breakfast. Around 10:30 we headed down to our 9,500’ cache and by 11:30 we had started back up hill in the sunny weather and thin clouds that can feel like your being microwaved. The team did well and are all back in their tents enjoying some down time and their luxurious accommodations. Hard saying what will happen tomorrow cause there is stormy weather in the forecast. We will shoot for a carry of food and fuel around Windy Corner. Thanks for following along.
Posted by: Mike King, Alex Halliday, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
Sunday, May 30, 2021 - 9:36 pm PT
I woke to the sound of song birds chirping by our dining tent. That could only mean one thing, that the storm had broken and we’d likely get a nice day to move camp. We woke up at 5 am and we were walking by 8 am. The storm had put 18” of new snow down. Since there were no early risers to break trail, we took that on ourselves. The day was hot and included lots of deep snow. We pulled into 11,200’ Camp at 4 pm. Camp setup, dinner and bed was all the bandwidth we had. Tomorrow we will back carry to 9500’ to retrieve our cache of food and fuel. It’ll feel like a rest day compared the effort put forth today. Goodnight.
Awesome stuff Rob and team! All the best!!
Posted by: Andrew, Alex, Oscar and Anabelle on 5/31/2021 at 10:49 pm
Way to go Abby and team!
Posted by: Mark Westling on 5/31/2021 at 10:09 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Alex Halliday, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
Saturday, May 29, 2021 - 4:19 pm PT
With snow falling through the night and low visibility in the early morning we decided that a weather day at Camp 1 was better than packing up a wet camp and moving to a crowded 11,200’ Camp. We got some solar on the tents which makes for good napping. Lots of good conversations over a big breakfast of hash browns, eggs and bacon. Our plan is to move to 11,200’ tomorrow in better conditions. Everyone is doing well and looking forward to moving uphill.
RMI Guide Mike King
Take in Every moment and treasure them!!! Climb High!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 5/31/2021 at 3:01 am
Love my daily update. Sounds like a delicious breakfast.
Posted by: Louise Rothwell on 5/30/2021 at 9:34 am
Posted by: Mike King, Alex Halliday, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9500'
Friday, May 28, 2021 - 5:09pm PT
We had another stormy night here at the base of ski hill. We woke to clear skies and decided to try and move some food and fuel towards Kahiltna Pass and the turn up to 11,200’ camp. 30 minutes into the day the wind picked up and the loose snow started spinning. With some warm gloves and a few layers we leaned into the very consistent and very cold 15 mph wind and took it an hour at a time. Eventually we got to 9500’ which met the goal for the day. The ravens will dig up shallow caches so we dug a deep hole and buried our food and fuel. We beat feet down to camp and are currently enjoying some sun on the tents while that very consistent 15 mph wind spins snow everywhere.
We’ll see what we get tomorrow and a move to 11,200’ is planned.
RMI Guide Mike King & Team
Farmer Dave to Brother Tom….Remember You are Tough as Nails!!! Sing a little John Denver, that will always make things seem perfect!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 5/30/2021 at 8:56 am
Good luck to the whole team
Posted by: Cathy H on 5/29/2021 at 7:48 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Alex Halliday, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9,600'
Thursday, May 27. 2021 - 8:48pm PT
We flew onto the glacier late yesterday and did little else but get camp set up and ate some dinner. By midnight there was a blizzard that moved in until 9 am. After rigging our sleds and packs the wind had died down to a dull roar and the sky turned blue. We packed up and headed out around 12:30 pm with the sun to help balance the cold breeze. The route down heartbreak hill and onto the Kahiltna glacier was straightforward but windy. The wind would not abate for the next 5 hours as we leaned into it and got to camp. Heavy packs and sleds have us happy to be eating dinner and getting ready to sleep.
We’ll see what this storm brings tomorrow, but for now our fully bellies and tired legs could care less.
Thanks for following along,
RMI Guide Mike King and Team
Hi Huw - I hope things are going well and you are enjoying this phase of the climb. Amazing to learn that birds will dig up shallow caches of food! Take care. Nigel.
Posted by: Nigel on 5/30/2021 at 6:20 am
Go well Rob and Co! Enjoy the climb and stay safe. Our very best wishes to you and all the 25th May team.
Posted by: Bill & Val Green on 5/29/2021 at 5:52 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Alex Halliday, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
The Denali Expedition May 25, 2021 led by RMI Guides Mike King, Alex Halliday and Abby Westling arrived in Anchorage on Tuesday, May 25th. The team made their way to Talkeenta with a stop for groceries and fresh food to fly with them onto the mountain. Once in Talkeetna they sorted and packed gear, met with the National Park Service and prepared to begin their adventure on Denali. The forecast for Wednesday evening looked to have a break in the weather that would allow them to fly to Kahiltna Base Camp. And sure enough, the team loaded up in the K2 Aviation Twin Otters and headed into the mountains around 5 pm local time.
Wishing all the team success and be safe, blue skies ahead. Rob stay warm
Posted by: Kleberg Tio on 5/28/2021 at 12:19 pm
Climb High Tom!! Climb Strong !! I’m with you in sprit brother!! All the Best Mike King and Team!!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 5/28/2021 at 4:01 am
Posted by: Mike King, Taylor Bickford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Today's Mt. Rainier Summit Climb Team, led by RMI Guides Mike King and Taylor Bickford, are on top! They radioed from the top reporting windy and clear conditions. Their descent back to Camp Muir will begin soon with a celebration at Rainier Basecamp to commence this afternoon.
Congratulations to the team!
Good job everyone. Have a safe trip down!
Posted by: Carla Clemmer (Trey’s Mom) on 5/17/2021 at 1:26 pm
Posted by: Mike King, James Bealer, Henry Coppolillo, Alan Davis, Chase Halbert, Matias Francis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,600'
RMI Guides Mike King and Alan Davis led their Four Day Climb teams to 11,600' today before being turned back by new snow and poor conditions. RMI Guide Alan Davis reported drifting snow up to 2 feet in places. The teams departed from Camp Muir around 8 am and will conclude their program at Rainier BaseCamp today.
Remember the great Ed Viesters
‘Getting up is optional…..getting down is MANDATORY’
Peace and mahalo
@tgsaet
Posted by: Scottie on 5/25/2021 at 12:11 am
The Mt. Rainier Five Day Climb, led by RMI Guides Mike King and Andy Bond, reached the summit today! They enjoyed calm winds and great conditions on their climb today. The teams will return to Camp Muir for their second night on the mountain. We look forward to congratulating them in Ashford tomorrow afternoon!
Congratulations, well done!
Posted by: Mark M on 4/27/2021 at 5:45 pm
Great job!!
Posted by: Christine Malatras on 4/27/2021 at 9:57 am
Posted by: Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Torres del Paine
We concluded our nine day trek through Torres del Paine National Park with an 6 am start to get up to the Towers of Paine before the crowds arrived. The hike was 12 miles round trip with 3,900’ of elevation gain. Once at the towers we had cold wind, mostly clear skies for some good pictures. We saw a condor soaring around the cirque, we saw social media influencers doing acrobatic yoga, we saw someone fall into the glacial lake from trying to pose like an influencer and most of all we capped off a great trip with a nice brisk hike. The trio self named the “base layer boys” lead the charge up with our Chilean guide Fernando and once back at the hostel we packed up and are now back in Puerto Natales for the night. A few hour drive to Punta Arenas tomorrow morning and this fun trip will be done. We laughed a lot, ate great food, took lots of pictures and have some sore legs and feet. Guess that’s the price you pay to be in such an amazing location. We are going to celebrate with one last pizza dinner before the group disperses tomorrow. Thanks for following along.
Climb on Tom!!! I am with you in spirit!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/2/2021 at 3:35 am
View All Comments