Entries By mike king
Posted by: Mike King, Avery Parrinello, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
Thursday, June 6, 2019 - 5:04 PM PT
There was a light breeze that rattled the tents last night. The first few nights away from a comfortable bed can be an adjustment. The Team woke to a cold and mostly clear morning. We pumped the brakes a bit to let the air warm up and see what the clouds were doing North of us in the interior. After breakfast the clouds lifted and we launched to take advantage of the clear skies before forecasted thunderstorms and snow arrived. Our route to the cache at 9,300’ takes us up Ski Hill (it’s got the grade of a ski hill) and along the flanks of Kahiltna Dome. The pack loads are heavy but the Team handled it with mostly smiles while taking the time to enjoy the scenic down glacier vistas. We have to cache our food and fuel in the snow so ravens do not dig it up, this typically requires a 1 meter deep hole. We are back in a white out at 7800’ Camp hanging in tents enjoying the solar and having some lunch. Tomorrow we hope to get clear skies and a cold/early start to beat the weather into 11,200’ Camp. Thanks for following along. Everyone is healthy and happy.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Posted by: Mike King, Avery Parrinello, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
.jpg)
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 - 10:39 PM PT
Wow! We got a little bit of every weather pattern today on our move to Camp 1 located at 7,800’. It was overcast, hot, cold, windy, calm, thunder and we got two different rounds of snow. Back to the beginning of the day, our flight into the Alaska Range was spectacular. After a quick breakfast, K2 Aviation told us to suit up and put boots on, we were going flying. The Team did well with the heavy packs and sleds. We got into camp after seven hours and while the tents are bombproof, the rest is like that pig who made his house out of straw. Tomorrow we hope to carry half our camp up to 10,000’ but we might get weathered in. Regardless we’ll check in and look forward to another day on Denali.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Great photo of you all!
Posted by: Susan Rogers on 6/7/2019 at 8:31 am
Good luck y’all! Great shot, and great way to begin your journey. Have and step safe!
Posted by: Susan Moore on 6/6/2019 at 10:18 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Avery Parrinello, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 348'
Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - 6:41 PM PT
The Team arrived in Anchorage yesterday and we had a nice drive to the little hamlet of Talkeetna. Today we woke up and got a good breakfast on board before diving into an extensive gear check and packing session. The Team members got to know one another as they sifted through Oreos, nuts, candy and all sorts of other gear we will need to climb this mountain over the next three weeks. Once we were packed and weighed in for our flight there was some down time before dinner. Getting out of Talkeetna is always a bit of a scramble but the process of packing for a big expedition is essential to being organized and prepared for the weather and terrain that lie ahead. Everyone is excited and a little nervous to get started and rightfully so, this really is an experience of a lifetime! 3 weeks in the Alaska Range, traveling among giants to attempt the 20,320’ summit of Denali.
We will be checking in daily, thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
Enjoying following the blog. Safe trip and have an amazing time love marie xx
Posted by: Marie Pope on 6/6/2019 at 12:48 pm
GoodLuck! to all the team as you start your Alaskan adventure on Denali. Sue and John Rogers.
Posted by: Susan Rogers on 6/5/2019 at 12:15 pm
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir May 26 - 31 team members gathered at Rainier BaseCamp on Sunday, May 26th for their first day of the program. After some technical training and a thorough equipment check the team started for Camp Muir on Monday morning. The last few days have been spent near Camp Muir while RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Mike King led the team through glacier travel training and crevasse rescue. This morning the team left Camp Muir en route to the summit. Dave reported calms winds and mostly clear skies as the team reached the crater rim of Mt. Rainier around 6:30 AM. The team enjoyed over an hour on the summit before starting their descent.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
So proud of you Allison!!
Posted by: Lauren on 5/31/2019 at 5:34 am
Great job Suzi!! Congratulations to the group from Shift4!
Posted by: Ned Shuchter on 5/30/2019 at 10:28 am
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Mike King and Nick Scott reached 11,900' today on Mt. Rainier before route conditions forced them to turn. Mike reported clear and calm skies on the upper mountain with a marine layer coming in and out at 8,500'. They plan to depart Camp Muir, and be back at Rainier Basecamp early this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's team!
We’re so proud of you Aimee. We were all rooting for you and can’t wait to hear all about the trip.
Love mom and dad. ❤️
Posted by: Laura and Steve on 5/25/2019 at 11:48 am
So proud of you Rebecca! Hope your toes and fingers stayed warm! Love, Mom
Posted by: Joyce Stuehringer on 5/25/2019 at 11:41 am
RMI Guides Mike King & JT Schmitt led their summit climb teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Mike reported cold temps and wind at the summit. The team descended from the crater rim at 8:00 am. They will continue their descent to Paradise today. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Posted by: Brent Okita, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The storm hitting us at Camp Muir originated in the tropics and we wouldn't have been surprised to see palm fronds waving in the breeze given how unseasonably warm it is up here. Yes, it's still snowing, but just. And for being at 10,000' that's warm!
We started our day discussing numerous topics in the Bunkhouse, but ventured out by mid morning. Equipped though we were with full on Gortex storm gear it took less than an hour for the moisture in the cloud enveloping our world to permeate the vaunted membrane of our rain gear.
But we persevered and got some great training in, developing our expertise in handling running belays and evaluating snow stability through studying snow pits. Lunchtime found us back inside, thankful for the plywood protection of our bunkhouse and trying to dry out our external layers through our bodies natural internal combustion. It does work, but slowly.
There was plenty to talk about through the afternoon, and when queried whether anyone wanted more outdoor training a decided no was the response. A smart group!
The evening culminated with war stories of Everest and beyond.
Now that we're back in our old sleeping bags the weather gods are unleashing a tempest like no other. All we can hope is that this big bad storm is blowing itself out. Dreams of a pleasant descent tomorrow morning might allow some well deserved sleep tonight.
Goodnight from Camp Muir.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Posted by: Brent Okita, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,000'
Everyone is doing great on day four of our seminar. A hard day up to Muir was followed by a full day of training on Tuesday in increasingly challenging weather conditions.
Today dawned sunny but quite windy. As forecasted, the winds stayed strong throughout the day. Not being one to let a little wind get in the way of some great training, we did have to moderate our plans to cope with the 40-45 mph sheets of blowing snow that swept thru Muir all day.
Sticking close to camp allowed us to bail back to the bunkhouse for the occasional break. There were no complaints about not getting out on the glacier for the day. An earlier exploration by Mike and me proved the winds were just as strong out there as at camp.
Anchors, crevasse rescue, fixed rope work and rappelling filled the day completely. And for the evening: mountain medicine and mountain weather is on the docket.
We're looking forward to another good day of training tomorrow, though we might have to deal with another little storm to keep us honest.
Alas, I'm afraid a summit bid has been shelved due to the increasing avalanche hazard up high. We're safe here at camp, and that's how we'd like to keep it.
All for now.
The crew at Muir
Posted by: Brent Okita, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
RMI Guides Brent Okita and Mike King are back on Mt. Rainier along with climbers on the Expedition Skills Seminar - Winter. The team gathered at Rainier BaseCamp on Sunday for a day of technical training, gear checks and packing. With clear roads on Monday morning they headed for Paradise and made the push all the way to Camp Muir. Today the team trained near Camp Muir with cramponing, rope travel and ice axe arrest practice while Brent and RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli kicked in the route above Camp Muir and investigated the current conditions. The team will continue training this week with the hope of making a summit attempt before their return on Friday.
Wow such beautiful pictures. Thank you for the update!
Posted by: Lisa Macchione on 4/16/2019 at 5:43 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Dustin Wittmier
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
We are back at Senior Reyes' historic soap factory turned climbers hostel. The Mexican music and loud fireworks are going off like we had some remote control. The roosters and dogs are going berserk. But all the local acoustic entertainment is just part of climbing and traveling in Mexico. We are wrapping up a great 10 days with a fun group of guys. We climbed and stood on top of three volcanoes, ate amazing food, sampled many of the local libations and enjoyed some of the clearest views of this area anyone in recent past has ever seen. This trip isn’t so much of an expedition as it’s a fun Mexican vacation where we climb high altitude volcanoes instead of sitting on the beach. If you need to test your mind, body and spirit at altitude this is a good choice. We will be getting an early start towards the airport tomorrow. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
Thanks for the updates and fantastic pictures. Looks like everyone had a good and safe
Climb.
Posted by: Karen Knight on 2/24/2019 at 9:14 am
Awesome Mike!! Thank you for your posts. I am super torked up for next week with Eric and Jenny.
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/24/2019 at 2:17 am
Following the blog. Have an amazing time and stay safe, enjoy the adventure
Love marie
Posted by: Marie Pope on 6/7/2019 at 1:55 pm
We’re following you and your team. What an amazing adventure! The photos are gorgeous. Stay safe and have a fantastic time!
Posted by: Stephanie Smith on 6/7/2019 at 4:38 am
View All Comments