Entries By raymond holt

Tuesday, May 27, 2025 - 12:02 am PT

Day 10 of eating our way across Denali brought to you by RMIGuides.com…as we all lay in our tents in the frigid cold morning air, waiting with bated breath for the verdict go/no go for the day, are we going for a stroll up to 17,000' Camp or will we chill at camp for another day waiting for our perfect window and eating as many snacks as humanly possible? The more important thing we were all waiting to hear is “breakfast in 5”. Because snacks are definitely not enough calories obviously for this group.  These words drive us all to struggle out of our cozy sleeping bags, and put on our puffy pants and jackets, hats and boots as quickly as possible to see what delicious 5 star Yelp meal awaits us to start our day…this morning, they had me at “bacon”.  This word is special to me as I live with the most incredible vegetarian on the planet, my spouse Dr. Lauralynn Jansen, who is an amazing cook and human being, but there is no way in hell she is ever cooking bacon in our kitchen. Gotta get it when I can! Love ya babe!  We stagger out of our tents making our way to the warm cook tent like we haven’t eaten in days and get settled shoulder to shoulder and all check in on each other and on our sleep for that night, sipping a hot drink as we wait for our gourmet bagels and BACON!!

Jason apparently got a full 7 hours and was bragging just a bit. Said he was amped to get the acclimatization hike and summit attempt all knocked out today and call it good.  He may need to lay off the moxy a bit or the rest of us need to get on board and step up our game! I think the rest of us were not necessarily on the same page….as far as my sleep, the outstanding loaner inflatable mat allowed me about a good solid 15 minutes of comfort as it proceeded to slide right out from under me like it was greased up with Crisco prior to me using it.  I relished that precious 15 minutes however.  I’ll take the short stints of comfort when I can get it. 

After breakfast we decided to take a walk around the camp to stretch out the legs and do some meet and greet with other climbers which ended up being bartering for toilet paper and kielbasas (shocker) as we certainly need to make sure we do not run out of food or TP at this stage of the game. That kielbasa could potentially save our lives for sure in the long run and you know, that TP speaks for itself.  We also had a nice visit with the Park Rangers and we made our way back to camp to some yoga, stretching, pushups, 7-min abs, and some squats to get the blood pumping. Oh how I miss going for a run, but this will do for now as the energy expenditure and effort is about to go up exponentially in the next few days much to our chagrin. Welcome to the reality of why we are here. 

Some home renovations also took place today for our three musketeers tent that needed some leveling work for sure. Team effort, supervised by Task Master Juan (much less critical than previous Project Manager Ethan for sure) provided a much needed leveling upgrade to our snow flooring which will hopefully keep me from unintentionally violating tent space as I roll off my mat. We were also super pumped to see our RMI Team come in from their summit that gave us hope for our team and the effort it will take to reach the top.

Meanwhile, the cook tent was transformed into Casino Royale with Ocean’s 15 blowing up (minus Brad Pitt and George Clooney- sorry guys) as Farkle die were flying and high stakes betting was taking place for Snickers, gorp, sausage, Oreos and other high value items that we certainly don’t have enough of already.  If memory serves me correctly, Senior Juan put the smackdown on the other players and holds bragging rights until the next game fired up.  In addition, Christmas came early as Seth showed up later in the day with an additional inflatable mat for us to use so we will be living large in Musketeer Central.  A special thanks to Grace for burning the incense as it’s getting a bit ripe in these parts let’s be honest and it was lovely to the smell…We have really enjoyed this down time to enjoy each other’s company and continue to rest, hydrate and of course eat… speaking of eating, we hear the hot water brewing as our Master Chef Seth once again prepare the evening meal of Jambalaya and Oreo Cheesecake deliciousness. Shut the front door!  Thank you again to our fearless leaders Seth, Jackson and Ray.  Especially for taking care of my feet. I continue to embrace and appreciate each and every moment of this journey and look forward to what tomorrow brings to this team. 

Thanks for all of your support! It is greatly appreciated!

-RMI Climber Shannon

Sunday, May 25, 2025 - 10:16 pm PT

We continue to hang at 14,000' Camp, acclimatizing, resting, going on small walks to stretch our achy legs, and working on the skills that we will need to ascend the higher reaches of the mountain. After a leisurely morning, our guides had us practice using our ascenders, clipping in and out of anchors, clipping in and out of anchors, and descending the fixed lines using the trusty arm wrap. We repeated until Seth was confident that we could perform these drills with cold hands.

As the pace of life has slowed during this phase of the expedition and we have many (many) hours in the tent with our own thoughts, I’ve curated my top 5 life hacks from the top of North America:

      1. Say goodbye to dish detergent and sponge - fresh powdery snow makes a great all-natural scrub for cleaning your single bowl, mug, and spork. Just step outside, grab a handful of nature’s Dawn, and get to work! Please be sure you select a patch of snow that is indeed white.

       2. Alternatively, forget the dish washing routine altogether and embrace the complex layerings of flavor that can only be experienced when you brew tea in the same mug as last night’s corn soup, or slurp Cinnamon Toast Crunch with undertones of Madras Lentils.

      3. Worried that your sticky-fingers roommate will take your last slice of leftover pizza, or a sneaky coworker will swipe your oat milk creamer AGAIN? Here’s what you gotta do: wrap your precious perishables in a trash bag and bury it deep in the snow! Your goodies will stay cold and fresh, and hidden from greedy scavengers. Just budget a good 20 minutes to dig it up when you need it.

      4. Too lazy to take dry clean only items in for a proper cleaning? Just set dingy laundry like sleeping bags and boot liners out in the sun to sanitize. At least, we think it’s working - our noses have become desensitized to our collective eau de parfum naturel.

        5. Lastly, to all my nocturnal urinators: A pee bottle is the greatest luxury you can add to your life. Not only does the pee bottle save you a trip outside the tent in the middle of a cold night, but you can then tuck it in your sleeping bag as a sort of cozy hot water bottle. Just make sure it has a spill-proof lid. 

In all seriousness, we love and miss you all back home! Sending so much love to ma and pa in Vancouver, David in NYC, Grammie and Granddad and family in Nova Scotia, all the fam in Toronto and Boston, and our supportive friends in Seattle!

A special shout out to our youngest reader, Gene, burgeoning outdoorsperson and super rad human! Say hi to your mom for me!

Love,

RMI Climber Grace

Sunday, May 25, 2025 - 9:48 am PT

We are all set up at 14,000 Camp acclimating and waiting for our weather window.  After a breakfast of bagels and bacon we went and picked up our cache at Windy Corner.  The next few days look to hold plenty of rest as we expect some weather to move in.

RMI Guide Seth Burns
 

Friday, May 23, 2025 11:08 pm PDT

Happy Friday Everyone!

To our family and friends back at home, I’m excited to share that we have made it to Camp 3—14,200’—a huge milestone in our journey! This is where we will call home for the next week or so while we acclimatize and hit the fixed lines around 17,000’ to prepare for summit attempts.

Today we woke up to a cool, crisp, bluebird sky, and that meant one thing: we were packing up Camp 2 and headed to Camp 3. After a quick breakfast, we packed up our camp, stuffed our packs to the breaking point, and loaded a couple of sleds with all our gear and food.

It was time to trade in our snowshoes and put on our crampons. That’s right—it was time to go climbing, finally! As we headed out with an ice axe in one hand and a trekking pole in the other, we stared up at Motorcycle Hill. It was time to go to work.

We had a 35-degree pitch with roughly 1,000’ of gain. From there, we made our way to Squirrel Hill—another 30-degree pitch—then up to the Polo Fields, where we finally got a bit of flatter terrain. The views are like no other and bring grace to the grind.

Then it was up and around Windy Corner, which didn’t disappoint, greeting us with some lovely wind :). We continued to embrace the day as we made our last push into Camp 3. We are home! Our biggest push in one day with 3,000’ of vertical gain.

As I sit here and write this—and I know the team feels the same—with a sunburnt face, a back that feels like it carried an elephant, and feet that feel like they ran an ultramarathon, I couldn’t be more grateful and proud of this team and all we’ve accomplished over the past six days. Getting to Camp 3 took everything we’ve got—congrats, team!

To our guides: every day you continue to inspire us, nail the weather reports, and keep us moving upward. Thank you for all your efforts!

That’s all for now—time for dinner (bacon mac and cheese!) and some much-needed rest days. Onward and upward this team goes! Keep sending the positive vibes and prayers our way—they’re working!

- Will

The hottest new restaurant in Alaska is Maureen’s, currently located at the 11K camp on Denali. Started by a trio of up-and-coming chefs (Jackson, Ray, and Seth), who also happen to moonlight as mountain guides, Maureen’s serves up delicious Tex-Mex fare with Asian and Creole inspirations, reflective of the chefs’ diverse backgrounds. “Corn is pretty much my greatest inspiration; I can turn a tortilla into just about anything,” says Chef Jackson, citing his Iowan roots. The pop-up restaurant is small, seating 9 and squatting 1.

On a busy night of service, guests can hear Chef “Sweet Baby” Ray rapping to OutKast with an inexplicably thick Eastern European accent while whipping up a jambalaya in the open kitchen. The portions are generous, much appreciated on big efforts such as caching heavy packs of gear up to 13K ft.

When not working the breakfast shift, Chef Seth runs front of house, chatting up the regulars and offering sweet words of affirmation, which they desperately need to wake up each morning. There is relatively little to complain about, except maybe the limited beverage list (despite the chefs’ weird insistence on tasting the glacial terroir — it’s just hot water), the overpowering red polyester decor (reportedly Maureen’s favorite color), and the ever-present undertones of body odor. Dress code is casual, although insulated down is highly recommended. Gluten-free options are available upon request.

– Jason

Wednesday, May 21, 2025 - 10:59 pm PT

Sunshine!

It was great to see the sun today. After a leisurely breakfast we got our one main task done for the day, going to pick up our cache at 10,200ft. Despite some annoyingly cold wind and deep trail breaking, we got this done in a short three hours.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing and resting up. Tomorrow we hope to climb higher, putting in a cache just above Windy Corner around 13,500'.

RMI Guide Seth Burns

Tuesday, May 20, 2025 - 9:52 pm PT 

Dear Baby Winter,

Just like in the book that we read before coming out here, “Oh the Places, You’ll Go,” today our group walked through an area that I can’t wait to tell you all about. We started this morning not entirely sure if we were going to continue up today due to the weather being a little iffy but Seth made the call for us to venture out with the goal of reaching 11,000' Camp. The walk up was incredibly challenging, the combination of wind and snow with weighted packs and sleds, made this climb like nothing I’ve ever done. The weather created what seemed to be a complete white out, like walking through a cloud. With only being able to differentiate by looking around at my fellow climbers. Thinking of you and your mother pushed me forward and most importantly our excellent guides kept us safe while out there. Each day that I’m here, Denali continues to teach me something that I hope to one day hand down to you and that’s that sometimes the most rewarding moments in life, are the ones that you’ve earned through working for them. Now it’s time for a hot meal, we’re having ramen tonight, cant wait! I miss you more than words will allow.

Love Dad (Juan)

Tuesday, May 20, 2025 - 12:31 pm PDT

Well, we woke up this morning to much better weather. Headed over to the cook tent for a quick bowl or two of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and coffee.  Breakfast of champions! We got our sleds and packs ready to set off for our first cache of the expedition. Everybody was anxious to get going after a great rest day.  Many other teams had the same idea, and we certainly didn’t mind a few of them in front of us breaking trail after we got about a foot of snow at camp in the last 24hrs.  All three teams were moving great up the mountain led by our fearless leaders Seth, Jackson and Ray.  They rock!  We had three breaks on the way up and as we moved up the mountain, clouds and a wisp of wind and snow started to move in. We reached 10,200' and cached our gear and food.  Super nice being able to walk downhill with a light pack and no sled! We made our way quickly downhill passing teams as we did on the way up. We are now snug back at our lower camp waiting for what we know will be an amazing dinner of jambalaya. Being originally from Louisiana and all…no pressure on Chef Ray.  Ha!

Our team is really firing on all cylinders and feeling good. Happy for that!  Hydrating, fixing feet and getting some rest are on the agenda after dinner. Oh, and the skies parted on the way back a bit giving us spectacular views when we arrived back at camp, so grateful to be in this moment.

RMI Climber Shannon and Team

Sunday, May 18, 2025 - 9:57 pm PT

After the late night we enjoyed sleeping in a bit to wait out the storm. We woke up to the rhythmic sound of snow on the side of the tent. We had a lovely breakfast of bagels with lox and warm drinks before going back to the shelter of our warm tents. About a foot of snow fell overnight and into the early afternoon. Life on the glacier is peaceful. Reading, playing cards, and sharing stories made the time go by pleasantly. We organized our resources and are hoping to carry tomorrow. Just before dinner the visibility improved and we were able to watch the birds rejoice in the break in the weather. Dinner was accompanied by stupid jokes and cheerful laughter. Today was a great day, the team is in good spirits.

Peace, Love, and Gratitude,
RMI Guides Seth, Jackson, Ray, and Team

Sunday, May 18, 2025 - 1:53 am PT

We woke up this morning with the feeling that we would fly today and in the end we were right.  A little after noon we got the call we had been waiting for.  And quickly got into our boots. After a circuitous and beautiful flight we landed on the Kahitna Glacier. Despite the later hour, with good weather and high stoke, we quickly left base camp and made our way to Ski Hill.  The team is very happy to be on the mountain and making our way up.

RMI Guide Seth Burns and team