Entries By tyler jones
Today we awoke to 6 inches of new snow at 14k camp. We have continued to eat well. Today our breakfast consisted of egg, cheese and bacon burritos. Over the course of the morning the clouds dissipated and the wind calmed down a little. Eric and I decided to head up and move the cache we previously left at 16k, up to our
high camp. We also added an extra food bag and fuel can to our supplies up high.
With
Brent Okita and team up at high camp for the last several days, waiting for their window to summit, they offered a big helping hand. Thanks Brent, Leon, and Lindsay! Due to high winds in the morning, they volunteered to walk down from high camp and help
Eric and me carry our whole cache from 16k to 17k. We can not thank them enough for their help! Our efforts were somewhat tiering, but will allow the team to move more smoothly to 17k when weather allows. Rather than stopping at 16k and schlepping our cache and our full camp kit to 17k, now the team will be able to conserve energy by smoothly moving to 17k.
Upon our return to the team at 14k, we discovered that our third guide,
Logan, had rebuilt our snow kitchen and cooked up a nice dinner. What a pleasant surprise.
The crew is in high spirits and getting anxious to move to higher ground and make a summit attempt in the next few days. The ground work and logistics are in order. We just need a few nice days to execute our plan. We look forward to moving into more inhospitable environments and nearing the top of North America. Our careful planning has paid off and all our ducks are in a row. The team had a nice moral boost with an afternoon reading of all the positive vibes from the blog comments. Thank you all!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
From 14k camp on
Denali's West Buttress, it is only a short walk to one of the best views in the entire range. The perch is called "The Edge of the World". The plateau on which camp sits falls away dramatically. Nearly 5,000 vertical feet below lies the infamous Valley of Death. This afternoon our team walked to the edge of the world and took turns getting belayed out to the edge to take in the view. This afternoon the valley floor was obstructed by clouds which would sporadically rise to engulf us, but several times we were able to glimpse parts of the wall thousands of feet below us.
The weather in camp has continued to be squirrelly. Last night we were buffeted by winds up to 50mph from various directions. Thankfully, we had already built a few snow walls to protect the tents, but the incessant flapping on nylon all night has convinced us to build more. The snow is falling fast now as we settle in for the night when we rise we will just see what the day brings.
RMI Guides
Tyler Jones,
Eric Frank and
Logan Randolph
On The Map
This morning we were prepared for a day in camp as visibility was poor and the winds raged off the ridge of the
West Buttress. We enjoyed a long and delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon and three cheeses on a bagel accompanied by fresh coffee. Our meandering discussion spanned many topics and ended with a break in the snow and wind.
Ten minuets later we sprung into action, prepping our packs for a carry up onto the West Buttress proper to 16,200'. We dropped our food, fuel and other supplies for our summit push. We are now set for a move up to high camp in a few days or whenever we get a break in the winds and unstable weather.
With an evening arrival back at 14k camp, we plan to recover and rest in hopes of going upward soon.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
On The Map
Howdy from 14k. Today we got up and planned to carry food and equipment up toward high camp at 17k. We woke up early and the air was warm with patches of blue sky showing through. While we got our morning chow the snow and wind started slowly picking up. As we walked the first hour to 15k and the base of the classic headwall of the
West Buttress, the wind and snow intensity increased and visibility dropped to just a few feet.
With these conditions and the risk of avalanches increasing, we opted to descend in hopes of better weather in the next days. The team spent the majority of the day lounging in tents. Our decision to turn around was verified as we heard the constant roar of avalanches in the distance and saw 8 new inches of snow accumulate throughout the day.
Dinner tonight will bring a nice meal and psych to the team. In the mountains we must have patience and wait until we have an opportunity for safe passage. For now we gain strength and acclimatization through rest and light exercise. When Denali allows us an opportunity to go higher, we will be ready.
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RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
Today was our second day of sleeping in on the trip; it proved to be just as enjoyable as the first. Here in
Ganet Basin at 14k, the looming upper mountain of Denali blocks the sun from hitting camp until mid morning. Our group stayed in sleeping bags until the sun's first rays hit our tents. This place is like a desert, when the sun is behind the mountain it's freezing and when the sun is out, it's miserably hot. Once we were up, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast that lasted nearly until lunch.
Here at 14 camp, we are situated in the outskirts of a village of tents. While we are content resting in the shade, others are not. People can be seen and heard at nearly all hours of the day. We see snowball fights as well as people playing hacky-sack and making elaborate castles of snow blocks.
High winds and low visibility have plagued the upper mountain for the last few days, keeping many teams from moving uphill. The result is a large group of restless people around camp. While others sit crossing their fingers and rationing food, we are sitting pretty.
Because our team has moved efficiently thus far, we are simply enjoying the rest, acclimatizing and getting stronger every day. We are in a great position and look forward to carrying to 17k when we get a chance. We remain optimistic that the weather and wind on the upper mountain will subside.
The team says hello to all our friends and family following along on the blog.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
This morning we awoke to mostly clear skies, calm winds,and great climbing temps. Bagels and bacon filled our tanks for an early breakfast. We loaded our packs with our camp and started the 3,000 foot climb back to our cache at 14,000'. The team climbed in better style than ever, cutting 15 minutes off our previous time to the 14,000'
Advanced Base Camp (ABC). The guides have some very tasty food in store for the next few meals as we rest, rehydrate, acclimate, and create tighter bonds with our new climbing partners.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
Today we experienced superb climbing conditions as we bumped equipment and food to our cache at 14,000' camp.
We began with a steep climb out of
11,000' camp, up "Motorcycle Hill" and "Squirrel Hill" then enjoyed a mellow walk across a part of the route called the "Polo Field." We stopped just shy of the infamous "Windy Corner" at 13,200'. Guides and clients prepared to battle the harsh winds by dawning wind layers and face protection. We even made sure to have goggles readily accessible. When we rounded the corner however, we were greeted with only a light breeze. As a team we are constantly preparing for the worst and hoping for the best; the wind today turned out to be the best.
With our cache stocked, we headed downhill back to our camp. Despite some clouds, we were still greeted with a view of the Peters Glacier, the Direct West Buttress and Father and Son Wall. We were reminded how truly huge this place is, and satisfied to see that we are making steady progress. The entire crew had their strongest day yet.
We are currently back in camp hold up in our tents. It seems that in this place we are either working our tails off, or comatose and resting. Now we are the latter.
We look forward to seeing what kind of weather greets us tomorrow. We hope to move up to 14,000' at some point in the next few days if the group feels strong and weather permits. Well keep you posted. For now, it's back to food and rest.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
There is no better way to start a day than sleeping in. After some long days of climbing, we have earned it. This morning we slept late, had breakfast burritos and started the work day at a leisurely 11am. While 23.5 hours of sunlight a day is a bit disorienting at first, hard work has been a great sleeping aid for the team.
Our crew is getting stronger every day. After our leisurely morning, we completed a back carry from 10,000' with no problems. We now sit at our
11,000' home, hiding from the beating radiation and gorging ourselves on goodie bags of food we recovered from our cache this morning. This afternoon we plan to meticulously re-pack the kit for a cache at 14,000' camp. We look forward to caching and moving up in the next few days, if weather allows.
Thank you to all for your comments and words of encouragement.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
A well deserved rest day yesterday paid dividends today. The team moved efficiently to
11,000 feet where we set up a deluxe camp. The weather greeted us with a nice cold headwind with some fresh snow in the track, but that was not too much of an obstacle for our team.
We worked hard to furnish camp after arriving this afternoon. Our cook tent is especially posh and our tent platforms are perfectly flat with a 5-star covered rest area. We plan on enjoying the camp we have crafted for the next few days as we rest and shuttle loads.
We look forward to retrieving our cache at 10,000 feet tomorrow, a relatively short day, then rest and indulging on the treats in our currently cashed goodie bags. Eating well means feeling well in the mountains and this is something this crew knows well! Till tomorrow, the whole team says hi to all.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Once we decided not to move for the day, the team slept late and gorged ourselves on a breakfast of toasted bagels with cream cheese and lockes. The rest of the morning was spent getting camp in order and digging out our walls.
Expedition life is a funny mixture of hard days of climbing and long days of sitting in the tents trying to avoid boredom. Today was the latter. We spent the afternoon avoiding the sun while we napped, read books and told stories. Being able to entertain yourself in the tent is a crucial skill on
big expeditions.
Tomorrow, weather permitting, we plan to make a push up towards the 11k camp for more acclimatization and rest before we push higher on this magical massif,
Denali.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
We certainly enjoy the blog updates. Hope the weather cooperates soon! Michael, our thoughts are with you and all the others. Love, Mom & Dad
Posted by: Eual/Paula Conditt on 6/13/2012 at 8:56 pm
We are enjoying the blog. It makes us feel like we can almost talk to you. Wishing you a successful trip Jeff/dad/team. We are cheering you on. Love Debbie, Andrew, and Madison
Posted by: Debbie Boskind on 6/12/2012 at 2:14 pm
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