June 21, 2014 - 8:11 am PT
The transition from the sweet smell of blooming cotton woods, green grass, the easy access to showers to a life of arctic surroundings, grinding work and confined tent living comes abruptly! This morning that reality was as large as the towering mountains around us but the team motivated quickly and with resolve to get our grand adventure underway. The mental weight of shouldering a 60-pound pack connected to a 50-pound sled and then hauling it into an arena like the Kahiltna Glacier can be far more intimidating than the actual physical load. Faced with this challenge our team shined! We were thrilled to walk out of Base Camp at 9:30 this morning onto the smoothest most user-friendly trail I have seen in all my nine trips to this glacier. Not only was the trail superb, we had the weather to match. Five hours after leaving BC we arrived at Camp One. At only 7,800 feet the vertical gain was not all that much but the distance was enough under monster loads to assure us this journey will not be an easy one. Tomorrow we will attempt to move again. Stay tuned.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff signing off
Sounds like a day in the making. Best of luck. Fair trails and following winds.
Gary
Posted by: Gary Butcher on 6/23/2014 at 4:56 pm
Looks like day one was a beautiful blue sky day! Hopefully everyone is feeling strong and rested for day two. Good luck to everyone and may the good weather continue.
JH
Posted by: Jerry Hildebrand on 6/22/2014 at 6:06 am
June 21, 2014 - 2:56 am PT
Well, you probably heard our summit phone call from earlier today, so this is just the follow-up to that. We had a heck of a day here in the high altitudes of North America, rising from the tents early this morning to cold temperatures, light winds, and high clouds. We decided that it was going to be a day for an attempt, and once we had basked in the sun for a bit we headed over to the shade of the Autobahn. Two hours later we had passed the difficulties of the pickets and the exposure below, and we stepped out around Denali Pass.
The weather was still a bit in and out, but the No Troubles crew was moving well so we kept at it. Up steep rolls, over undulating terrain, and higher and higher we climbed. We passed familiar landmarks as the day went on, like Zebra Rocks, Archdeacon's Tower, the Football Field, and finally crested onto the summit ridge in cold wind and clear blue skies. Late this afternoon, we reached the highest point on this continent, and emotions ran high as we hugged, high-fived, and snapped photos. Jake's team came up onto the top just as we were getting ready to head down, and we were thrilled to share that special moment with them.
This team has had a full value experience, especially with all the uncertainty and waiting that we've endured. Now it's time for one last hot drink and then into the bag for a much-deserved rest. Down tomorrow, hopefully the weather holds for a flight soon!
Cheers,
RMI Guides Tyler, Geoff, Garrett and the No Troubles team
June 20, 2014 - 10:08 pm PT
Back-carry from Windy Corner to 14K Camp? Mission accomplished.
We enjoyed the best weather of the trip today. Morning snow flurries gave way to sapphire skies and gorgeous views of the entire range. Our back-carry only took us a couple of hours to complete so we spent the rest of the day soaking in the grandeur of the Alaska Range.
They're calling for over a foot of snow tomorrow so we may end up taking a weather day but the trend is supposedly clearing Sunday through Tuesday. Could be our window? We'll see...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent from 14K Camp
June 20, 1014 - 10:00 pm PT
We woke up this morning when the sun hit the tent. It was a cold morning here on Denali so it took us awhile to get out and about. We were on a rest/acclimatization day so we ate, drank, and took care of some chores to get us ready for our cache day up high tomorrow. Our plan is to carry some gear to somewhere between here and 17,000' camp. The actual cache spot will depend on how well we are feeling and what the weather gives us.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen Team "The Ocho"
June 20, 2014 - 10:16 pm PT
Hello, this is Jake calling from the summit of Denali with our crew. Everyone did a wonderful job today and I'm super proud of how everyone kept it together. We had a little flurry of conditions in the morning and then had just about the most beautiful day you could imagine on top. Thanks to everybody back home for the support. And now we are gonna get down to the business of getting down, so we will call when we get back to camp and look forward to seeing everybody soon, alright. Bye.
June 21, 2014 - 2:54 am PT
Hello, this is Leon, Katie and Jake just calling in to let everybody know that most of us are asleep back at camp. The rest of us who are not will be shortly. A beautiful climb and we will touch base on our way out of here. Good night.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren calling in from the Mt. McKinley summit!
RMI Guide Jake Beren calls in from high camp after successful Mt. McKinley summit.
June 20, 2014 - 8:56 pm PT
Hi there, it's Tyler and team. We are standing on the summit of North America currently with our team. A little bit in the evening around 8 o'clock [Alaska time]. We are out of the wind on our side and it's sunny, beautiful, and everything is going well. We'll give you a shout and a little dispatch when we get back to safe and sound to our high camp. Hope everyone's well. We're doing great. Thanks for all of the support. Take care you guys. Talk to you soon.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
RMI Guide Tyler Jones call from the Mt. McKinley summit.
Wow! Wow! Wow! How exciting and what an amazing accomplishment! I cannot imagine the thrill you must have felt at the summit! I will keep all in my prayers for the decent and Jen….I think you should write a book! Love…Karen
Posted by: Karen Pratte on 6/21/2014 at 9:11 am
Wow! Wow! Wow! I can’t imagine the thrill that you experienced reaching the summit! I am so very proud of you…I think you should write a book!!! Be safe on the way down and I will keep all in my prayers! Much love….Karen
June 20, 2014 - 7:14 am PT
Three O Clock PM Talkeetna time. The kids in orange vests that load and unload the planes we were to fly in asked if it was okay to unload the 2,700 pounds of gear weighing down the aircrafts still grounded by ugly mountain weather near Mt. McKinley. Sure we all said. By this time the thought of messing around with gear just to pass the time seemed like a safe plan. The flying conditions were reported to be bad all day so the perceived notion that we would fly at all was dwindling. The forecast for the next few days looked worse so I knew unloading those planes was the best move we could have made. Not more than 20 minutes after our climbing outfits came off and we were literally heading into town for a beer, base camp called, said conditions looked good and if anyone was ready, load 'em up ASAP and get them in! So, off with the jeans and tennies, on with boots and a mild-hurried panic and onto the plane. Forty-five minutes later we were on the glacier! Yeeee haaaa.
Everyone is buzzing with good energy and the days to come. Wish us luck on our move to Camp One.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
June 19, 2014 - 8:43 pm PT
Hello, this is Leon, Katie and Jake up at 17K Camp. We moved today up the Buttress. We dealt with a little wind and a little bit of snow, but the team did super well. We're all buttoned up tight hoping to go for it tomorrow if the weather allows. That's all from 17K, we will be checking in tomorrow.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Jake Beren calling in from Mt. McKinley's 17K Camp.
June 19, 2014 - 10:41 pm PT
We have arrived at 14,200'! The weather today was marginal with moderate winds, occasionally heavy snow, and sometimes even hot sunbreaks. A little bit of everything made for an interesting move. McKinley's 14K camp is uncharacteristically empty; lots of snowed in abandoned camps to choose from but they were all pretty crummy. We ended up digging out some old platforms and quarrying new blocks to rebuild some delapidated walls to protect our tents from the wind. We did find a great pre-dug posh that must have been abandoned by Jake or Tyler's crew as they moved up to 17K today. Thanks guys! Our team is racked out already after our big day and eating a hot meal. Tomorrow's plans call for an easy back carry and hopefully some rest in the afternoon.
Talk soon...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
June 20, 2014 - 8:29 pm PT
We woke up to snowing and blowing again this morning. We pushed our wake up/ departure time back a couple of hours and the weather cleared up nicely for us. Although leaving early is a bit colder, it keeps us off the glacier when it heats up and it gets us into camp early. We arrived at 14,200' camp around 11:45 this morning and got the pick of the litter for already dug out camps. Since many of the other teams that were stacked up because of the weather headed up to 17k today, camps with big snow walls were in abundance. With a little bit of prep we got a great camp set up. We just finished some tortellini with salmon...roughing it. Thanks RMI, the food has been great on this trip!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and Team "The Ocho"
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Sounds like a day in the making. Best of luck. Fair trails and following winds.
Gary
Posted by: Gary Butcher on 6/23/2014 at 4:56 pm
Looks like day one was a beautiful blue sky day! Hopefully everyone is feeling strong and rested for day two. Good luck to everyone and may the good weather continue.
JH
Posted by: Jerry Hildebrand on 6/22/2014 at 6:06 am
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