Entries from Mt. McKinley
Posted by: Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 9,400'
It's another splitter evening on the Kahiltna Glacier. Our team worked hard this afternoon and it all paid off when we rolled into camp here at 9400' and enjoyed a few hours basking in the sunshine and casually building camp. Our group is becoming skilled in campsite construction, and we are sitting quite comfortably here in our massive snow fort. With Ski Hill out of the way and in the past, we are all looking forward to our move to 11,000' tomorrow.
The team is doing well, spirits are high, the weather forecast looks promising, and we are all excited about the progress we've made and the climbing still ahead!
RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team
On The Map
We can't complain about the two days of bad weather that prevented us from flying on when it is this beautiful at base camp. The weather here is stellar and watching the sun track across the greater Alaska range has the team in awe. Distant Avalanches off Mt. Hunter and Foraker provide awesome viewing in between skills training. Today we traveled up the SE fork of the Kahiltna for an attempt on Horiskey's Hump (Radio Tower) but poor slope conditions turned us back. Not as much snow sticking to the slopes here this year and firm conditions on steep terrain forced us to make a conservative decision. The team is very thankful for the chance and they learned a great deal about themselves.
Tomorrow we train and prepare for an attempt on Kahiltna Dome!
RMI Guide Leon Davis and Team
Posted by: Mike Walter, Steve Gately, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
Good morning everyone!
It's a beautiful day here on the lower Kahiltna Glacier. Our team did an excellent job of moving to 7,800' at the base of Ski Hill yesterday. We got an early flight to base camp and spent a few hours getting organized and reviewing glacier travel techniques.
After a solid 8 hours in the sleeping bags we are again packing and looking uphill in the direction of 9,500'.
We'll be sure to check in after our move today!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Go Mike go…Great climb you and your crew…Godspeed…Waltero
Posted by: walter glover on 5/10/2014 at 4:43 am
May 8, 2014 10:20 p.m. PST
The team took advantage of bluebird weather today by training on various mountaineering techniques near Kahiltna Base. We did this in anticipation of an attempt on the Radio Control Tower tomorrow. Now that the group has all of the necessary skills under their belt, we can safely travel up the glacier and, hopefully, climb to our first summit!
RMI Guide Leon Davis
May 8, 2014 1:54 a.m. PST
The team woke this morning to the sounds of birds chirping in the trees, which meant that yesterday's rain had passed. The sky was still overcast, but as we assembled for breakfast at the Talkeetna Roadhouse spirits were high and conversation about our chances of flying onto the glacier carried a positive tone.
By late afternoon, it looked like another night might find us sleeping in Talkeetna and dreaming of glaciers, but luck fell our way. We were instructed to "suit up" and get loaded on the plane. Our flight service, K2 Aviation, was going to put us in the air and see if they could punch through.
Six hours later, we were nestled into our camp on the southeast flow of the Kahiltna Glacier. We established a camp and had a phenomenal dinner. Everyone is in awe of the surroundings and the group's cameras are getting quite the workout.
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Leon Davis and the Alaska Mountaineering Seminar crew
On The Map
Posted by: Mike Walter, Solveig Waterfall, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 348'
The 2014 RMI Expeditions Denali climbing season is officially underway. Our team spent yesterday in the town of Talkeetna readying our gear for flying on to the Kahiltna Glacier. An expedition of this magnitude necessitates a good deal of preparation, and while our planning and preparation has gone on for months now, we still had a lot of work to do.
The day started off with a team breakfast at the Talkeetna Roadhouse before heading over to the National Park Service for our pre-trip orientation meeting. Then it was over to K2 Aviation's hangar to get our equipment ready for our glacier landing. This involved finalizing the packing of our personal kits as well as combing over the group gear, setting up tents, firing up stoves, and generally assuring that everything was in top working condition before loading it into the airplane.
The weather is forecast to be very good for flying, and expect to be on the Kahiltna Glacier by midday on Thursday. Hopefully that's the case and our next dispatch will be from the Alaska Range. We'll do our best to keep you up to date with the latest.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Best wishes for continued good weather, a cohesive team, and safe, fun climbing conditions!
Avery says, “Go, Pops, Go!”! Climb smart Dad!
Extra shout out to a great guide, Mike!
Posted by: MandyS on 5/9/2014 at 10:46 am
Best wishes for a safe and fun climb. May the weather gods be kind!
Posted by: Bill Gately on 5/9/2014 at 4:13 am
Posted by: Linden Mallory, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 348'
More clouds filled the Ruth Amphitheater this morning when we woke up to check the weather and give a report to the pilot. The mist and low hanging clouds meant no flying this morning but it did give us the opportunity to have a relaxing morning cooking up breakfast in camp and then heading out for some ski touring nearby. This little weather system passing through the Alaska Range brought us a few inches of fresh snow and we found great turns on the slopes nearby. We spent a few hours making laps, forgetting about the weather and immersing ourselves in the simple joy of sliding downhill on skis.
By early afternoon the clouds looked as if they were beginning to thin and we headed back to camp to pack out the runway for the plane and get our gear in order should the weather break enough for a flight to get in. By the time we finished the clouds were still lifting - albeit slowly - and we entered the waiting game, exerting whatever futile will power we could muster to clear the skies while passing the time telling stories, sharing jokes, and even building a little jump in camp to catch some air on skis.
By 5:30 in the evening the views across the Amphitheater were clear and we got the go ahead that a plane was on its way. Shortly thereafter a red Otter poked over the ridge lines above us, made a few sweeping turns above the glacier and came into land. We hauled all of our gear over to the waiting plane, piled everything in and were soon airborne, flying low over the glacier we walked yesterday morning. We buzzed right down the Ruth Gorge, staying low as the summits of the surrounding peaks were still covered in clouds and followed the winding track of the Ruth Glacier out of the mountains and back into the Alaska foothills. The riot of green spring buds covering the forest tops, intersected by rivers still carrying winter ice, was a little bit of a shock after being in a world of ice, snow, and rock for the better part of the past week and the air gradually felt warmer as we neared Talkeetna.
We landed in Talkeetna and swapped our ski boots for flip flops, our soft shells for jeans (after a nice long shower), and are headed out for dinner. Despite the unpredictable weather, it's been a fun week of adventuring in the Alaska Range.
- RMI Guide Linden Mallory & Team
Posted by: Leon Davis, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Good morning friends and family!
Well we are still in Talkeetna after a long day yesterday of rain. The skies this morning, while not raining, remain a canvas of clouds. Today we will continue ground training with mechanical advantage systems, remaining close to the planes if we get a break.
Weather looks good on Thursday and honestly, we are having a great time here!
RMI Guide Leon Davis & Team
Posted by: Linden Mallory, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
When the alarm clock went off last night we were already intermittently awake, listening to the winds blowing up the Ruth Gorge and pelting our tent with snow. Sure enough, when we poked our heads out of the tent it was hard to see more than a dozen yards through the snow in the beams of our headlamps. We knew that again today wasn't a summit day so we crawled back into our sleeping bags for a few more hours of sleep.
When we woke up around 5:30 the conditions hadn't improved much so we set about making breakfast and breaking camp at a leisurely pace, hoping that the clouds would lift a bit before we were done. Unfortunately, that never happened and with our packs and sleds fully loaded with our gear, we set off back up the Ruth Glacier into the fog, snow and wind. The return to Mountain House went smoothly, although the views were lacking a bit. We spent most of the time walking through the Gorge navigating by compass, GPS, and a bit of sheer reckoning. By the time we entered the Amphitheater and rounded the north side of Mt. Barille, the clouds began to lift enough for us to get a look around and we even caught glimpses of some sunshine as we made the final ascent to the landing strip at Mountain House.
Once at Mountain House we set up our camp and then took advantage of the clearing in the weather to go for a short ski tour above camp before the clouds settled back in. We are back in camp now and cooking up dinner. Tomorrow morning if the clouds lift we'll get another short ski in above camp before we catch our ride in a ski plane back to Talkeetna. Keep your fingers crossed that the clouds lift enough for the plane to get in and get us!
RMI Guide Linden Mallory & Team
Yikes! Good luck, sounds cold.
Posted by: M. Homme on 5/6/2014 at 8:50 pm
Posted by: Leon Davis, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
It is often said that to be an expedition climber, you must learn patience. Today was an exercise in just that. Early this morning as we walked empty streets from the roadhouse to the K2 Hangar, clouds hung in what was once clear skies. On the southeast fork of the Kahiltna, those clouds would prevent pilots from landing at base camp. Still, we worked hard at packing for an early afternoon flight and as our departure time came and went, we spent the day training on the K2 front lawn. Knots were learned exhaustively, tents set up and tonight we will gather for another night of stories and laughter. Spirits are strong and tomorrow is another day!
RMI Guide Leon Davis
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Steve and team,
Glad to hear all is going well and the weather gods are smiling. Must be quite the view up there.
Steve: Bruins won 4-2 over Montreal and take a 3-2 series lead.
Dad
Posted by: Bill Gately on 5/11/2014 at 4:23 am
Great job team! It looks beautiful! Keep up the good work!
We’re thinking about you Dad!
Love,
Mandy
Posted by: MandyS on 5/10/2014 at 6:50 pm
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