Entries from Mt. McKinley
Hi, this is
Mike Walter checking in from 14,000’. We have descended the
West Buttress and are back at the 14,000’ camp. Everyone is doing swell. Our plan is to continue the descent to 11,000’ and hunker down for a few hours. There we’ll ‘brew up’ hot drinks, grab something to eat and nap for a few hours. We’ll traverse the lower Kahiltna Glacier in the wee hours (when it’s coldest) headed for Base Camp. We hope to arrive at BC tomorrow morning, unless the Weather Gods have other plans in store. That’s all for now from our tired and happy crew.
On The Map
At 4:45P (PDT)
Mike Walter called from the summit of McKinley:
This is Mike and I’m calling from the summit of
Mt McKinley! The weather is beautiful; no wind, and just a few clouds. The summit of Mt Foraker (17,400’) is 3,000’ lower than us, and Kahiltna Base Camp is 13,000’ below us! Our ascent from high camp took seven and one-half hours, which is very good time. We’re taking hero shots, hugging and congratulating each other, but soon it will be time to descend to our tents. After a well deserved rest, tomorrow we will down-climb the West Buttress and reach the thick air at 14,000’ camp. More reports will follow.
Congratulations to the Mt. McKinley June 12th Team!
On The Map
Another early start and another straightforward move up in perfect conditions. We got up at 3 AM and ate breakfast in the cool shadows blanketing our 7800 ft camp. On our second day of climbing, it was already becoming routine to knock down the tents and get packs and sleds squared away for travel. We were roped up and moving up Ski Hill by 5:45. The hills were big and the loads were as well, but we slowed the pace and worked our way up. Again, we found the surface frozen hard and easy for sledding and walking without sinking in. Distances weren't terribly significant and it only took us three and a half hours to reach the top of the hills at around 9500 ft. We built a camp and dove into the tents just as the sun started heating the giant reflector oven of the upper Kahiltna Glacier. Afternoon was spent in slumber, or in reading, or in watching iPod movies, or in snacking and drinking water. Some did it all. We sat in our "POSH" dining tent chatting for a few hours at dinner. At 8 PM we tuned in our radio to catch the mountain specific weather forecast (which calls for a little bit of snow at our elevation tonight). Far more entertaining was our conversation with the other RMI teams on the mountain. We were excited for Mike Walter's summit and safe return to high camp and to hear that Adam Knoff and his gang are good to go for moving to 17,000 ft tomorrow. If our good luck holds, we'll cruise on up to 11,000 ft tomorrow with our strong and steady team.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Mt. McKinley has the gnarly reputation for being one of the hardest mountains in the world to reach the summit of. In circles of armchair mountaineers, horror stories bounce around like cheap cigars. What most people don't realize is how much down time comes with living the dream of climbing north America's highest peak.
Yesterday we put in our first "average work day" with an eight hour round trip climb to Washburn's thumb at 16,500 feet. We cached food, fuel and clothing needed for our time on the upper mountain. This was our teams most difficult challenge to date which everyone handled like cagey veterans.
Back to the down time. Of course the terrain on this mountain demands one's full concentration, but so does our time of rest. It is unnatural for all of us to try and sleep twelve hours a day with no darkness. The rigors of rest should not be underestimated. Today we woke from thirteen hours of hibernation and had a two hour breakfast demanding great effort to pull away from. Now we are preparing for a stroll to the edge of the world and then home for more sleep. Today is beautiful here at 14,000 feet, much more pleasant than our ten below nights. All is well and we look forward to climbing higher..
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
On The Map
It was a little tough waking up at 1 AM, since we hadn't been able to get to bed terribly early, but coffee and bagels got us going. Just as we'd hoped, it had been a clear night and the glacial surface had frozen up good and hard. Conditions were ideal for tackling the lower glacier. This section can be problematic since it is normally heavily crevassed in late season, but we found that the recent snowfall and overnight freeze had combined to bridge things nicely. We set out around 4:30 AM and made steady progress, first dropping a few hundred feet to reach the main glacier and then turning North while working up small hills and inclines. The packs were heavy and despite the fact that the fully loaded sleds were sliding easily along, we were all pretty thankful for the short rest breaks each hour. It was good hard work, but we didn't have much in the way of glitches or problems. The last two hours of our push were conducted in bright sunshine with a great view of
Denali's south face. The West Buttress stood out clearly in relief. We pulled into our intended camp at 7,800 ft at about 9:15 AM and got to work. In no time, we had tents, a kitchen, a dining area, a latrine and the start of several significant naps. It was a day for power lounging and for catching up on hydration.
We rallied for a group dinner since
Solveig Waterfall was serving up excellent burritos, but then the naps resumed.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
This is Mike checking in from high camp on
Denali. The weather is playing games with us today, but the forecast remains excellent. We had contemplated a summit bid upon awakening, but a lenticular cloud cap kept alternately forming then dissipating throughout the morning, and we decided to hold off. It has been quite windy in camp, but high pressure is forecast to dominate the next several days. Our well rested team hopes to go for it tomorrow. All is well and we will be back in touch with an update tomorrow.
Wish us luck!
Our Four Day Summit Climb Teams Led by RMI Guides Mike Haugen and Gabriel Barral reached the top of Mt. Rainier today. The teams reported light winds, and favorable weather. The teams were able to spend some time on the summit and are now en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Mike Walter called and checked in on Friday night at about 9:50 p.m. There were some clouds and winds on the upper mountain so the team decided to take a rest day at 17,000' camp. They have had nice weather at camp and a good rest. Mike reported an awesome forecast for today with sunny skies and light winds, so they plan to make their summit attempt. The team is excited and ready to go.
Good Luck Team!
On The Map
We apologize to Mike and Nelson's family's for missing their hellos. Here they are saying hi to their followers.
Nelson: Mom, Dad, I'm having an absolute blast. I love it up here. Thank you so much for making this happen. I'm feeling great and getting excited for the imminent summit push. Tomorrow (weather permitting) we'll get to the top of the fixed lines and up onto the famed
West Buttress. Long story short, I'm having a great time. Thank you so much. To everyone else who I told to follow the blog (probably a good 3 people or so) this place is way sweet. Wicked fun. Big Rik--you need to get up here sometime, it's fantastic. Lynn--of course I'm winning and writing lots. I'll have plenty of stories for you all. It's cold, fun, and badass. Love, Nels
Hi Susan, Mel, Hannah, family and friends! Thanks to everyone for your posts. Your thoughts mean so much. I'm having a great time, staying warm, and the guides make sure we eat very well. After being snowed in today, we'll hopefully move to high camp in the next few days where we stage our attempt for the summit. Miss you all! Love Mike
What a difference a day makes. Things didn't seem a whole lot better, first thing this morning. Talkeetna was still a little dim and grey with low cloud lurking as we headed out to the airstrip. It took a few hours of waiting for things to come around. Our pilots figured out a clear path in to the Kahiltna, despite a fair amount of lingering clouds hiding the mountains. What we were able to see was stunning and spectacular, as if to make up for all that was hidden. Unbelievably steep and immense mountains began to pop up all around us as we entered the heart of the range. Glaciers, snow and random ice seemed to hang on every possible flank. The K2 pilots did their normal perfect approach and landing with the big ski equipped DeHaviland Otters. We'd taken off from town at 11:30 AM and we were unloading gear on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna 35 minutes later. At basecamp it was intensely sunny and warm with no wind whatsoever. The cloud cover evaporated and we were treated to grand views of Mount Hunter, Mount Foraker and even
Denali on occasion. We built camp and began reviewing glacier travel techniques. There was plenty to get done and we worked throughout the afternoon and evening at divy-ing loads and getting rigged for an early morning move to camp at 7,800 ft. What we could see from the planes backed up what we've been hearing from other climbers... conditions on the lower glacier are excellent.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
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Congratulations!!!
Posted by: Tony on 7/3/2012 at 8:21 am
Congratulations Longbonez and the team! We are all proud of you and can’t wait to hear about your trip. Be safe on the way down and we will see you soon!
Posted by: Xbonez on 7/3/2012 at 7:57 am
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