Hey everybody back at home, this is Billy I am checking in from our high camp at 17,000'.
The team moved up yesterday. It was looking a little bit iffy weather wise but it looked like we were going to get a window. The weather cleared right up for us for our move and we moved right into high camp and set up shop. We were considering taking a shot at the summit today but winds returned and we opted to rest here at 17,000'. So everyone is snug in their sleeping bags, hanging out in the tent. Things are sunny here in camp right now but we had a fair bit of wind up on the ridge above Denali Pass that is going to keep us from going at least today. We are keeping our fingers crossed for tomorrow. We have enough supplies to last about a week up here. So we are hoping for a good weather window and the team should be able to get out there and punch the summit.
So we'll give you a call tomorrow and let you know what we are up to.
Take care,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in from 17000 on Mt. McKinley
Hello! It’s Tyler,Eric and Logan checking in after a long day of work in Talkeetna.
Yesterday we had a sunny drive through the Alaskan scenery before arriving in Talkeetna in late evening. This completed a long day of travel from our various home bases to our soon to be new home on the “Great One”- Denali.
This morning the team met for breakfast at the Roadhouse Restaurant to officially start the program. After chatting about the day, we walked across the small town of Talkeetna to K2 Aviation. As planes took off and landed around us, the team spread out clothing and equipment in the airport hanger and consulted endless checklists. As we made our final gear selections, the hanger was buzzing with excitement.
After an afternoon break for pizza and salad, we all headed to the National Park Service headquarters for an orientation meeting. We chatted about the importance of keeping our impact low as we climb and live in the park for the next few weeks. After the orientation, we spent some time working on rigging sleds, setting up tents and building other skills.
At noon the hanger looked like a yard sale; clothing and gear scattered everywhere. By the time we left for dinner, all of our ducks were in a row. We now have duffels and packs neatly stacked in the front of the hanger. We are ready to go and eager to get on the glacier.
Our whole crew is safe and sound back in Talkeetna!
After a successful summit of Denali on Sunday, our crew descended to the 14,000’ camp on Monday. Then, after an early start Tuesday, we hiked out to Basecamp and arrived at the airstrip in the early evening and were lucky enough to have some clear weather to fly off of the glacier and back to civilization. We had a great team dinner last night at the West Rib Pub, and we are all enjoying the comforts of real beds and running water! After 18 great days on the mountain, our expedition is officially over. Everyone is parting ways today, heading back to loved ones back home. It was a great adventure on Denali; climbing with a great team, great weather, and a great mountain, it was hard to beat!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
We awoke this morning early again, trying to take advantage of another windless day. With blue skies overhead we were optimistic of our chances of getting to camp at 14,100'
The crew had breakfast and struck camp as quickly and well as I've seen. Obviously they were some pretty motivated climbers.
A slight breeze kept us wrapped up in most of our layers, and we even put on face protection climbing through Windy Corner. But the team climbed even better today than yesterday. However, leaving our high point of yesterday and ascending the final 700' to camp reminded us all of the big jump in elevation we were making. Although everyone climbed really well, even the strongest of the team struggled a bit with the last bit of elevation gain.
But all this is expected and a normal part of the acclimatization process. An easy day tomorrow will find the team feeling better as our bodies adjust to the altitude. We're looking forward to it.
Getting into camp early today allowed us to establish a nice camp, dry out sleeping bags packed in haste this morning, and settle in to our new home before the sun disappeared behind the ridge. Our bags will be especially welcome tonight.
Talk with you again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Brent, Leon and Lindsay
Phil, Just checking in on you….looks like the weather gods are on your side! Enjoy the climb
Posted by: Susan and Kris on 5/30/2012 at 8:09 pm
Kristen…I can’t believe you are almost there!!!! Your perseverance and determination is inspiring. To think you only have a few thousand feet more after all these years. It sounds like everything is going so well. Savor this moment. I love you.
-Mamma Joe.
May 29:
Holy guacamole, another sabbath (day of rest) here at 14 camp. Definitely well-deserved after yesterday's hard work getting a cache in up on the West Buttress. We spent the day hanging out and worrying about ambiguous weather forecasts, philosophizing as usual, and helping Mike Walter's crew get settled in and reinvigorated after their successful summit push yesterday. Our plan is to make our move up to high camp at 17,000' tomorrow and hopefully put ourselves in a good position to take a crack at the summit in the near future. The weather is a definite concern but with a little luck the team will hopefully be standing on top in the next few days!
Lots of hard work lies ahead.
Wish us luck,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent and the gang
May 28:
Caching at Washburn's thumb
A clear and cold morning slowly gave way to a hot climb to the fixed lines. As we managed our layers we climbed higher gaining better views of Mount Hunter and Foraker. Ascending the fixed lines with out incident we reached the West Buttress proper and began climbing towards Washburn's thumb. Picking our way through rock outcroppings and steep snow ridges with GoPros rolling we made our cache at 4:00 PM. Retracing our steps we reached the fixed lines and descended into the afternoon clouds. A long day concluded back at 14 camp with Indian Fare, rice, and hot drinks.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
George,
we have been following your progress. We weren’t able to write from Pinetop but could log on at the rec center and see where you and the other two teams are at. Laura says it seems as if the trail never ends…Kids miss you. I do, too. God’s willing the weather cooperates for your summit. take a lot of photos.
Hugs and kisses from the three of us
Posted by: janina on 5/30/2012 at 8:41 pm
To Paul from Chloe:
I can’t wait for you to get to the top & come home. I really miss you. xoxo air kiss and air hug
Awakening early this morning we were surprised at just how warm and windless it was. At first our views were obscured by thick clouds, but moments later we could recognize the faint outlines of the ridges above us and realized that in fact we were at the top edge of a thick cloud bank enveloping the Kahiltna below us.
Everyone was excited, and perhaps just a bit anxious about the climbing ahead. After all, we were to face our steepest terrain yet.
Now, in our tent after a wonderful meal of pasta followed by blueberry cheese cake, all I can say is how proud I am of how this team climbed today! Everyone handled the loads and the climbing really well. About as well as I've seen. This sure bodes well for later.
We really appreciated the early start being over an hour ahead of any other team. It felt like we had the mountain to ourselves, and we did. That is, until we descended and saw the throngs of humanity ascending the slopes we had passed long before. At dinner many in the group reflected on what they saw and asked, "Did we look like that?" referring to the hunched over postures of people battling altitude, steep terrain and a notable lack of technique and training. We were delighted to say, "no, you guys are climbers!"
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Leon Davis & Lindsay Mann
Hey ” AA “, I wonder how the tap in your bedroom it is been abused by extrangers, but been so nice (ME), I am still very proud of all of you ...keep going strong and Good Luck…...I hope you have your car key too ......
This is Mike calling down from 17,200 on Denali. We reached the summit yesterday at about 7 p.m. on the most beautiful day I’ve ever seen up here – comfortably warm and no winds! We are cooking up a nice breakfast right now and plan on beginning our descent soon. Looking forward to seeing Billy and team at 14,000' and Brent and team at 11,000'. We plan on making it to 11K today, and then heading for the Kahiltna airstrip on Tuesday morning. Weather allowing, we hope to fly off on Tuesday.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
were are you guys? Hope you had a restful day. ET phone home!!!! Love bob Enjoy the time you have on the mountain. Love you tons mom xoxo (Maile)
Posted by: Ginny and bob on 5/29/2012 at 6:56 pm
Amazing accomplishment-kudos to you Mike and your team! Glad that you made it to the summit safely and with such pleasant weather! So glad your Mom forwarded the news to me.Always happy to hear about your endeavors. All the best to you and your group!
Aunt D
Posted by: Mike Walter and team on 5/29/2012 at 5:16 pm
Today was a good day. The sun peeked thru the clouds timidly at best, with snow spitting occasionally and clouds being more the norm. But that didn't deter us from enjoying another easy day with a thirty minute walk back to the cache we left at 9,500' leading to a pleasant romp back to camp in the early afternoon.
With the days work behind us we had only to review some climbing basics with our ice axes and crampons to get ready for tomorrow. It is beginning with the terrain above that the real climbing starts. And we're ready for it. Lighter packs and steeper slopes will be a welcome respite from the slogging done thus far.
Our last fresh food meal of burritos revealed that everyone was feeling strong here at 11,200' as the team left nothing uneaten.
We'd love just a bit more settled weather for our climb up Motorcycle Hill, Squirrel Hill and Windy Corner on our way to our cache site at 13,600', but I suppose if we just have calm weather we'll be happy. At eight hours round trip this will be our longest day, and our first day of higher altitude, but I know the team is ready for it.
We'll leave you with a little poem Lindsay composed:
"With sleds in our pack
We take the downhill track.
Zipping to 9500' for the cache
We grab the food stash.
Back to 11 we go
With light weight sleds in tow.
Tomorrow we will carry up the hill
And hope to continue our good weather fill"
Until tomorrow,
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Leon Davis and Lindsay Mann
Audrey and Doug - I’m thrilled to hear that things seem to be going well for you guys so far. I have been thinking of you and I’m sending good thoughts as you continue onward and upward. Good luck to you both and to the whole team. I’ll be watching the blog for more updates. Stay safe and have fun! xoxo
With packs lightened down after leaving a cache at 9500', the team made easy work on the climb to 11,200' camp today. Our three and a half hour jaunt was made all the nicer by bluebird skies and sunny warm temperatures. To top things off we moved into a nice campsite that required minimal work. Although its snowing lightly again, we are looking forward to another easier day tomorrow, where we will retrieve our cache from 9500'.
That's all from 11,200 feet.
RMI Guides Lindsay Mann, Leon Davis and Brent Okita
Gary, All is well here. It was obvious to us that you didn’t plan the days hike! Only three and a half hours! LOL. We love you and miss you. Angela and Ian
Posted by: Angela Rennie on 5/29/2012 at 6:20 am
Kristen- thinking of you every day! Hope you’re having the time of your life! Only three and a half hours of walking for the day? Is this making Mauna Kea look hard?
Miss you. Be safe and love you!!!
Posted by: Timothy Kelliher MD on 5/28/2012 at 6:13 am
A rest day! Yay! We did such amazing things as sleeping in, more turbo tanning, sport eating, walking out to the Edge of the World, more sport eating, fixed line practice, and packing for tomorrow's carry up the fixed lines. Per the norm, the team is in good spirits but perhaps a bit anxious for tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be in and out for the extended forecast so we are planning to stick to our schedule until we are forced to wait.
Hoping for a great day tomorrow, once we get this cache in we will be on standby for good weather and hopefully pulling the trigger on our move to high camp and subsequent summit push...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent and friends
Hello GRD from AOMS in Tucson Arizona. We are thinking of you and tracking your progress. Your almost to the top!!! WooHoo!!! Looking forward to the Summit pictures, stories and your safe return!
Enjoy every moment!!! :)
Posted by: Robin Alexander on 5/29/2012 at 9:22 am
Hi Donny. We are so proud of you. The whole family in St Louis is following your team’s progress. Uncle Jim
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Howzit Elizabeth!
Hope you’re staying warm up there at 17,000’...fricken crazy man! Safe travels to you and the team
Dent & Jenny
Posted by: Dent & Jenny on 6/1/2012 at 2:31 pm
I just left a comment for the wrong team. Im in computer right now and Evelyn and I say hi. Don’t worry it’s freetime. Love you mom
Posted by: Sheena on 6/1/2012 at 11:43 am
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