After many weather days at 14k and 17k, our team finally made it to the summit of Denali! The weather was promising, but not perfect this morning. It was overcast but still. You could see the sun shining through the tops of the clouds. After our turned back attempt the other day, we were very cautious and waited to see what the day was going to bring. We finally left camp at 11:20 in the morning. As we climbed, the weather got better and better. We climbed through the clouds into the sunshine. We made it to the summit around 8:00 p.m. It was clear with no wind, which is VERY rare on the top of the highest mountain in North America. Our crew was strong so we had a safe, quick descent back to camp arriving a bit after 11:00 p.m. A great 12 hour day. We had a quick dinner, caught the midnight sunset, and are now comfortably in bed. Now we can let ourselves start thinking about cheeseburgers!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
RMI Guide Mike Haugen checks in from the summit of Mt. McKinley.
This is Dave Hahn calling in from 7,800’ on the Kahiltna Glacier. Still at 7,800’! We really had high hopes this storm would break a little earlier today and then we would get to move. We did get up early again and kept checking the weather, but it was snowing good and steady through the night, through the morning and well into the afternoon. It was socked right in, like looking at the inside of a ping pong ball. Wet snow kept falling right until 3 this afternoon and then it started to clear. And now, at almost 8:30 in the evening, I am standing out here and we do have a blue sky above us. Most of the mountains are still kind of hiding in the clouds. But it is definitely breaking up and it's beautiful to see the mountains again. We haven't seen them for a few days, and looking down the Kahiltna Glacier and we're all kind of excited.
We just did a radio calls with Linden Mallory and Mike Haugen. The treat for everybody was that Mike was doing his radio call from the summit of Mt McKinley. So that's pretty far from us right now, but we were excited for those guys because we know that they have been up there waiting and trying. And we've been down here waiting. Tomorrow, I'm pretty confident, that we're going to get up early and we are going to climb on up to 9,500’. I think the weather is going to work out for us tonight. We'll see.
Everybody is in good spirits. We had a snow carving contest today. There was a bowling alley carved over here. There is a pony, a lion, and a cobra. There was a giraffe that broke his neck a little earlier. There were some pretty good snow sculptures out here. The team is keeping their spirits up, and eating well. That is all.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in with an update from 7,800' on Mt. McKinley.
So cool that Lindsey, one of our favorite ski coaches, and my brother, dial-a-vet Rich, are on the same climb. We are sending positive thoughts for a safe summit and return for you all. Happy trails to you both Taosenos. Carin, Nicole and clan
Posted by: Carin on 7/5/2011 at 9:29 pm
I bet that the injured giraffe was Lindsay Mann’s! Sending my best wishes for good weather. Stay safe. Go team Hahn!
With more snow falling throughout the night and a cloudy obscured morning here at 14 Camp, we spent our 4th of July parked here at 14 Camp. The snow let up by mid morning and we spent a few hours touching up camp after all of the snow. The big snow walls we have around our tents do a great job breaking the wind but make clearing the tents a challenge as all the snow needs to be thrown up and over them. Once the tent area is cleared of the new snow we set about snugging up the guy lines and tent anchors that secure the tent in place, crucial points in case the winds pick up to keep the tents from blowing away. Turning our attention to the kitchen, we spent some time reworking our benches and cooking counters out of the snow. The kitchen is a big circular pit dug into the snow with benches and flat counters dug into the edges with a round teepee like nylon tent that covers it. After a few days of use everything begins to melt out so it took a couple of hours of shoveling and chopping through the ice to reform everything in there.
With camp squared away we dove into a serious session of knot tying, spending the better part of the afternoon practicing the basic as well as more elaborate mountaineering and climbing knots.
The weather has slowly cleared throughout the day and looks to be improving, a great trend for us. We are looking at the possibility of moving to high camp either tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on the weather and a few logistics we need to coordinate with Mike Haugen's RMI team which will hopefully be descending tomorrow.
Happy 4th too everyone back home, we hope you're enjoying the barbecues and fireworks!
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Hey dad its Nick, have been having computer issues so I haven’t been able to check up too much. Looks like you guys are doing well. I hope the trip continues to be somewhat smooth, and I hope you’re having a blast! Love you lots!!
Nick
Posted by: Nick Marini on 7/6/2011 at 12:25 pm
Linden, your descriptions of camp are wonderful! It is nice to start the day knowing you are all hanging in there.
Kitty and I are holding down the home fort…all is well.
Hello, this is Dave Hahn on the RMI Mt. McKinley Expedition. We are still at 7,800’, Camp 1 on the Kahiltna Glacier. We had a little bit of a long day. We got up at 2:30 this morning, hoping for good climbing conditions, but it was already snowing, wet heavy snow and that went on for hours. There was a little bit of clearing around mid day and we could see some blue sky. We got some sun for a while. We were hoping that it was going to clear off completely but it hardly ever slacked up. In fact, it snowed a little harder in the afternoon and the evening was fairly socked in with clouds. So, that is why we stayed put. Nobody seemed to move on Mount McKinley today or at least our part of it. Everybody sat where they were. In our group spirit seem to be high anyway. Everybody was enjoying getting out of the tents at meal time and still everybody is staying good and positive. Hoping the weather breaks for us tomorrow and if not tomorrow, then the next day.
We are hanging in there on the Kahiltna.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from 7,800' on Mt. McKinley
Glad you are out of basecamp. Wishing you all good sledding with your heavy loads and that the mountain God send sunshine your way today. Blessing and love to Wayne, Dinah
We watched a few different climbing teams go down this morning because the weather was junk and they were out of time and low on supplies. We are very hopeful that Denali will invite us to climb to the summit in the next couple of days. The team is strong, healthy and happy. What a great group of guys! We have all progressed from amateur to professional tent nappers with all of these weather no bueno days.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
A very dry snow started falling yesterday after we returned from our carry to 16,200' and continued throughout the night. When we finally emerged from the tents 6 - 8" of new snow covered camp. As we fired up the stoves for breakfast we dug out camp, clearing all of the snow from the tents, resetting the tent anchors, and pulling our backpacks and climbing gear out from beneath the surface.
With no plan but resting and sitting around camp today, we had a casual breakfast - cooking up a heaping amount of bacon and sitting inside the kitchen, talking about normal 4th of July weekend activities while we listened to the snow fall on the tent above. These rest days can be some of the more mentally difficult days of an expedition as there isn't much to do but sit idely and wait for our move. While they are important for our acclimatization and physical recovery, they are also a test in patience as we wait for the hours to go by. Thankfully the team is doing well and it has been welcome down time after a few big days back to back.
We occupied a few hours in the afternoon paring down our gear for high camp and fitting our overboots to our climbing boots and crampons in preparation for our summit bid. We're waiting to see what the weather brings us for tomorrow.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
We woke up to no winds and a small amount of new snow. We got our summit gear together, had some breakfast and coffee, then set out towards the top. We were breaking trail through deep snow so it was slow going. We climbed into the clouds, but the winds were very moderate and it was not all that cold. The weather seemed to be improving throughout the day as it had been the previous days...until we hit Denali Pass. Denali Pass is a low point into the ridgeline at about 18,200'. As soon as we hit the ridge, the winds were "nuking". We knew that with the direction the wind was coming from, there wouldn't be any reprieve from the ridge and they would probably increase as we went higher. So, we are calling it a dress rehearsal and waiting for that perfect weather day that is coming soon!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
Been keeping up with you via your blogs; thanks so much for them. Glad you had a good practice run. Looking forward to your next blog recapping your summit accomplishments. Enjoy your time on the mountain; you’ll be down again with all yor amazing stories before you know it.
<3
jam
Posted by: Janette Mitchell on 7/3/2011 at 9:42 am
Well the 4th is freedom day. Hope you guys will make it today the 3rd of july as your OWN independence day to remember. We all are praying for all of u so u guys can come home quick
Sitting at over 14,000' on the west side of the mountain it takes the sun awhile to reach camp in the morning, so when we got up this morning it was cold, cold, cold. We hurriedly wolfed down breakfast and loaded up our packs with supplies for our cache, all the while hopping back and forth from one foot to the other trying to generate whatever body heat we could. By 8:30 we headed out of camp. Below us the entire lower Kahiltna Glacier came into view as we climbed higher, stretching for dozens of miles through the peaks of the Alaska Range. Above unfortunately wasn't quite so clear and a bank of clouds swirled over the summit of Denali.
We climbed straight up the side of the West Buttress above 14 Camp, soon reaching an ice bulge at 15,500' known as The Eyebrow. From there the route steepens to 50 degrees or so for the final 700' of climbing to reach the ridge line of the West Buttress itself. This section is set with fixed ropes to help protect climbers on the exposed terrain. After a quick break we set out up the fixed lines, soon setting into a comfortable routine as we worked our way up the face, sliding our ascenders up the ropes as we climbed. Before long we topped out of the fixed ropes onto the ridge, stopping at 16,200' on a beautiful but exposed ridgeline, both sides rolling away several thousand feet. By now the clouds which started higher on the mountain had settled down around us, occasionally parting to reveal 14 Camp below us to the south and the Peters Glacier to our north.
We cached our small load of supplies there before turning around and heading back down the fixed lines and continuing on into camp. The team climbed well today, making good time and figuring out the intricacies of fixed lines travel easily. With our cache of gear established on the Buttress we are planning on taking a rest day tomorrow before heading up to high camp for our summit bid should the weather allow. We are all looking forward to some down time tomorrow and are excited to be preparing for the summit push.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Hey Frank Marini,
We are all at a BBQ at Norms house for Michelles bday and we have been looking at your blog. It is so amazing! We are so proud of you! You are in our prayers…be safe, above all enjoy yourself.
Christie and everyone at your brothers house!
Posted by: Christie wissinger on 7/3/2011 at 6:46 pm
Looking east at magic hour on Mt Blanc, waiting for the sun to rise on the East to salute your bday!!!! Happy 4th - may it find you close to the top of North America.
Safe ascent and descent - fireworks for the whole em!!! Cheers to the Firecracker!
Posted by: mallory fam at camp molly in cham on 7/3/2011 at 1:41 pm
This is Dave Hahn calling from Mount McKinley. We were able to move from Basecamp to Camp 1 at 7,800’ today. We thought we were going to get a perfectly clear night, but it did end up a cloudy night again. The clouds rolled in as we were going to bed last night and put a little tension in things. We weren’t sure that the glacier surface was going to be able to freeze up with that cloud cover. We woke up to climb at 1:00 a.m. and the cloud cover was starting to break up and things were getting cold again and starting to freeze. We left Basecamp at 3:30 a.m. and conditions were pretty good. We moved on down to the main Kahiltna Glacier, and banged a right turn around Mt. Francis. The lower glacier right now is a little broken in that region with lots of crevasses. There is a lot of contour to the surface. It’s a pretty rough surface because there is ash from the volcanic eruption to the south from a couple years ago which is now on the surface of the snow. Things are melting out a little bit strange this year which made it a little awkward for sled pulling. We saw a number of other guided teams and other teams coming down and we witnessed a lot of folks stepping into crevasses. Most just post pushing a leg here and there but we actually did pretty well and didn’t have too much trouble. Conditions improved as we got closer to 7,800’ with good sled pulling condition. The group moved pretty well and everybody was feeling good, everybody was enjoying the morning.
It took us about 6 hours to here so by 9:30 a.m. we started setting up camp. We have had a relaxing rest of the day. We are taking it easy and trying to get out of the sun.
There is another snowstorm around but we seem to be in a hole. We can see it storm up higher on the mountain and back down at Basecamp. But for now it’s pretty nice right here.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from 7,800' on Mt. McKinley, July 2, 2011.
This is Dave Hahn calling from the last RMI trip on Mount McKinley this season. We are still at Basecamp. We got up again this morning at 1 AM and in fact, this time we got up and had breakfast. We were in clouds, but it didn't seem that bad. Before we were done with breakfast, it started snowing and we had to get back in the tents and it didn't stop snowing for another 5 or 6 hours, and stayed cloudy and inclement for hours after that so we weren't able to move today in a white out and wet conditions. But by afternoon it cleared it up. And this evening things are crystal clear blue sky above and we're really hoping that it freezes up good and solid tonight and then we'll be on our way. Bye for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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Congratulations! Great job!
Posted by: Ruth Cook on 7/5/2011 at 7:00 pm
Raju, I saw this blog on facebook (thanks to M & Y for posting the link). Congrats on summmiting! Hope you have a safe return.
- Sopan
Posted by: sopan on 7/5/2011 at 5:08 pm
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