Yesterday we moved from 11,000 ft camp to our current home at about 14,200 ft. We spent the entire day in a cloud with a little snow but it was still quite warm.
Today we are relaxing and enjoying another sunny day on the flanks of Denali. We picked up our cache this morning and had the rest of the day to rest and recuperate. Everyone is having a great time and we excited to keep moving higher.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
Weather in Talkeetna and on the mountain has prevented the pilots from dropping off or picking up teams on the Kahiltna Glacier. Brent's team is on the list and ready to be picked up once the weather clears.
The next RMI Team heading on to Mt. McKinley will be lead by Tyler Jones. Tyler and his team are packed and ready in Talkeetna and hope to be flying on soon.
HW - Can’t wait to see you back home. Please continue to take care of yourself. Hope the weather clears up tomorrow. Please call me as soon as you can. Love, F
Posted by: F on 6/2/2011 at 6:34 pm
I hope you enjoy this rest, can’t wait to hear from you when you get back. Let us know when you get to the motel.Love Mom and Dad
Hello, this is the May 31st RMI McKinley Expedition checking in. We are all packed and ready to go. Everybody is super psyched, looking good and strong. It looks like a great crew and we are all super excited.
Unfortunately, the weather is not being super cooperative for us to fly from Talkeetna to the Kahiltna Glacier. We spent today getting packed up, rigged and ready for the glacier so as soon as we have a break in the weather we'll take it and get flown on.
All of our gear is packed in the K2 Aviation Hangar and we are staged and ready to go. We will return to the hangar in the morning and hopefully we'll be able to fly.
We will send more dispatches as we get further along in our expedition.
RMI Guide Garrett Stevens
It's been a long day that started in the wee hours of the morning. The alarm sounded about 2 hours after I sent our last dispatch. 2:00 am was a harsh hour of the day to begin our final walk out the Kahiltna Glacier, but essential to safely navigate and cross the crevasses on our way to the airstrip.
At that time the day is about as dark as it gets, which is to say it's about as dark as 1/2 hour after dusk, perhaps. Combined with cloudy, overcast weather, I wasn't entirely psyched for the walk out. But, as the morning developed things began looking brighter. We finally started off at 4:20 am and initially encountered great walking conditions. Unfortunately, as we lost elevation the snow became softer and softer, having not frozen hard overnight because of the cloud cover holding the earth's heat in. This resulted in a few minor crevasse 'falls' where some individuals broke through crevasse bridges up to their waste at most. Of course, by the time you hear their stories, these crevasse falls will have taken on epic proportions. (A night at the bar can have the same effect)
Well, we finally arrived at Base Camp with our weather outlook improving and hopes to be flown off in short order high in everyone's mind. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had something else in store for us, as it's now evening and raining out. Although comfy and snug in our tents, and happy we're not enduring a big storm up high, we of course would rather be back in Talkeetna, and a little closer to you.
Hope to see you soon!
RMI Guides Brent, Leon and Maile
This mornings attempt to summit with Clay ended as thoughts of family and a safe return home overwhelmed any ambition to tag a summit that, by this time in the expedition, seemed somewhat less important than the experience of the trip as a whole.
So, on the return back to 17,200' we decided to break camp and get off the upper mountain. By that time clouds were building and the winds started getting stronger. Our descent down the Buttress went smoothly even as snow and clouds increased. I was impressed with how the skill level of these climbers had so dramatically improved in the short time we had been climbing together.
At 14,200' camp we were greeted by RMI Guides Adam and Andres of the RMI West Rib trip, who, along with several other guides and climbers, congratulated the team on slipping in the summit before the big change in weather.
So, now here we are at 11,200' camp where we've picked up our cache from a week ago. The RMI Team lead by Walter Hailes is camped here and helped us out tremendously, allowing us to eat a quick dinner in their place and fill water bottles. We are now trying to get a few hours of sleep before waking up at 2:00 am to make our final descent to Kahiltna basecamp. We're getting on a nighttime schedule and traveling on glaciers frozen by the night's colder temperatures which are safer and less liable to collapse under a climbers weight.
But, we are in a race of sorts to get to the airstrip on the SE fork of the Kahiltna before the next weather system arrives. So, goodnight again as we turn in to catch a couple of hours of shut eye.
RMI Guides Brent, Leon and Maile
Rest, rest, rest...the order of the day was rest. After five days of mountaineering work on Mt. McKinley everyone enjoyed our first day of eating, napping, reading, more eating and then bed time.
As luck would have it that the first windy, snowy day coincided with our day of rest. Perfect timing. As we get in bed for the night the sky is clearing and the wind has subsided. We are hoping for another good day tomorrow as we climb to 14,000 feet.
Happy anniversary Steve and Denise.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes & Team
Andy, sorry I missed your call, but we’ve been thinking of you! Stay strong and safe! Mom says hi too! Good luck with the rest of the climb…..then you will need a beach vacation to recoup!
Posted by: Sybille Macke on 6/2/2011 at 1:48 pm
Pete, it’s always great to hear you all are doing so well. I’ll be with Iggy I think when you get back, so get ready for some major dog love. Bisous, Katie
Hello, this is Adam Knoff and the Upper West Rib Team. We are settled in nicely here at 14,000’, Advanced Base Camp. We moved up today in the harsh winds but pushed through, maintained, got here in good style and everyone here is doing great.
We have coined ourselves a new team name that being “The Family Style West Rib Team”. Because back in Talkeetna we decided we were going to fit 5 people in a 4 man tent on our expedition. Courtney Scaife being a good old fashion Wisconsin girl said “This is just like family style camping” and now we will refer to ourselves as the Family Style West Rib Team.
The weather here is cloudy but calm and relatively warm for this altitude. We will be taking a rest day tomorrow, with the exception of climbing down about 500’ below camp to retrieve our cache . The following day we will have a full rest day. So a nice, leisurely couple of days coming up compared to the seven solid days of movement we’ve had the last week. We will be checking in tomorrow and let you know how our rest is going.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
RMI Guide Adam Knoff checks in from 14,000' on Mt. McKinley.
Way to go Courto!!!!!! Keep on making the Cheeseheads proud. You are a super rock star - kind of scares me actually as I sit on my mommy butt drinking beer and watching reality tv. I know you are also super embarrassed reading this right now so I guess my current mission has been accomplished. The Thompson 5 love you. Sus
Posted by: Susannah Thompson on 6/3/2011 at 1:01 pm
Buen dia rucho, te amo mucho…acurucaaaa! jaja… feliz aventura…
Mt. McKinley's "Windy Corner" lived up to it's name today. We carried a load of food and gear into a head wind to a cache site at about 13,500 ft. Luckily once we made the turn around the corner the winds died and we enjoyed the bright, warm sunshine while we buried our cache and took a break before heading back down to camp.
We will rest tomorrow in preparation for our move to our next camp.
Mike would like to wish a "Happy Birthday to Papa George".
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
What a perfect day for a summit! And so, what better way to spend the day high on Denali than to go for a little walk. First to Denali Pass still shrouded in the cold morning's shade. Then, bang a hard right followed by a sweeping left towards Archdeacon's Tower. Over hill and dale to the Football Field, then up Pig Hill for a final but kicker and onto the summit ridge.
We finally reached the summit at about 5:30, wearing our big down parkas to protect us from a rather chilly breeze. What a day!
Unfortunately we were missing a couple of key members of our team, a consequence of not taking a rest day after our big push up from 14,200' camp. But we all discussed the gamble of taking advantage of a perfect day on your first morning and agreed on the strategy.
So, Clay and Frank, having reached their personal high point of 19,000' today, will have another chance at the summit tomorrow if the weather holds up along with their motivation. These two have probably earned the right to summit as much as anyone due to their hard work for the team, selflessness, and good nature. Maile, Leon and I, along with the rest of the team, are completely committed to helping these two amazing individuals reach their goals.
We're all looking forward to a good night's sleep, so until next time...
RMI Guides Brent, Leon and Maile
RMI Guide Brent Okita checks in after reaching the summit of Mt. McKinley with his team.
Frank - awesome. What a fantastic accomplishment; to think that I personally know someone who scaled Mt Mckinley. Can’t wait to hear the story and see pics.
Lou (Adam’s dad)
Posted by: Lou Lenz on 6/4/2011 at 5:20 am
Been looking for your name Uncle Frank!! Good Luck, hope all is well!! We’re thinking of you and sending you the best weather ever!
An always tough move to 17,200' was made a bit more pleasant today with some perfect weather and climbing conditions.
We're all in bed now after setting up camp and having dinner. We're awaiting the morning to see if this nice weather holds out. If things are perfect, we'll go for the summit! I've learned that you just can't pass up a perfect day on this mountain. I've seen too many other folks squander opportunities that never arise again.
However, a rest day would be most welcome if conditions are at all marginal. It might just mean that we have to wait out a weather system coming our way in the next couple of days.
Goodnight,
RMI Guides Brent, Leon and Maile
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Uncle James is rocking Denali and we are so proud of you! Love, your Texas Nephews
Posted by: The Knox Family on 6/4/2011 at 9:01 am
Missing James! Let us know how you’re doing and know that you’re loved!
Posted by: Julie on 6/3/2011 at 6:00 pm
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