Entries from Mt. McKinley
July 11, 2014 - 11:04 pm PT
There wasn't much reason to get up early for climbing this morning at 14,200 ft. It snowed throughout the night and continued through the morning, piling up to about 8 or 10 inches. Luckily there wasn't much wind with it though, so we slept well. Our radio conversations with the folks hanging at 17K revealed that they hadn't gotten snow, but had gotten plenty of wind. The consensus seemed to be that if the weather eased, folks would be bailing out of high camp and quitting the climb. We made the best of calm conditions at our camp to get out for some exercise. The gang built snow walls and dug tunnels and watched wind and cloud buffet the upper mountain. Things did ease in the afternoon and our friends on high began descending. Ben Liken counted 43 climbers eventually making their way down the fixed lines. That number represented five different guided teams from three different companies. They'll head for the airstrip tomorrow, leaving us alone at 14,200 and virtually alone on the mountain. One guided team of three (two guides, one climber) remains at 17,200 hoping for better luck, it would be great if we could get up there to keep them company.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
July 10, 2014 - 10:32 pm PT
Hey all,
Today we awoke to just about the same weather we went to bed with yesterday, that is mostly cloudy with a little wind and snow. Knowing that we weren't walking up hill in it, we had a multiple-course breakfast of bacon, fried tortillas with sugar, bagels, eggs, and even some sausage gravy. By the time we finished up the weather had trended from poor to stormy. With winds and snow on the rise, everyone helped in building some walls and re-anchoring our cook tent. Looking above to high camp we radioed with some of the other teams. They said they were in pretty much the same weather and were staying put. The whole team is keeping vibes positive as we wait for
Denali to stop what it does best.....storm, storm, storm.
All the best,
RMI Guide Ben Liken
On The Map
July 9, 2014 - 10:34 pm PT
It wasn't such a bad day to start. There was plenty of blue sky overhead at 6 AM and a little wind to contend with up high, but the day had potential to be just right for moving to 17,000 ft. The team was feeling good and ready. But we held off, talked some on the radio to friends at 17K (teams up there were staying put, not going for the top) and we watched the weather deteriorate. The winds increased, a cloud cap formed on the
mountain and the rest of the sky began to cloud up. Before it clogged up completely, we roped up and took a short walk to "The Edge of the World" to look down on the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. We belayed each other out onto the overhanging prow of rock for hero shots. Then we headed back to camp and hunkered down in the tents for an afternoon of light snow and heavy cloud. We'll hope for better weather tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
We broke a few personal altitude records today. Our stoves were lit shortly after 6 AM while
Genet Basin was still deep in cold shadows. The weather didn't look perfect, but that was more of a concern for two of the other guided groups camped alongside us since they were trying to figure whether to commit to a move to 17K. We were just contemplating a carry to the top of the fixed ropes at 16,200 feet and we could do that in iffy weather. We set out at 8 AM and made easy progress as the clouds washed in and out a few times. Within a few hours we were at the foot of the intimidating fixed lines. The slope angle goes up in a hurry at that point, and looking at this incline for several days from 14K can psyche one out. Best to come to terms with the fixed section of the climb and to gain confidence on it, which was what we did today. We topped the ropes and made our cache at 16,200 feet in calm and sunny conditions. People were heard to say "This is pretty cool" in English, German and Russian. The confidence building continued as we dropped back down to 14 camp without difficulty. We own the place now as the other groups made their move to 17 camp. We all got a good look from above at a hundred empty tent snow walls, impressing us with how "crowded" this important camp can be in mid-season and how delightfully uncrowded it is now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
It snowed through the night and into the morning here at 14,200 ft. Not heavily, and there wasn't much wind finding our camp, so it wasn't like it was an awful or epic storm. But it was enough of a storm to keep us from going climbing today. We caught the odd view of the mountainside through occasional cloud breaks in the morning and saw dramatic avalanche scars in the
Messner Couloir and Orient Express that matched the rumbling we'd heard. After a long breakfast, we turned the day into a rest day to shore up our acclimatization. By evening, the clouds were breaking up and it seemed that weather was improving again. We'll try again tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide
Dave Hahn & Team
Monday, July 7, 2014 - 12:05 PM PT
Well, the team is currently experiencing deja vu here at
11,200' camp on Mt. McKinley. Before arriving here in deja vu land, the team did an AWESOME job packing up high camp and descending to 14,200' camp. At 14,200' we were met by Dave Hahn and his team who treated us to lots of hot water and quesadillas. Delicious and just what we needed!
Descending to 11 camp required all of our attention as we re-acquainted ourselves with sleds, experienced some post-holing, and walked (as best we could) through less than exciting weather. Now to the deja vu part of the story...a snow storm at 11,200'. We thought the weather gods had released all of the snow on us already but we were wrong. We are doing a weather dance right now so we can continue our descent and make our dreams of warm showers, cold beers, and loved ones a reality. Until then, we will keep you posted.
RMI Guide
Adam Knoff
July 6, 2014 - 10:18 pm PT
Today, our first day at 14K, wasn't very difficult. We got up just slightly ahead of the sun, which made it past
Denali's West Rib at 9:20 AM. We had a big breakfast and then geared up to go rescue our cache from the ravens. It only took a few minutes to walk down to 13,500 feet. And then a bit longer to dig up our food and gear -which, thankfully, hadn't been attacked by birds. Then it was just about an hour in the hot sun to get back to camp. We had a short training session in the afternoon to review techniques that we'll employ on the fixed rope section between 15,000 and 16,000 feet. And around dinner time, we were happy to welcome
Adam Knoff's victorious team back into 14 camp. They drank water and repacked while telling us stories of the upper mountain. Then they eased out of camp on their way to 11K while we dined, chatted, and headed for bed. The sky has clouded up again and light snow is falling, but we'll hope that tomorrow's weather stays good enough for us to carry up to 16K.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
July 6, 2014 - 11:00 am PT
Adam Knoff called the office with great news: The team reached the summit of
Mount McKinley at 7:00pm last night! Everyone is doing great and very happy. They are packing up high camp and plan to head down to 14K camp to visit with
Dave Hahn and team, then may continue on to 11,000’. Their plan is to be at Basecamp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
On The Map
July 5, 2014 - 10:18 pm PT
We gladly used another perfect day to move up from 11,000 to 14,000 ft. We managed to get as far as
Windy Corner enjoying cool, morning conditions, but there is no way to sugarcoat the walking weather for the final ninety minutes into camp, the sun was intense, the air was still and the climbers were plain old hot. That said, it was tough for anybody to complain too much at the combination of great weather and sweet route conditions. We've kept our streak alive, nine days and half a mountain without having to step over an open crevasse. All were interested and a touch apprehensive to see a raven hopping around our 13,500 ft cache as we approached. He or she hadn't had any luck in getting to this one though, and we took a moment to pack down the five foot deep snow covering the buried treasure -one more time. We'll retrieve that food and gear tomorrow if all goes well.
It was fun "catching up" to the other climbing teams at 14K, although we haven't really as they are a day or two ahead of us now and are closer to moving up than we are. Also great to follow the progress of the only other RMI team on the mountain via radio today as
Adam Knoff and crew hit the jackpot for stable weather for a summit bid.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
July 5, 2014 - 5:05 pm PT
Adam called and reported that they were on their way up to the summit, just below the
Football Field with all climbers doing well. Yesterday was a great move day for them, and they continue to enjoy good weather, with blue skies and 20mph winds.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
On The Map
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Hi Dave. With a good supply I know the weather will clear soon & you will get the team up for a really awesome summit. safe travels & post more photos.
Posted by: Mary on 7/13/2014 at 1:26 am
Hi Dave -
I’ve been following your teams journey. This latest dispatch reminds me of when we were down on Vinson and ended up being the only team on the mountain.
You’ve probably already heard from RMI HQ that the latest issue of Outside magazine has a large article about what happened at Everest this year.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you guys get a weather break and are able to continue upwards.
-Larry Seaton
Posted by: larry seaton on 7/12/2014 at 7:26 am
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