Hey RMI this is Linden Mallory calling from the summit of Mt. McKinley. It's about 6 PM here in Alaska July 7th. We got up to the top a few minutes ago. We just had a spectacular day of climbing. Crystal clear all day, clouds down below stretching way off to the North Slope of Alaska and to the south you can see all the way towards Talkeetna. You can’t see the ocean but other than that it's absolutely gorgeous. And to top it all off there is a half moon hanging above the summit.
The team is doing great, we made good time and climbed well. We are celebrating right now, taking some photos. We are going to pack up and head down in a few moments get back to high camp. We will check in once we get down there. Take care.
RMI Guide LInden Mallory
RMI Guide Linden Mallory checks in from the summit of Mt. McKinley.
Congratulations and warm wishes to you all from Medford,Mass.Special congratulations to Paul Colaneri what a wonderful accomplishment. We are so happy for you. Your Proud co-workers.
Posted by: ann on 7/8/2011 at 12:00 pm
yeah Willie and congratulations to all - how exciting, can’t wait to see photos. So proud of you…envious too. Be safe !
Posted by: Aunt Chrissy in Colorado on 7/8/2011 at 11:59 am
When the alarm sounded this morning we stuck our head out of the tent and saw nothing but clear skies. The wind was blowing high up near the summit, sending whisps of snow flying off the ridge lines, but conditions between 14 Camp and high camp at 17,200' (17 Camp) were perfect: it was go time! It was cold again as we at breakfast and broke down camp but the team kept to task, by now everyone is comfortable working in the cold temperatures. Just after 8 am we headed out of 14 Camp, climbing the slopes back to the fixed lines and up to our previous high point at our cache at 16,200'. We climbed well to there, managing the bigger packs on the fixed lines without any problem.
After a break to eat and drink we set out up the West Buttress proper, climbing right along the ridge line for the final 1,000' to camp. The West Buttress is widely regarded as the finest climbing of the entire route and today did not disappoint: it was a simply spectacular afternoon of climbing. The sun was out, there was hardly a breath of wind, and the snow conditions were perfect. The team climbed strongly, weaving back and forth between the outcroppings of granite that pepper the ridge line and across the intermittent stretches of thin snow ridges between where the slopes fall away several thousand feet to each side. The big packs, high altitude, and exposure kept us focused and it was a hard day of climbing, but by the time we reached camp everyone was excited and smiling.
We set to work right away upon reaching 17 Camp, shoveling out a few previously used tent platforms that we're buried under several feet of new snow, touching up the snow walls in case the winds pick up, and setting up and anchoring down our tents. It was a calm and warm evening so we sat outside afterward, eating dinner and gazing across the patchwork of clouds below that stretched off into the interior of the North Slope of Alaska.
If the perfect weather that we have right now sticks around we're hoping to take advantage and make our summit bid tomorrow. The team is tired from the day but recovering well now that we're in camp and excited about giving it a shot tomorrow. We'll let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
This is Dave calling from Mt. McKinley, from 11,000’ specifically. We had another great day today. In fact, it was the best weather of our trip so far. It was nice and cold this morning, we woke up at 5, and we had broken camp and were on the trail by 7 a.m. and made good time coming up to camp at 11,000’. It was again pretty easy going, there's not many other folks out there, there's nobody behind us that we are aware of. And so, it’s delightfully uncrowded. We had an easy go of it for the first hour up to the corner of Kahiltna Pass and then started up the hills to get to 11,000’. We were in camp before 10 o'clock a.m. so that went pretty well.
At camp we met Mike Haugen and his team coming down. And that was good for us. We exchanged a few pieces of gear they had some stuff that is going to be pretty helpful to us.
We got to chat with Mike and Elias and their team and congratulate them on their summit the other day.
We just set up camp here in 11,000’. It’s a beautiful bowl, looking out over the clouds and the tundra. We got settled in, it has just been very calm and nice here all day. Then this afternoon and this evening we prepared for doing our carry tomorrow. We are going to carry up and around Windy Corner if the weather continues to be good. And then come back down here and sleep at 11,000’ again. I will let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from 11,000' on Mt. McKinley.
Wayne, I have just finished having dinner with Dinah at our place and she has shared with Barb and I about your climb. I have to admit that I’m quite impressed that you would take on a challenge such as this. On the other hand, since I’ve done a 14k footer in Colorado, I won’t be TOO IMPRESSED until you have exceeded that altitude and beyond! HA! It will be fun to follow your progess and I wish you well in this endeavor. Be safe, my friend, enjoy your challenge and we will join in the celebration of your accomplishment.
All the best,
Tim Scully
Posted by: Tim Scully on 7/7/2011 at 6:34 pm
Glad you have the weather on your side and are able to move up the mountain - hope it continues.
Sue Currie
We are checking in from our descent back to Base camp. We stayed at 11,000' last night and are currently making our way to 7,800'. K2 Aviation has two planes scheduled to pick us up from the airstrip tomorrow morning. Let's hope the weather holds!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
RMI Guide Mike Haugen checks in from 7,800' on Mt. McKinley.
Patrick…I’ve been following you too! Put another notch in your belt for an adventure that will be with you always. You’re my hero and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Posted by: jan Ellis on 7/7/2011 at 6:33 pm
Let us hear from you when you can. Grey is getting his tonsils out this am.
RMI, this is Dave Hahn calling from 9,500'. And myself and Zeb and Lindsay and Geoff and the team are camped here at 9,500' on the Kahiltna Glacier. We got up at 2:30 this morning. It was beautiful out. The surface was frozen up just perfect. And we got walking at about a little bit before 5 in the morning. We cruised up easy as anything on that nice surface. We didn't have to break trail through any new snow or anything. And the team did really well coming up hill. Three kind of steady hills to get here to 9,500'. But that all went very well and we were in pretty early in the morning. We were up here before 8 in the morning and had our camp in and were in, out of the hot sun by 11. And took it easy up here, great views today. We saw some massive avalanches off Mount Hunter. We could here them, we could feel them, you could see them. Really spectacular, and nice looking down the Kahiltna Glacier for a change. We haven't seen all the way down there. Today we were looking down there and the new snow extended pretty far down that looked like it went as low as about 6,000' above sea level. So that was good. It looked like it repaired some of the lower glacier a little bit. The part that we will have to travel on. But we won't be traveling on that for a while. We're still going up. And if everything goes well, we'll move up to 11,000' tomorrow morning, and expect that it will. There is some puffy clouds around stuck on the mountains, but for the most part, it's clear today and into this evening. It's cooling off just right. All for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hi Dave. Good to hear that the weather has improved. Can you let Jurjen know that we really need good pictures for his ‘after-dinner’ engagements. We’ve got him fully booked up now through to November! Good luck to the whole team!
Posted by: Team Munting at London HQ on 7/7/2011 at 12:29 am
GREAT TO HEAR YOU GUYS HAVE MOVED UP, HEY SPENCER YOU OUT OF COFFEE YET? TONTO WEST AND I ARE SET TO BRING MORE. PRAYING FOR GOOD WEATHER FOR THE WHOLE TEAM LEAVE SOME MOUNTAIN FOR US!!!
Well, we've had so much fun here at 14 Camp that we spent another day here, although hopefully our last. The weather cleared overnight and the temperatures dropped while we were in the tents since the clouds were no longer offering a bit of insulation. It was very cold around camp this morning as we waited for the sun to hit us. With things warming up we walked across the plateau of Genet Basin where 14 Camp sits to a rock outcropping on the southeastern side known as "The Edge of the World." There the mountain side falls away more than 6,000' to the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier below. We peeked over the edge there, appreciating the first truly clear views below us that we've had yet. We stared out over the lower Kahiltna where we were traveling our first few days of the climb. Mt Hunter and Foraker rose proudly above the glacier below. It was a spectacular view.
The weather remained nice so the team took a little hike above 14 Camp, stretching the legs after a few sedentary days here before returning to camp to finish preparing our gear for tomorrow's move to high camp. We are rested and ready to head up to high camp to make our summit bid. The weather appears to be improving and we are all keeping our fingers crossed - we'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Thanks for all the blog comments and 4th of July wishes, we appreciate hearing from everyone, the team sends their best to everyone at home.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
The weather sounds great. Hope you were able to move on up. It must be so exciting!!! We are excited for you. Good luck as you continue your adventure.
Posted by: Lorraine and John on 7/6/2011 at 1:56 pm
Great to hear the weather is improving! Onward to the summit! Go team!
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
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Congratulations and warm wishes to you all from Medford,Mass.Special congratulations to Paul Colaneri what a wonderful accomplishment. We are so happy for you. Your Proud co-workers.
Posted by: ann on 7/8/2011 at 12:00 pm
yeah Willie and congratulations to all - how exciting, can’t wait to see photos. So proud of you…envious too. Be safe !
Posted by: Aunt Chrissy in Colorado on 7/8/2011 at 11:59 am
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