Entries from Mt. McKinley
As our expedition has wound down and we’ve had a few moments to reflect, we wanted to send one final dispatch. By now, everyone has made it home, caught up on some needed sleep and recovery, and nursed some bruised and battered feet back from the long walk out. The memories of a perfect summit day, the many days in tents, the incredible vistas at the Edge of the World and 17 camp are still vivid however!
After an incredible summit day, we packed our camp the next morning as
Brent’s team prepared for their summit bid. Though there wasn’t a rush, everyone was motivated by the knowledge that at the end of our long descent lay Talkeetna, with fresh food, beer, flip flops, and clean clothes. With heavy packs on once more, we made short work of the
West Buttress, coated in a new layer of an inch or two of snow, and cruised down the fixed lines to 14 camp where we were met by
Tyler Jones and team. To them, we owe a lot, as they had taken their rest day to dig up our cache for us, organize and sort it, and met us with water to satiate ourselves and refill bottles. So thankful, and sad that we didn’t have more time to spend with them, we shortly wished them luck and continued down to 11,200.’ It was progressing into the evening hours, and with snow falling and another cache to dig up, we decided to spend the night there. We made a hasty camp this time, with much less concern for walls, or even a flat tent site, and spent the evening rigging our sleds, and packing bags to be ready for an early AM departure.
When we woke, it was still snowing and we sat inside a cloud that blurred the ground, horizon, and sky all into one even color. There are lots of cliches for it: the inside of a ping pong ball, in the white room, or wading through a jug of milk, regardless, that is what we did all day. Flying pretty much completely on instruments, with the occasional wand to guide our way, we made our path down the lower Kahiltna to the airstrip. At one point, an errant black want appeared far off to the teams’ right. As we moved towards it, it shape began to shift eerily, until a black, Canada Goose head came into focus sticking out of the snow. As we realized what we were looking at, the goose shifted, it’s body erupting out of the snow, and it took a look at us and took off in flight, gliding away into the otherworldly landscape.
The poor visibility and trail breaking added time to our march out, and just after noon, we walked into Base Camp, triumphantly, and relieved to be done with the heavy packs and sleds. The weather however provided little hope of flying out, and with an organized low pressure system moving over our area for the next five days, there was some thought that we could be in for the long Base Camp wait. We set up tents, dug up our last cache, sorted gear into duffels to be ready for the flight out whenever it happened, and put snowshoes back on to the Base Camp community chore of packing out the runway. With our work accomplished, we settled into tents to try and calm our minds and find our waiting game zen. Imperceptibly, the tents began to grow lighter, and then a report from a high altitude sightseeing plane made it sound as though there might be a path for our bush planes to get in. Before we knew it, word came that the wonderful folks at
K2 Aviation had launched every plane they had to come get us, and that four Otters were in the air on their way. We stripped camp in moments, and soon the silent sky was filled with the buzz of small aircraft as they all came into the runway in squadron formation. Hardly able to believe our luck, we threw bags aboard, found our seats, stowed our carryons, buckled our seatbelts and we were off.
Landing in Talkeetna after 23 days on the mountain is an amazing experience; it was raining lightly, and the colors, sounds of life, and smells were a massive influx on the senses. We jumped out of our three week old clothes and into cotton, and headed to the West Rib, the famous Talkeetna restaurant and bar, for a celebratory dinner followed by revelry at the Fairview. Just as quickly as the trip started, it wound down, as the team boarded a shuttle the next morning to Anchorage to catch flights back to home and our loved ones.
This trip was marked by a team that endured consistent spats of harsh weather, and endured it well. Sitting isn’t always easy, especially when you have to leave the tent into a blizzard every 45 minutes to dig out your tent again, but the team hung tough and stayed positive, and because of their wherewithal, were able to string together one of the more beautiful summit days that the guides have seen. We’d love to thank the whole team for their patience, strength, teamwork, and desire; it was an honor to climb with you all. Similarly,
Robby and
Jess are two of the most fantastic co-guides that one could ever hope to work with. It took us awhile to reach the top, but it made it that much more rewarding in the end. We’re closing out an incredible trip that everyone involved will remember for the rest of our lives. Thanks for following along on the journey.
Namaste,
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
June 6, 2016 - 11:12 pm PT
D- Day 2016
The team launched at dawn, storming the Kahiltna, avoiding the pillbox seracs overhead and the minefields of crevasses below. After a few hours on the offensive the team took the hill at 10,000 feet and moved into a classic flanking maneuver to set up for our assault on
11K. Once the initial defenses were breached, we dug our foxholes and hunkered down to await the next wave. A reprieve came in the afternoon and the team was able to enjoy a hot meal of Mac and cheese before bedding down for the evening. We suffered no casualties and took no prisoners.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
June 6, 2016 - 10:20 pm PT
Welcome back folks! Our team woke this morning to clearing skies down the Kahiltna Glacier with views of Mount Frances, Mount Hunter and Mount Foraker. This is really the first opportunity our team had to get a sense of where we were and what's around us. What a brilliant way to start our day after a stormy evening yesterday! After a quick breakfast we broke down camp, packed our sleds and headed north towards
11k Camp. This day is hard work. Faced with about 1,800ft of vertical and 100lbs of gear per person, it's easily the hardest day we've had so far this trip. But, it's also our last day with heavy sleds until we start our descent. Our team quite excited by that prospect basically drug us to 11k! Okay, well, not quite drug us but they out performed our expectations by a long shot! We're now settled into camp after a few hours of hard work shoveling and digging tent platforms. The clouds have eased there way back in but were hoping for clearer skies tomorrow for the first well-earned rest day of the trip. Thanks for following along! Stay tuned for more!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
June 6, 2016 - 7:01 pm PT
Today we woke to another gray cold morning! And we're well rested now after another 24 hours at
14 Camp. The forecast has been fickle but we forge on with a few laps around camp for the guys. There was a lot of packing, drying, and fidgeting with our equipment. We're preparing for a summit push . The team is excited and well prepared. With some weather on our side we will try to move to high camp at 17,200'! Now we eat, drink and sleep. Will be in touch tomorrow.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
The May 10th Denali Expedition led by
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Robby Young, and Jess Matthews were able to fly off the Kahiltna Glacier around 8:00 p.m. on Friday, June 3rd. After 24 days long days on the mountain, the team rushed off for showers, greasy burgers, and real beds. The team's patience paid off with a successful summit of
Denali but everyone is excited to be returning home to their loved ones.
Congratulations climbers!
June 5, 2016 - 11:33 p.m. PDT
After a late night walking the lower Kahiltna Glacier we decided to sleep in. We had coffee and brunch around 10:30 and then waited to see if the weather would improve before breaking camp. We passed by
Jake's crew and woke them from an afternoon nap, and then on towards Ski Hill. With a heavy pack and sled, there is no way to make the climb up ski enjoyable. The team did a great job gritting their teeth as we slowly made our way up Ski Hill. As we made our way above 9,000' the light snow we had become accustomed to picked up with the wind so we found a flat place around 9,500' and settled in for the night. After pesto tortellini and a hot drink, we crawled into our sleeping bags. Everyone is doing very well and having fun despite the mediocre weather.
Thanks for following along, more tomorrow.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and the
UWR Team
On The Map
June 5, 2016 - 9:46 p.m. PDT
A clear night allowed the radiant heat from yesterday to escape, meaning quite the cool and crisp morning was upon us. When temperatures drop well below zero as they did this morning, it is another level of cold. There is a threshold where the mouths of our insulated Nalgene bottles freeze over, and our 12-liter aluminum water pots in the kitchen become lined with a thick layer of ice all around.
The clear morning lured some climbers and neighbors to break camp and begin a push up to high camp. Within a few hours though, the forecast proved accurate as
Denali began to cap over and a storm develop. Light to moderate winds here at 14 camp, but still cold and no real warming yet with increasing snowfall intensity. The "nowcast" and short lived morning sun surely tricked those climbers as they were turned around just a thousand feet up by extreme cold and back in camp by noon.
Only becoming stronger with continued acclimatization, and tall snow-brick walls fortifying the windward sides of our homestead, we are content with staying put. Our camp now sits in a wind eddy as gusts strong enough to bend trees push into our walls and curl over as we lay in the tents and nap. Nice to have spent a few days dialing in our camp! The team is ready and excited to make a move once the mountain allows, but only with a high safety margin and good style. For now though we'll keep kickin' it at camp: remodeling, relaxing, pancake eating, and cold hard chilling until the weather changes.
Also worth noting was last nights impromptu trip to "The Edge of the World". A short walk across Genet Basin brought us to an amazing vista overlooking the Kahiltna Glacier, Mount Hunter and Foraker, and a large portion of the route we traveled in the past week. Evening light and periodic clearing made for a special view. Snow crystals flickered and glittered through the gaps of misty clouds floating 5,000' above the ominous cracks and towering walls of the NE fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. Learning how to stay busy during our first real "storm day" isn't so bad!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
June 5, 2016 - 5:20 p.m. PDT
Our luck has been pretty good so far -- when we arrived at camp yesterday, it had just began to snow and once we finished today's toil, the same happened.
The job for today was to carry a load up hill to make our move to
11 Camp a little more civilized. It also gives us a chance to acclimatize a little and do some walking with a little less weight. The team did great and though we were in a whiteout for much of the day, we were treated to one or two to looks around. I can't wait for our team to see where we are, without being obscured by weather. It will be a treat and all in good time.
RMI Guide
Jake Beren and team
On The Map
We're off the mountain and diving to the Anchorage airport. Obviously, we flew off the glacier last night, just before dinner. After some thankless chores of sorting out gear that the team did without complaint, it was off to the
Talkeetna Motel where we had to wait again as the owner cleaned out rooms. But still no complaints from one of the nicest groups of folks I've had the pleasure of climbing with. Dinner then drinks and merriment at the Fairview Inn. What went on in that fine establishment I'll leave unsaid. Just know that the two block walk back to the hotel seemed manageable and safe for all. That only half the group made it to breakfast at 9:00 might tell of the fun had that night.
It's been a tremendous trip with people I'd love to climb with or at least see again. I hope you've enjoyed sharing the trip in this way with us. Maybe next time you'll be part of our group - it's an amazing experience in an amazing world. It will change your life and be with you forever.
From Alaska this last time, so long.
RMI Guide
Brent Okita & Team
June 4, 2016 - 11:46 a.m. PDT
The team played a lot of hurry up and wait most of the day in Talkeetna. We put the final touches on packing, weighed in for the flight, and waited for a weather window to get into the Alaska Range. Our window opened right around 5 PM and we snuck into
Kahiltna BC just before it socked in again. Once on the glacier we spent a few hours rigging for rope travel and re-packing before we hit the dusty trail. Everyone did a fantastic job and just before 1 AM we set up camp at 7,600' on the Kahiltna That's it for now. We're all really excited to be here.
Thanks for following along,
RMI Guide
Geoff Schellens and The UWR team
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Go Jason!!
Posted by: Hoppes on 6/7/2016 at 8:58 pm
Whoo Hoo Jason our gang is cheering you on! Continuing to pray for you and your teams success and safety ! The Broek Family
Posted by: Broek Gang on 6/7/2016 at 4:41 pm
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