June 24, 2014 - 8:12 pm PT
Today we encountered the second oxymoron of the trip. The first, albeit not mountain related was not seeing the sun in the longest day in the norther hemisphere, hence the sunless solstice. Today's oxymoron was more exciting, helpful and might I say unexpected. At 13,500 feet there is a crucial feature of Mt. McKinley's West Buttress Route that one must pass to gain access to Advanced Base Camp at 14,200 feet. This storied gateway is called Windy Corner. There have been many a harrowing epic here where sleds have been known to take flight like kites, ropes bend outward like giant crescent moons and rumor has it a climber was even flash frozen like a walking tuna when hit by a fridges gust. For us the corner was breathless!
Last night I had decided to make a carry of unneeded equipment and food up around windy corner because a snow storm is projected to pay a visit for the next few days. Despite having put our bodies to the test for the last four days without rest, this move seemed wise as to prepare the team to move up given our next nice weather day. Everyone's training has proven adequate and we are now in a great position for the days to come. We expect one or two more days here at 11,000 ft. Before making our next move. Everyone is happy and healthy.
Climb on.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff & Team
It is truly amazing what you have all accomplished so far. You’ve worked hard to earn your life “above the clouds”. Sending you strength as you dig deep on your journey to the top. Love to my guys - david, alex and evan and your new climbing family.
June 23, 2014 - 11:54 pm PT
We woke up to a beautiful day at 9,500 on Mt. McKinley enjoyed breakfast and broke down camp in record time. We had a smooth carry to 11,000 and conveniently found some old tent platforms that needed minimal work to make hospitable. A major highlight to our new camp is an unbelievable toilet with a real lid donated by Tyler Jones and his crew on their way off the mountain, it's the simple things in life. We are hunkering down for the night looking forward to a rest day tomorrow, however with a potential weather system coming in we might delay our rest day and make our carry to windy corner early before the weather changes. We will make our final decision in the morning when Adam can communicate with the mountain.
Hasta mañana,
RMI Guides Adam Knoff, Lindsay Mann and Andy Hildebrand
June 23, 2014 - 7:31 pm PT
We decided that today would be a great day to do some more acclimatization at 14,000' on Mt. McKinley. Instead of carrying our gear higher we decided to rest today and then retrieve our gear on our move to 17,000' tomorrow. The team is feeling strong and we are feeling very positive about a good summit bid once we get into position at seventeen. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather for us for a few days!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and Team "The Ocho"
June 23, 2014 - 5:21 pm PT
After a long, tough day yesterday putting in our cache at 17,000', High Camp on Mt. McKinley, we decided last night that today would be another rest day. The team is spending the day relaxing in the tents, and catching up on nutrition and hydration after returning to camp at 14,000' last night depleted. Yesterday's exercise combined with today's rest should make us acclimatize well and make us exceptionally strong on our summit push. It's also good mentally to know what a long day is like and to know that we are strong enough to push through.
With our cache up at high camp in and the gang well rested after today we're in a good spot to make our move up and take a crack at the summit. Fingers crossed for a good spell of weather in the near future...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent, from 14,000'.
Hi Michael and Bruce. All is well here. Following your progress on the blog site. I hope you have great weather on your summit day. Bruce, your garden has been eaten by some groundhog. The weeds are thriving though. You’re not missing anything here so enjoy the climb.
Posted by: Joyce on 6/24/2014 at 8:19 pm
Bruce and Michael, best of luck tomorrow, when you get to the top be on the lookout for penguins I understand they are rare that far north, but I have it from good authority that a group is known to nest at the top, out of harms way.
Posted by: Katherine and Reid on 6/24/2014 at 6:36 pm
June 23, 2014 - 2:10 PM PT
The day, yesterday, dawned cold and windy again, seemingly the weather theme for the entire trip. We decided to launch out of 11k camp anyway, with the siren song of airplane rides motivating our packing. When all the kits were loaded into duffels, we started the Kahiltna Shuffle in whiteout conditions, a stiff breeze keeping the temps cool despite the hard work of dragging big sleds downhill.
Soon we passed our friends who were camped at 9500', and stopped in for a quick hello as the weather got just a little better. We continued down the glacier under improving skies, with only one or two minor freak-outs over the cumbersome sleds that threatened to take us out at the knees.
Finally the sun broke through, and the last grind up Heartbreak Hill was about as hot as anywhere on earth. But with the blue skies, we knew that the planes were flying - and that kept us moving right into base camp. Within about 10 minutes, our K2 Aviation Otter had landed, and we loaded up the kit and let internal combustion take over.
The evening wrap-up by the Susitna River was a special event, and Denali even came out from behind the clouds to give us full closure. It has been an incredible adventure from the very beginning, and while the actual climbing is over, the memories and experiences we've shared will remain. Thanks for following along and for all the support along the way!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones and team
Congrats to the team! I can’t wait to hear more about the trip and see more pictures. Love you Jake and hope to see you soon
Posted by: Bonnie Garfield on 6/24/2014 at 8:33 am
Tyler, Garrett and Geoff….well done and thank you from all of the John Stenderup family. The RMI experience for John included weather adversity and other circumstances that will be life long lessons for all of your teams. Your superb training enabled some to summit and prevented possible disaster for others. I, and I hope John also, will forever retain “the summit is for the ego and the journey is for the soul” incantation. Thank you. Best Regards, Kent Stenderup
Posted by: Kent Stenderup on 6/23/2014 at 10:13 pm
June 22, 2014 - 11:26 pm PT
Hey, it's Billy checking in here from 14,000' on Denali. Our team had a great day up on the West Buttress today. We were able to carry a load of food, fuel and supplies up to 17,000' and get the cache in at 17,000' Camp. It was a long day on the Buttress though. We had mostly clear skies but lots and lots wind and lots of blowing snow. So it made for a tough day all in all everyone did really well.
Everyone is hanging in there and we are hoping to rest tomorrow and then set up for our summit bid whenever the weather decides to open up.
That is all for now.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in from 14,000 ft on Mt. McKinley
Greetings Michael, Bruce & the Rest of the Team: Hope Mother Nature offers up a summit bid soon! You guys are awesome - we are following the blog every day!
Posted by: Chambos on 6/23/2014 at 5:43 pm
Heyooooooooooooooooo!!! You’re almost there! Whoop whoop! You got this! We can’t wait for you to come back because we have a fourteener called Mt. McCornley waiting for you to tackle :)
These are the McKinley moments that tend to recharge the batteries and make the hard days tolerable. Inside the tent, wrapped in a mountain of down, fed by the culinary expertise of Lindsay and Andy with views straight down the Kahiltna Glacier that knock your boots off. The simplicity of this entire process creates an appreciation for simple rest not realized in other facets of ordinary life. Get up, work yur' arse off, get real tired and hungry, eat and go to bed. No technology distractions, no depressing news feeds, simply us and the mountain.
Having just completed day three, we are all pleased with our current position. We awoke this morning to chilly temps, blowing snow and low visibility. Because of our lower elevation of 9,300 feet another move day seemed a bit much so we opted for a carry that landed a majority of our team's unneeded gear at the 11,000 ft camp which we plan to move to tomorrow. These first four or five days can be some of the climb's hardest but everyone has handled it with grace and competence. We anticipate another strong team performance tomorrow. Big hugs go out to friends and family who are taking the time to follow along.
Hasta mañana,
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
After a big day yesterday, we had a rest day here at 14,000' on Mt. McKinley. We practiced some more fixed rope techniques and got ourselves organized. Our plan is to move our cache up to 17,000' camp tomorrow. This will allow us to carry much lighter on our move day and to further our acclimatization before we make our big move up to 17,000' Camp.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and "The Ocho"
June 22, 2014 - 8:16 pm PT
It seems bizarre to have been in deep winter this morning at 14K Camp, waiting on the snow to stop, and now in summery Talkeetna. But here we are. The snow did let up enough for us to load up some BIG packs and make our way down the mountain. We descended under a beautiful crescent moon until the typical storm conditions at 11K Camp abated and we were able to trade the GPS for some sunscreen. The lower glacier was in fine condition and the team put in another solid effort, putting us at the runway ten minutes before our first plane landed. The journey today was tough, but all were up for the challenge and now are enjoying that first shower in civilization before a meal prepared on something other than a MSR stove. It's good to be back.
Thanks to a fantastic team for an amazing expedition and everyone back home who helped make it happen. We were lucky enough to get to see the view from up top and all the hard work paid off. Nice job everyone.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
June 22, 2014 - 2:46 am PT
What a great day in the mountains yesterday! I'd reckon we had one of the nicest summit opportunities of the season and it was a real treat to be in position to make the most of it. We topped out on Denali with spectacular views in all directions and made it back to camp with as close to a solstice as you can get. The sun was still in the sky for an amazing sunset as we pulled into camp after a job well and safely done. Nice work everyone!
This morning weather rolled in from many directions and we chose to stall a bit before heading down the Buttress. The blowing snow let up a little in the afternoon and we made the most if it, getting down to 14K Camp and having dinner before some shut eye. Tomorrow we will keep the momentum rolling downhill if the weather allows and get just a little closer to coming home.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
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It is truly amazing what you have all accomplished so far. You’ve worked hard to earn your life “above the clouds”. Sending you strength as you dig deep on your journey to the top. Love to my guys - david, alex and evan and your new climbing family.
Posted by: Amy St. Angelo on 7/4/2014 at 6:56 am
Looks like it’s getting a little steep :(
Posted by: Jerry on 6/25/2014 at 7:21 pm
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