Entries from Mt. McKinley
May 23, 2014
High winds aloft again thwarted our plans to move to
high camp today.
The team enjoyed another rest day, and we have now joined forces with
Pete VanDeventer and his team, who arrived a few days ago, and together have built ourselves quite the RMI compound here in the Genet Basin.
After breakfast, Mike, Steve, and I made a quick lap down to 11 Camp to dig up our cache and retrieve any usable food items, extra gas, and personal supplies to help us extend our stint on the mountain.
We were hoping to get some promising news from the weather forecast this evening, but it sounds like we are going to have to dig our heels in and hang on, as high winds and multiple feet if snow are predicted over the next few days.
On a positive note, we scored some brownies and oreo's from a descending team, and thankfully Mike's frozen Kindle came back to life. We are now all happily entertained campers (and snackers) at 14,000', prepared to ride out this weather system!
Small miracles....
RMI Guide
Solveig Waterfall & Team
May 23, 2014 - 10:19pm PT
We took today to
acclimate and let our legs recover from a couple of good days and heavy packs. A late wake up once the sun hit the tents led into breakfast, then major architectural planning and construction of a new kitchen/dining area. Our new digs are 10 feet below the snow surface, giving us ample headroom. After an afternoon siesta, we rigged and practiced for the fixed lines, that we hope to ascend for the first time tomorrow.
The plan is to try to get our high cache of gear in tomorrow, and hopefully the weather will cooperate. We'll check back in tomorrow, but send us wishes for fair weather.
RMI Guides Pete, Robby, Josh and Team
May 23, 2014 - 11:11pm PT
We awoke to wonderfully beautiful skies and not a hint of wind. What a nice reprieve to yesterday's gauntlet with the persistent cold breeze that hit us head on all day. It was with this nice weather that we started our climb to our next camp. We knew that our loads would be heavy, but Ski Hill always manages to humble even the most fit of climbers. But try as it might to torture us with it's deceptively constant grade, the team managed well and arrived at 9500' with energy left over to build camp and get settled.
Our dinner of soup and burritos will hopefully sustain us for our next push: 11,200' camp. Thankfully, today was the last of the huge loads we'll be carrying as we plan on caching food, fuel and some personal gear here. We'll pick this cache up the following day and bring it up to our camp at 11,200'. It'll be nice to get to 11,200' where we'll finally be settled at the same camp for a number of days.
That's the news from the
Kahiltna Glacier these days.
Cheers,
RMI Guides Brent, Leah, Nick & Team
On The Map
May 23, 2014 - 7:18 pm PT
Our first night away from the airstrip here at 7,800' and it's under beautiful clear blue skies. The winds above 14,000' are moving hard but here it is calm. We walked 3.5 hrs north on the
Kahiltna Glacier to the base of Ski Hill and occupied some vacant sites. All told a pretty relaxing afternoon after adjusting to our pack & sled loads. Tomorrow we will gain 2,000' to our next camp at 9,800' which puts us near the base of Kahiltna Dome's east ridge.
Good night friends and family!
RMI Guide Leon Davis & Team
May 22, 2014 - 9:32 pm PT
Another pleasant day today, albeit cold and cloudy. This morning we went for a walk out of base camp toward the east ridge of
Francis. We passed the large granite face of Francis, and through old icefall debris, up into a small cirque. Great views of Hunter and Base Camp from this small snowy cove. Once back at camp we rigged sleds and packed gear for our departure tomorrow up to Camp 1. The team is excited to venture out and experience another part of the Alaska range.
Until tomorrow...
RMI Guide
Leon Davis & Team
May 22, 2014 - 6:44 pm PT
We had grand plans of moving to
high camp today, and awoke early to clear skies above and relatively warm temps. We started stoves and began the process of packing sleeping bags and organizing gear, but before the water even had time to boil, a cap began to build on the upper mountain and lenticulars formed over Mt. Foraker to our south west. We watched as plumes of snow, sublimating from the west buttress and 17,000' Camp, began to stream to the south.
Better to sit here at 14 camp and drink more coffee, we decided.... Although now we are out of coffee....
The team is in good spirits and we will keep you posted as the situation continues. Fingers aggressively crossed that this weather breaks soon!
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall
On The Map
May 22, 2014 - 6:51 pm PT
We've been in and out of the clouds all day here at our 14,000' camp on
Mt. McKinley. Despite the clouds and requisite light snow, the solar is pumping, and it feels like we're in a greenhouse. We woke on the later side, giving the sun time to make it to us, and ate another big breakfast of hash browns, eggs, and bacon. Anything to get calories in. After a bit of camp tending, we set out for a quick jaunt to our cache at 13,500'. We retrieved all of our food and personal gear, then turned and headed back for camp. The afternoon was for relaxing, drying sleeping bags and clothes, wet wipe bathes, and general self care and rest. More than likely we'll be resting tomorrow and training for the fixed lines.
Thanks for reading,
RMI Guides Pete, Robby, and Josh
On The Map
May 22, 2014 - 1:55 am
We are
tucked in tight at 14,200'!
It was a beautiful, clear morning, so we crashed our camp along with a few other groups, cached our sleds and snowshoes (no one was sorry to leave them behind), and once more pointed our feet towards Motorcycle Hill. The going was a lot easier today with the trail that we put in yesterday having had a fair amount of traffic. We passed through a once more windless Windy Corner, and headed for 14,000' with everyone moving well under heavy packs. Mike Walter and team were at 14,000' to greet us, and made our move in easy, helping with water, tent platforms, and a kitchen. We definitely owe them a big thanks. We lose the sun a bit earlier here, and the extra three thousand feet definitely makes itself evident in the temperature. No one needed coaxing to crawl into the sleeping bags and call it a day.
We are psyched to finally be here, in position to set ourselves up for a summit bid. It's nice to check off another milestone too. We'll let you know what adventures tomorrow brings.
RMI Guides Pete, Robby, and Josh
On The Map
May 21, 2014 - 11:16 pm
Today we spent a full day rotating through stations of
crevasse rescue and beacon searches. The team did well grasping the concept of producing mechanical advantage and they ran through the drills multiple times. By the end of the day, I think most ended up with an understanding of how the systems work. Clouds are moving in slowly and may linger for a few days here but that won't stop us from venturing out onto the surrounding glaciers. We have one more day here in base camp to prepare for our move north.
Goodnight to all.
RMI Guide Leon Davis
May 21, 2014 - 10:15 pm
We rested today at the
14,000' Camp, with plans in place to move up to high camp tomorrow and go for the top on Friday. We'll see how that shakes out, as the latest weather forecast is calling for extreme winds up high for the next few days. This is a drastic change in the forecast from yesterday, which called for 10-15 mph summit winds for the next few days. If any body out there can pull any strings with the weather gods, now would be a good time.
We'll continue to keep you up to date with our progress.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
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We hope you get out soon. Nicky and Bob must be chafing at the bit. good luck!
Posted by: Frank Haasbeek on 5/25/2014 at 5:12 am
Steve and Team,
Got a little worried when I saw no update this morning. Glad to hear all is well and you have combined groups.
Hope things clear before “tent fever’ has everyone grabbing their ice axe!
Hike well and be safe.
Dad
Posted by: Bill Gately on 5/24/2014 at 2:28 pm
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