Entries from Mt. McKinley
And we were getting so lucky with weather to this point... Ah well, we did our best to make use of a break in the snow and wind today. It started, here at 11,000 ft, with a snowy and socked-in morning. Many a team leader came out of his or her tent and then went right back inside, waiting for something better to work with. We were up at 7... but then gave it a pass until 8 and then we took a look at 9 and had breakfast. Things did start looking up by 10 and a few teams went for it. We liked the trend by 11 since we were seeing a lot of blue sky above (the uppermost part of the mountain was still in cloud) and only some indication of wind here and there. We were wearing our spikes and carrying our ice axes out of camp by 12:20. Our intention was to carry food and fuel up and around Windy Corner, cache it and then drop back down to 11 camp. The first hour went great. That was spent on "Motorcycle Hill" which was far steeper than any hill we'd tackled so far on the climb. From the top of Motorcycle, we could see winds starting to whip at the top of "Squirrel Hill" our goal for the next hour. We topped the hill in a fairly vicious and cold breeze and pushed on into the "Polo Fields" below the end of the
West Buttress. From there, we had a good view of Windy Corner, which looked... you guessed it, windy. We decided not to push things too far, although the team was handling everything just fine to this point. We chose a cache site at about 12,850 ft and dug in. The only reason for burying it all is that ravens long ago developed a taste for climber food and a talent for ripping a cache to shreds. We couldn't see any ravens, but by this point in the day we were seeing a lot of blowing snow and swirling cloud again. With light packs, we made good time getting down the hills and back into 11k. We were home by 5:30 and dining in the shelter of our posh tent by 7:00 while the storm intensified. It isn't a terrible storm yet, just some wind and snow, but we hope it plays out overnight and leaves us in peace.
Your messages to the web site were passed on to us and were thoroughly enjoyed by all the team. Thanks for the well wishes... keep those fingers crossed.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
This is
RMI Guide Adam Knoff, checking in from high camp on Denali at 17,000’. We had a sweet climb from 14,000’, up the fixed lines and along the crest of the
West Buttress, eventually dropping into the basin where camp is placed. What an absolutely spectacular day of climbing! Unfortunately, the predicted nice weather did not materialize and in fact, has deteriorated. Such is life on Denali, where all movement is dictated by weather. We are securely entrenched in camp, with sturdy walls and a posh cook tent. We have plenty of supplies, and now it becomes a waiting game. We will keep you updated.
On The Map
After summiting Denali on the 1st of July, our team has not stopped working. We descended from high camp yesterday morning, and continued to Camp 3 at 11,000' for dinner and some shut-eye. The former was in full effect in the form of bacon-chicken quesadillas, and the latter was in short-order, as we woke up at midnight to start our descent to Basecamp. After taking advantage of the early morning frozen snow conditions on the lower
Kahiltna glacier, we arrived at Basecamp at 8:30 am. Now it's just a matter of waiting for better weather to allow planes to fly and take us back to Talkeetna. We are all napping in our tents while we anticipate sunny skies.
RMI Guide Mike Walter and Team
On The Map
There were a lot more clouds around when we woke at 5 AM at 9,500 ft on the Kahiltna. As we ate and packed, there was a hint of snow, but we still could see a good distance down the glacier and there was a sense that we were just getting the normal flow of weather that likes to hang about 10,000 ft Kahiltna Pass -the divide of the
Alaska Range in these parts. We were roped and plodding into the murk by ten minutes after seven. As with the past two days, we wore snowshoes even though the surface was frozen up and supportable. Snow fell from time to time in our first hour of moving toward the Pass, but then we did climb out of the flow of cloud when we turned the corner at the top end of the glacier. As expected, the last pull into camp was a tough one with our heavy loads, but everyone did well and seemed quite satisfied to arrive at 11,000 ft at 11 in the morning.
We were actually surprised to see a few dozen tents around camp, having gotten used to not seeing so many people in the last few days. It makes sense though as a number of teams had come on the mountain in the days before we'd gotten on and we all tend to slow things down when we get to 11,000 ft. With that in mind, we'll attempt to carry a load of gear and food to around
Windy Corner tomorrow but then we'll come back down for a second and most likely a third night at 11K. We want our bodies to catch up with the altitude before we make the big jump to 14,000 ft.
We did plenty of catching up with friends and fellow guides during the day at this impromptu reunion, but we were particularly pleased to spend a little time with
Mike Walter and his team as they came into camp in late afternoon, freshly down from hitting the top yesterday.
Clouds came and went through much of the afternoon and evening, and now at 10:30 PM, it is snowing lightly with no wind. That blanket of cloud tends to keep the air temperature a little higher than it would otherwise be at such a lofty altitude. We'll hope for reasonably clear weather in the morning and that we can go for a climb.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Adam Knoff called in at 3:50 p.m. PT from the base of
Washburn's Thumb. The team is on their move to 17K Camp to get into position for their summit bid. All is well and the weather is good.
On The Map
Hi, this is
Mike Walter checking in from 14,000’. We have descended the
West Buttress and are back at the 14,000’ camp. Everyone is doing swell. Our plan is to continue the descent to 11,000’ and hunker down for a few hours. There we’ll ‘brew up’ hot drinks, grab something to eat and nap for a few hours. We’ll traverse the lower Kahiltna Glacier in the wee hours (when it’s coldest) headed for Base Camp. We hope to arrive at BC tomorrow morning, unless the Weather Gods have other plans in store. That’s all for now from our tired and happy crew.
On The Map
At 4:45P (PDT)
Mike Walter called from the summit of McKinley:
This is Mike and I’m calling from the summit of
Mt McKinley! The weather is beautiful; no wind, and just a few clouds. The summit of Mt Foraker (17,400’) is 3,000’ lower than us, and Kahiltna Base Camp is 13,000’ below us! Our ascent from high camp took seven and one-half hours, which is very good time. We’re taking hero shots, hugging and congratulating each other, but soon it will be time to descend to our tents. After a well deserved rest, tomorrow we will down-climb the West Buttress and reach the thick air at 14,000’ camp. More reports will follow.
Congratulations to the Mt. McKinley June 12th Team!
On The Map
Another early start and another straightforward move up in perfect conditions. We got up at 3 AM and ate breakfast in the cool shadows blanketing our 7800 ft camp. On our second day of climbing, it was already becoming routine to knock down the tents and get packs and sleds squared away for travel. We were roped up and moving up Ski Hill by 5:45. The hills were big and the loads were as well, but we slowed the pace and worked our way up. Again, we found the surface frozen hard and easy for sledding and walking without sinking in. Distances weren't terribly significant and it only took us three and a half hours to reach the top of the hills at around 9500 ft. We built a camp and dove into the tents just as the sun started heating the giant reflector oven of the upper Kahiltna Glacier. Afternoon was spent in slumber, or in reading, or in watching iPod movies, or in snacking and drinking water. Some did it all. We sat in our "POSH" dining tent chatting for a few hours at dinner. At 8 PM we tuned in our radio to catch the mountain specific weather forecast (which calls for a little bit of snow at our elevation tonight). Far more entertaining was our conversation with the other RMI teams on the mountain. We were excited for Mike Walter's summit and safe return to high camp and to hear that Adam Knoff and his gang are good to go for moving to 17,000 ft tomorrow. If our good luck holds, we'll cruise on up to 11,000 ft tomorrow with our strong and steady team.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Mt. McKinley has the gnarly reputation for being one of the hardest mountains in the world to reach the summit of. In circles of armchair mountaineers, horror stories bounce around like cheap cigars. What most people don't realize is how much down time comes with living the dream of climbing north America's highest peak.
Yesterday we put in our first "average work day" with an eight hour round trip climb to Washburn's thumb at 16,500 feet. We cached food, fuel and clothing needed for our time on the upper mountain. This was our teams most difficult challenge to date which everyone handled like cagey veterans.
Back to the down time. Of course the terrain on this mountain demands one's full concentration, but so does our time of rest. It is unnatural for all of us to try and sleep twelve hours a day with no darkness. The rigors of rest should not be underestimated. Today we woke from thirteen hours of hibernation and had a two hour breakfast demanding great effort to pull away from. Now we are preparing for a stroll to the edge of the world and then home for more sleep. Today is beautiful here at 14,000 feet, much more pleasant than our ten below nights. All is well and we look forward to climbing higher..
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
On The Map
It was a little tough waking up at 1 AM, since we hadn't been able to get to bed terribly early, but coffee and bagels got us going. Just as we'd hoped, it had been a clear night and the glacial surface had frozen up good and hard. Conditions were ideal for tackling the lower glacier. This section can be problematic since it is normally heavily crevassed in late season, but we found that the recent snowfall and overnight freeze had combined to bridge things nicely. We set out around 4:30 AM and made steady progress, first dropping a few hundred feet to reach the main glacier and then turning North while working up small hills and inclines. The packs were heavy and despite the fact that the fully loaded sleds were sliding easily along, we were all pretty thankful for the short rest breaks each hour. It was good hard work, but we didn't have much in the way of glitches or problems. The last two hours of our push were conducted in bright sunshine with a great view of
Denali's south face. The West Buttress stood out clearly in relief. We pulled into our intended camp at 7,800 ft at about 9:15 AM and got to work. In no time, we had tents, a kitchen, a dining area, a latrine and the start of several significant naps. It was a day for power lounging and for catching up on hydration.
We rallied for a group dinner since
Solveig Waterfall was serving up excellent burritos, but then the naps resumed.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
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Daddy (Brian), I miss you and I want to go camping in that orange tent with you when you get home. (Direct quote from Connor)
Hope you and the team had some relaxing down time and that tomorrow brings good climbing weather. Stay safe, we love you!
Posted by: Connor Bulatao on 7/5/2012 at 6:12 am
Hello Brian! I hope that you and the team have a good climb, and I have added you and the team to the chruch prayer list for a safe trip. Love, Mom Bulatao
Posted by: Mom Bulatao on 7/4/2012 at 4:45 pm
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