No. I'm afraid there were no royal celebrations of summit success for us today as we began the morning getting up with guarded optimism that the clouds and wind above us would dissipate just enough to allow us to get in a summit bid. But that did not happen, and instead we retreated back to our tents after prolonging our time over breakfast in the Posh.
Unfortunately the clouds descended and eventually we were enveloped in wind and snow that just took some of the energy and motivation we needed to work on camp. So, instead we spent a restful morning in our tents, snug and warm from the elements just beyond the thin nylon fabric we rely so vitally on for our comfort and survival.
What do we actually do during these times while waiting for the weather to improve? Of course, reading, listening to music, playing games all come to mind, but simply catching up on sleep is huge. With winds buffeting our tents during the night, coupled with the excitement and anxiety that affects us all before a possible summit day, we can all use the downtime. In fact, it's the climber that deals with this forced inactivity well that tends to be the better climber. A capacity for patience is a hallmark of good expedition climbers.
But, I never thought that spending an entire day in the old fart sack helped you out much in terms of adjusting to the altitude, so when we got a nice break in the weather we went out and built the nicest bathroom on the mountain, walled and roofed, and ready for whatever the mountain throws at us. At least we'll take comfort knowing that, when that inevitable time comes, we'll be able to answer that call without sheets of wind blown snow covering our clothes and all too vulnerably exposed parts of our anatomy.
As for tomorrow, though the forecast calls for high winds what I'm seeing right now makes me think we have a chance. The winds have calmed and it's sunny and beautiful, with simply gorgeous views of the Alaska Range from our perch here just below the summit of the tallest peak in North America.
And now, some closing words from the poet laureate of the arctic, our own Lindsay Mann:
At 17 we stay
Wishing the wind away
Cutting blocks and sawing snow
People see out camp and say wow!
A ceiling for our bathroom was done
To give us privacy from everyone
Stories over dinner we share
cause team morale is still there
Hoping to get the summit
As soon as these winds plummet
But for now we sit tight
And wish for a beautiful night
Good night from Brent Okita, Leon and Lindsay
Please ensure this marvelous structure remains intact for the next two weeks. I hope to get the chance to witness such a fine piece of engineering with my own eyes.
Today we experienced superb climbing conditions as we bumped equipment and food to our cache at 14,000' camp.
We began with a steep climb out of 11,000' camp, up "Motorcycle Hill" and "Squirrel Hill" then enjoyed a mellow walk across a part of the route called the "Polo Field." We stopped just shy of the infamous "Windy Corner" at 13,200'. Guides and clients prepared to battle the harsh winds by dawning wind layers and face protection. We even made sure to have goggles readily accessible. When we rounded the corner however, we were greeted with only a light breeze. As a team we are constantly preparing for the worst and hoping for the best; the wind today turned out to be the best.
With our cache stocked, we headed downhill back to our camp. Despite some clouds, we were still greeted with a view of the Peters Glacier, the Direct West Buttress and Father and Son Wall. We were reminded how truly huge this place is, and satisfied to see that we are making steady progress. The entire crew had their strongest day yet.
We are currently back in camp hold up in our tents. It seems that in this place we are either working our tails off, or comatose and resting. Now we are the latter.
We look forward to seeing what kind of weather greets us tomorrow. We hope to move up to 14,000' at some point in the next few days if the group feels strong and weather permits. Well keep you posted. For now, it's back to food and rest.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
We fared well on our first night at 17,200'. Any little headaches of the day before vanished come morning and everyone was in good spirits by the time I 'woke' them up at 10:30. Needless to say we didn't go for the summit this morning. It was somewhat windy and cloudy all day with snow falling occasionally. Just another day at 17,200' camp.
After rather prolonged brunch we got after building some respectable walls for our tents and Posh House. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to build a nice boudoir to house our CMC (clean mountain can). But, there's always tomorrow should we not get a chance for the summit.
The weather forecast is not promising for the next couple of days, but considering that they are as often wrong as right up here, that doesn't bother me. I'll be getting up in the cold morning hours regardless to see for myself.
Everyone is feeling good and doing well up here in this rather inhospitable world of cold and high elevation. And when it came time to crank out the block cutting and wall building this team went after it. That said, we all sure appreciated getting out of the gusty winds and snow when the time came to finish for the day. Lunch in the Posh and some horizontal time in the tents never felt better.
Finally, we all want to shout out a big Happy Birthday to Phil. Phil. we miss you dearly and wish you were up here with us, cutting blocks and eating dehydrated meals. Now tell me, can you beat that down there? I didn't think so.
Let's hope for a change in the weather. It doesn't seem quite so windy right now, so ...
Goodnight from 17,200'
RMI Guides Brent, Leon and Lindsay
Hey there, it's, Billy calling just wanted to give you guys an update and let you know where the crew is. After our summit day we descended from 17 down to the 14 camp and ended up spending the night there. Then got an early this morning and made the march all the way to base camp. Right now, everybody is sitting pretty at Kahiltna base. We have set up the tents. It is kind of socked in and cloudy so we are just hoping for planes at some point tomorrow morning. Forecast is kind of iffy so,we’ll see. We may be sitting here for a couple of days. But everyone is down safe and sound. So, will call and check in again one more time when we get back to town and off the mountain.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in from Kahiltna Base Camp.
Gibert:
I want to congratulate you and your team on successfully summitting Mount McKinley. No matter what hemisphere you are adventuring ... you seem to make it all the way to the top. Congratulations! What’s next?!
Fred Klingbeil
Aconcaqua (January 2012)
Posted by: Fred Klingbeil on 6/6/2012 at 11:22 am
Hi- Bran and team..
U must have had been so thrilled when u reach the summit!! I know I was so thrilled and so was Dad, I think I txted and called everyone.. Now it time for u and the team to celebrate!!! Thanks Bill Nugent, u r a awesome Guide..
Love Mom & Dad
There is no better way to start a day than sleeping in. After some long days of climbing, we have earned it. This morning we slept late, had breakfast burritos and started the work day at a leisurely 11am. While 23.5 hours of sunlight a day is a bit disorienting at first, hard work has been a great sleeping aid for the team.
Our crew is getting stronger every day. After our leisurely morning, we completed a back carry from 10,000' with no problems. We now sit at our 11,000' home, hiding from the beating radiation and gorging ourselves on goodie bags of food we recovered from our cache this morning. This afternoon we plan to meticulously re-pack the kit for a cache at 14,000' camp. We look forward to caching and moving up in the next few days, if weather allows.
Thank you to all for your comments and words of encouragement.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Way to go everyone! Michael, I’m sure you are having the time of your life! Enjoy it and stay full! I will go run around my neighborhood while you climb!
Posted by: Scott on 6/6/2012 at 4:36 am
Thinking of you all. Team Snyder loves and misses you Rolf!
Hi, this is Brent along with Leon and Lindsay calling from 17,000’ camp on the West Buttress here on Mt. McKinley.
We have just gotten up to our high camp here today after a grueling but a great climb in which everyone climbed super well. Right now it’s about 10 o’clock and the guides are just getting into their sleeping bags after getting dinner and filling up water bottles and all that good stuff.
Currently the conditions are pretty good, a little windy just 20 mph winds. We are in a bit of a white out, a little snow blowing but not too bad.
We are up here now, the forecast isn’t for horrible conditions but not bluebird, perfect conditions either. And that’s ok for us because we wouldn’t mind a rest day after our big climb up from the 14,000’ camp this morning.
We’ll be waking up early to check the weather just in case we have a perfect day. If that’s the case and there’s no wind then we are going to go for the summit tomorrow morning. So wish us luck on that. Otherwise we’ll be here and we have plenty of supplies to last us through any storm that might come our way.
That is all from 17,000 foot camp.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
RMI Guide Brent Okita checks in from 17,000 ft on Mt. McKinley
17.2K so far! How quickly you’ve done this! SO proud of the whole group. Cant believe that you may actually have a shot at the summit so quickly! Wishing you the best of weather and warm sleeping bags for the night! Missing my nightly conversations with Pea! Enjoy the view from the top of the US Kristen and then come home safe and sound! Love you.
Posted by: Timothy Kelliher MD on 6/4/2012 at 6:55 pm
A well deserved rest day yesterday paid dividends today. The team moved efficiently to 11,000 feet where we set up a deluxe camp. The weather greeted us with a nice cold headwind with some fresh snow in the track, but that was not too much of an obstacle for our team.
We worked hard to furnish camp after arriving this afternoon. Our cook tent is especially posh and our tent platforms are perfectly flat with a 5-star covered rest area. We plan on enjoying the camp we have crafted for the next few days as we rest and shuttle loads.
We look forward to retrieving our cache at 10,000 feet tomorrow, a relatively short day, then rest and indulging on the treats in our currently cashed goodie bags. Eating well means feeling well in the mountains and this is something this crew knows well! Till tomorrow, the whole team says hi to all.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Rolf, Grandpa John celebrated his 92nd birthday this week by buying a new bike. Says he wished he had taken a trip like this and would have joined you if he were only younger.
Posted by: Martha Snyder on 6/7/2012 at 8:17 pm
Go Rolf Go!! We are thinking about you and following these blog updates with excitement. Up, up and away! Best of luck!
Hey this is Gilbert with the RMI May 15th expedition calling after a successful summit day here on Denali. We are back safe and sound in our tents brewing up some water and dinner. We left around 10 am under clear skies and very little wind. We had a great summit with eight clients and three guides.
Now we are back safe and sound. We are going to re-hydrate and re-fuel and beat feat down to basecamp and hopefully fly out in the next 24 hours or so and be back in Talkeetna.
So, that is all for now and we will keep in touch.
RMI Guide Gilbert Chase
RMI Guide Gilbert Chase checks in after a successful summit day on Denali.
Once we decided not to move for the day, the team slept late and gorged ourselves on a breakfast of toasted bagels with cream cheese and lockes. The rest of the morning was spent getting camp in order and digging out our walls.
Expedition life is a funny mixture of hard days of climbing and long days of sitting in the tents trying to avoid boredom. Today was the latter. We spent the afternoon avoiding the sun while we napped, read books and told stories. Being able to entertain yourself in the tent is a crucial skill on big expeditions.
Tomorrow, weather permitting, we plan to make a push up towards the 11k camp for more acclimatization and rest before we push higher on this magical massif, Denali.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
"Its a miracle, I lit the stoves!" Exclaimed Roberto as he woke up the team this morning. When we entered the cook tent Roberto and Brent had laid out a spread of bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon. Roberto was quite the Italian gentlemen this morning running the stoves and serving hot water, while insisting everyone enjoy their morning coffee and cider, and even giving us a short Italian lesson. A big grazie to Roberto, our favorite Italian chef at 14,000 feet!
After a leisurely breakfast we took a walk out to the edge of the world. The edge of the world got its name because it drops away 6,000 feet below you. Allowing us to see our previous camp at 7,800 feet and giving us fantastic views of the Alaskan range.
That was our big event of the day, and now we are resting and preparing for our move to 17,000 foot camp.
Other exciting news was that RMI Guide Gilbert Chase on the McKinley May 15th Expedition checked in this morning as RMI Guide Billy Nugent and team were making their summit bid. We expect to hear from them later on tonight.
Sitting strong at 14,
RMI Guides Lindsay, Brent and Leon and team
Happy birthday Phil!! Meatloaf sandwich on me this time. Looking forward to the stories. Be well!
Posted by: mark deffe on 6/4/2012 at 8:30 am
Happy Birthday Phil, what a wonderful place to celebrate! We are inspired by you and your teammates, hope you aren’t tired of the poptarts. xox Suzy & John
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Brent & Team,
Please ensure this marvelous structure remains intact for the next two weeks. I hope to get the chance to witness such a fine piece of engineering with my own eyes.
Eric (Beren’s Team)
Posted by: Eric Schafer on 6/6/2012 at 8:47 pm
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