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Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
June 25, 2023 10:00am PT
It seems surreal that just 24 hours ago we were sitting on the East Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier with our fingers crossed for flyable weather. Kahiltna International Airport (KIA) could have just as easily been our home for the next week but instead we slept easily and comfortably on real mattresses for the first time in nearly 3 weeks. Today and only today the weather cooperated for us to make our escape. How did we get here? Let me tell you...
24 hours prior to the 24 hours that we just experienced...
We woke up to a mix of clouds and sunshine at 14k Camp and casually dismantled camp and packed up all our things. The weather and clouds mostly stayed below us with an occasional surge of precip and wind at camp. The walk down to 11k Camp was uneventful other than a quick reunion with Dominic Cifelli and Dave Hahn's respective RMI climbing teams. High fives were had but we kept moving, we had a timeline to meet.
Once at a 11k Camp again we located our cache, set up tents, made water and ate dinner. The clouds rolled in and out of 11 Camp like the tide on the shore. Like the tide, what was in the clouds was wet and gross. After "napping" for around 3 hours, we "woke up" at 9:30pm to get moving again to catch the lower glacier in its most stable and frozen condition.
Sadly, the cloud we walked into below 11 Camp was hovering around 33 degrees and raining. The team was quickly covered in a layer of ice and rime. Everything - backpacks, trekking poles, goggles, jackets, pants, were incased in a 1/4 cm of ice. We trudged for several hours through this freezing rain. Eventually we got below the cloud, and everyone shed their icy armor that had accumulated. After a break at the bottom of Ski Hill to recover our cache (and thaw out), we resumed trudging on the lower Kahiltna.
A simple 3 more hours of trudging in what ended up being a fairly direct path across the Kahiltna glacier, we arrived at Heart Break Hill. It was time for the final hour of uphill that must be ascended to return to the airstrip. The team's morale stayed high, and hearts stayed unbroken. We made quick work of Heart Break Hill. Shortly after 5am, we were back at the airstrip; 19 days had elapsed since we were last here. It seemed surreal to be back. Even more surreal the weather continued to cooperate, the cloud ceiling stayed high, the sun showed itself briefly! Around 8:45am the drone of a K2 Turbo Otter was heard. 24 hours after leaving 14k Camp, we were picked up in the most wonderful red plane you've ever seen and whisked back to civilization, Talkeetna.
Everyone has been awake for 24-36 hours at the time of writing this. There is still much clean up and packing to do before we can sleep.
The trip is over, but our memories and experiences will last a lifetime. This is the final blog from The Bond Girls. If you want to know more, contact your loved ones, they have service now! Even if they're pretending they don't...
Cheers,
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Posted by: Mike Walter, Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Kelley, We have never known anyone to make this climb—you are amazing! We can’t wait to see your pictures! Love, Sue and Don
Posted by: Don and Sue Pieper on 7/24/2012 at 10:10 am
way to go Kelley and the rest of the team! I cannot wait to hear all about it! Barbie
Posted by: Barbie Smith on 7/23/2012 at 9:06 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Sam Hoffman, Bailey Servais, Calvin Jiricko
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Friday, June 27, 2025 10:38 pm PDT
Dispatch 14.2 – Storm Day 2
As forecasted, today was a better day. It was sunny and calm… and we didn’t go climbing. The guide team felt that the recent snowfall needed at least one good sunny day to settle and reduce the avalanche hazard. As it turned out, all other teams on the mountain came to a similar conclusion—no teams moved today.
We ended up making pretty good use of the day, though. We roped up and took a field trip to the Edge of the World! Since we are camped in the middle of a large glacial basin, it’s easy to forget just how high we’ve already climbed. A short walk to the edge is a quick reminder. It was thrilling today to climb a rock at the edge and look down a few thousand feet to the Kahiltna Glacier—where we camped a while back.
Back at camp, Calvin gave a well-received instructional session on avalanche beacons, and Sam put all his culinary skill into boiling water for our freeze-dried dinner.
We hope to carry up onto the Buttress tomorrow.
– RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition, June 14, 2025
Stay safe y’all and glad you got to look down at how far you’ve already come. Here’s for clear climbing and good weather!
Posted by: jen ostrich on 6/28/2025 at 1:28 pm
Glad about the weather. Keep smiling.
Posted by: Richard Harmetz on 6/28/2025 at 11:47 am
Posted by: Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
Monday, June 20, 2022 - 8:39 a.m. PDT
So we did it, well almost. We’re right back where we began our journey but this time we are stuck here. I’m of course talking about Kahiltna International Airport. How did this happen? Let’s start at the beginning of our day.
BEEP BEEP BEEP. The 1:00 a.mm alarm goes off, the guides rub the sleep / snow out of their eyes. Oh wait, did you say snow? Yes, yes I did because the guides decided to roll the dice and open bivy instead of set up a tent for our “last” night out. Anyways not a big deal, snow brushes off and sleeping bags dry eventually.
The rest of the team quickly rallied and broke down camp and we headed out on the mushy trail. Slightly less mushy though thanks to a slight refreeze from the night. Thank goodness for that because we crossed a lot of snow bridges over crevasses. The walking was easy and the team was traveling well, until Heartbreak Hill, the final slope up to the airstrip. It’s just steep enough to be terrible and just shallow enough grade to last for what feels like forever.
Finally, finally we made it to the airstrip. Our time to get back to civilization was here! Except not, because we didn’t fly out. Now here’s how we got stuck. Clouds. Clouds everywhere. First clouds at the airstrip prevented them from flying, then clouds in Talkeetna, then more clouds at the airstrip, then clouds both places.
So as I write this we’ve missed our window for flying out today and await patiently for a break in the weather tomorrow. Let’s hope the next dispatch is a picture of us clinking glasses and celebrating in Talkeetna!
To be continued….
RMI Guides Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed and the team
” Everyone wants to reach the top of the mountain. But all the success and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.”
-Andy Rooney
Posted by: Ellis Richman on 6/20/2022 at 7:15 pm
I know you all can do it. You’ve come this far and the glasses will clink!
Weather can be a problem whether cold or hot - it was close to 98 degrees today in
Wayzata, MN - high humidity too so not a day to be outside!
Safe travels for the rest of the trip - look forward to a photo of the team!
You all have accomplished what you set out to do and should be proud of that!
Thank you for sharing your adventure with us.
M.
Posted by: mary pagnucco on 6/20/2022 at 7:02 pm
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Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
Posted by: Brent Okita, Calvin Jiricko, Mitch Valaitis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Footprints of Fight team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. RMI Guide Brent Okita reported clear skies and a breezy morning on the summit.
These climbers have trained to climb Mt. Rainier for a year while raising funds to support their mission. Footprints of Fight is a organization that is dedicated to providing services for the family and patient of pediatric cancer in Washington while going through the treatment process. The purpose of these services is to reduce the family's stress of everyday life through which increased levels of courage, optimism, strength, and resiliency will form to help the family conquer cancer in present and future.
Congratulations Team for your efforts on and off the mountain!
This was a seriously unforgettable experience! Walter, Gilbert and Sean were great!
Posted by: Matthew Smith on 7/7/2012 at 1:40 pm
Posted by: Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
This morning, RMI Expeditions guides Jack Delaney and Joey Manship led their Four Day Climb teams to the summit of Mount Rainier—an incredible achievement for all involved!
The teams reached the top under dynamic mountain conditions, reporting broken clouds, light precipitation, and a cloud deck hovering around 8,700 feet. Despite the weather, spirits were high as climbers stood atop the 14,410-foot peak, many for the first time.
At 9:20 AM, the teams began their descent, and are currently en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations Team!
Posted by: Tyler Reid
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Chile Ski
Reading the first sentence, the unplugged acoustic version of the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” started playing in my head as soundtrack and accompaniment. Reading what the Bond Girls had to do to get to the plane from 14k, I would say they are the real rockstars.
Posted by: Mike Forsyth on 6/25/2023 at 11:55 am
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