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
The Denali Expedition May 25, 2021 led by RMI Guides Mike King, Alex Halliday and Abby Westling arrived in Anchorage on Tuesday, May 25th. The team made their way to Talkeenta with a stop for groceries and fresh food to fly with them onto the mountain. Once in Talkeetna they sorted and packed gear, met with the National Park Service and prepared to begin their adventure on Denali. The forecast for Wednesday evening looked to have a break in the weather that would allow them to fly to Kahiltna Base Camp. And sure enough, the team loaded up in the K2 Aviation Twin Otters and headed into the mountains around 5 pm local time.
We woke to the steady patter of rain falling on the village of Cheget this morning. The clouds hung low in the valley, all of the mountains above still obscured. But to the west the clouds were thinning and the rain let up as soon as we finished breakfast. We left the hotel and walked over to the base of the ski lifts to catch a ride higher into the mountains. We hopped onto the lift, each chair painted a different color, and slowly rose into the clouds. At one point the lift stretched across a high point and all we could see was the little yellow and red chairs bouncing along into a sea of grey. By the time we passed the switched lifts at the mid station the clouds began to part and soon the views were improving.
Near 10,000' we unloaded from the lifts and began hiking above the resort towards the summit of Peak Cheget. We navigated the narrow climbers' trail, scrambling across the big rock slabs and over boulders, quickly gaining altitude on the narrow ridge. The weather continued to improve and we were soon shedding our rain jackets in favor of sunglasses. Close to 11,500' the skies briefly parted and we caught our first views of Mt. Elbrus across the valley. The view was fleeting, as the window in the clouds quickly closed, but we were able to see our entire route to the summit.
By midday we reached the summit of Peak Cheget near 12,000'. The change in altitude from Moscow (~500') was noticeable, but everyone on the team felt strong. We stayed on the summit for a few minutes before descending back down the trail to the lifts and returning to town for the afternoon.
We spent the rest of the day sorting and organizing our gear in anticipation of moving onto the mountain. Tomorrow we head up to our hut along the edges of Mt. Elbrus' glaciers where we will spend the next four nights. We are excited about getting on the mountain and looking forward to trading our hiking shoes for climbing boots and crampons. We will check in tomorrow from the Garabashi Hut.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Planning to spend some time with heavy-drinking Russian soldiers on this climb? Or was that a one time thing? Is there a plan to introduce those chairlifts on Denali?
Posted by: Madhu Rao on 7/14/2012 at 4:56 pm
Have a great time. Be safe, have fun and drink soup at the barrels, and catch a fish! Bill M.
We woke up to the sound of rain pounding on the roof and a sinking feeling descended over me: rain meant cloudy weather and no flights into Lukla and I began to wonder if we would be forced to spend the day waiting for clearer skies in order to fly back to Kathmandu. I hesitantly looked out of the window of the teahouse and much to my relief it was only a light rain falling from a thin layer of clouds above. By the time we packed up our bags and sat down for breakfast the skies cleared and soon airplanes began making the harrowing approach into the narrow strip of runway in Lukla.
After wrapping up breakfast we said goodbye to our porters and Sherpa staff and walked the hundred yards up the trail into the Lukla airport where we checked in for our flight. We reweighed all of our bags, once again amazed at the loads our porters were able to carry for the duration of our trek, and then found a seat in the waiting area. Every loud roar accompanying the landing of an airplane we would jump up to stare out the window to see if the plane arriving was ours. Finally, after a couple of planes came and went the green tail of our Tara Air appeared on the runway and and we lined up outside of the idling aircraft to take our seats.
The flight back to Kathmandu lacked the views of our flight in and the plane was forced to take a long route around all of the clouds already building by mid morning before we finally began the descent back into Kathmandu. We landed safely and stepped out into the thick and warm air of the city, a very different feel than the mountains above. Once all of our gear was loaded into the back of the van we set out for our hotel. Needless to say, the melee of cars, motorbikes, horns, buildings, and throngs of people is a radical change from the relative quiet and calm of the Khumbu and it is taking us a good bit to make the shift back into the scene here in Kathmandu.
We arrived at our hotel but not all of the rooms were ready so we sat down next to the pool behind and ordered lunch: fresh salads, vegetables, and burgers (even in Nepal!). It was a feast. We then turned our attention to showers and clean clothes - another luxury for us. By late afternoon, showered and dressed in fresh clothes, we headed into Thamel, the heart of Kathmandu, and spent a few hours wandering the streets and taking in the scene. It feels great to be back in Kathmandu but hard to believe our adventures are over; we've settled into our trail and routine and it's a bit strange to not have to wake up tomorrow, pack the duffel bag, and start walking. It's going to take a bit to readjust. We are heading out for our celebration dinner tonight, looking forward to another good meal. Tomorrow is our contingency day, just in case weather prevented us from moving at some point during the trip, and we are using it to check out a few of the sites in Kathmandu before our flight home the following day. The team is all excited to get home and share their stories, thanks to everyone for following along with us.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Hello! Did you climb to the top of Island Peak? What is the mountain behind you in the picture from today? So glad you are doing well!! We miss you! -Mrs. Hartman’s class
Posted by: Mrs. Hartman's class on 4/9/2012 at 9:42 am
Hard to believe that the trip is almost over. We men are excited about getting our women back. Linden - thanks for shepherding these special ladies through a lifetime adventure! Hurry home Corell.
RMI Teams reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning! The Five Day Climb, May 29 - 2 June, made their summit attempt this morning led by RMI Guides Jenny Konway and Taylor Bickford. The teams were walking into the crater rim around 7:15 am. Taylor reported an exceptional day on the mountain with very little wind, good route conditions and warm temperatures. The teams enjoyed some time on the summit before starting their descent. They will return to Camp Muir for their second and final night on the mountain.
It was a perfect morning to move up to Camp 1! Bright, sunny skies greeted us as we crawled out of the tents, so we'r spent some time organizing what we would take up high and what we would leave. It's easy to think about a few days in camp 1 and start filling our backpacks with luxury items, but everything that comes up must go down. We cooked up a "very American breakfast" of fresh eggs, Tillamook cheddar, loaded into tortillas, and grabbed our packs to start the journey back up the tall that we familiarized ourselves with yesterday. Somehow, having seen it once, each stretch felt easier than yesterday, we walked a bit lighter, and before we knew it, we were pulling into camp.
The pattern from the last several afternoons changed today, and though clouds built at times, they dispersed and we stayed warm and most importantly, dry. We're looking at a bit of a training day tomorrow, but mostly a day to rest and acclimate after a few big days and a big jump in altitude.
RMI Guides Pete and Mike, and Team "all we've learned is the Russian word for hose"
Can’t wait to see pictures and hear about your climb Dan!! Now is when all that conditioning and hard work pays off. Take in the view and live in the moment man. LOVE that kind of stuff! What an adventure for sure.
At the end of this past April, eleven RMI guides came together in Washington to take the AMGA Alpine Skills Course, a prerequisite for the Alpine Guide Course, and a great continuing education opportunity for all of us to remain at the forefront of current guiding techniques. After a winter of far-flung adventures, Dave Hahn, Andy Bond, Mike King, Jenny Konway, Grayson Swingle, Hannah Smith, Gloria Roe, Nick Scott, JT Schmitt, Alan Davis, and myself converged on Ashford. These courses are an important chance for us to refresh our skillset and learn some new tricks from our peers and the instructors from the AMGA.
Over the course of 5 days at Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park, and on Mt. Erie, outside Anacortes, WA, we reviewed snow anchor construction and multi-pitch techniques for snowy environments, belaying and lowering techniques, short roping and short pitching, and anchor station management. Success in our guiding often lies in not only being able to utilize a number of techniques to manage risk, but in being able to maintain efficiency and timeliness at the same time. As we worked through different transitions, techniques, and scenarios with our peers, we all walked away with a few new tools in our bag and I'm convinced will be better guides for it.
This was a fantastic event for the eleven of us, and many thanks go out to RMI and the AMGA for putting it on. Congrats to Dave Hahn, Andy Bond, Mike King, Jenny Konway, Grayson Swingle, Hannah Smith, Gloria Roe, Nick Scott, JT Schmitt, and Alan Davis for completing the course!
-- Alex Halliday
Update 6:30 a.m. PST
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling from Camp 1 with Seth Waterfall and Dan Johnson. We finally got out of Basecamp. We're on our way down for our summit bid. A beautiful day today for the start of it at least. And then about the time we were about mid morning or so when we were getting up here to Camp 1, the wind clouds and cloud caps started forming over the high peaks. Made us a little bit worried for our friends who were going to the summit today but sounds like things went well for the folks we know up there. And we know a number of people that left for the summit today so that is encouraging. In fact, with some of the cloud play up there, we were able to actually see people on top which I don't remember being able to do from Camp 1 before so that was pretty exciting. And neat to go through the Icefall again, actually very frightening to go through the Icefall again, but neat to work our muscles and get up here close to 20,000' again. Lam Babu and Yubaraj are up at Camp 2 tonight. And they're getting Camp 2 ready for our arrival tomorrow. That's our hope is to get up early in the morning tomorrow and move what should be a relatively easy day up to Camp 2. But like I say nice to be up here. We've been talking to Mark Tucker down at Basecamp. Sounds like all is going well and the forecast is still looking good for when we want to get close to the top in four days or five days, something like that. And so keep following along. And hopefully we'll keep making upward progress. Bye for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello again from 14,200'. It's snowing right now, and it snowed all last night. There's only about 6" of accumulation so far, bur more is expected today and tomorrow. The good news is that there isn't any wind here at 14k, and we're all comfortable and cozy in our camp. We're still in a holding pattern, waiting for decent weather to move up to high camp and be in position for a summit bid when the current weather pushes out.
In the mean time, we're getting plenty of rest here at camp. Everyone is patiently awaiting better weather, although we're all a little antsy for some exercise and a chance to move higher. We'll keep you posted...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Hi John, Talked with Dee - happy times - Paul and I are spending our time picturing all of us having dinner together!!! So glad to be able to feel in contact. Many Blessings to all of you - take care and God Bless. Jackie and Pal
Posted by: Jackie Winchell on 6/29/2012 at 8:38 am
Hope you don’t have too much snow removal to do from your camp and that the weather settles into perfect climbing weather very soon. The kids say HI to their Daddy, Lee!
Today the team enjoyed a rare extra day here in Tanzania. Normally we are off to the mountain pretty quickly, but new international flight dates gave us all one additional day here on the front end of our trip. The team ventured out to do some light and distant sightseeing not too far from the lodge. A little city tour that could be called an urban safari, with a brief stop at the local museum/culture center and a small art studio/gallery.
We’re all packed up and ready to hit the road early tomorrow and start our climb up Kilimanjaro.
Everyone is in good spirits and excited for a little exercise.
Over the course of 5 days at Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park, and on Mt. Erie, outside Anacortes, WA, we reviewed snow anchor construction and multi-pitch techniques for snowy environments, belaying and lowering techniques, short roping and short pitching, and anchor station management. Success in our guiding often lies in not only being able to utilize a number of techniques to manage risk, but in being able to maintain efficiency and timeliness at the same time. As we worked through different transitions, techniques, and scenarios with our peers, we all walked away with a few new tools in our bag and I'm convinced will be better guides for it.
This was a fantastic event for the eleven of us, and many thanks go out to RMI and the AMGA for putting it on. Congrats to Dave Hahn, Andy Bond, Mike King, Jenny Konway, Grayson Swingle, Hannah Smith, Gloria Roe, Nick Scott, JT Schmitt, and Alan Davis for completing the course!
-- Alex Halliday
Stay safe…..and enjoy the majesty of the mountain…..God bless you all…..
Posted by: barbara perry on 6/7/2012 at 2:01 am
Thanks to Tyler for the reports. Exciting to follow your progress, the ascent and down again. Best thoughts to Nico and team. - Helene
Posted by: Helene L. Nolin on 6/6/2012 at 8:41 pm
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