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June 6 - 4:50 PT

Another beautiful morning for a rest day. Woke up with the sun to a filling meal of breakfast burritos. Weather is looking more optimistic, so we are taking today to rest, prep and pack with the hopes of moving to high camp tomorrow. Otherwise, a generally quiet day at 14 camp.

Hope to check in from 17,000' feet tomorrow!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

The weather came around today, but not quite in time for us to make good use of it.  The skies had cleared of cloud but at noon there was still wind whipping snow off the high ridges and peaks.  We didn’t want to chance having to battle such a wind for the final hours into high camp and for the time needed to build that camp.  So we got ready, but we waited for improvement.  The winds did diminish but not convincingly enough for us to pull the trigger.  The teams around us did go for it and seem to have done just fine, although now, at 9:45 PM there is still wind visible in the high camp area.  We’re going to put our efforts into these next two days, Saturday and Sunday, for which the forecast is fine.  We have the place to ourselves… not entirely by design, but the quiet is nice.

We’ll set alarms tonight for 4:44 AM… not for an alpine start to the climbing -which would be quite cold- but to catch the solar eclipse.  At the time of totality, Mt Vinson will be squarely between us and a view of the sun, but perhaps we’ll see stars -a rarity in an Antarctic summer (like never).

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

RMI Guides Pepper Dee & James Bealer led their teams of Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier climbers to the summit this morning. All team members climbed strong and reached the summit! The teams will return to camp for their final night on the mountain.  Tomorrow they will descend to the trail head and conclude their Mt. Baker adventure.

Way to go team!

• My friend, Dave Campbell, and I drove a VW bug up the Alaska Highway, which in those days included 1200 miles of unpaved surface (dirt!). His V-dub gave up the ghost in the Yukon, about 100 miles short of the Alaska border, so we hitch-hiked to Anchorage and took the Alaska Railroad to Talkeetna. Two guys in a pick-up, moving to Alaska after time there in the army, went hundreds of miles out of their way to deliver us to Anchorage. That anybody would pick up two straggly dudes along with 1,000 lbs of backpacks, food and gear, left a most favorable impression with me.
• Later in April, my first day in Talkeetna. It was snowing mightily as I stepped from the train and observed a wedding procession passing by the Fairview Inn on Main St. The bride and groom were mushing a sled dog team to the delight of revelers lining the street. Being a ‘Cheechako’ (tenderfoot/greenhorn/newcomer) I couldn’t help but wonder if the couple planned to honeymoon in a nearby igloo.
• Our 4-man team brought 30 days of food: breakfast, lunch and dinner for four, packed inside two dozen 3-gallon metal containers (to thwart cache-raiding birds). As it turned out, we needed every morsel as we were on the mountain a total of 33 days (and didn’t make the summit; must be some kind of record!)
• We had elected to fly with Don Sheldon’s competitor, Cliff Hudson. Cliff headquartered out of his home; a quonset hut, strewn to the absolute brim with various electronics and innumerable airplane parts (plus, his wife Ollie, and four young sons). There was no Talkeetna State Airport that I remember. Rather, we took off and landed from the ‘village strip’ across the street from the Fairview (a wind sock was strategically placed on the roof).
• Climbers did not pay a Special Use fee, but the NPS required each party to have a radio capable of reaching Talkeetna from Base Camp. It was rented from ABC Communications in Anchorage, and required a $500 deposit (a fortune to us at the time). Cliff Hudson provided the necessary 12-volt car battery and jumper cable to power the radio, as well as a dozen 12’ spruce boughs (which he crammed into the fuselage of his Cessna 180, along with our food cans, group and personal equipment, and finally, us!). The small Cessna’s that pilots preferred in those days meant multiple trips to and from the mountain, transporting climbers.
• Base Camp was approximately 7300’ on the SE Fork of Kahiltna Glacier. We dug a snowcave for leaving the radio, battery, spruce boughs, and misc. personal affects. We marked the roof circumference with willow wands and a 15’ section of PVC pipe (it snows a lot there), adorned with a small flag, to denote the cave entrance. Over three weeks later we returned and located the cache (which required extensive digging to excavate). The spruce boughs were lined up in a row on the glacier surface, and radio antennae wire strung from the cave to each, like a telephone pole in the middle of nowhere. Power was connected to the radio, and we commenced trying to reach Cliff in Talkeetna to inform him we were ready to be picked up. If the radio didn’t work (some years it wouldn’t) our backup was the CB radio (Citizens Band), potentially capable of reaching a passing aircraft. In those days, bush pilots were acutely aware of location and progress of ‘their’ groups on the mountain, in order to guesstimate when pick up from Base Camp would be needed (in case the radio didn’t work).
• In 1972 sleds were not in vogue, and the four of us carried back and forth in between camps to fully stock the next, higher, site. That required as many as three days of stockpiling. In retrospect, we wasted a lot of good weather while low on the route, and experienced unsettled conditions during the time we spent at high camp.
• Underway, we observed three people descend from Kahiltna Pass, early-on in the trip. It turned out their fourth member had been evacuated from 14K with suspected pulmonary edema. These were the last human beings we saw for the better part of the next three weeks, until we were descending the ‘infamous’ fixed line between 15,000’ – 16,000’ (we met a party coming up the rope; worst spot on the whole route to pass!).

• All nine RMI Denali expeditions reached the summit of Mt McKinley (May, June, and July).
• 87% of our 2015 Denali clients reached the summit.
• The vast majority of guides and climbers jet to Alaska and ride a shuttle to Talkeetna.
• K2 Aviation’s fleet of de Havilland Beavers and Otters can transport an entire team to Base Camp in a single flight.
• Satellite phones and daily dispatches of expedition progress take the guess work out of when to pick up climbing parties.
• RMI expeditions averaged 18.4 days roundtrip this season.
• Guides and climbers alike raved about the new Expedition Sleds.
• There were no accidents or injuries requiring evacuation or hospitalization on any RMI Denali expeditions this season.
_____
Joe Horiskey began guiding for RMI Expeditions in 1968 at the age of seventeen. Since that 1972 expedition, Joe has participated in 23 Mt. McKinley expeditions and has 235 summits of Mt. Rainier along with expeditions to peaks across the globe. Joe is a co-owner of RMI Expeditions and director of our Mt. McKinley expeditions. Have a question or thinking about climbing Mt. McKinley? Call our office and talk to Joe; he loves to talk all things Alaska!

Our hike today was a gradual 1,200’ of vertical spread out over eight miles. We got some great views of the Dickson glacier and John Gardner pass. Most of the day was spent under a dense canopy of trees. The heat continues but with a breeze all day we weren’t inclined to go swimming in Lago Perros with it’s floating glacial ice bergs. This camp is well protected from the wind but we are anticipating some rain to begin tonight and might continue through tomorrow. We’ll get an early start in the morning due to the long day ascending and mostly descending from the pass. Wet/muddy trail will make it a more challenging day then it already is. Fingers crossed for clear skies tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in.

RMI Guide Mike King

Our climb kept pushing us as we descended from our high camp at Barafu (15,200') all the way to Mweka Camp (10,000'). The feet and knees were talking to us and what they were saying would be inappropriate for the ears of young children. 

But we all made it, in part to the fantastic pizza our chef Tosha made us for lunch. Pizza, at 15,200'! On a two burner stove, no less.. Incredible!

At Mweka the gods were smiling down on us, granting a rare sunny day at this place that exists on the edge of the rain forest where clouds always seem to hang. Of course, Tosha beat us to Camp to prepare another wonderful dinner. 

Last night brought everyone a night's sleep they haven't had since they were bouncing about in diapers. 10+ hours of solid sleep was had by all, just the right medicine for our tired bodies. It was amazing to see a bunch of mostly middle aged men bounce back from an intense 13-14 hour day and trot down a slick, slightly muddy trail to the Park gate at 6000'. In fact, they even beat many of our porters down. A first!

At the Mweka gate we were greeted by our outfitter and the busses and enjoyed our last meal 'on the mountain.' This time cold drinks were available, and many bottles of the local brew were consumed. The gift shop was happy to provide some the chance to get something special to bring home. 

The highlight of this time was certainly the singing and dancing our mountain crew did celebrating our week together. The joy and kindness these hard-working individuals shared with us all week was distilled into a few minutes, and really reminded us of how special this trip was. 

Yes, the mountain was fantastic, but it was the people we shared this time with that proved to be the most special part of the climb. These people, who lack so much in material things compared to us Westerners, are so rich in spirit and generosity that we as a team were all moved and reminded of what's really important in life. 

And in the end, there was this team of climbers that came together to climb a mountain and left as friends,  sharing an amazing story that will never be forgotten.

Hope to see you all again! 

RMI Guide Brent Okita

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons team stood on the summit of Mt. Rainier at 10:15 am today. The high winds from yesterday and overnight calmed in the early hours, it was cold, so the team waited for the temperatures to warm before starting their summit attempt.  The waiting paid off and the team had a clear beautiful summit day via the Emmons Glacier. They will spend the last night on the mountain training, before returning to Ashford Basecamp tomorrow afternoon.

Congratulations Team! 

Excellent weather at Union Glacier this morning.  Our return flight to South America was never in question.  We ate huge breakfasts and then went back for seconds. There was a little easy packing and a little easy waiting, sprinkled through with meetings and reunions with climbers and guides and staff from other trips in other places.  The 757 landed in early afternoon with another load of Vinson hopeful climbers.  We got on board shortly afterwards.  There were excellent views of the Ellsworth Mountains east side, with Craddock, Vinson and Tyree standing out.  Then it was seatback movies and the drink and snack carts for the four hour flight.  We touched down in Punta Arenas around eight. My team was checked in to hotels and showered and ready for a celebration dinner by ten.  This is the easy part. 

Best Regards
RMI Guides Dave Hahn

We woke at over 17,000 feet at Chimborazo High Camp for our final climb. Looking outside we were surprised to see heavy snowfall. Momentarily the guides debated if the weather would push back our start time or stop us in our tracks. After discussing, we optimistically decided to stick with the plan, start packing up and hope the snow would subside. After breakfast we looked outside elated to find a perfectly starry sky, the timing was perfect. As we climbed we encountered difficult firm route conditions and a steady 20 mile an hour breeze that wouldn’t quit. Even so, just before sunrise some of the team managed to summit. That only team to do so today. We descended a route completely empty of other climbers. Back at High Camp the team had a lovely second breakfast together and relaxed after the all night battle up Chimborazo. 

RMI Guide Avery Parrinello