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Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
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Thursday, June 15, 2023 - 9:20 pm PT
Day one on the climb is always a tough one. The excitement is swirling, the nerves are high, and the bar for entry is even higher. There is a lot to get used to during expedionary life, especially one as remote as Denali. We have to pretend we could lose our gloves at any gust of wind, lose our gear during the next snowstorm, or rip our homes if we’re careless. The mountain is tough, but today proved that we can be just as tough. The first day is one of the only days that you’re carrying everything you brought all at once. The road to Camp 1 is just too long to do the typical; carry and cache, move camps, grab the cache. So we must make the long slog to the base of Ski Hill. With cold temps, clear skies, and crunchy snow we weaved through the crevassed Kahiltna glacier and made camp at around 8:30 this morning. We’re at camp now, waiting for weather updates and refueling for tomorrows effort. We’ll cache up at Kahiltna pass.
Thanks for following along,
Posted by: Billy Nugent, Mike King, Sean Collon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Great looking team you have there ! Stay safe & brng home lots of stories!!
Posted by: Irma Ross on 6/22/2015 at 4:09 pm
great picture !
Posted by: MARK AND HELEN WALSH on 6/22/2015 at 1:46 pm
Posted by: Jake Beren, Andrew Kiefer, Christina Dale
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,800'
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Craig and Eric Hi from a much lower elevation. Reading the blog daily so we know you and the team must be happy to be on the mountain and making progress Hope you don’t need to test the coldest protection level of your clothing and sleeping bag. Temperatures look impressive for California boys but know you will source your MN and Scandanavian roots.
All is well here. Climb on! Love Libby and Julia
Posted by: Libby and Julia Heimark on 6/11/2015 at 5:25 am
Dear Craig and Eric,
We wish both of you and the team a safe and fabulous journey. Hope the conditions are ideal.
Take care,
Linda, Ed, and Jared
Posted by: Linda on 6/10/2015 at 7:19 am
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall checks in from High Camp after the group returns from the summit of Kilimanjaro.
On The Map
Yay, Roger! You did it! What an amazing accomplishment! We are so thrilled for you and can’t wait to heard your mountain climbing stories. Hope the next part of your adventure is relaxing and unforgettable! Safe travels
Posted by: Susan on 8/25/2014 at 2:44 pm
What a spectacular adventure!!! Thanks you Seth and the entire team for helping us reach the summit in record time! Congratulations to the Team!!!
Posted by: Seth Casden on 8/25/2014 at 7:18 am
On The Map
You have the World Geography classes at North Knox Junior Senior High School cheering you on!! Way to go Shannon and Team Ecuador!!
Posted by: Jill Doades on 1/14/2014 at 11:18 am
Great job handling the early challenges, guy. Now on to the fun stuff! Looking forward to hearing from you along the way and remember to be safe. Go team Ecuador!
Posted by: Greg Hunt on 1/14/2014 at 8:58 am
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,600'
Monday, May 27, 2024 - 11:30 PM PT
Our descent is well underway. We woke up a bit leisurely this morning and let things get a bit warmer, then packed our belongings and started down the West Buttress. Before long we were in the relative warmth of 14,000', wearing much less than all the 14,000' Camp dwellers themselves. Something about coming down from somewhere that's been - 25 to change perspective. We packed more belongings at 14 Camp, and started down towards 11,000'. We had a plan to see how low we could get. We made it to 11,000' Camp in great time, so the team decided to take a minute to brew up some more water, then keep going to the base of Ski Hill, our first camp of the expedition. We are there now, where things feel truly balmy. We're going to take a quick snooze, then wake up early and walk the last bit to Kahiltna Base Camp, where we hope planes will be flying first thing!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
New Post Alerts:
Denali Expedition, May 7, 2024
We woke before 8 AM a wash with a lingering sunrise. Hughes of pinks, oranges and blues, a stark contrast against the black volcanic dust around and below us at base camp. Within just a few minutes of the groups rousing the dust was above us too, as Popo erupted with fury, more violent than we've seen since arrival in Mexico, we watched as smoke and steam billowed into the sky, becoming a dark cloud inching in our direction while we hoped it was a good omen. lt certainly was a sobering one. A reminder that we are merely guests here in every sense.
We ate a hearty breakfast of refried beans, corn chips, eggs, potatoes, and ham thanks to our team at Ixta base camp, coffee and tea were had as well. The anticipation and excitement among the group were as thick as the ash and at 10 AM we dawned our packs and jettisoned from the Basecamp led by our local guide Allan, 300 summits of Ixta, including many by running, with Dominic and Ben in the rear. We kept an eye on the clouds of smoke, but it didn't phase us on a spectacular and reasonably effortful climb to high camp at 14,500 ft we faced only a little
scree, and instead moved through an ocean of golden grass. Its fine blades seemed to hug us as we passed. People had the energy and breath to discuss life's most important philosophical questions like Buddhism, the true nature of millennials, and Gen Xers, and how one defines a soup versus a stew and what is chili and cereal with milk, and while we are still trying to determine the conversions for the Dominic unit, the climb was indeed three hours as promised, which was met by applause at high camp. We were greeted by the cheers, laughs and smiles of our incredible Porter team, who ran ahead of us to get camp ready for our arrival which marked personal high points for the majority of us.
We rested and relaxed, had a nourishing dinner of chicken Ramen, hot chocolate, cookies, and various preparations of, and some questionable, of spam, and after a final briefing retreated to our tents and sleeping bags early in preparation for our Alpine start to the summit of Ixta.
RMI Climber, Eric Obscherning
New Post Alerts:
Mexico's Volcanoes February 24, 2024
Today we woke at 6:30 feeling good, had breakfast, then enjoyed a goodbye song and dance from our gracious crew of porters, cooks, and local guides. We finished the little celebration by handing out their well-deserved tips and then hit the trail one last time.
It took a little over three hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch then hopped aboard our awaiting bus for the ride back to the lodge.
Finally we are all safe and sound, and a little cleaner after an amazing seven-day journey up and down Kilimanjaro.
The team is currently relaxing and looking forward to Safari which starts tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy Kilimanjaro crew
I didn’t see all the photos at first when I went to the blog. The views are absolutely stunning - so much so that I would love to paint them! I look forward to more!
Posted by: Catherine Symonds on 1/14/2020 at 11:22 am
Congratulations to all of you. I hope that the safari is just as exciting as the climb! I’ll see you on Saturday Norm!
Posted by: Catherine Symonds on 1/14/2020 at 8:24 am
WOO HOO!! So proud of you sweet girl! Love you
Posted by: Jami carino on 7/14/2019 at 11:19 am
So proud of you, Em! What an inspiration and testament you are to put in the work & following your dreams! To many more summits in this lifetime! Love ya mountain mama!
Posted by: Emma Patrick on 7/14/2019 at 10:58 am
Love the photos - what extraordinary scenery you’re experiencing. Will be looking forward to each post (would be great to see your team via a group shot, if there’s a chance)!
Posted by: robin & rex on 6/16/2023 at 2:14 pm
Thank you for the update stay safe saurabh and take care all the climbers
Posted by: Anjali Sharma on 6/16/2023 at 9:43 am
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