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Monday, June 24, 2019 - 9:56 PM PT
Two inches of snow covered our tents in the wee hours this morning at
9,500' on the Kahiltna. It was still falling at 3:30 when the alarms went off so we gave it another 30 minutes to shape up. Sure enough, at 4 AM things were looking better. We rallied and ate breakfast in our dining tent. At 5:40 it was time for moving up. The walking was pretty easy, despite the new snow and it was all very quiet, traveling in muffled cloudy conditions. In an hour’s time we were at Kahiltna Pass at 10,000', the very northernmost start to the 47 mile long glacier. Time to turn right and go up some steeper hill to 11,000', which we did. We reached the camp at around 8 AM, having walked out of the clouds in the process. It was a spectacular and novel setting, up close to some great hanging ice cliffs and towering rock buttresses. We dug a raven-proof cache in the snow and buried the food, fuel, and equipment we’d carried. It was then an easy and pleasant walk down with light packs and empty sleds. Finally it was a relief to come into our already established camp at 9500 ft and relax. There was no digging to be done or tents to put up, which was just as well. It got blazing hot, even with all of the cloud lingering. We napped away another quiet afternoon.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 8:43 pm PT
The winds from the previous day had subsided overnight an we woke up to mostly clear skies. You could see the south winds hammering the pipe
West Buttress from camp. By the time we made it through breakfast, the winds dropped and we were in camp. With warmer temps forecasted and only light winds in camp we opted to try for the move. Long story short, it was windy. The kind of wind that your walking straight into for hours. The team did well taking care of hands, feet and faces. We finally found a break from the torrent at 13,600ft. A long hard day brought us to our new home here at 14,000ft. With camp finally set up, we're all looking forward to a hot drink and a big dinner. Tomorrow we'll try and back carry to 13.6k to pick up our cached gear then enjoy the afternoon off to rest and recover. That's all for now, life is good!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
Today we got a casual start in
Penitentes, there is a lull in the season where no other groups started the trek to base camp. Our Team enjoyed overcast skies and a generous breeze on our hike to Las Lenas. We admired the bountiful shades of red, orange and brown that make up the rocky terrain. Five hours of hiking brought us to Camp and we enjoyed the warmth and solitude this camp provides. Our mule drivers got the coals started for the famous Las Lenas asado and before long we were eating grilled meats and vegetables, telling stories from past trips and previous lives. It’s always a surprise how ten miles of walking over softball-sized rocks can be forgotten with good company, delicious food and a little red wine. This camp is a spectacular place to sleep under the stars. The Milky Way runs straight down the valley and the Southern Cross is where you would expect it to be. No ambient light for hundreds of miles. When you wake in the middle of the night and look up, you get the sense you're an insignificant animal on a blue marble that’s being shot across the galaxy. Context and perspective is readily challenged in this valley. Tomorrow we continue our trek to Casa de Piedra, the Team is doing great and sends their love back home. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Namaste from
Phakding,
We made it in! But... what a day! The weather on the mountains grounded all airplanes, and after a six-hour wait, with the news that there were people backed up from previous days' weather delays, and with the bad forecast ahead, we decided to make a small sacrifice and hire a private helicopter, which can fly below the cloud deck, and safely fly to Lukla.
A little bit of a late start brought us to late lunch rather than breakfast at the 2800-meter high Himalayan village that serves as the start point to arguably the most famous trek on Earth. But, hey... we were in the Himalaya!
We then enjoyed a short late afternoon hike through the low villages of the Khumbu until our arrival to our lodge in Phakding.
The journey is on, and we're heading upwards!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
The Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide
Hannah McGowan reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 7:30 a.m. The team is celebrating under perfect conditions at Columbia Crest - the highest point on Mt. Rainier. After celebrating, the team will descend back to Camp Muir to rest and refuel before returning to Rainier Basecamp in Ashford later today.
Congratulations to the
Five Day Summit Climb!
We are in our tents taking a little break before dinner. About two hours ago hail and rain caught us on the tail end of our training day at
Ishinca Base Camp.
Before the afternoon storm we took advantage of our incredible venue to learn knots, anchors, rope ascension and rappelling. The huge glacial erratics just outside our camp provided the perfect place to rappel and ascend on overhanging terrain. Just as we were coiling up the ropes to head back to camp, pea sized hail began to pelt us. We retired to our mess tent where we were greeted with hot chocolate and popcorn.
We're heading back there shortly for dinner, hoping it's as good as last night's feast. Hilario our cook ended dinner with one of the best chocolate mousses I've ever had- it's going to be hard to top that!
RMI Guides Zeb Blais, Chase Nelson and team
Thursday June 18th 10:15 pm PT
Today was another early wake up, and then we broke camp and retraced our steps back up to
14K Camp. Everyone did great with the move, and the name of the game for the rest of the day was beating the heat around camp, moving in and mentally preparing for a much deserved day of rest tomorrow. The word on the street is blueberry pancakes could be involved.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
Today's
Mt. Rainier Summit Climbs, led by Seth Waterfall and Sid Pattison, reached the summit early this morning. The weather report was beautiful skies and winds about 35-40 mph from the Northeast. Both teams began their descent back to Camp Muir at 7:15 am PT.
Congratulations summit teams!
June 7, 2015, 4:47 pm PT
It is difficult to find a place to begin the final dispatch of our group's grand adventure. No mountain climbing objective quite compares to the raw and unprecedented challenge of
Denali. Having been here nine times before, the burrito of emotions ranging from excitement and joy to anxiety and fear all get rolled into one and when the plane takes off and you go past the point of no return, managing all these feelings becomes more than half the battle. I have seen this mountain crack the hardest of nuts. Climbers who have summitted 8000 meter peaks routinely come here and say it is the hardest mountain they have ever attempted. In the broad scope of mountaineering landscapes, "The High One" stands alone, both on the tundra and in our lives.
With this said, no one is prouder of the group than I am. Two days ago we began our march from 14,000 feet down into the unknown. With wind gusts strong enough to make walking feel like a mosh pit and snow conditions making hide-and-go-seek with crevasses a heart-pounding game, we honestly didn't know what the next hour, let alone day, would bring. After a brief visit at 11,000 feet we kept going into the ginormous ping pong ball navigating only with GPS. At 9,000 feet we had to stop. This sort of challenge became par for the course. Yesterday morning, despite the feet of new snow, everyone's energy, motivation and attitude never wavered. Four hours after leaving camp we were at the air strip and 45 minutes after arriving we were on a plane back to civilization. We fly into Denali as someone and we fly off of Denali as someone else. I have been changed by the mountain many times. Very rarely has a group such as this had a profound influence on that change. It was an honor to lead you all.
Thanks again to
Nick and
Andy for being such hard working and trustworthy partners on the guiding front. You both rock!
Thanks also to those who followed along. The stories of what happens the night you return to food and drink will have to be shared in person.
Until the next adventure. Keep climbing.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Thursday, May 28th 10:37 pm PDT
We woke up this morning to blue skies in Talkeetna, which meant great weather for flying! After a meal at the roadhouse we scurried over to hangar to transition from Talkeetna street walkers to
Denali climbers. With climbing boots on and smiles on our faces we enjoyed a great flight onto the mountain.
Once we arrived at Basecamp the team was highly efficient organizing their gear. After a minimal amount of time at Basecamp we embarked on our journey up the Kahiltna Glacier. Several hours later we arrived at our camp for the night at 7,800'. The team immediately set up tents to shade themselves from sun and nestled in. After a delicious meal of Annie's Mac and cheese we hunkered down for the night.
We will check in again tomorrow night after another day of good work.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
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Thank you RMI and your incredible guide team, Hannah, Allen, and JT!
Our guides, combined with the awesome team of Alex, Cliff, Mani, Michael, Jason, Kevin, Melanie, and Brian helped make this an experience of a lifetime! Hannah did an amazing job leading our entire crew. Thank you to everyone!
Posted by: Joe Eley on 8/28/2017 at 8:37 am
Congratulations, Jason! What a perfect day, the view looks spectacular! Great job. I love you! Amy
Posted by: Amy Simon on 8/27/2017 at 10:42 am
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