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Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Leif Bergstrom, Erika Birkeland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
Thursday, May 18, 2022 - 12:46 am PT
We took our time over coffee and breakfast burritos this morning, enjoying the slow start and the warming sun that doesn't hit camp until 9 am. Satiated, we left camp and moved quickly downhill to our cache at 9600', relishing the opportunity to stride it out and cover ground. We passed a lot of teams headed towards 11,000' Camp, slowly trudging under the loads of big packs and full sleds. With our cache retrieved, we worked out way back uphill to our cozy camp. Overall, 11,000' Camp felt like it doubled in size today and lots of folks were strolling around, enjoying a warm afternoon. We'll look to continue our momentum tomorrow caching a load of fuel and food up high near Windy Corner.
RMI Guides Pete, Leif, Erika, and team
Posted by: Mike Walter, Avery Parrinello, Luke Wilhelm
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
Sunday, May 23, 2021 - 6:01 pm PT
The weather has not gotten the message yet that we’re trying to move up to the 14,00' Camp. Winds calmed yesterday afternoon, but picked up again early this morning. We were poised to break camp when they ramped up to the strongest we’ve seen this trip, strong enough to break guy lines on our cook tent. Texting via satellite with friends at 14k, we knew conditions were even harsher up there.
Instead of moving up today we built some snow walls to protect our camp here at 11k. The weather is improving this evening, and again we’re hopeful that we can push camp up higher tomorrow.
We’ll let you know...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Might be fun to build an igloo in your spare time. Hope you get moving soon.
Posted by: Anne Cook on 5/25/2021 at 12:26 pm
As it turns out, there is actually a patron saint of good weather, Saint Medardus! I never heard of him before. He’ll be hearing from me until you’re home!
Posted by: Althea on 5/25/2021 at 10:39 am
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Ben Luedtke, Mike Bennett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Friday, June 27, 2025 8:21pm PDT
Blog Denali – Day 19
Bonjour à tous!
Today marks day 19 since we all met in Anchorage, and day 17 on the mountain. Since the first week went so well, many of us believed we’d be off this frozen rock after 15 days... However, Mother Nature had different plans for us. I now understand why Denali has such a tough reputation: the freaking weather!
Today is our 10th day at 14k camp, and the 6th day of weather delay. We’ve endured two snowstorms, and the last one—lasting almost 36 hours—brought 40 cm of fresh snow. Although the weather is finally on our side today, we still can’t move due to avalanche hazards.
Over the past week, no one has summited, and the few teams that made it to high camp were stuck in even worse conditions than we’ve experienced. I’m grateful to our responsible and professional guides for making the decision to stay put.
On a more personal note, this has been one of the hardest weeks of my amateur climbing career. I’ve never waited this long in full winter camping mode, with almost nothing to do. Mornings are cold, and many toes in the team are freezing. On top of that, I feel weaker every day at this altitude. I’ve lost weight and am probably missing plenty of essential nutrients like vitamins and soluble fiber. (Also, the fact that I ran out of food and entertainment played a big role—LOL.)
On the bright side, my amazing team is kindly helping me survive—special thanks to Andrew for the Kindle, Tait for two bags of beef jerky, and Mikaila for letting me use her InReach. I’ve also gained valuable experience for future adventures. I’ve learned about clothing layers (my thin ones suck), baby Nalgene bottles, Leuko tape, pressure breathing, how much toilet paper to bring, glacier travel, gnarly supplements, and more.
Overall, it’s amazing that all 9 team members (and 3 guides) are still here, holding onto hope of reaching the summit. We’re also lucky, in a way, to have a weather window this weekend for a summit attempt. Many teams haven’t even gotten that chance this year.
À ma famille et mes amis, j’ai hâte de vous revoir! J’espère que vous passez un beau mois de juin, plus chaud qu’ici! Même si je manque une partie de l’été montréalais, je profite énormément du plein air, et les paysages glaciaires sont à couper le souffle. J’ai hâte de vous montrer les photos! Évidemment, je suis très stressé pour les deux prochains jours... Envoyez-moi des ondes relaxantes, haha!
Étienne XOX
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition June 9, 2025
Salut Étienne! Sens-tu l’énergie que je t’envoie du lac Temiscouata, Lou aussi t’envoie plein de bonnes ondes alpha. . Une semaine à chilller, une rare opportunité. Le mot chilller prend un autre sens dans ton cas. Évidemment je vous souhaite un départ imminent. Garde le moral et je suis surpris de lire que tu ne sembles plus avoir de brownies! Bonne continuation Étienne et n’oublie pas que nous sommes avec toi et que nous t’aimons. J’admire ton courage…. A bientôt
Posted by: Sylvain on 6/29/2025 at 6:15 pm
Go Mikayla: You’ve got this. Can’t wait to see pictures from the top of the world. Love ya, Grandma
Posted by: Grandma Donley on 6/29/2025 at 12:26 pm
We got a 5 am start today so that we could get some of the clearer weather that had been forecasted. This also put us out in front of the day hiking crowd that arrives daily from Puerto Natales.
We enjoyed a near windless and warm morning on the 10k hike to the base of the Torres del Paine. With the sunrise groups heading down the steep rocky trail we were greeted with some clouds up high on the Torre Central and the impressive lake created from the glaciers.
After a good break to take in the beautiful rock and reflect on 9 days in Torres del Paine National Park we took some pictures and began our 10k hike down to our tents. We passed the crowds, got to camp and had a scenic ride out of the national park. The team is back at the hotel in Puerto Natales, showers are first on the list followed by dinner.
This trek has featured a great group of people and decent weather, both of which lead to fun times down here in Patagonia. Thanks for following along on our trek through Torres Del Paine and Chilean Patagonia!
RMI Guide Mike King and team
Loved each moment of the journey.
Posted by: Terri L. Jennings on 2/18/2023 at 6:30 am
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Jenny Konway, Grayson Swingle
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
On The Map
Side salad and her meat platters. When is she sharing the wine!?!? Go guys, go!
Posted by: Shannon Henn on 6/30/2019 at 12:32 am
Rest while you can. Cool tent photo! Step safe
Posted by: Susan Moore on 6/29/2019 at 9:54 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Leon Davis, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 9,000'
On The Map
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
Wednesday June 21, 2023
Today the team woke up to Groundhog Day!
It has continued to snow but was relatively mild as far as temps and wind go. We masterfully killed a chunk of time in the morning by making a long brunch. After retiring to our tents for the afternoon, we regrouped and planned our potential launch to 17k camp for the next day over some golden, brown, and delicious burritos.
RMI Guide Joey Manship and Team
Fingers and toes crossed for your summit window. Stay safe and Godspeed.
Posted by: Nancy Forsyth on 6/22/2023 at 5:43 pm
I’m hoping and praying for the news to be from 17,000 when the weather breaks. Ya’ll stay safe.
I can’t wait to see pictures! What a quest!
Posted by: Michelle DeMers on 6/22/2023 at 3:57 pm
Yesterday, we woke at 7am just before our welcomed friend, the sun, hit our trailhead camp. After finishing the last of our packing that was put on hold from the thunder and hail the previous night, we had a warm breakfast and donned our climbing packs for the first time on the trip. Conditions were mostly snowy and cloudy on the trail to Campo Alto, but the team managed to make good time nonetheless. In 4.5 hours we arrived, ready to set up tents before the afternoon hail storm set in. Taking shelter to cook in the Refugio, we had the camp to ourselves and enjoyed warm ramen and quesadillas. The team then got their climbing kits ready and took to the tents early to maximize rest for the upcoming summit push tomorrow.
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Nikki Champion
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Nikki Champion climbed into a cloud cap with rain and wind, this forced the team turned at 13,200' on Mt. Rainier. Despite turning before the summit due to weather, the sunrise at the top of the cleaver was very rewarding!
The team is back at Camp Muir and will be descending soon.
Congratulations Team!
Howard and howie so amazing and your awesome. Get back down safely
Posted by: Favorite sister and Jim on 8/7/2021 at 10:32 am
Congratulations to all the climbers!
Posted by: Katie on 8/7/2021 at 9:57 am
Wonderful reading the news. We are with you in spirit. Enjoy. Love, Barbara
Posted by: Barbara Corona on 5/20/2022 at 6:11 am
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