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Entries By taylor bickford


Denali Expedition: Champion and Team enjoy Rest Day, Hope for Move to High Camp

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

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Keep up the great work Aaron and Lori Stafford. We continue to read the updates as they come through, praying you have a successful and safe expedition.

The Penrose Family

Posted by: Will Penrose on 6/7/2022 at 9:50 am

So anxious for you to summit…and get home. Can’t believe your good weather. What are you doing while resting? Great weekend at TOC. Make your own pizza on the Boardwalk with 4 little pizza ovens going. Eat your heart out Little Caesar’s! Then, a Bocci tournament with Bellinis. It got chilly, so I provided the blankets. All is well with your house. Love you.

Posted by: Emigh Litch on 6/7/2022 at 5:38 am


Denali Expedition: Champion and Team Celebrate a Birthday and Travel up Fixed Lines

Saturday June 4, 2022 6:22pm PT

Today we have our first birthday of the trip! Happy Birthday Cris! To celebrate we woke up early to a speedy breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios. We planned to walk at 8:30 am, but with such cold temperatures this morning we pushed that back and hour and stayed warm in our tents. Once the sun finally hit 14,000’ camp around 9:30 am we began our journey towards the fixed lines. Running through all the gambit of temperatures we made it to the top of the fixed lines, at 16,200', where we decided to cache our personal and group food for the day. After taking a snack, and water break we made our way back downhill. We rolled back into 14,000’ camp, where it is now lightly snowing, and crawled into our tents.

Tonight, will be a mellow evening of Ramen, and prepping for a few much needed days of rest at 14 camp. The team did great, and we are set up well!

RMI Guides Nikki, Taylor, Emma, and Team!

Leave a Comment For the Team (1)

Following your every move on this big mountain. We are with you all in spirit. Be safe. Stay strong…and try to stay warm. You’ve got this! Happy Birthday, Cris.

Posted by: The Wilhelms on 6/6/2022 at 5:34 am


Denali Expedition: Champion and Team Prep for Carry up Fixed Lines

June 3, 2022 – 9:29pm PT

Quiet day over at 14 camp.

We woke up with the sun and had a long breakfast consisting of breakfast burritos and multiple rounds of hots. We spent the rest of the day resting and reviewing fixed line travel before our carry day tomorrow. We hope to wake up early and carry all the way to 17 if everything goes smoothly.

Another great day, with great weather. Check back in tomorrow!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

What an inspiring journey! I look forward to being regaled by stories and taking in images of your mighty adventure. Thinking of you and hoping you are safe throughout each day.
So much love to you, Jeff-Rob!
Your sis, Lynn

Posted by: Lynn on 6/5/2022 at 8:23 pm

Keep
Climbing Rob!!
What a wonderful adventure!!
Can’t wait to have an evening with you and Patty having you walk us through this amazing experience!!

Posted by: John Shaw on 6/5/2022 at 5:04 pm


Denali Expedition: Champion & Team Establish Camp at 14,000’

Thursday, June 2, 2022 - 8:13 pm PT

Today we yet again woke up to, you guessed it, beautiful weather. We packed up camp and made our way up Motorcycle Hill and towards 14,000' Camp. It was a hot, heavy, and challenging day but everyone rolled into 14,000' Camp in good style and we were able to greet JT and the RMI team descending from 17,000' Camp. We spent the last few hours rehydrating, and recovering before rolling into a late dinner of broccoli cheddar rice. Tomorrow is another rest day, everyone is looking forward to a mellow day to recover and start preparing for the fixed lines. We will check back in tomorrow after coffee!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

We have a new found admiration of you all. Hope you are enjoying this! Looking forward to some wonderful stories.

Posted by: Nick & Annette on 6/5/2022 at 8:59 am

You guys are making this look easy! Keep it up!!

Posted by: Katy Shaw on 6/4/2022 at 7:04 am


Denali Expedition: Champion and Team Enjoy a Rest Day

Wednesday, June 1, 2022 6:08 pm PT

First full rest day in the books! We spent the morning sleeping in, and having a leisurely breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, and bacon. The rest of the day was filled with napping, reading, and recovering.

Tomorrow, we plan to make the move to 14,000’ camp. So we've got to tidy up, and cache any trash, extra gear, and dirty socks we don't want to bring higher up the mountain.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion and Team

Leave a Comment For the Team (1)

So glad to hear you all and your special cargo are making your way up that spectacular mountain.  Eat well, rest well and climb safely.
For the sports fans of the group, Celtics came back to beat the Warriors in game 1 last night; Nadal made it to the semis of the French Open, and the Avs are up 2-0 over the Oilers.

Posted by: T, B, H and G on 6/3/2022 at 5:36 am


Denali Expedition: Champion & Team Carry Gear & Supplies, Return to 11,000 Camp

Tuesday, May 31, 2022 - 7:26 pm PT

Today was a tough, but successful day. We woke up before the sun, and had a quick breakfast of granola. After our speedy breakfast, we began loading up our backpacks with the group and personal loads to cache somewhere above Windy Corner. After about an hour packing, and organizing we were roped up and heading up Motorcycle Hill. This was our first day in crampons, and without the sleds. We worked our way up Motorcycle Hill, and Squirrel Hill in the shade finally hitting the sun by the time we made it across the Polo Field. As we made our way up, the team was moving well and the temperatures stayed manageable so we were able to make it all the way to 14,000' Camp to cache all our group and personal gear and food we don't need for the next few days. We took a long deserved break, gave the descending RMI team a hug, and headed back downhill. After a long day, we rolled back into our 11,000' Camp. The stoves are going, and we will soon enjoy a meal of ramen before heading to bed.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Ramen, sounds good in the cold.

Posted by: Tom Chandler on 6/1/2022 at 10:02 pm

Sure do miss your face. Any chance they can send some face shots. Texting while icing at PT. I could get all the ice I want on Denali! All is well back at 500 Ft. Love you.

Posted by: Emigh Litch on 6/1/2022 at 3:23 pm


Denali Expedition: Champion and Team Complete Back Carry

Monday, May 30, 2022 - 2:40 pm PT

Happy Memorial Day. After a few early mornings, we finally got to "sleep in". Waking up as the sun hit our tents, we were all drinking coffee and making breakfast burritos by 8:30 am. With clear skies above, and the cloud deck sitting right below 11 Camp we loaded up our empty packs and sleds to head downhill into the cloud to grab our cache. After a few short minutes downhill, we filled our packs and sleds back up with the gear and food we had left. The short uphill went by quickly compared to the last few days, and it felt good to shake out the legs before spending the rest of the day resting.

Tomorrow we begin this whole process again, with hopes to cache somewhere above Windy Corner. Until then we will be resting, napping and snacking at camp.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion and Team

Leave a Comment For the Team (1)

Can you post the itinerary of the proposed climb? Love to envision where you all are, on the glacier. Be safe.

Posted by: Emigh Litch on 5/31/2022 at 1:06 pm


Denali Expedition: Champion & Team Cruise to 11,000ft Camp

Sunday, May 29, 2022 - 3:45 pm PT

We woke up to yet another splitter morning. We enjoyable clear skies, and cool temperatures while eating our oatmeal around 4 AM. After enjoying the quick breakfast, and some hot drinks we made quick work of breaking down camp, and caching anything we didn't need to bring uphill. By 6 AM the teams were all roped up, and we had begun our trip up Ski Hill. With the sun not finally making an appearance until about 9500', the snow surface remained firm and supportable, which made for another day of fast, efficient movement. In no time, we were rolling into our new home at 11,000' Camp.

RMI Guide Nikki Champion

Leave a Comment For the Team (1)

Hope you are having great time.  It is supposed to be 85-90 degrees here for Memorial Day.
Stay safe!!

Posted by: Tom Chandler on 5/30/2022 at 7:31 am


Denali Expedition: Champion and Team Cache at 10,000’

We woke up to nearly perfect weather. Cool temperatures, clear skies and close to no breeze.

After a quick breakfast of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, we loaded up our packs and sleds with group meals, personal food, and some technical gear we wouldn't need over the next few days and embarked on our first carry. Yesterday was a long hard slog, but luckily the only time we move all our food and gear uphill, from here on our we will be carrying food and gear uphill, caching it, climbing past it to our next camp, and then doing a back carry to go get it. So that's exactly what we did today. We carried our gear from the base of ski hill, up towards our next camp and cached it near 10,000'.

Tomorrow we will hopefully move to 11 camp and go get the cache the following day. For now, we are all back at camp, resting in the shade, eating snacks, and prepping for our move tomorrow!

RMI Guide Nikki Champion and Team

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

One safe step at a time, Rob. You are impressive. What a breathtaking experience.  Keep at it!
Sending you sisterly love, and support to you and your team!
Lynn.

Posted by: Lynn on 5/29/2022 at 8:24 pm

Rob go Rob Go. My the force be with you. Cheering you on in spirit from Gina Rae.

Posted by: Gina Rae Hendrickson on 5/29/2022 at 3:06 pm


Denali Expedition: Champion and Team Fly On and Get on the Move

May 27, 2022 10:40pm PST

Hello everyone! 

After a day of organizing gear in Talkeetna, we successfully flew onto the Kahiltna Glacier ready to start our much-anticipated Denali Expedition!  

The last few days have been full of expedition preparation. We spent the day napping and prepping to move to the night schedule for these first few days but after hearing the weather, and talking to a few other guides on the mountains, we decided to avoid what would have been a cold windy walk in the dark and started climbing around 8 am this morning. Surface conditions made for fast moving, and the wind kept us cool. We rolled into the base of ski hill just a little after 1 pm Before taking off the boots, we unloaded group gear, and made camp.

The remainder of the evening will comprise of eating some well-deserved burrito meals, deciding what gear to cache, and getting some rest before we carry some of our gear up to 9600'.

RMI Guides Nikki Champion, Taylor Bickford, Emma Lyddan and Team

 

May 26, 2022 6:48pm PST

May 24th Denali climb checking in with our first dispatch!

After spending all day organizing, pack and repacking in Talkeetna yesterday, we woke up to perfect weather and were able to jump on the first flight around 9AM this morning. We unloaded the planes, set up camp for the first time and took a quick nap before doing a midday brunch and reviewing skills. With the warm temperatures, we will be on the night schedule for the first couple days - so we've all crawled back into our bags. and plan to wake up in the night and make our first move to the base of ski hill. Glad to be on the mountain!

Check in tomorrow.

RMI Guides Nikki Champion, Taylor Bickford, Emma Lyddan and Team

Leave a Comment For the Team (2)

Wow—impressive operation! Glad you have good weather and it sounds like you’re right into it.  Pulling for you Rob, so keep pushing the protein!

Posted by: Marilee Utter on 5/28/2022 at 10:13 pm

Good to see you are on your way and on schedule. Hope the Weather Gods will be kind in the days ahead

Posted by: Bob Edge on 5/28/2022 at 9:27 am

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