Trip Reports
Climber ZinZan Newton called via satellite phone with an update on the Mountain Trip June 26 West Buttress Expedition on Denali. The team is still at camp at 11,200′ after a weather and rest day to continue their acclimatization process. They will likely take another rest day today (July 2) before moving camp to 14,200′,…
The Mountain Trip June 24 West Buttress Expedition on Denali called in with an update on their progress towards the summit of the Great One, the tallest mountain in North America. Two days ago, the team laid their cache above Windy Corner at approximately 13,500′ to prepare for their move up to Camp 3 at…
Lead Guide Sean McManamy called from 14,200′, where the members of our June 16th team have been stuck in a snowstorm for many days. Wolfgang and Franzi provided a bilingual report, as the team patiently waits for a break in the snow, so they can move up to High Camp and take a shot at…
Lead Guide Rob “Durny” Durnell called from 14,200′, where the team is still sitting in a snowstorm that has plagued them for days. They are really hopeful that the weather breaks a little, as tomorrow is their “up or down day.” That is the day after which they just won’t have sufficient time to move…
Climber Kirk Ridenour called in on behalf of the Mountain Trip June 26 West Buttress Expedition on Denali. The team plans lay their cache of extra food and fuel tomorrow at around 13,500′, at the top of Motorcycle Hill. Here’s the route the team will follow to make their cache and when they continue on…
Climber Jaahnavi called in with an update on the Mountain Trip June 22 West Buttress expedition on Denali, who are still camped at 11,200′. The team is traveling on a night schedule, so they’re spending their days snacking, sleeping, reading and in Jaahnavi’s case, doing crossword puzzles.They have already buried their cache up at 13,500′,…
Mountain Trip guide Rob “Durny” Durnell called in with an update on the June 16 Denali West Buttress team, who are waiting for the winds to die down above them before moving up to High Camp at Camp 3 at 14,200′. The team has already buried their cache of extra food, fuel and supplies at…
Lead Guide Sean McManamy provides an introduction to Wolfgang’s bilingual update from 14,200′. The team is experiencing heavy snow and this has stopped their upward travel for the time being. They spent the day working on their camp, fortifying it and occupying themselves as they camp in what must seem like the inside of a…
Daniel Laidig called in a special message from the glacier, as well as an update on the team’s progress. This morning, they packed up their camp and moved just shy of 2000′ up the Kahiltna, setting up their Camp 2 on a flat stretch of glacier at around 9700′. Packing up and moving camp is…
Guide josh Garner called in from the beautiful basin camp at 11,200′ to update on the June 24tth team’s progress. Today, they dropped back downhill a bit to retrieve a cache of supplies they had left at around 10,200′ a couple of days ago. This is called making a “back carry” and is a proven…