Mountain Trip guide Robert “Durny” Durnell called in with an update on the June 16 Denali West Buttress expedition.

The team was rewarded with clear skies and good weather after a few bonus days in Denali Base Camp at 7,200′, due to poor visibility and blowing snow.

The team is traveling on a night schedule, like many teams this time of year on the West Buttress, to beat the heat of the day and mitigate the risk of crevasse fall by planning the majority of their movement when temperatures are at their coldest of the day.

Right now, surrounding the solstice, the days are approximately 20 hours long in Denali; climbers can actually see the sun and the moon at the same time, which is quite the otherworldly phenomenon.

The team enjoyed dinner and hot drinks after setting up camp at 7,800′ at Camp 1, an awoke at midnight to a breakfast of biscuits and gravy and prepared to cache supplies at 10,000′.

Durny wished everyone tuning in a happy summer solstice! Here he is with the update: