Guide Mason Stansfield called in an update for the May 3 Denali Expedition from the upper Kahiltna.
The team spent yesterday caching at Kahiltna Pass, at around 10,500′. Since the team is climbing in expedition-style, they will spend many days “caching”–burying gear, food and supplies that they wont need until later on in the trip–and “backcarrying”–back-tracking on the route to retrieve previously buried caches. This system also does wonders for acclimatization on the climb high, sleep low protocol, and lightens the teams loads immensely as they progress up the route.
Mason mentioned that, as the first commercial team on the mountain for the season, they essentially have the route to themselves. Today, they hope to move up to Camp Two at 11,200′ if weather permits.
Here’s Mason with the update!
Good luck to all the May 3rd team and especially my son, Mason. So good to hear his clear confident voice from frozen Danali. Your Pop is still sweating it out here in southern Mexico but my heart is with you on the mountain.