Mountain Trip lead guide Brian Muller called in an update on the June 3 team, who flew onto the glacier just yesterday afternoon, and has now established their Camp One at 7,800′ on the Kahiltna Glacier.

The team plans to head up the glacier on a night schedule, as is typical for teams departing closer to the summer solstice. Traveling at night enables the team to move across the glacier when it is at its most solid and frozen, reducing their risk of crevasse fall.

Tomorrow they plan to make their first cache on Kahiltna Pass at the top of Ski Hill. The team left base camp yesterday with all of their gear, food and supplies for up to 22-days on the mountain at around 1 am, by the light of the midnight sun. Many climbers say that this first day moving up from base camp is the toughest day of the expedition, as you’re pulling a heavy sled and carrying perhaps the heaviest, biggest pack of your life, all while just having arrived in such a spectacular and overwhelming setting as the Alaska Range.

Here’s Brian!

recording