The team had a successfully cache at 10,200′ today near Kahiltna Pass. This is the team’s first cache of many on the trip. Caching is part of the expedition style of climbing that allows climbers to “climb high and sleep low”, making it easier for the body to acclimate to the new altitudes as they climb higher and higher. This also gives teams the chance to break up their loads. When the crew flies onto the glacier, they bring about 110 lbs of gear with them, each! That’s pretty heavy. The gear is split between a backpack and sled that each individual carries/tows. But when they can start caching, they can chose items they don’t need for a few days (fuel, food, upper mountain layers..) to bury into the snow and return for later. This really lightens the load.

Once the team arrived at the cache site, they take turns digging one meter down into the glacier, toss in the goodies, and bury it with a heaping mound of snow to prevent the ravens from digging in for a snack. This mound is marked with a 6 foot bamboo pole that has a tag attached identifying who’s cache it is, and a GPS point is set just in case. Now the team can descend back to Camp 1 and prepare to move to Camp 2 the next day. After their move, they will descend to the cache site to retrieve the gear and return it to Camp 2.

We have an unidentified caller today! If you recognize him, let us know in the comments below, so we can give credit where due.

recording