May 17th Team at TAT

The May 17th team arrived in Talkeetna on May 18th and has been patiently waiting out the storm that has settled in over the Alaska Range. While they haven’t been on the ground nearly as long as some teams have during this stretch of weather, even a few days of being grounded can feel long when you’re packed, prepared, and ready to climb. Storm systems in this part of the world don’t tend to be in a rush, and when a low-pressure system parks itself over the Range, there’s not much to do but wait it out.

The team did get close to flying in. After waiting in the queue until late in the afternoon for a weather window, it looked like their time had finally arrived. They loaded into the planes and got airborne, heading out across the lower Range toward the glacier. In the final mile of the flight, however, the pilot made the call to turn back due to deteriorating visibility at the landing strip. These planes operate in a completely different world from your standard commercial airliner. Rather than relying on banks of computers and instruments, the pilots of these small planes, often referred to as “Otters,” are flying largely by feel and their own line of sight. When the landing strip can’t be seen and there’s no air traffic control to guide them in, the decision to land or turn around is made entirely at the pilot’s discretion. The team returned to Talkeetna with their gear and their patience intact, knowing the right window would eventually come.

In the meantime, the team has been settling into the rhythm of pre-expedition life in town. Talkeetna may be small, but it has a way of filling time in unexpected ways. There are coffee shops to settle into, a few good restaurants to rotate through, and no shortage of fellow climbers passing through with their own stories about waiting on the weather. It’s also been a great chance to rest, eat well, and arrive at the glacier in even better shape than when they touched down. After months of training and preparation, a few extra days of recovery and good food is not the worst thing in the world.

There’s also a quiet upside to a delay like this. By the time the team finally lands on the glacier, they’ll be ready in every sense of the word. Gear has been packed, repacked, and triple-checked. Systems have been drilled. Climbers have had time to settle into the rhythm of expedition life before the expedition has even truly started. The mountain hasn’t gone anywhere, and when the window finally opens, the May 17th team will be more than ready to take it.

For now, the team is staying loose, staying patient, and keeping an eye on the forecast. Here’s hoping the weather turns soon and they can finally trade the streets of Talkeetna for the snow of the Kahiltna!

May 17 Team – Packing the plane

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Interested in more information about conditions and happenings on Denali? Be sure to also check out the Denali National Park’s Denali Dispatches Blog where they post weekly Field Reports.