The May 14th team had a productive day on the mountain, getting a cache in around Windy Corner at the usual cache site near 13,500 feet! It’s a major step forward and an important milestone on the way to establishing themselves at 14 Camp.
Windy Corner is one of the more notorious sections of the West Buttress route. As the name suggests, it’s an exposed stretch that funnels wind off the upper mountain, and conditions there can shift quickly. On a good day, it’s a manageable but tiring section of climbing. On a bad day, it can shut down progress entirely. Getting through it with a load of supplies takes timing, patience, and the willingness to seize a window when it presents itself. The team picked their moment well today and got the work done.
The cache itself sits at the standard cache site just past the Corner, a spot that countless Denali expeditions have used over the years to stage supplies before the move up to 14 Camp. With those supplies now in place, the team has effectively shortened their next move day. When the time comes to relocate camp, they’ll be hauling less weight through one of the steeper, more demanding sections of the route, which makes a big difference on a day that’s already physically taxing.
For now, the team is back at Camp 2 for some well-earned rest. With a successful cache day behind them and the next push to 14 Camp on the horizon, momentum is building in the right direction.
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