The May 19th team took a weather day at camp today, holding tight as conditions across the mountain made travel less than ideal. Plans for moving higher will pick back up as soon as the weather opens up.

Weather days are a normal part of any Denali expedition, and they’re a smart, deliberate piece of the climbing rhythm. Pushing into bad weather isn’t a risk worth taking when patience can get the team to the same place safely. The upside is that days like this aren’t wasted. Time at camp is time the body has to continue acclimatizing to the elevation, recover from the work the team has already put in, and refuel for the climbing days ahead.

That said, the May 19th team is also putting their downtime to creative use. Word from camp is that the crew has been hard at work building what they’re calling a “fancy bathroom,” which is exactly the kind of project that keeps spirits high during a long weather hold. Camp construction projects are a fun and longstanding tradition on Denali. They give climbers something to do with their hands, generate body heat, and turn a frustrating weather hold into something genuinely entertaining. A snow-block throne with a view of the Alaska Range is hard to beat.

To top it all off, pizza is on the menu tonight! Hot pizza after a day of holding down camp is one of the small luxuries that makes life on the glacier feel almost civilized, and morale always gets a nice bump when a team has something delicious to look forward to at dinner.

For now, the May 19th team is staying patient, staying ready, and clearly making the most of their time at camp. We’ll have more to share when the next opportunity to move higher presents itself.

—

Family and friends are encouraged to leave comments for their loved ones on this expedition. Please keep in mind that climbers will not be able to see posts or comments until they return to Talkeetna at the end of the expedition.

Don’t forget that you can subscribe to this expedition’s Field Reports by entering your email address in the form to the right or below if viewing via mobile. That way, you never miss an update!

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.