The May 19th team made their descent from high camp down to 14 Camp this evening, beginning the journey off the mountain after their successful summit. The team will spend tonight at 14 before continuing their descent toward Basecamp tomorrow, with hopes of flying off the mountain on Monday.
The descent off Denali is its own kind of climbing. After the work of pushing to the summit, the trip down requires fresh focus and steady pacing, especially through the more technical sections of the route like the ridge and the fixed lines. Staging the descent in steps and spending a night at 14 Camp is the smart approach. It gives the team a chance to rest and recover after the demands of summit day before tackling the long stretch back down the lower mountain.
Tomorrow’s pull from 14 Camp to Basecamp will cover the same terrain the team worked so hard to climb on the way up, only this time with the summit behind them and the trip home in sight. Teams typically travel through the cold, stable hours of the night to take advantage of refrozen snow and firmer snow bridges across the crevasses below. From there, it’s just a matter of timing the flight off the glacier, which is always weather-dependent on Denali.
For now, the May 19th team is settled in at 14 Camp, resting after their descent and getting ready for tomorrow’s push toward Basecamp. We’re so proud of everything this team has accomplished, and we can’t wait to welcome them off the mountain soon!
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