The June 22nd team made the move up to Camp 2 this morning, continuing their steady progress up the West Buttress on their Denali ski expedition!

The move to Camp 2 is a significant push on the lower mountain, gaining about 2,000 feet of elevation as the team climbs Ski Hill on their way up the Kahiltna Glacier. It’s a long day with heavy loads in tow, and for a ski team, those loads come with the added weight and bulk of skis and ski-specific gear on top of the standard expedition kit. Getting the whole team safely to Camp 2 is a solid day of work and a good step forward on the route.

Camp 2 sits at 11,200 feet and serves as the home base for the next phase of the climb. From here, teams typically begin caching toward Windy Corner and eventually relocate to 14 Camp higher up the mountain. For the team, every foot of elevation gained is also terrain they’ll eventually get to ski back down on their way to attempting a summit ski descent, one of the most ambitious objectives in North American ski mountaineering.

For now, the June 22nd team is settled in at Camp 2 after a productive day on the route. With good momentum building and their ski objective ahead, the team is in a strong spot to keep working their way up the mountain.

June 22nd team makes their way up the glacier

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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.