Well, they say that one thing you can count on with the weather is that it will always change. The stormy, snowy weather that has taken up residence over much of the Alaska Range has released its icy hold and planes are flying! All of our teams that have been stuck at Base Camp are…
Well, perhaps “party” is not the accurate term, but several Mountain Trip teams spent the night at Base Camp on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, awaiting the weather to improve so they can fly out to verdant Talkeetna. One flight made it into Base Camp yesterday, and a handful of our climbers clambered…
The UAE #2 team is spending the day at 11,200′. They cached at 13,500′ (4115) yesterday, but today, some of the team are considering if they want to continue upward or not. They have some tough decisions to make, and are taking today to sort things out.
The weather has continued to stop the climbers from accomplishing much today. Both teams remained in their camps and are hoping for the weather to improve in the coming days. The forecast is still looking optimistic for nice weather early next week.
It’s been a pretty long stretch of wind and snow in the Alaska Range for the last days, and it is expected to continue through most of the weekend. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, as the snow is expected to taper off and winds die down by late Sunday and…
The UAE team gave a go at moving camp but were ultimately discouraged in doing so by the building winds and increasingly heavy snow that are the first volleys of a good solid storm system. They reestablished camp and are back in the pattern of waiting for the weather to clear enough to move up.
The team traveled in typical glacier conditions today: windy, snowing and low visibility. They pushed up the Kahiltna as planned despite the less-than-ideal weather and cached their gear at around 9,900′. They returned to camp uneventfully and are ready to go at it again tomorrow.
Dan Starr called last night; the UAE team had holed up at camp 1 waiting for the weather to improve. Weather willing, they will make for 10,200′ to leave a cache of gear and food, in preparation for moving to camp 3.
Lead guide Dan Starr reported a successful and pleasant move with the UAE crew to camp 1. The glacier was in good condition and the weather was good enough, and the group was just sitting down to a mountain-style meal when he called. The team is in high spirits and plan to carry a load…
The second group of climbers from the United Arab Emirates awoke to a whiteout this morning. Weather did not improve during the day, and snow fell which obscured the old track up the glacier to Camp 1 at 7,800 feet. The team had no choice but to remain in camp and wait for even a…