CONGRATULATIONS! The June 4th West Buttress team called from the tallest point of North America! The team showed patience and it paid off – they are on the summit on a beautiful, warm day. They departed this morning and climbed 1000′ (300m) up a fairly steep, rising traverse, known in the dark humor of Alaskan…
Lead Guide Jacob Schmitz called in from above a feature known as Zebra Rocks, as the June 4th team is headed to the summit of Denali! They are three hours into their cummit bid, and based on their reported location – they are doing great! We’ll keep updates coming as we learn of them. In…
Jacob Schmitz called in – they are heading to the top! The weather looks pretty good, and they are going to take a shot at the summit! recording
The team is back in Anchorage, safe and sound. Here’s Brian with a final trip report:
The team is hanging tough at 14 Camp. They will be monitoring the weather closely over the next few days, and making plans accordingly. The team still has plenty of supplies and their will is still strong to keep ascending, and at this point it’s a matter of acceptable weather conditions. Fingers crossed! Here’s Jorn…
A large moisture system is sitting on the Alaska range, preventing teams from ascending/descending and from flying in to the range. When storms like this one move in, teams hunker down and try to practice one of the hardest skills in mountaineering—–patience. The weather will improve, but it’s difficult knowing that the timing is indeterminate…
Kevin Cook checked in from the June 4th West Buttress of Denali team. The team is nestled into camp at 14,200′, due to a difficult storm that is preventing any upward progress for the time being. Camp is a nice place to be when snow is falling in copious amounts! They have plenty of food…
It was snowing heavily as the team set out from 11 Camp but the winds stayed fairly calm and the team was able to push up to 14 Camp. The poor weather over the last few days stacked up a bunch of teams at 11 Camp and it sounds like there were a bunch of…
It sounds like the team is eating well, that’s for sure! It was a rest day at 11 Camp for the team and the guide team busted out with a hot pancake breakfast and a yummy hot lunch. The team will use today to rest, relax, hydrate, and prepare for the move to 14 Camp.…
Climber Kevin called in an update on the June 4 Denali West Buttress team, who are camped at 11,200′ on the route. Today they will do a backcarry day to retrieve their cache from near Kahiltna Pass, at around 10,500′. Here’s the team!