Paul Kitchin called in from Base Camp at 7,200′ on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. The team made a 12 hour descent through the night, capitalizing on colder, nighttime temperatures to avoid what has been a very hot July on the lower glacier. The team battled a number of challenges during the expedition,…
Summit! The June 20 team including climber Paul Kitchin, and guides Aaron Diamond and Nicole Lawton all stood on the 20,310 ft summit of Denali today. They are back in high camp this evening eating and recovering from a big day. They’ll enjoy one more evening up at high camp tonight, and then begin their…
Paul called in after moving up to 17,200 ft high camp today. He reported that Matt is on his way down with guide Derek and a couple of other climbers. Matt was going strong and doing great on the uphill, but the downhill was proving to be a challenge and after a talk with the…
We received the unfortunate news that climber Steve M. took a spill on the fixed lines and injured his knee. The team was assisted by the National Park Service to bring Steve back to 14 Camp, and the plan is to fly him out of the range. We are thinking of you, Steve! The team…
Lead Guide Aaron Diamond checked in from 14,200′, where the vets took another weather day today. The snow and wind was just too much to warrant a push up to High Camp today. They did go for a short hike to a spectacular spot known as “The Edge of the World.” From this vantage point,…
Hurry up and wait! Today, the team anticipated good weather, based on the forecast shared last night from NOAA, so they awakened early and began the process of getting their kit in order to make the tough push up the steepest section of the West Buttress route. Alas…, the forecast was incorrect, as is often…
In quite possibly the fastest trip report of the season, Lead guide Aaron Diamond jam packs a lot of information into his message. Today the team dropped back down to the cache site at 13,700′ to retrieve the equipment and supplies that they left a few days ago, then spent the afternoon practicing skills for…
The June 20 Denali team is resting and acclimatizing at the 14,200 ft camp today. They are watching a bit of a storm blow through and preparing to climb up with their next cache tomorrow if weather cooperates. Here’s the evening dispatch:
The June 20 Team moved on up to the 14,200 ft camp today and are enjoying the views and settling into their home for the next few days. Here’s Steve with the evening dispatch from 14,200ft:
The team moved up to camp at 13,600 ft this afternoon, and settled in for the afternoon. It was a hot day and they didn’t want to push up the final hour or so to the 14,200ft basin in the heat of the day. They’ll spend a night and make the final push tomorrow morning.…