Hello everyone… What a great trip in the Alaska Range. I just like to take a moment to thank everyone on our trip for coming with a open mind and a positive attitude. In all we had a well rounded safe trip in one of the harshest climates on earth. The Alaska range is an…
I’m here at the Mountain Trip house looking at Dave Ahrens and his crew. The entire team is safely back in town, so look for a post-expedition report from him soon. Aaron called and we chatted about the trip, and it sure sounds like they had a great time. The weather was nice on the…
We just heard about another accident on Denali that occurred last night. This was not a Mountain Trip team. All our climbers are doing fine at this time. Details are not clear at this time, but apparently four climbers roped together fell while descending from Denali Pass. Two of the climbers did not survive. We…
Dave Ahrens reported a windy summit attempt on the Kahiltna Dome yesterday. The team made its way to approximately 11,000′ on the Northeast ridge of the Dome before increasing winds necessitated a retreat to camp. Now the team is in camp preparing to travel down the Kahiltna glacier to the southeast fork where basecamp resides,…
This expedition moved from 7,800′ to 9,500′ yesterday, which is their last camp before attempting to summit Kahiltna Dome. If the weather is cooperating they will travel up to Kahiltna pass and under the summit of Mt. Capps before climbing the northeast ridge. It is a long and strenuous day but Dave Ahrens feels confident…
A light snow accompanied the expedition as they moved up the Kahiltna glacier from basecamp to camp 1. Dave reported great conditions for glacier travel, with very little wind and enough clouds to take the edge off the sun, which can be very intense even at this time of year. Their plan tomorrow is to…
Yesterday brought nasty weather to the range so Dave Ahrens took the day to teach camp building skills, the foundation of a successful trip into the range. Their plan still remains the same- when the weather breaks they will head up the glacier to camp 1 at 7,800′.
Dave Ahrens has spent the last several days training his crew in mountain skills, and now they are poised to move out of basecamp along the Kahiltna to camp 1 at 7,800′. The plan is to continue up the Kahiltna to the base of Kahiltna Pass at 10,000′ to prepare for a summit bid on…
Aaron gives us the run-down of their skill building day. All are well and Happy Birthday to lead guide, Dave Ahrens!!! [audio:http://mountaintripdenali2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/audio-post-2011-05-20-03-00-35.mp3|titles=Audio Post]
We got a somewhat garbled call from what must be either Hafidz or Syafirul. The team reported to have “conquered the control tower”, which is a small peak very near base camp on the Kahiltna Glacier, where all Denali climbers begin their journey. Have a listen! [audio:http://mountaintripdenali2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/audio-post-2011-05-18-03-35-17.mp3|titles=Audio Post]