Four separate expeditions are now out of the mountains and living it up in town. Burmeister and his West Buttress team are spending the night in Talkeetna, while the West Rib team, Qobin’s expedition and the Northwest Buttress crew are sleeping soundly in Anchorage. Good work and congratulations to all the expeditions, and welcome back!
Pi just called, he reports that he and Qobin, as well as Mike Burmeister’s entire expedition, are back at high camp after a long descent from the summit of Denali. 2nd guide Zack descended earlier and welcomed both expeditions as they returned to camp. Right now guides are sitting around stoves making hot water and…
Mike just called a few minutes ago from the summit of Denali, with his entire team standing around. Everyone in the expedition did well on the ascent, and Mike will give a call when everyone is back in camp.
After patiently waiting for three days at high camp, Mike feels that conditions are good enough to attempt a summit bid. They are teamed up with another Mountain Trip team and will travel together throughout the day. Stay tuned for updates.
The team is considering going for the top today, and judging from the Talkeetna Air Taxi webcam, it sure looks like a beauty! We have three teams poised to summit today, so maybe they’ll have a Mountain Trip party on the summit. We’ll keep you posted as the day unfolds.
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…
Mike reports that the weather continues to mandate staying in camp. They got prepared to leave yesterday morning before the guide team decided that conditions weren’t favorable enough for a summit attempt. Let’s all hope for better weather for this team, they have put in a good amount of days at high camp.
Chris called in tonight’s post from high camp. They did not go for the summit today, as high winds prevented an attempt. The post is a bit garbled, due to the challenges of calling via satellite phone from such norther latitudes, but most of his message is clear. I had to chuckle at his “Groundhog…
Lead Guide Mike Burmeister called in last night. He had the stoves running and was making food and water for the gang while they built camp at 17,200 feet, what we commonly call “High Camp” on the West Buttress Route. This move is always a very challenging day–it involves a long day of climbing, including…
The winds kept the crew in camp yesterday. The scene continues on, patiently waiting for conditions to allow the team to move up the fixed lines to high camp. 14 is not a bad place to hang out as acclimatization continues to make team members stronger and more prepared for high camp, but by now…