Guide Josh Gardner called in from 17,200′ with an update on the last two climbers of the May 28 team Denali West Buttress team, Angus and Mark, that have yet to make their summit bid. This will be the second summit attempt for Josh with the somewhat unconventional group. The rest of the team, who…
The members of our May 28th team have had a somewhat “out of the box” few days! The team has split up, for reasons to be explained below, but everyone is doing well and is in good spirits. Three of the five team members have reached the summit via two separate attempts and two more…
The Mountain Trip June 11 Denali West Buttress Team has been making strong and steady progress up the route, and has already made some progress towards their ascent Climber Blaine Yates said that they have safely and successfully reached Camp 2 at 11,200′, set up tents and enjoyed a hot meal courtesy of their guides.…
John Ladd of the May 5 Denali West Buttress Team called in with a short update on the team’s progress on the mountain. The team retrieved their cache below camp yesterday. The day started out bitterly cold, John reported, and the team tried their best to keep warm as they descended below 14,000′ to retrieve…
What an interesting and peculiar trip. First, this trip was a bit of a dream trip for me. Three returning climbers that I have had a lot of fun with over the years and a returning guide who was on the last couple trips with me. Days before the trip start date, Joda my co-worker,…
Lead Guide Scott Woolums called in with an update on the May 30 West Buttress Expedition. The team is still at Camp 3 at 14,200′, with their cache all set on the ridge to High Camp for when they move higher. The team went for a short hike towards the West Rib Route for some…
Yftah Sheffer, a climber on the Mountain Trip June 11 Denali Team called in with an update on their progress on the West Buttress Route. The team had a smooth, scenic flight from Talkeetna to Denali Base Camp on the Kahiltna Glacier. They went over a few glacier travel skills, rigged up sleds and packs,…
Lead Guide Ben Adkison called in with an update on the June 5 team’s progress up the West Buttress Route. They’ve made speedy progress to Camp 3 at 14,200′, and were fortunate enough (once again) to not experience any wind around the infamous Windy Corner. The team cached at 13,500′ a couple of days ago,…
Mountain Trip lead guide Jacob Schmitz called in with an update on the June 1 Denali West Buttress Expedition. The team is still at Camp 3 at 14,200′. A large wind event is forecasted for today, with 50 to 75 mph winds at 17,000′, which Jacob said (and we agree) “is not very fun” at…
Dave Ladd, a client on the June 5 Denali West Buttress Expedition He said that the team enjoyed the Mountain Trip classic, Denali Sandwiches (toasted “everything” bagel with cream cheese and fried pork sausage, mmm, mmm!) at “Karl’s Jr.,” which we’re assuming means that guide Karl Welter was head chef for the day. The team…