Grant Maughan called in from 7,800′ on the broad Kahiltna Glacier after the team successfully moved five miles up the West Buttress route, on their journey to climb Denali. They got a very early start, but still encountered warm conditions, with some episodes of thick snowfall. Here’s Grant!
Lead Guide Yoshiko Miyazaki-Back called in from 7,200′ on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, where the May 6th team spent the day reviewing skills and preparing to move upwards on the West Buttress route of Denali. The weather is holding, and despite some clouds, the daytime temperatures are quite warm. The plan is…
The team packed up their kit at the Lakefront Hotel and loaded into our van and trailer for the drive north to Talkeetna. They broke the 2.5-hour drive up with a stop in Wasilla, AK, home to one of our more flamboyant political figures, and then continued up to the end of the road town…
We are thrilled to welcome our first team of climbers of the 2016 Denali season, who are meeting our guide team today, May 6! Each spring, as the days grow longer, climbers from around the world feel the siren song of the north country. Many are drawn by the challenge of attempting to climb the…
A final dispatch from lead guide Adam Smith: We climbed the breathtaking 16000-foot ridge towards high camp and passed the remaining climbers on their descent. Arriving to a deserted camp at 17,200 feet and watching the final groups round Windy Corner and out of sight, the isolation sunk in. It is a wild and special…
Thank you Brandon, Dawn, Will, Sam & Josh for an excellent trip. To me a successful trip ends with people in high spirits about what happened and excited about what will happen next, and this Denali trip did. While we were out there, we enjoyed good weather, a classic route and a few weeks in…
The team arrived in base camp early in the afternoon today, and shortly after hopped in ski planes and were in Talkeetna. They are spending tonight enjoying the relative civilization of Talkeetna and will be coming back to Anchorage tomorrow. Congratulations to everyone on the team for working hard and getting down safely. This was…
Earlier today the team called from Camp 1 and reported that they were going to rest and evaluate conditions of the lower glacier. The plan is to continue to Base Camp when conditions allow.
Thanks to guide Josh Garner for the following photos:
A fantastic summit day allowed seven of us to make the top at 7pm on 7/9/15. The weather was calm and the views were amazing! The following day, we packed up and headed back down to 14 Camp to some warm greetings from our other team members, who had prepared some wonderful hot food for…