Lead Guide Sebastian Grau called in from the 17,200′ High Camp. The team moved up through somewhat variable weather today and established itself behind walls of snow blocks, encircling their tents to provide wind protection. The weather is a bit iffy for the next day or so, and they may choose to take a rest…
Lead Guide Caitlin Hague called in from the 7,800′ camp on the Kahiltna Glacier. Early this morning the team awoke, ate breakfast and carried roughly half their supplies up the glacier about 3.5 miles to an elevation of about 10,200′. They dug a deep hole in the snow and buried their supplies, so as to…
Thanks to guide Karl Welter for this nice summit shot of the entire May 26th Team!
Bob Szalkiewicz checked in from 14,200′ on the West Buttress of Denali. Today the team carried loads of supplies up the steepest terrain of the trip. The Headwall is a 600′ ramp of snow and ice, along which are affixed two ropes at semi-regular intervals. The climbers clipped mechanical ascenders to the fixed lines, tethering…
Lead Guide Rob “Durny” Durnell called in from the team’s Camp 2, located at 11,200′. The team has been busy and traveling on a night schedule, to avoid the heat of the day. On Wednesday Thale decided to return to Base Camp, so Durny and Jeff hiked back down the glacier to accompany her the…
Lloyd Hales called in a hello to his England based friends and family from amidst a snow storm at the 14,200′ camp. Today was hot, which seems to have resulted in afternoon clouds building to the point of dumping snow! The team is doing well and eager to move up to a new location, with…
Jacqueline Heller called in a nice update from Camp 1, located at 7,800′ on the broad Kahiltna Glacier. It sounds like they had a great day, hiking up glacier in the shade that constitutes nighttime on Denali just two days before the summer solstice. They departed at about 1 am, and hiked down the Southeast…
Duncan called in after the team took a rest day at 11,200′. They have been moving quickly up the mountain, and it was time to take an acclimatization day, to allow their bodies to better adapt to the thinning air of these higher elevations. It was a day of swapping stories, lounging around and apparent…
Gary Falk called in an update for him and Roger. The two of them apparently had to enlist some help to drop down below the broad and bustling 14,200′ camp, so as to satisfy a Park Service regulation that prohibits 1:1 guiding below 14,000′. They found someone to go for the hike with them, and…
The team is moving and feeling well, and they took advantage of another beautiful day to move a load of equipment and supplies to a cache site at 13, 500′. Immediately out of camp the team began to ascend Motorcycle Hill, which gains approximately 1000′, then they tackled Squirrel Hill before cresting onto the relatively…