The team is doing great and climbed up to over 16,000 ft today on a ridge that leads up to high camp before descending back down to 14,200ft. This is some of the steepest and most beautiful terrain on the West Buttress route, ascending a steep face where there is a fixed line for additional…
We’d like to welcome Jarek Myszkowski, Steve Camkin, and Rob Morrill to Alaska! These climbers are attempting the West Buttress of Denali, North America’s highest peak, and they will be led by Mountain Trip guide team Con Severis and Nick Aiello. The West Buttress is a classic mountaineering challenge that climbs 13,000′ from the Southeast…
The team climbed up above the 14,ooo ft camp today and climbed up the fixed lines section to the ridge at 16,000 ft to gain some acclimatization and cache a bit of food and fuel before descending back to camp 3. They are moving great and plan to head back up and continue up and…
The June 13th West Buttress team is taking advantage of a beautiful day in the Alaska Range to move up to the basin camp at 11,200′. They put in a cache of equipment yesterday and today are climbing up past that cache to establish a new camp. This system of carrying equipment and supplies to…
The team carried a load of gear up from the 11,000ft camp up to a spot around “Windy Corner” at about 13,500 ft and cached it in preparation for moving up to the 14,000ft camp tomorrow. They are doing great and taking advantage of some good weather, which has been rarely seen this season in…
The team moved up from the 14,200 ft basin up to their high camp at 17,200 ft today in beautiful and relatively warm weather. They are moving strong and hope to head for the summit tomorrow morning if everyone is feeling well after their first night sleeping up over 17k feet. Here’s the call from…
Team Leader Eli Potter called in the trip report tonight. He reported that the team enjoyed a “semi” rest day today at 14 Camp, located in the beautiful Genet basin. It was on a “semi” rest day because the team elected to stretch their legs and walk over to “The Edge of the World.” This…
Guide Joda called in to clarify that the team is climbing the West Buttress route. He inadvertently stated the West Rib in his previous report. Here’s Joda: recording
Matthew called in from 7,800′ on the Kahiltna Glacier, after the team carried loads up to about 10,000′ on the glacier. They are getting early morning starts, to both avoid the heat of the day and also to travel over the glacier when it is at its most frozen state. The weather has not been…
Assistant guide Joda Hankins called in from one of my favorite camps, the basin at 11,200′. Bob and the guide team moved up today and have settled in to their new home for the next few nights. The climb up from 7,800′ ascends the first significant hill of the route, known as Ski Hill. This…