Gerald Oxley and I believe Hamad called in a nice post from Camp 3! The team pushed hard through very challenging weather to make it up to the site of the 14,200′ camp. They had to climb up two significant, named slopes, the first known as Motorcycle Hill, and then Squirrel Hill. Both are physically…
Ray called in a nice post from the big basin camp at 14,200′. The team couldn’t do much, as the weather did not allow them to move up to the ridge above camp. Spirits sure seem high, and the team spent the day relaxing and playing games, including today’s trivia question regarding which of the…
Nothing interesting, the weather is keeping the planes from flying to basecamp. Lead guide Pi is keeping things busy, showing the team around Talkeetna and keeping the mood light with some stories from his times in the mountains.
Nothing new to report really, the team can’t be any more prepared to launch their Denali climb than they are now. They are all anxiously watching the weather, waiting for the same break as everyone else.
The UAE team gave a go at moving camp but were ultimately discouraged in doing so by the building winds and increasingly heavy snow that are the first volleys of a good solid storm system. They reestablished camp and are back in the pattern of waiting for the weather to clear enough to move up.
Word from the mountain is that the May 12 team has descended from camp 3 to camp 2, and pulled into 11,200′ just as a storm started to intensify. A Mountain Trip team on the way up the mountain welcomed them in and helped them set up camp. We’ll update once we hear from the…
The weather at basecamp continues to be nonflyable, so the May 8 team is hanging out and generally helping around camp, packing the runway and doing all they can to make sure the planes can safely land when the weather does eventually break.
The storm is brewing, Caitlin reports….but the team still managed to travel down the glacier, pick up their gear cache and fortify camp in the face of increasing wind and heavy snow. No big deal for them, in a good camp with all of their supplies on hand, weather just gives more opportunities to catch…
Mountain Trip guide PI just called from Talkeetna, where the team is on a “weather hold” today. Scot went for a run, and then the team met at the Roadhouse for a yummy meal. The team is hoping for a break in the weather long enough to fly onto the glacier. Fingers crossed! Good company…
The May 8th team descended to the airstrip on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier and has been waiting for a flight out of the Alaska Range. They were rapidly running out of time, food and fuel, and were looking at a substantial storm that had taken up residence over the Alaska Range. Faced…