Denali. “The Great One.” Mount McKinley. By any name, the behemoth that dominates south central Alaska is something to behold in awe and to treat with the utmost respect. For climbers, the mountain presents what many might consider the challenge of a lifetime, as they pit themselves against brutal winds, arctic temperatures and the thin…
Wow… This is the third post in a row that I am pretty much totally confused about! I am fairly certain that our Norwegian friend Hilde is calling in to her friends and family, but my Norske is extremely rusty… If anyone can help translate, “tusen takk!” recording
Cyrille called in a nice post in French from the large basin camp at 14,200 feet. The team moved up today and had some excitement, when one of the members, Ryan, found himself suddenly chest-deep in a crevasse at about 13,700 feet! The glacier was quite wind-swept and the trail crosses a number of well-known…
We received a phone call from our May 12th Team, and I am afraid I cannot help too much, as it seems to be in French? If anyone can help, by posting some translated excerpts, I’d really appreciate it! They are at Camp 1, located at about 7,800′ on the main body of the Kahiltna…
It has been a few days since we heard from the team. They have had a bit of challenge with communicating, due to the terrain in which they are camped. They are at the beautiful basin camp located at 11,200 feet, that is bordered on three sides by steep walls, with one open side facing…
Silvia called in the team’s report today. She reports that the weather is beautiful and sunny, the team is eating well (pancake breakfast!), and practicing glacier travel skills. The plan is to move up the glacier to Camp 1 at 7800 feet, a distance of 5 miles from base camp. Here’s Silvia: recording
Our May 12th West Buttress Team is on the glacier!! The team had a busy day of driving from Anchorage to Talkeetna, checking in with the National Park Service and then loading up a couple of ski planes for the 40 minute flight to the southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. Thanks, Silvia, for this…
Rodney Cline called in a nice update from Ski Hill Camp, also known as Camp 1 or 7800′ Camp, as that is the elevation of that stretch of glacier. The team took a day in Base Camp to review skills and work on their systems before moving up the glacier Camp 1. The trip took…
The team is off to a great start and flew into base camp on a beautiful day yesterday. We drove to Talkeetna from Anchorage in the morning, and after a briefing and check in with one of the National Park Service climbing rangers, loaded their piles of gear into planes and flew into base camp. …
The days are growing longer in Alaska, which can mean only one thing… It is Denali Season!!! Our first team of the season is in Anchorage and our guides are helping each of the climbers review their personal equipment and finalize their packing for their expedition. Today will be spent in Anchorage and tomorrow we…