Adam called in a podcast from camp at 14,200′ (4328m). They spent the day fortifying their camp with snow walls, as high winds buffeted the team. It sounds like what we would call “full-on” conditions, requiring multiple layers of clothing and facemasks to protect their noses and cheeks from the bite of the wind. Building…
As so often happens on Denali expeditions, two guests from Joe Butler’s team have decided to descend to basecamp. Art and Bob hitched a ride with two Mountain Trip rope teams and are now either in the air from basecamp or already in Talkeetna. The rest of the group forges on, with plans to carry…
Jared called yesterday evening to report a successful rest day, which wasn’t completely restful as they had to relocate camp to get out of a snowy area which was burying the tents in spindrift blown from the other side of the ridge. Sometimes 20′ makes a big difference, so Jared, Sean and the team worked…
Zach called in this morning to report that he had arranged for one of his clients to descend to basecamp with a Mountain Trip team. Hideko is now in safely in Talkeetna, most likely looking to change out of mountain clothes and make some phone calls. The rest of the team took a short walk…
A light snow accompanied the expedition as they moved up the Kahiltna glacier from basecamp to camp 1. Dave reported great conditions for glacier travel, with very little wind and enough clouds to take the edge off the sun, which can be very intense even at this time of year. Their plan tomorrow is to…
Yesterday brought nasty weather to the range so Dave Ahrens took the day to teach camp building skills, the foundation of a successful trip into the range. Their plan still remains the same- when the weather breaks they will head up the glacier to camp 1 at 7,800′.
Mountain Trip guide, Zach Johnson calls in the podcast today. [audio:http://mountaintripdenali2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/audio-post-2011-05-21-06-50-07.mp3|titles=Audio Post]
Dave Ahrens has spent the last several days training his crew in mountain skills, and now they are poised to move out of basecamp along the Kahiltna to camp 1 at 7,800′. The plan is to continue up the Kahiltna to the base of Kahiltna Pass at 10,000′ to prepare for a summit bid on…