Jared here, I just wanted to write a closing message to this trip. After a great start to what was sure to be an amazing trip up the West Rib I unexpectedly became sick with signs of Pulmonary Edema low on the mountain. With out too many options for recovery where we were at 7800…
This years West Rib/Riblet trip was thoroughly enjoyable, we had great weather, great, conditions, and a great group. We were lucky enough to enjoy splendid views on the upper mountain from a perch at 16,300 almost entirely to our self. Our summit day was technical in nature, long in elevation, and highly satisfying. Our decent…
Eric called in to report that Joerg, Kelly and he are all back at high camp after what can only be described as a great day of climbing. It sounds like conditions were really good for the upper stretches of the West Rib, which ascends out of high camp and across a number of rocky…
We just heard from one of our teams at 14,200′ that the West Rib team reached the summit and have descended to about 2 hours from their high camp. Guide Eric Larson reported that they it was a beautiful summit day and that the team is moving well on their descent. They have only one…
We got a call a couple of hours ago (sorry I was in town away from the computer) that Joerg, Kelly and Eric climbed out of the upper portion of the West Rib and onto the broad summit plateau at about 2:00pm AK time. This would have put them on the summit an hour or…
The team is considering going for the top today, and judging from the Talkeetna Air Taxi webcam, it sure looks like a beauty! We have three teams poised to summit today, so maybe they’ll have a Mountain Trip party on the summit. We’ll keep you posted as the day unfolds.
We just heard about another accident on Denali that occurred last night. This was not a Mountain Trip team. All our climbers are doing fine at this time. Details are not clear at this time, but apparently four climbers roped together fell while descending from Denali Pass. Two of the climbers did not survive. We…
Eric Larson’s expedition took a rest day at high camp yesterday, and reported a change of plans. The expedition is now attempting to climb the upper West Rib, which means they can leave from 14k camp on the West Buttress instead of descending to the Northeast Fork and starting the route from there. This means…
Joerg called in tonight’s update in English, French and German (show off!!) J’ai oubliez mi francais, but I hope he is providing similar reports…! I think “pizza” must be the same in all three languages! Here is/ Voici/ Hier ist Joerg: [audio:http://mountaintripdenali2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/audio-post-2011-05-26-02-02-37.mp3|titles=Audio Post]
Lead guide Eric Larson called in last night to report that the team had made a strong carry up to the bergschrund camp of the West Rib from 14,200′ camp on the West Buttress route. Many groups ascend the West Buttress route to put a cache of gear on the upper Rib and acclimatize to…