Lead Guide Aaron Diamond called in from Genet Basin, a broad bowl perched above a hanging glacier and below a rocky ridge that leads up to High Camp on the West Buttress and the steep snow slopes that lead up to the West Ridge route on Denali.  They moved up today in much kinder conditions than the ones in which they carried supplies to their 13,500′ cache yesterday.  It was still breezy, but they found the going much easier than in the gale of Thursday.

This camp can be buffeted by the wind, so they took time to build walls of snow blocks around their tents before they tucked in for the night.  Building snow walls is hard work, as each 20-30 lb block has to be cut from the snow surface and carried into position.  Fortifying their camp required many, many such blocks.

Here’s Aaron!