One of our Belgian climbers called in from the May 22nd West Buttress Denali Expedition to announce that they had a lovely day with good weather and high spirits as they put in their first cache below Camp 2! 

Listen to the report here: Audio Recording

A team heading up “Ski Hill” from Camp 1.

The May 22nd team has now made their first “carry and cache” of the trip, hauling sled loads full of food and equipment up towards Kahiltna Pass, about halfway between Camp 1 and Camp 2, in order to “cache” it in the snow. This “carry and cache” method of ascent is very common on Denali because it serves two strategic functions to improve the expedition’s success.

First, it allows the expedition to minimize the amount of weight that they have to carry in their sleds and backpacks as they ascend the mountain (carrying 22 days worth of food and gear all at once is too heavy and exhausting). Second, having the expedition team take multiple trips up and down the mountain between camps can help expedition members better acclimatize by climbing incrementally higher in elevation but sleeping at a lower elevation for multiple nights.

The old mountaineering adage of “climb high and sleep low” perfectly describes this approach to acclimatization, and by getting a little bit of exercise today and then sleeping again at Camp 1, the May 22nd West Buttress Denali Expedition is setting itself up for success on the upper mountain.

And to top it all off, Assistant Guide Maddie cooked up some delicious PIZZAS for the team to enjoy back at Camp 1. It sounds like the May 22nd Team is off to a great start!

Nice work, team!