Waiting, waiting, waiting… Assistant Guide Maddie called in from the May 22nd West Buttress Denali Expedition to report that the team is hunkered down at High Camp waiting for the weather to improve to make their summit attempt. 

Here’s Maddie: Audio Recording

The final camp of Denali, “High Camp”, is situated on the 17,200′ shoulder of the West Buttress. It is an exposed place where winds can be brutally strong and temperatures ridiculously cold. Teams that find themselves waiting at High Camp for a weather window often need to build snow walls in order to block the wind and solidify their camps. This task, along with melting water, helps keep teams from going a bit stir-crazy at High Camp.

Building snow walls, a crucial task at High Camp.

Despite spending most of the day in the tent, it sounds like morale is still high amongst the May 22nd Team! 

High Camp with well-fortified camps.

Let’s hope that the weather forecast pans out and gives the team a window to attempt the summit in the next day or two!