May 26th West Buttress Denali Expedition – Broke Trail to Camp 3!

Assistant Guide Kaylee from the May 26th West Buttress Denali Expedition called in to report that they made it to Camp 3 at 14,200′! But it wasn’t easy…  

Listen to Kaylee here: Audio Recording

denali west buttress

Fresh snow on Motorcycle Hill, leading out from Camp 2. 

Sometimes on the West Buttress route, the trail is firm and easy to travel, with hundreds of climber’s feet packing it down. Other times, it’s deep powder and breaking trail makes things TEN TIMES HARDER. It sounds like the May 26th Team got a bit of the latter conditions yesterday in their move up to Camp 3.

They awoke to fresh snow, more than was expected, but with a strong team and super-fit guides, they took on the challenge and put in the work to re-establish the trail. The marched up Motorcycle Hill, up Squirrel Hill, across the Polo Fields, around Windy Corner, and finally, up to Camp 3.

Strong work team! Hopefully their hard work is rewarded with a good rest day at Camp 3. 

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