Peter and Melle called in from 14,200′ (4328m) today, providing us an update for their May 3rd Denali team.  They have been experiencing very cold temperatures and strong winds for a number of days.  Today, the weather was good enough to move up from their previous camp and around the notorious feature known as Windy Corner to gain access to the broad basin of “14 Camp.”

A couple days earlier, Fred and Robert descended with guide Mason Stansfield.  They are all safe and sound back in Anchorage.

Here is the update from the team:

recording

Mason sent some photos from Camp 2 that help give a sense of the cold and wind that the team encountered.  Brrr….!  He also called in a report from Anchorage:
recording

The intense wind and driving snow formed rime ice on the team’s equipment.

The team needed to dig out their tents every two hours or so, in order to prevent them from being buried by the snow!

Evening light on the West Buttress of Denali. The hill leading up behind camp is known as Motorcycle Hill.