The May 9th team’s lead guide and co-guide set out on a scouting mission to high camp today, joined by two guides from another team also working through 14 Camp. Two of the guides turned around on the ridge, but our two lead guides pushed through and made it all the way to high camp, gathering critical firsthand information on the conditions above 14 Camp.

In short, the route is showing typical early-season character. The fixed lines are icy, with the up line still buried under a significant amount of ice and the down line currently exposed. The ridge above the fixed lines is steep and icy as well, but well-protected by anchors. Layered onto those conditions, the forecast is calling for high winds and cold temperatures over the next day, which will keep the team at 14 Camp for the time being. None of this is unusual for this point in the Denali season, but it does add up to a tough combination for a team working against a tight schedule.

After talking through the day’s findings, the difficult but honest reality is that the May 9th team has likely reached their high point on this expedition. With challenging conditions on the upper mountain and only a few days left on their climbing schedule, the safest and smartest path forward is to begin shifting their focus from climbing higher to climbing well from here. That’s not the outcome anyone hopes for when they set out for Denali, but it is the kind of call that defines responsible mountaineering. The mountain is always there, and the right decision is sometimes the hardest one.

What we want to emphasize is just how much this team has accomplished. They navigated weather delays in Talkeetna, worked their way through the lower mountain, pushed through Windy Corner, and made it all the way to 14 Camp at 14,200 feet, which is no small achievement. They climbed strong, supported each other through long days and storm holds, and put themselves in a position to look at the upper mountain with their own eyes. Every climber who steps onto Denali knows that the summit is never guaranteed, and the real victory of any expedition is the experience itself: the climbing, the camaraderie, the lessons learned, and the moments of awe that only come from being on a mountain like this.

The team’s guides will be having an honest, supportive conversation with the climbers this evening about what comes next. Whatever they decide, our entire team is incredibly proud of what the May 9th crew has done on this mountain. We’ll have more to share once the next dispatch comes through.

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Interested in more information about conditions and happenings on Denali? Be sure to also check out the Denali National Park’s Denali Dispatches Blog where they post weekly Field Reports.