Guide Nicole Lawton called in an update on for her and Leah at High Camp, after returning back down yesterday at around 18,000′. They made an attempt on the summit yesterday but were unfortunately turned around due to severe weather moving in on the upper mountain. The team set out for the summit from High Camp at around 9 am, after the sun warmed up the sub-zero temperatures. They made it about 1,000′ above camp before an intense snow-thunderstorm unexpectedly moved in, with quickly building clouds and intensifying snow, forcing the team to turn around for fear of lightning. They have a couple of days left on their itinerary, and some climbers plan to wait it out at 17k in hopes of a better summit window materializing for them within the next few days. It’s always a tough call to turn around, especially when headed for the summit, but in this case it sounds like the right one. All is well with the team and they are still optimistic with their chances of making the summit in the coming days.

Guide Fischer Hazen and Paul have descended to Denali Base Camp.

Here’s Nicole!
recording