Our June 4 Team called in to let us know they are making some amazing progress along the West Buttress route in less-than-stellar conditions. The team pulled together and gave it their all on a very tough day moving from Camp 1 7,800 ft (2377 m) to Camp 2 11,000 ft (3352 m) in full-on winter weather. Congratulations, team!

This day of the trip has the team hauling full sleds with heavy packs on snow shoes about 4.75 miles (7.64 km) with about 3,400 ft of elevation gain over the course of 5 to 7 hours! All of this in a foot of fresh snow makes for some sore legs the next day but, will serve as good warm-up for the team as they progress to more challenging sections of the route. The second camp is located in the 11,000’ basin at the base of Motorcycle Hill. This is an incredibly beautiful location that basks in alpenglow when the sun travels around the north side of the mountain.

They’ve been rewarded with a hot meal from the cook tent prepared by our guides, lots of water, and an early bedtime. Tomorrow the team will sleep in, have a delicious brunch, and take a day to reset while they assess conditions! Our fingers are crossed for a break in the weather! Tap the recording link below to hear the full dispatch and drop a comment to wish our team luck on their journey.

recording