Mountain Trip lead guide Ben Adkison called in with an update on the June 5 Denali team, who are still waiting at Camp 3 at 14,200′ for the winds to die down up high so that they can move up the route safely. Ben reported that the winds above 14-camp sounded “like a freight train” and hadn’t yet shown signs of abating. He said that despite the winds above and the snow and rain below, the weather was fairly nice at 14,200′, with sporadic sunshine and mild temperatures. 14,000′ is often right above the cloud ceiling of the lower part of the range, and right below the zone where fierce winds hammer the upper reaches of the parks highest and most sought after peaks.

Greg and Newell chowing down, building up calorie reserves for the difficult ascent ahead of them.

Today, Ben said, in classic June 5 team fashion, they practiced their eating skills, enjoying pizza, hashbrowns and if I heard right, philly cheesesteak sandwiches for dinner.

They also have been treated to a lesson in patience, courtesy of the fickle Alaska Range. It’s extremely rare that a team is able to reach the summit of Denali successfully without having at least one weather day. The team has had a smooth trip up to this point, with beautiful clear weather, and they’re still on track to make the top by their scheduled summit day.

Mountain Trip guide and chef extraordinaire Karl Welter cooking up some pizza.

But, for now, they wait. Here’s Ben with the update: