Mountain Trip guide Sean McManamy called in with an update on the June 15 Denali West Buttress Expedition.

He then handed the satellite phone over to climber Fan Zhou, who reported that the team unfortunately had to make the tough decision to abandon their bid for the summit of Denali, due to poor weather conditions, persistent snow and lack of visibility.

The team is now unfortunately facing those same conditions back down at Denali Base Camp at 7,200’, where they have been patiently waiting to fly back to Talkeetna for several days now.

Despite being stuck in a whiteout in tents, the climbers still seemed to be maintaining good humor and high spirits. They said with resounding laughter that they’re hoping they can get out within “the next two, three, or eight days.” Since they cached food at Base Camp before starting up the West Buttress, they should have plenty of nourishment to hold them over until they can return to civilization.

We apologize to the friends and family of the team members, who were likely worried with the lack of updates in the past several days. Hopefully the weather will clear up enough for planes to fly the group off of the glacier soon.

Here’s Sean and Fan with the update: