June 17 West Buttress Team — Caching above Ski Hill

While the update is a bit difficult to understand, we believe that this audio was called in by the June 17 Denali West Buttress team, who are camped at 7,800′. It is highly likely that the team spent today bringing a cache of gear and supplies to the top of Ski Hill at 10,500′, to bury for later on in their expedition. Caching and back-carrying (going back to retrieve buried caches from a higher camp) are cornerstones of long, expedition-style climbing, which enables teams to carry enough food and supplies for long periods of time spent on a route. Caching helps to mitigate the amount of weight the climbers will have to carry at any given time.

The weather should remain clear for at least two more days, hopefully allowing the team to progress up to Camp 2 at 11,200′.

If you can make more sense of the audio than we can, please let us know in the comments.

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3 Comments

  1. Hi guys, i’m Nadya, Support Team for June 17 West Buttress Team and i’m writing this from Indonesia. I’d like to help you guys in translating the audio, since they gave the report in Indonesian languange.

    They said that they’re already at Camp 1 (7.800 ft), and tomorrow they will be moving to Ski Hill (10.500 ft) to bring a chace of gear and and supplies, and then back to Camp 1. The weather is good and clear for the past 2 days, and hopefully it will remain clear until the rest of the expedition. They’re in a good health condition and seem so exicited to climb!

    ps: if you can make a contact with them please tell them that the Support Team, their family, MAHITALA, and the rest of Indonesian People can’t wait to hear their report everyday and will always send our prayers for them!

  2. anyway, i’ve sent an email to [email protected] regarding the team’s InReach link.

    before they departed from Talkeetna airport, Mathilda gave me the Team’s InReach link but it doesn’t working. If you have any info regarding the link, it would be much appreciated. Thank you

  3. Good to hear from the girls and knowing that there are in good shape and condition. Good luck for camp two and three approach have some quality time and fun. Be strong and have a good acclimatisation time.

    God bless you all, see you very soon. Xoxo

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