Mike called in a nice descriptive update from the team’s original camp at 7,800′ on the main body of the Kahiltna Glacier. The team has had a change of plans and is now going to attempt to climb up the West Buttress, or at least as far up the route as they can with their remaining days of food.
They had made good time and progressed nicely up the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna, setting themselves up to launch up the West Rib proper. Unfortunately, their timing also coincided with the start of the week of bad weather that has settled in over much of the Alaska Range. They were faced with some difficult decisions, namely, should they continue up the route with just barely enough food and fuel, but not enough to have much, if any margin for getting caught in another storm or should they change their plans? It is generally a good idea to make conservative choices when attempting big, serious routes in Alaska, and the team decided to descend the NE Fork and regroup at Camp 1 for the West Buttress.
Here is Mike, calling in with their latest update:
