Dan K called in from our May 22 West Buttress Team. Finally, the tough weather that has been hammering the team has broken and they resumed the hard work of moving their food, fuel and supplies further up the mountain.
Today, they carried supplies up a moderately steep slope called Motorcycle Hill, which climbs immediately out of their camp at 11,200 feet. Above this prominent feature, the route climbs a couple more steeper slopes before gradually traversing along the southern aspect of the West Buttress proper until they reached a point where they could turn left around the Buttress and climb up a hanging glacier that will lead them to the 14,200′ basin camp. This feature is know as Windy Corner, and can be problematic when… you guessed it– when the wind blows!
The team carried their supplies a short way above the corner, and buried their cache in a hole they dug in the snow and ice. This protects their food from the not insignificant efforts of ravens that spend the summer on the mountain, looking for any opportunity to eat climbing food. After depositing their cache, the team descended back to 11,200′ for the night. They plan to move up past their cache and into the big basin camp at 14,200′ tomorrow.
Here is Dan!
Amy, good to see that you are progressing! Can’t imagine the hard work you are all doing just to move upward. And it looks like you have a long way to go judging from teams ahead of you and their reports.
Loved the song–you must be with really neat people!!
All for now. Be safe. Love you. (hope this isn’t embarrassing you!)
great work! Sounds like it’s a GO now. Love all your messages.
SC
Sounds like quite a journey, I have been following it everyday since you guys started your trip. I hope weather continues to be good for you, Sounds like weather issues are the main problem, Keep warm. Weather in Las Vegas is just starting to get into the 100’s, ugh. Talk to you soon.
Love, xxx
Mom
Okay, looks like the weather may give you a break now. Go girl!!!! (And the rest of the team, of course.) Still over 100 degrees every day here. We LOVE it!!! Gary leaves for Washington soon and I will follow by about a week. Looking forward to seeing you in Seattle in late June or July!
Hi Amy and team!
Glad to hear you’re getting a weather break!
We had a bittersweet climb on Rainier with Alpine Ascents. Our summit was beautiful and perfect, but my heart went out to our guides dealing with the loss of their friends. We talked a lot about your adventure, one of them had just come back from Denali and was commenting on the rough weather you’ve been having.
I hope you get a break and a chance to push on, it’s been great following you!
Ann