Trip Reports
The June 1 Denali West Buttress team is off to a great start! They had a beautiful day and flew into basecamp on the Southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier on schedule today. The flight from Talkeetna takes about 45 minutes and takes climbers from the warm summer weather up to 7000 ft where they…
Mountain Trip guide Jesse Wright called in on behalf of our May 21st West Buttress of Denali team. The team took advantage of nice conditions to carry loads of supplies up the steepest part of the West Buttress route to cache at an elevation of about 16,400′. The crew departed camp early with backpacks full…
Welcome to the trip dispatches for the June 1 Mountain Trip Denali Team! Our Denali season is in full swing, and another crew of climbers has joined together to fly into the Alaska Range and embark on a 22 -day expedition to climb Denali (20,310′) on the West Buttress Route. Let’s meet the climbers!…
Brain Kramp called in for the May 18 Denali team from high camp! They climbed in beautiful weather today up some of the most technically challenging terrain on the West Buttress route to their camp at 17,200 ft. The views from this camp are amazing, and they enjoyed great weather today. Everyone is in their…
The team enjoyed beautiful weather for the move up to Camp 2. They retraced their steps from yesterday and continued on past the cache site to 11,200′, the location of Camp 2. It sounds like the team is moving well, fueled by the guide team’s yummy cooking. And did I mention ice cream for dessert?…
Lead Guide Ben Adkison called in the trip report tonight. He reports that the team had great weather for moving a load of equipment and supplies up the fixed lines, to a cache site at 16,400′. The terrain immediately above the 14 Camp starts out pretty mellow, but the slope increases as the climbers…
The Team enjoyed a well deserved rest day today at 14 Camp. It’s important for a climber to allow his/her body to rest and recover from all the strenuous exercise of the previous days. It also allows time to eat well and rehydrate before moving up to High Camp at 17200′. The Team’s rest day sounded…
It was a beautiful day and good weather for the team to move a load of equipment and supplies to a cache site at 13,500′. Caching is an important part of the team’s strategy to move the huge amount of supplies needed for the expedition, up the mountain. A cache is literally a big hole…
The team moved a load of equipment and supplies up to a cache site at 9800′. A three week Denali expedition requires a huge amount of supplies, and the process of caching helps the team move efficiently. In addition, it helps their bodies acclimate to the ever changing altitude. A cache site is literally a…
Chris called in the team report from Camp 1. After taking a rest at 14 Camp, the team is making its way back to Base Camp. He sounds good, but tired, and I know he’s probably looking forward to a hot shower and a big meal right about now. Here’s Chris: recording