June 2 West Buttress Team moves to 14-Camp in windy weather
Mountain Trip guide Erin Laine called in for the June 2 Denali West Buttress team, who were able to move up to 14,200′ from 11,200′, despite poor weather and high winds. Here’s Erin!
Trip Reports
June 5 West Buttress team — Back-carrying and caching
Mountain Trip guide Fischer Hazen called in an update for the June 5 West Buttress team, who are camped at 11,200′ on the route keeping busy during a persistent low pressure system that has brought heavy snow and low visibility to the range. Yesterday, the team “back carried” from their camp down to Kahiltna Pass…
Shan May 28 West Buttress — Waiting for a weather window at 14,200′
Mountain Trip guide Taylor Pyle called in an update on Shan’s May 28 Denali West Buttress team, who are camped at 14,200′ for their fourth day now, waiting on better weather conditions to move up the route. The team has served as a sort of welcome committee to other Mountain Trip teams, both those arriving…
May 22 West Buttress team — Descending from 14-Camp
Climber Scott Wheeler called in for the May 22 Denali West Buttress team, who made the difficult decision to turn back from High Camp at 17,500′ and abandon their summit bid due to bad and worsening weather up high. They have now been on the mountain for over 19 days, most of which they have…
June 2 West Buttress Expedition — Well-fed and caffeinated at 11,200′
Mountain Trip guide Karl Welter called in with an update for the June 2 Denali West Buttress Team, who have now spent four nights at their camp 11,200′, unable to move higher due to weather. Often, the clouds hover at around 11,000′, just above Kahiltna Pass, making for low visibility and generally during storms, a…
May 27 West Buttress Team waiting on a weather window at 14,200′
Mountain Trip guide Jesse Wright called in on behalf of the May 27 Denali West Buttress team, who have been weathering the storm at 14,200′ for just under a week now. Climbing Denali often depends on the will of the mountain–not of the climbers–but the team also must keep their spirits high and stay in…
May 29 West Buttress Team keeping busy at 14-Camp
Climber Matt Howell called in from snowy 14-Camp with an update on the May 29 West Buttress team, who are staying busy and weathering the storm that has persisted for just under a week. The team finally caught a glimpse of blue sky yesterday, which bred some optimism for their chances of heading up to…
May 28 Shan West Buttress Team — Waiting on weather at 14,200′
Guide Brian Kramp called in with an update on Shan’s May 28 Denali West Buttress expedition, who are eating well and resting at 14-Camp with several other Mountain Trip teams. Due to weather, they are taking another rest day at camp, staying busy fortifying their snow walls, digging out their tents and most likely, catching…
June 5 West Buttress team makes a snowy move to 11,200′
The June 5 West Buttress team put in a big day of climbing to move up from Camp One at 7,800′ to Camp Two at 11,200′, through deep fresh snow with heavy packs and sleds full of gear. Their day began at 2 a.m., and they traveled for about 8 hours uphill and breaking trail…
May 24 West Buttress team descends to 14-Camp in high winds
The Mountain Trip May 24 team has returned back to 14-Camp after a retreat from High Camp in worsening conditions. Winds blew at a steady 35 miles per hour on the exposed ridgelines, with gusts reaching even higher than that. With no signs of the weather abating any time soon to allow for a summit…