Trip Reports
We received the call this morning that the June 26th Team awoke feeling good and decided to make an attempt at the summit of Denali! Part of Mountain Trip’s Risk Management strategy for summit day is that the guides will call our Alaska Operations Director prior to departing for the summit. This helps the guides…
Hiking through the twilight of the Alaskan night, both the June 23 and 24 Teams are almost back at the airstrip. They dropped down from the 17,200′ Camp and retrieved their caches left at each of the three camps they passed. The teams have made good progress on their descent, hiking through the night to…
Lead Guide Adam Smith called in from 17,200′ after the team moved up from their home of the past few days at Camp 3 (14,200′). The team had a perfect day to move and so they loaded up their packs early in the morning and started uphill. The route begins with a moderate snow slope…
Mickey called in on behalf of the June 26th Team, after a tough day of eating, lounging, eating, making snowmen, and more lounging, as the climbers rested and gave their bodies one more day at 14,200′ before they move up to their High Camp, a full 2,000′ higher. It is important to gain as good…
Will, Sam, Josh, Sean, and Brian from the June 23rd Team are on the summit of Denali!!! Each team member of the June 23rd Team took a turn on the satellite phone before passing it over to the June 24th Team. Unfortunately, we lost the signal before the latter climbers had much opportunity to speak.…
They awoke to another beautiful day at high camp this morning and they went for the summit. They left this morning, and should be approaching the top this afternoon. The teams all reported beautiful weather up high on Denali today and hope to have a spectacular day at the top of North America! We’ll keep…
Well, their patience paid off and the team had a beautiful, sunny day for the move to High Camp. The climb to High Camp is one of the most enjoyable days of climbing on the expedition because for the most part you are climbing on top of the ridge, weaving in and out of rocks…
Today the team made a quick foray down to 13,200′ to retrieve their cached equipment. It sounds like everyone is happy to be at 14 Camp with all their kit. Weather permitting, the plan is to carry a load of equipment and supplies up the steepest section of the route, departing camp and hiking up…
The team is monitoring the weather closely, hoping for a period of a few days of stable weather in which to continue their ascent. They are being patient, and 14 Camp is not such a bad place to be while they wait for the weather to settle. There are lots of other teams at 14…
It’s a party at 14 Camp, with three Mountain Trip teams in residence. Like the June 23 Team, the June 24 Team is waiting for an opportunity to move up to High Camp. Patience is an important skill to have in the mountains, and when the time is right the team will be ready to…